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Tuesday Dinner at Crown Wine Cellars, Hong Kong

The Conservatory, Crown Wine Cellars, 18 Deep Water Bay Drive, Shouson Hill, Hong Kong

Tasted May 9, 2023 by Goldstone with 155 views

Introduction

A relaxed and what turned out to be long dinner with a French former colleague I haven't seen in years.

Flight 1 - Pan-seared Hokkaido Scallops (1 note)

From the club's wine list as I wanted to try it in recent vintage form. Killer value at approx US$60.

White
2021 Kumeu River Chardonnay Estate New Zealand, North Island, Auckland, Kumeu
91 points
Semi canary yellow. Very young and crisp. Finely engineered and very precise. Like a very young Meursalt. Need 2-3 years to round out. Extremely impressive QPR and easily punches in the top decile of its price category. A joy. 91+
2 people found this helpful Comment

Flight 2 - Aged Australian Grass-Fed Ribeye (1 note)

Red
1995 Chateau Musar Lebanon, Bekaa Valley
93 points
Decanted for 3 hours (I would recommend longer) then drank over the next three. Captivating nose….initial blast…and I mean blast… of cherry liqueur and then it quickly dropped down a couple of piano scales to tamarind, liquorice root, star anise, lots of other eastern spices. Palate similarly was initially quite bitter and alcoholic but soon became beautifully mellow. Deeply fruited in a succulent ‘Napa Cab Sav does Bordeaux’ style. Gorgeous…and still keeps a fresh acidic/tannic structure. Good contemplative length on the finale. A real delight from one of my favourite vintages. My French guest hadn’t experienced Ch Musar before and was blown away. I have scored this a fair bit higher in the past if given an overnight double-decant.
1 person found this helpful Comments (1)

Flight 3 - Various Artisanal French Cheeses (1 note)

Crown has a new supplier and these were exceptional.

Red
2005 Kilikanoon Shiraz Oracle Australia, South Australia, Mount Lofty Ranges, Clare Valley
91 points
Splash decanted then drank over beautiful artisanal strong French cheese. Deep purple red semi-opaque colour. Beautiful nose, boysenberry and some oaky spicy classic Clare Valley Shiraz character. Quite rounded and well integrated on the palate. Satisfying, in a way that puts a nice calm smile on your face. This has lots of time on its side but is already ready to go. Bought on release as part of a quest to find 'the next Grange', it is finally entering its early drinking window. However, I would recommend a much longer decant, maybe double-decant overnight. 91 easy.

Closing

A super evening, and always fun to impress a Frenchman with 'off piste' wines :)

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