12/19/2023 - ilee Likes this wine:

Medium clear ruby. Oh crazy gorgeous nose infused richly with black fruit, tobacco, ash and earth. On the palate, finely balanced, with satiny fruit layers, light to medium bodied but very plush mouthfeel. There is a slightly hot edge from the 14.5% alcohol. But overall, very enjoyable.

12/5/2023 - ilee Likes this wine:

Another superb purchase from La Vita Turchese wineshop in Barolo village.

Mrs L and I were in Turin to watch tennis last month and squeezed in a 24 hour trip to the wonderful Langhe region. It was a short but wonderful experience. Langhe region wines have always been a blind spot for me, as other than a few top names, we don't get much by way of stock or choice in Hong Kong. So, this trip was a real eye (and tastebud) opener. For one thing, the wines were lighter, more delicate, and more wonderfully complex, than I imagined.

A great example was this Ravera di Monforte, which poured out clear ruby like a Volnay, but with most deliciously earthy brushy mineral flavor profile that immediately takes you to the beautiful rolling hills of Langhe. With lower alcohol (13.5%) than most Barolos of recent vintage, this wine is fine and fresh on the palate, with complex juicy red and black berries wrapped in feather-light tannins creating a compelling tasting experience. I look forward to my next visit to this terrific wine region.

11/27/2023 - ilee Likes this wine:

Delightful Barolo from a cool and light vintage, this wine has a light clear ruby color that easily passes for a pinot noir. Dark fruit nose with earthy forest notes, with distinct dry autumn hint. Light yet fulsome and balanced on the palate, the fruit is well rounded and very forward. Already drinking nicely. Bought at the La Vite Turchese wine shop in Barolo village.

11/27/2023 - ilee Likes this wine:

After traipsing with Mrs L for a week though Turin and the nearby Langhe countryside, we had one night in Milan before catching our flight home. And so, we decided to do the full tourist jacket, and have dinner at Da Giacomo Arengario overlooking the Duomo. After a week of countless glasses of Barolo and Barbaresco, we were hankering for a fix of pinot noir, but still wanted to stay local. So, it was a delight to find this on the menu.

Clear light ruby. Robust, clean nose of red berries, mountain meadow, forest pine. A distinct cool climate feel to it. On the palate, fine fulsome flavors of red fruit wrapped in velvety tannins. There is an earthy complexity that makes every glass enjoyable. I wish we could find Sudtirol pinot noirs more easily in Hong Kong! Terrific wine.

11/24/2023 - ilee Likes this wine:

Bought this bottle at La Vite Turchese in Barolo village. Bright ruby color, like a pinot noir. Fine, earthy nose of berries, hay, sunbaked stones. Light to medium bodied on the palate, with beautifully crafted fruit. The tannins are gentle and unobtrusive, though the wine gives an impression of youthfulness. If you've got a few bottles put away, leave them be for 5-10 years and I'm sure you'll be rewarded.

9/24/2023 - ilee Likes this wine:

Hmm, the nose is intoxicatingly good, with cassis and lead pencil telling you almost exactly where this wine is from. On the palate, it is fulsome, round and robustly fruity, giving a distinct impression of blackberries crushed with cigar ash. The tannins are prominent, and will likely be so for another 15-20 years given the way this wine is built. If you have many bottles put away, may I suggest plenty of fresh air and exercise, and perhaps a bit less alcohol in the weekdays, so you can be around in 2050 to see how this wine is going!

9/24/2023 - ilee wrote:

There is no mistaking the rich, classic Pauillac nose of cassis, minerals and cedar. On the palate the black fruit is full and robust, but the tannins dominate, and the finish is surprisingly short. Hmm, I don't have much tasting experience of post 2000 Bordeaux, but from what I can tell, this wine has some shortcomings that even decades of bottle time are unlikely to compensate for... Maybe drink up in 10-15 years when the tannins are a little softer.

8/1/2023 - ilee Likes this wine:

So this is what you get, if you tried to grow pinot noir in a hot climate! One of the hottest and fullest bodied pinots I've ever come across, it's densely packed with dark berries, liquorice and dried plums. The 14% alcohol also gives it a sweet edge. I recommend chilling it down to Chardonnay temperature before drinking!

5/24/2023 - ilee Likes this wine:

After claiming it is impossible to find in the market, I come across this wine in Watson's Wine Cellars of all places, in Hong Kong. So of course I had to swipe a case. Same as before, light but flavourful, with complex notes of cranberry and hay, this is a satisfying cold climate Pinot

3/22/2023 - ilee Likes this wine:

Wow, I notice how much more a bottle of this costs these days, compared to say 10 years ago. But at the same time, the quality seems to have improved. Deep, dense and complex, it could pass as a grand cru. On the nose, black fruit and minerals dominate. And on the palate, it is velvety smooth, with a lightness that belies its powerful flavors. A terrific Chambolle.

3/22/2023 - ilee Likes this wine:

Wow, I don't drink much Bordeaux any more, so when a dinner guest brought this over last night, I rushed for the corkscrew. After a 45 min decant, the nose was fabulous: sinewy, creamy, with rich notes of tar, cassis and cedar. On the palate, it's big as an ocean, and almost as salty too, with the fulsome black fruit infused with rich seaweed umami. The tannins seem already quite nicely resolved into the wine, so there isn't what British drinkers like to call a "grippy finish". Still, this wine has a looooong way to go.

PS: There were quite a few of us around the table, so we each only had a glass. And yet, I woke up later, in the middle of the night, feeling parched and thirsty. I then spent much of the next day nursing a mild headache. This never happens with pinot noir, no matter how much I drink. Or perhaps that's why pinot is pretty much all I drink, these days. Still, a great Cos, let's check in again in 2050

2/14/2023 - ilee Likes this wine:

This is a very high-quality effort at pinot making down under by Penfolds. Unlike their Bin 23, which is a blend of pinot from different regions, the Cellar Reserve is pure Tasmania. Dark and dense, with pungent notes of licorice, black cherry and minerals on the nose, this wine is a deep, fulsome and complex expression of cool climate pinot noir. Almost kiwi, in fact. As longtime fans of Aussie pinot, Mrs L and I somewhat prefer the lighter, more delicate bottlings from Gippsland. But still, we'll have this any day of the week, including on Valentine's Day!

2/12/2023 - ilee Likes this wine:

Mrs L and I discovered this when, arriving back in HK from our travels last summer and forced to spend a week at a quarantine hotel, we found this on the hotel wine list. Ever since, it's become part of our family pop and pour collection. Dark, dense and packed with juicy black cherry flavors, with a sweet alcoholic edge, it's got enough complexity to keep you humming while you're pottering around the house.

1/23/2023 - ilee Likes this wine:

Faint pink color. The nose is an elegant bouquet of red berries, gravel, grassy field in summer. Light bodied on the palate, with complex layers of clean red fruit and soft silky tannins, this wine is simply too delicious to put down. This estate is still our household favorite after all these years!

1/19/2023 - ilee Likes this wine:

Ordered off the list at Farmers' Daughters Melbourne. Light pink almost like a rose champagne. Delicately exquisite nose of rosebush, red berries, hay. On the palate, the flavor is more intense than the light color suggests, and the finish has a sweet complex edge. Beautiful pinot, too bad no one can buy any!

12/29/2022 - ilee Likes this wine:

Made in a lighter style than the 2016 (which I really like), this vintage of bin 23 is very attractive and easy to drink and hence goes down far too quickly. With crushed raspberries and strawberries, and a hint of mint, its pleasant nose is matched by its light body, which is given a lift by its fresh acidity. Best to drink chilled, in the cool air of a Sydney summer evening!

12/26/2022 - ilee Likes this wine:

Dark and brooding with a dense mineral complexity in the nose that is impressive for a wine at this price point. On the palate it is robust, with a firmness in its medium body. Well balanced between flavor and acidity, with no hard edges, this is NOT your average supermarket pinot. It's not easy to find in HK, so if you come across it, don't ask questions.

2/9/2023 - ilee Likes this wine:

Dinner with RC and friends (and some seriously old Bordeaux) (Duddell's, Hong Kong): Fine fine nose of citrus, toast and gravel. On the palate, it is all clean lines of fruit, with a rich and zesty attack that make you feel like a million taste buds on your palate are blooming. A beautiful champagne that will be a delight to drink for 30 years.

2/9/2023 - ilee Likes this wine:

Dinner with RC and friends (and some seriously old Bordeaux) (Duddell's, Hong Kong): Golden amber color. Complex notes of baked pear, iron and minerals on the nose. Crisp and clean on the palate, great balance of flavor and acidity, with a faintly creamy edge. Nice and refreshing, a great foil to the senior reds at the table.

2/9/2023 - ilee Likes this wine:

Dinner with RC and friends (and some seriously old Bordeaux) (Duddell's, Hong Kong): Tasted blind, it seemed so tantalizingly similar with the bottle just before it; that same telltale mineral character, but oh this one was more powerful; the nose was richer, the wine more fulsome on the palate. Haha it turned out also to be 1964 La Mission, just a different bottle from the same case, popped and poured. You really had us there, RC! (PS. that last half a glass I downed as we stood up to leave last night, mmm it's still tingling on my palate!)

2/9/2023 - ilee Likes this wine:

Dinner with RC and friends (and some seriously old Bordeaux) (Duddell's, Hong Kong): Tasted blind. Lively bright ruby with not a hint of bricking. Elegant nose with dark berries, dry leaves and a distinct mineral complexity. Medium bodied on the palate, the wine is beautifully balanced and nicely proportioned; the still-vibrant fruit nicely resolved with the tannins that are light as snowflakes. Easy, effortless finish -- as though the last 60 years was just a dream.

2/9/2023 - ilee Likes this wine:

Dinner with RC and friends (and some seriously old Bordeaux) (Duddell's, Hong Kong): Dark, almost powerful nose, densely packed with sweet crushed blackberries and a whole lot of other things: chocolate, barnyard, broccoli stems, damp cardboard, potting soil. What's going on! On the palate, there is a firmness in the medium body, fruit is still cruising though the tannins are finely faded, and there's almost no alcohol. The finish, funnily comes and goes; depending on what you just ate, it either disappears in 5 seconds, or lasts for half a minute. An amusing, amazing experience to drink.

It was a fun moment when the foil came off. RC even said when he opened the bottle earlier, he removed the capsule to find there was no cork. No cork? That's pretty crazy, I thought. Were we drinking wine that included a fully dissolved cork? But at the end of the evening, there it was, lying on the bottom of the bottle. Haha, phew!

2/9/2023 - ilee Likes this wine:

Dinner with RC and friends (and some seriously old Bordeaux) (Duddell's, Hong Kong): Tasted blind. Vibrant ruby color. Delicate, subtly complex red fruit nose with dried moss and a tiny hint of mint. Light bodied, the fruit is a little fragile but still has the energy to pep up the palate. And there is even the gentlest of tannic edges in the 30 second finish. Nice.

I nearly fell of my chair to find it was from 1949. I've never drunk anything that old! Whoa. Imagine the stuff that has happened since this wine was put into the bottle...

1/12/2023 - ilee Likes this wine:

Dinner with RC & friends at China Tang (China Tang, Hong Kong): I remember the fuss over the release of this wine back in the day, when a famous American wine critic declared it perfect, and a British critic disagreed. I never had the chance to drink it until now. Well, so who was right?

First off, this was served blind, and my guess was off by miles. Medium light ruby in color, a little cloudy, with even some bricking on the rim. Distinct floral notes on the bouquet, with minerals, leather, ash. Medium bodied on the plate, the fruit and tannins are beautifully resolved into mellowed, rounded layers that unfurl into a gentle velvety finish. So mature and evolved it was, I thought it might be late 80's, Margaux region maybe? It was thus a mild and pleasant shock to see what it was.

Perhaps ours was not your average bottle, but I'm sure this is not how good old RP saw this wine unfolding 20 years later!

1/12/2023 - ilee Likes this wine:

Dinner with RC & friends at China Tang (China Tang, Hong Kong): Deep and vibrant ruby color. On the nose, beautiful delicate notes of blackberry and dark plum, with hints of fresh cut hay and maybe even a little tar. Darker in character than the Chambolle opened side by side. But oh so fine in every way -- fruit is intense and focused, yet dances lightly on the palate; tannins have a youthful structure, but are fine as silk. A pleasure to drink.

1/12/2023 - ilee Likes this wine:

Dinner with RC & friends at China Tang (China Tang, Hong Kong): Insanely intoxicating bouquet of spring flowers on the nose, like you were lying in a meadow outside Chambolle gazing up at the clouds going by. (At least that's how I imagine it!) The red fruit has been finely sculpted by 40 years' worth of time, but is still intense as layer after elegant layer of it lightly drapes the palate. The tannins are so fine they are barely noticeable, and there's also hardly any alcohol left. All that remains is beautiful aged burgundy.

1/12/2023 - ilee Likes this wine:

Dinner with RC & friends at China Tang (China Tang, Hong Kong): Pleasant surprise of a wine; amber colored like a sauternes but fresh on the palate as though the grapes were just crushed yesterday. Hints of pomelo rind, roasted almonds on the nose. As the evening went by, notes of iron and mineral emerged as the wine put on a bit more weight. A fine example of mature white burgundy.

12/30/2022 - ilee Likes this wine:

Dark, rich and complex nose of mineral and dried black cherries. Medium body, robust dark fruit that has softened with time, leaving a delicate but fine finish that turns faintly sweet on the palate at the end. Very enjoyable.

1/2/2023 - ilee Likes this wine:

Opened on the last day of the new year holiday weekend. Beautiful, complex dried strawberry and vodka nose, light-bodied on the palate but with deep dark layers of red berries, infused with a slightly sweet edge of alcohol that was never present in this wine say 10 years ago. As global warning continues its slow but sure march across the winemaking regions of the world, pinot noir everywhere will change. Our taste buds better get used to it. Terrific wine; and as ever, our household favorite.

12/14/2022 - ilee Likes this wine:

You know you're become vintage yourself, when wines you'd consider unacceptably young to drink are already 10 years old and opening up nicely. And so it was with me, and this 2012 Pichon Lalande. Classic Pauillac nose of dark berries, kirsch liquor, minerals. Well balanced on the palate, medium bodied but with an almost creamy richness of fruit, with gentle tannins finely melting into a delightful 30 second finish. Served by our generous host at a lunch I attended recently, I thought it might be a 1995, or 1996, so enjoyably drinkable it was. A mild shock followed when I found how far off I was!

11/30/2022 - ilee Likes this wine:

RC's corporate 15th anniversary dinner banquet, Asia Society (Hong Kong): Rich bouquet of honeysuckle, baked green apples and brown toast on the nose. Swirling and sniffing this, I thought for a moment I had poked my nose into a glass of young Sauternes! Fulsome on the palate, with deep and round mineral and floral flavors, this wine is sumptuous without being heavy. Most enjoyable.

11/30/2022 - ilee Likes this wine:

RC's corporate 15th anniversary dinner banquet, Asia Society (Hong Kong): Magnum bottle. Lightly perfumed nose of spring flowers and pomelo rind. Fresh and crispy lemony flavors on the palate, this wine is vibrant and light on its feet despite its age. A perfect foil the butter seared cod served at dinner.

11/30/2022 - ilee Likes this wine:

RC's corporate 15th anniversary dinner banquet, Asia Society (Hong Kong): Whoa! When you see the big sheep being poured at a dinner party for 200+ guests, you know the host is serious. And so you have to rise to the occasion: be on best behavior, restrained almost, no stumbling about and slurring of speech. Because you want to be invited back!

Clear bright ruby in the glass; gorgeous classic blackcurrant and cassis nose, darkly elegant, with light notes of ash, tar and cedar. Medium bodied on the palate, the tannins are still prominent though very finely knit into a tight silky mesh around the black fruit. There is a smooth complexity in the medium finish. Still 5-7 years from full maturity, but very drinkable. A perfect party Mouton, apparently there's such a thing!

11/27/2021 - ilee Likes this wine:

Popped and poured at sunset on a gorgeous Saturday evening. "Ooo this is good!" squeals Mrs L as she lifts the glass to her nose, then takes a sip. We are in for a treat, it seems!

The nose is reticent, but it is exquisite; with fine notes of dried lemon peel, grassy field on a spring morning, and baked granny smith apples. On the palate it is pure and precise; with a perfect, quiet harmony of freshness and flavour. In the first hour, the wine is tight and yields little. But over 2 hours, it opens up, and lengthens out with a crisp, floral finish.

Usually Mrs L and I drink chardonnays from the antipodes -- all perfume and cream, with just a bit of wine mixed in. (We love them!) But this subtly crafted wine from the Willamette Valley is something different. In fact it reminds me of a Coche Dury Meursault we once had years ago. Like switching from Van Halen to Wynton Marsalis, you have to really quiet everything down to hear this wine sing. And when you do, it's beautiful

5/19/2021 - ilee Likes this wine:

Dark ruby, surprisingly sprightly for a 1983! Nice clean cork too. There isn't a lot of complexity in the nose, but hey there's a good amount of fruit woohoo! The tannins have melted away, and the alcohol is probably up there somewhere in the thin air above Everest. So all that's left is sweet dark berries and 28 years of someone else's patience (which seems to have added a hint of sweet floral perfume). Thanks for the bottle PH

5/6/2021 - ilee Likes this wine:

3 years on from my last encounter, this wine has matured some way. Dark, creamy and smoky, the nose has notes of currants, mocha and cigar ash. On the palate, there are fulsome dark berry flavors, with a hint of dark chocolate. The tannins are nicely resolved, and don't get in the way of one's enjoyment of the long and plush finish. Very nice.

4/24/2021 - ilee Likes this wine:

Mrs L's birthday dinner at home with usual suspects ((At home)): Rich nose of golden honeysuckle, caramel and dried orange peel; lighter bodied than I expected but nicely balanced between sweetness and freshness; beautiful Rieussec that's still young but already open and enjoyable

4/24/2021 - ilee Likes this wine:

Mrs L's birthday dinner at home with usual suspects ((At home)): 2008 was the year Mrs L and I got married (and the financial system began melting down) so it's always nice to come across a bottle from that year. Magnum too. It is made in a very globalized millennial style, but still has its roots firmly planted in Margaux: the unique floral & hot pavement ("tar & lilies") signature in the nose gives it away. Quite full bodied but not heavy, and packed with dark fruit and toasty oak, this wine has depth and length to evolve for another decade. Thanks Keith!

4/24/2021 - ilee Likes this wine:

Mrs L's birthday dinner at home with usual suspects ((At home)): Dark ruby. Cedar, cassis, iron shavings, lilac and spicebox on the plush and dense nose. Medium bodied, creamy and sinewy, with a robust core of fruit and delicate tannins, this wine is elegant and refined in a distinctly bordeaux style.

4/24/2021 - ilee Likes this wine:

Mrs L's birthday dinner at home with usual suspects ((At home)): Again, looking at a recent TN made me laugh out loud: for this wine I said I should keep some for 2030. Well so much for that -- as another magnum bottle just got emptied tonight haha. Darkly brooding and a bit wild in character, with crushed blackberries, forest floor, tar and ash on the nose; fulsome and concentrated in the finish, this is a beautiful Ornellaia.

4/24/2021 - ilee Likes this wine:

Mrs L's birthday dinner at home with usual suspects ((At home)): I looked at my recent TN from a few weeks ago, and have no idea what I was prevaricating about. Freshly cut golden pear, ripe figs, buckwheat toast; concentrated but crispy, and complex, it is fully mature and as fine a white Chateauneuf as you can possibly drink.

4/21/2021 - ilee Likes this wine:

Opened it to drink at home with Mrs L on the eve of her birthday. The last time we had one was 2011, and wow what a difference 10 years makes. After a run of disappointing old wines that turned out over-aged and over-waited for, here's a fine example of the benefits of patience (duh!). The nose is a dense cloud of smoked and tarred mineral red fruit, as though someone was out paving a highway with raspberries in the scorching midday sun, and you happened to drive by with the windows down. (I know I know why would you have the windows down?) On the palate, it is medium bodied, sinewy and velvety, with sweet vibrant summer fruit tightly coiled like a spring that releases with rich sparkles in the finish. From time to time, I catch a faint note of portobello mushroom, but this is not a complaint (I love mushrooms). Finely balanced, and rich without the slightest hint of weight, this wine is a fully grown beauty. I have just one more bottle, tucked away for 2031, but I'm already thinking: carpe diem

4/10/2021 - ilee Likes this wine:

A plush, richly perfumed nose of licorice, orange peel, spicebox and camphor. On the palate, it is medium to full bodied, with a robust red fruit core. And with 14.5% alcohol there is a noticeable sweet edge in the finish. Hmm. I was expecting a full blown rustic barnyard treatment, complete with animals, but instead this wine was refined, almost understated. And it seems almost fully mature too; the wine is open knit, and tannins well rounded, a bit soft even. Good for drinking down over the next 10 years.

4/8/2021 - ilee Likes this wine:

A friend brought this to our home dinner party last Saturday, I don't know who it was as it was among a bunch of bottles left on our kitchen counter. Opening it a few days later, I wasn't expecting much, but it turned out to be a nice surprise. Pleasant understated bouquet of dried flowers, bouquet garni, dark berries and earth. Medium bodied on the palate, with decent core of fruit, gentle rounded tannins and barely noticeable alcohol. Typical cool-year bordeaux from the pre-global heating days.

3/25/2021 - ilee Likes this wine:

Ha now here is a wine that tastes so much better than it costs. Plush nose of dark cherries, forest floor, light soy. Fulsome medium body, velvety tannins, very balanced with sweet velvety dark fruit layers. For a no-frills entry-level burg, this wine has a terrific complexity that holds on to you all the way to that last glass. A wine to buy by the caseload...

3/14/2021 - ilee Likes this wine:

Haha I can't believe 7 years have passed since my last tasting of this wine in 2014. Because drinking this now, it seems like nothing about this wine has changed. Fulsome, ample, intense, tannic; yet refined, elegant and balanced, and with plenty of life ahead, this wine is a sleeping beauty: dozing unchanged under a witch's spell while the world outside transforms beyond recognition . That's why I'm ever more determined to save my remaining bottles: what will we say in 2050 about this time traveler from 1982, I will be there to find out.

3/6/2021 - ilee Likes this wine:

It's a nice wine but I have mixed feelings about its 15-year old iteration. In the early years the wine was tight but there was a zesty, mineral freshness. Then it went through a brown phase. Now it has regained its light lemonade color, and is open knit and deeply infused with flavor: ripe pear, honeysuckle, roasted caramel. But the freshness is gone, replaced by a weight of ripeness and concentration on the palate that threatens to overload. Hmm. Wine grading is an intensely subjective exercise at best: my brain says 95, but my gut says 89. So, for what it's worth: 92

2/27/2021 - ilee Likes this wine:

Magnum bottle, popped and poured. Fragrant syrah nose of dark cherries, soy, rosemary and beef blood. Medium bodied on the palate, with fine rounded tannins. The fruit is evidently there, but tightly packed still, and totally unyielding: instead of dropping off its load of flavors on the palate like a decent mature wine would, this one takes everything with it as it hurls itself down the throat. I recommend at least 5 more years of rest for this wine. Or at least, a 6 hour decant.

2/27/2021 - ilee Likes this wine:

I bought this bottle in my early 30's, thinking that when I was 50 or so, wealthy and distinguished, I would open this to pat myself on the back. Well. 50 I'm almost, it's just months away now. But wealthy and distinguished? Hahaha my wife would be rolling on the floor at the thought. Still, I can't say no to a pat on the back. So pop goes the weasel.

Similar to the bottle I opened late last year, it's OK but not quite transcendental. I certainly don't see the stars shining any brighter in the night sky above HK. The nose is darkly fruity, with hints of iron, mint and dried flowers. There is a vibrant fruit core that lands with a rich pop on the palate, but there's not a whole lot of complexity here, and practically zero tannins. Waiting until 50 was foolish, I'm starting to think: should have opened it at 40, wealth and distinction be damned.

2/17/2021 - ilee Likes this wine:

This is the first time I've drunk anything from the late teens. I thought it might be as tannic as chewing on a rosemary stalk, but it was nothing like that. In fact, it was even enjoyable, which was a surprise. The nose was open, with notes of black cherries and soy. On the heavier side of medium bodied on the palate, the tannins were present but finely etched, not overwhelming; and the fruit was vibrant and open-knit, with noticeable finesse in the rounded finish. Good wine. I'm almost tempted to say with a decent decant it's ready to drink, though seeing 2018 on the label still shocks me a little. I'm so old school...