After dinner drink at Chun's

Alex, Fiona, Lionel, Rachel and a few others popped over the Chun's for a drink after our Brazil v Rest of the World wine dinner. His interesting neighbour, Matt, joined us and kindly brought a bottle along. Special note goes to the really great Strathisla Sherry Cask 1963 whisky that Chun served me after the wines. Delicious.

• 2004 Dominique Laurent Corton-Charlemagne Vieille Vigne 93 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru

  I do not know who Dominique Laurent purchased his fruit from, but this was sure a lovely wine, with the quality of the fruit shining through so that there was none of the overwhelmingly oakiness that marks some of his lesser stuff. Lots of richness for an a 2004, both on the nose and the palate. On first sniff, I got lovely scents of earthy mushrooms and truffles and underlying white fruit. Lovely. The palate was painted with a layer of buttery oak, but it was well integrated and applied enough so that rich flavours of green apples, lemons, honey and grapefruit stood out in relief against the oak, all stenciled in nice, fresh acidity. Bery decent finish too, again oaky, with a touch of smoked wood along with rich, fresh apples. Very good, and will be even better with another 3-4 years.

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• 2001 Château Mont-Redon Châteauneuf-du-Pape 91 Points

  France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape

  Shipped over to Singapore by Matt, Chun's Provencale neighbour, and kindly popped by him when he found out that I like CdP. Not the most heavyweight of wines, but lovely drinking and immenesly enjoyable. Lovely vintage - I have not had a single bad CdP from 2001 - and it is always such a pleasure to come back to slightly more traditionally styled CdPs after too many, plush, velvety bruisers. Very developed for a 2001, the nose on the wine showed marmite, leather and rich plums layered with earth and mushrooms. Beautiful nose. Palate was extremely fresh, with blackcurrants, sweet cherries and prunes packaged in tight, but well-sculpted and fine-grained tannins. Okay finish with a whiff of smoke and a touch of heat here and there. With time, the palate stretched out a little and seemed a little thin, especially when the fruit was placed against the loads of fresh acidity. I thought perhaps the wine just entered into a little dip and would have emerged again in half an hour or so in the glass, but it was all but finished by then. This could have used a bit more time in the bottle, but perfectly fine to drink now. I would have loved to have tried it with some food - I bet it would have been smashing if paired with a game dish.

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• 1999 Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste 92 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

  Another 1999 Bordeaux that has come good. Rather simple, but I thought it was wonderful expression of Pauillac. Beautiful, mature nose of earthy leaves, undergrowth, meaty leather and tobacco notes and classic cassis tones along with a touch of Wood spice. Rich palate, showing more tobacco smoke, lots of currants, stewed capsicum and tightish, firm, almost grippy tannins moving into a strong finish with notes of coffee. A lot younger tasting than it nosed, I think this will develop further. I may be a little biased - I have always been partial to GPL, and this had lovely classic styling. Extra points for value, potential and all round pleasure.

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• 2000 Château La Fleur Peyrabon 91 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

  Simple, but very good drinking - I think this represents great value for the price. Nose showed leather, earth, savoury sous bois notes and plummy fruit. Fresh palate, with cherries, currants and some coffee in the finish. You could tell this was from a hot year, with lots of ripeness in the fruit and a touch of heat, but enjoyable nonetheless, with a nice richness, fine balance and nice velvety texture. Plus points for incredible QPR - this was certainly no slouch when considering it was drank right after a 1999 Grand Puy Lacoste.

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