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Family Lunch with the Lais and Alams
The Conservatory, Crown Wine Cellars, 18 Deep Water Bay Drive, Shouson Hill, Hong Kong
Tasted July 16, 2022 by Goldstone with 140 views
Introduction
Great annual get-together including our 3 daugughters who grew up together.
Flight 1 - Aperitif (1 note)
This Nyetimber is sensationally good and I originaly mistook it for the 2013 despite having provided it.
White - Sparkling
2003 Nyetimber Blanc de Blancs
92 points
Light, crisp, so fresh - and lively. Tons of life left in it to at least 2025. Scintillating. Am haflway through a case of 12 bought a decade ago and am in no hurry to get through the remaining bottles. Very impressed....not least because I paid U$27 but this drinks way better than a slightly tired Pol Roger Blanc de Blancs I bought at the same time and drank a few days later.
Flight 2 - Carpaccio of Smoked Salmon (1 note)
This was a lovely, very lightly smoked Salmon and complimented the wine beautifully.
White
2013 Gibbston Valley Chardonnay China Terrace
91 points
Towards the end of 12 bottles bought from the winery on pre-release. White gold. Lovely new gumboots nose. Palate is so fresh and lemony. Really fine winemaking....which is particularly imopressive because Chardonnay is a difficult varietal to get right in South Island, New Zealand. Tons of terroir come through from the old gold-mining rock. 91+
Flight 3 - Rare-Grilled Rack of New Zealand Lamb (2 notes)
This is a go-to 'standard' at Crown....great quality and so wine-friendly.
Red
1993 Chateau Musar
93 points
Decanted for 5 hours. Colour is light Burgundy-style largely transparent plummy faded red. Nose is VA and high piano notes. Palate is so smooth peppery and rounded minerality. Burgundian. Rich and deep. Tons of fruit still. Great depth and resonance. Not the greatest bottle of this vintage but still super. 93 but our guests liked it more...I had scored it a very high by my standards 96 pts a couple of months ago.
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Red
2013 Dominus Estate
91 points
Decanted for 3 hours.....could have done with much longer. Deep ruby. Nose is muted but rich and a good balance of red/black fruit, soft oak and moderately tannic backbone in an overall, to my mind, mid-adolescent stage of development. The adolescence shows itself on the finish, which hasn’t evolved enough yet to leave an impact. I adore Dominus but prefer it with a lot more age, so would come back in 5+ years. 91 for now. Thanks, Jeff!
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Flight 4 - Italian Cheeses followed by Cuban Cigars (1 note)
The Sauternes and the cheese worked so well together....then the second half of the bottle went down really well with 3 Romeo Y Julietta robusto cigars and a long natter after our families deserted us.
White - Sweet/Dessert
2007 Château Rieussec
92 points
Decanted for 5 hours. Very deep burnished copper-gold colour. Palate is gorgeous deep semi-sweet Manuka honey. Emphasis is on the 'semi' in semi-sweet. Rich reverberent and resonant on a long heady and contemplative finish. As another recent CTer has observed (same day, different end of the world) this went beautifully with some really nice Cuban cigars and a great chat with 2 special friends. 92+
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Closing
A lovely relaxed long lunch and excellent service from the team at Crown.