DSC tries out Nuvo

We gathered at Nuvo in Marina Square, where the ex-chef from Keystone had come. A pretty casual bistro-type place as you would expect from its situation in a mall. Food was decent, but I was not blown away.

• 2009 Schiopetto Collio Friulano 89 Points

  Italy, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Collio

  Interesting. This had a nice sunny nose on it, with warm hay and meadow flowers mingling with sweeter stone fruit and ripe gooseberry aromas. I thought it almost smelt like a Sauvignon Blanc, but the palate was something quite different. There was a rich thickness to it in the mouth, with an almost buttery roundness - traits I would associate more with a ripe Chardonnay than an SB, even though the flavours of white fruit, guava and citrusy grapefruit echoed the nose quite nicely. Past the midpalate, there was a dash of spice and a flush of alcohol heat showing, so that the wine seemed to lacked some acidity and freshness to support the entirety of its size and weight. Thankfully, there was also a good amount of structure lent to it by a nicely flinty, minerality grip. This was a wine of character, quite nice, but just tottering on being too heavy.

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• 1999 Maison Leroy Bourgogne Blanc 87 Points

  France, Burgundy, Bourgogne Blanc

  This is one of those rare Leroy wines that did not quite live up to the usual high standards of the label - I think that it probably because it has seen better days. The nose was still pleasant enough - it was very buttery smelling, with dollops of cream and other diary draped over appley aromas, and then some lemon rind, a few chalky accents and white floral notes drifting on behind. With time, some rich scents of honey and spice started coming out as well. This really was a deep, expressive nose for a Bourgogne. On the palate, this was huge for a Bourgogne - very creamy, buttery, rich, just as you would have expected after the nose, with white fruit layered with some chalk and spice, then lemons and sweeter white peach notes creeping in on the midpalate. Unfortunately, it was just a bit too heavy for its own good, with the finish clearly needing a bit more acidity to lift all that weight. It actually went a bit flabby - reminded me of a formerly muscular rugby player having gone to seed somewhat. Overall a decent wine that punched above its weight, but it lacked a touch of balance.

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• 1967 Francesco Rinaldi e Figli Barolo Flawed

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

  Twice now I have been disappointed with this wine. This bottle was not as badly flawed as the last one I had, but there was clearly a faint hint of cork taint on it. More's the pity, because it was actually the tastiest wine on the day. The nose had lots of tertiary notes - tomato stew and beef broth, plummy fruit aromas, some metallic mineral and lush, earthy, forest floor notes - almost truffle-like I thought. Promising, and barely showing any taint. Unfortunately, the palate showed some little tell-tale notes of damp, musty cardboard fading in and out of its dark fruited flavours of blackberries and black cherries on the attack. A real pity, because they threw off an otherwise very nice bottle. Unlike the last, fatally-flawed bottle, this still had plenty of complexity on it, with earthy, meaty inflections on the midpalate, some nice notes of black olives coming out after time, and a long, lingering finish with lots of spice, some black tea and a little smoky tail. There was still some chew on the tannins that made the back-palate feel very coarse, but place the TCA aside, and this would still have been a very nice wine, probably at the right place for drinking too.

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• 1996 Château Lafon-Rochet 91 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Saint-Estèphe

  A solid, unspectacular left-bank Bordeaux, but quite pleasaurable - exactly what you would expect from a house of this level on a good vintage. The nose was very classic, with sweet cassis and red berry aromas wed to tea leaves, tobacco and a touch of oak. I thought the palate was quite good. Again, it had familiar tones of cassis and blackberries, spice and tobacco, with a touch of menthol at the finish. Good fruit, good acidity, well-structured if just a touch of drying on the tannins. Very pleasant, if just a bit nondescript. It should last quite a long time yet in the bottle, but I am not sure it will improve much. It is certainly decent drinking now, especially with the beef we had. Pretty nice - this was my favourite wine of the day.

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