3/27/2022 - fokker wrote:

Lovely gold colour with nose of sugar cane and candy. Better more chilled to tone down the ripeness and richness. Perfect with spicy hot chilly cuisine, like SzeChuan dishes. The shortcoming is the finish being a bit thin.

11/18/2020 - fokker Likes this wine:

This was stored in the top compartment of one of my wine fridges that the upper 1/5 rubber seal of the door receded. This renders the whole fridge more humid and the labels of the wines can be mouldy, but the temperature inside can still be around 14 degree C, except the upper compartment.
Anyway, the wine was opened for 5 hours to breathe.
Colour is not the dark purple Ozzie shiraz you expect, but a see-through ruby bright red without any bricking. The nose was sublime with red and black fruits and orchards. The taste was like eating one of the Roundtree raspberry/blackcurrant gummies, very fruit sweet but without the sugary sweetness. Slight mintiness. The texture was velvety and all the tannins had melted away/settled. And the finish lasted forever. The immediate thought was this was very very similar to the 1983 Hill of Grace, or the 78 Chapelle.
This was drunk after the 82 Haut Brion (which is superb), and my friends all went WOW.
Interestingly enough, previous tasting notes on this wine written by others have mentioned mocha, coffee, tea, smokiness etc.. I found none of these on the night, but just bright sweet fruit and NO heaviness. Maybe this is due to extra few years of aging.

9/16/2016 - fokker Likes this wine:

Mid-Autumn Festival and 2 days after my wife's birthday. Dinner with nice friends in a Teppanyaki restaurant. Needed to drink great wines.
So,after the 67 Latour, I opened the 82 Haut Brion to go with the Iberian pork chops. This bottle had good appearance with high fills.
Dense, sweet with the exquisite Haut Brion tabacco/cigar/oolong tea/stewed prune smokiness, it had a lingering finish which lasted hours. Very smooth, and can last a few more years.
Confirmed again as my favourite first growth.

9/16/2016 - fokker Likes this wine:

Dinner Teppanyaki. This 67 went with the Angus ribeye. Got a case of these from a Sothebys auction a few years back--it was my wife's birthyear.
Very high fill wih a very nice label, it still was deep-colored with the slightest brown edge. Fully mature with silky tannin and the inimitable Latour brawny/grapey/earthy/truffley taste, and that just slight bit of cinnamon, it is the kind of wine you want to drink everyday.
Can probably keep for a few more years.

9/16/2016 - fokker Likes this wine:

Dinner Teppanyaki. Started off with some fish sashimi and tepanyaki Japanese whelk.
Not my favourite type of wine for raw fish, this Bourgogne blanc was good with the whelk. Lemony and nutty, quite reaching with sufficient depth. It was followed by the 08 pucelles which just edged over the Folatier with extra bit of elegance and intensity. Both at peak and don't try your luck.

9/16/2016 - fokker wrote:

Lunch at seafood restaurant in Sai Kung. Ordered this from the wine menu to match poached red prawns, small conch snails, stir-fried abalone slices and deep-fried chilli-pepper cuttlefish.
Fruity, strong, and no mind boggler, no elegance but brute semillon/ sauvignon fruit and somehow giving a sense of contrivance, it was nevertheless satisfying to wash down the seafood with.

9/15/2016 - fokker Likes this wine:

Mid Autumn Festival dinner at home. Steamed spotted grouper and chicken. Chinese omlette with crabmeat and bird's nest. A wine for festivity: Rose champagne.
This was disgorged September 2013. Lovely red fruits all through. Nice mellow acidity, something to do with the few years of bottle age. Elevated the taste of fish and chicken.

9/14/2016 - fokker wrote:

2nd bottle in recent months. Drank with roasted whole Pyrenees leg of lamb.
More approachable than the 86 Cos, this was initially dominated with cherry fruits, but the body built up over the course of the 3 hour dinner, and culminated to the toffee-coffee unmistakeble Mouton taste.
Again, the last glass is the best syndrome.

9/14/2016 - fokker wrote:

Decanted and drank over the course of dinner for almost 3 hours.
Some graphite, truffles and black fruits on the nose, tight palate and not too giving. Needs another 10 years.
Not bad with the roasted Challan duck.

9/11/2016 - fokker Likes this wine:

Dinner at home: second course of warm sliced duck breast and rocula salad and third course of baked penne pasta in a spicy capsicum sauce and my lamb meatballs with pecorino cheese and covered by povolone cheese.
The Patrimo was well up to to the task. Decanted for 2 hours and served in Bordeaux glazes, it was full of ripe plummy fruits with excellent breadth. Smooth tannin. Sweet. Ready now for me, but it will tone down and develop more complexities in years to come.
There is life after Masseto, Messorio, Reigaffi, Miani, afterall.

9/11/2016 - fokker Likes this wine:

Cooked up a grilled Italian Octopus and brocciflower salad doused with hazelnt oil, sherry vinegar and colotura di alici. This metodo performed beyond expectations.
Round chardonnay fruit with just right dosage to make it food friendly, it had a long smooth finish to envelope the strong grilled octopus taste.

9/10/2016 - fokker wrote:

Cantonese hotpot with poached beef tongue and diaphragm. Thought a more beefy wine would do the trick.
The 08 Dal Forno was beefy alright, almost too beefy to be heavy. Loaded with spices and sweet fruits like figs and custard apples, it kinda overwhelmed the beef tongue poached in a a simple vegetable broth. It's last outing was with lamb shank braised in a Thai style broth, and that made the wine felt complex and lighter.
Goes to show that food can alter the perception of the same wine.

9/10/2016 - fokker Likes this wine:

Cantonese hot pot wih poached beef and assorment of dumplings veges and minced cuttlefish balls. A versatile wine was indeed needed, which means traditinal CDP.
Soft, mellow red/blue fruits dominated the palate with persistence. Sweet without being sugarly so. A nice drink. At its very peak now and won't stay there for long.

9/8/2016 - fokker Likes this wine:

Traditional style of Barolo here. Poured half into half bottle for next day and left the rest in bottle to breathe for an hour.
Did not see any oak, and the colour was lightish ruby with a slight brown tinge. Good Barolo nose and palate of rose , red dates, tar and slight tobacco and almond. Very ready with some tannin for you to chew on.
A pale shadow of Monfortino, but at less than one-tenth of it's price. Nice accompaniment to steamed pork patty with chopped up and rehydrated dried shiitake and dried squid.

9/7/2016 - fokker Likes this wine:

2nd pinot for yakitori. Used ordinary tulip shaped glass. Should have brought my own Burgundy glasses.
Muted nose at first, the classic pinot nose of forrest floor, mushroom and red fruits emerged after half an hour. More cherry/tomato rather than strawberry/raspberry side of red Burgundies, the initial mouth feel was quite astringent. With time, the soyabean milk smooth texture prevailed. Medium length finish with jusha hinof cinnamon oak. Lovely to cut into the charcoal grilled chicken pieces and beef tongue. My last bottle, can probably keep for a few more years.

9/7/2016 - fokker wrote:

Dinner Yakitori joint. Decided to take 2 pinot noirs; they are always good for chicken. This one was disgorged Dec 14. Poured into ordinary tulip shaped glass.
Quite deep yellow in colour. Nose of white flowers and sherry. The acid was initially quite sharp but toned down after a while. Would have decanted it if at home. Palate of apples, white currants, yeast and quite nutty. Very delineated and precise, but not enough breadth. Tangy finish. Had better bottles before with more kumquat fruit sweetness.

9/6/2016 - fokker Likes this wine:

Made a Vietnamese style long braised beef calf with cinnamon, kencur, burnt ginger and burnt shallots; add rice noodles and this is Pho. Needed something rustic.
Bright transparent ruby red. Poured out one small glass to increase surface area in bottle to breathe. Decanted after an hour. The initial glass, drank straight away, was unfriendly, tannic and tart.
The decanted wine was a totally diferent beast. Much softer, with warm red fruits and sweet jujube, it wasn't overly complex, yet quite mouth filling. A juicy style of wine, don't know what happens if given a few more years of bottle age. I quite enjoy the juiciness now. And the QPR is excellent.

9/4/2016 - fokker Likes this wine:

4th bottle from a case aucioned off Soheby's in March this year.
This one had lower fill than others--5cm from capsule. Obvious leakage with top of cork full of dessicated wine and a fully soaked cork. Decanted and served with my home roasted duck marinated in soy and Szechaun spices.
Still healthy opaque black colour with the slightest brown tinge. Took about 10 minutes to unleash black fruits and truffles. However, not as mouth-filling as the previous bottle and the finish, though almost a minute, did not last til next day. ? bottle variation or the leakage also leaked out fruits and aroma?

9/4/2016 - fokker Likes this wine:

Cooked up a Thai style spicy fried noodles with minced pork, lemon basil, red peppers, and stink beans, and decided on a round and wholesome wine; thus this Marsanne/Rousanne blend. Decanted.
Gold with some browning, the nose was honey and slight orange blossom. In mouth, it was smooth with some marmalade and slight pineapple. Slightly short in depth.
Drink up before the fruit is gone.

9/3/2016 - fokker Likes this wine:

To me, red wine goes better with vegetables than white ones. So for my Busiata with spring onions, cherry tomatoes, zucchini, eggplants and capers, I opened this 10 Pergole Torte. Decanted for one hour before serving.
Very nice see-through redish-blue colour. Nose and palate of red cherries and raspberries with some sage, still quite primary though. Nice breadth to reach all corners of the mouth. Fruity finish. Many more points in years to come.

9/3/2016 - fokker wrote:

Poured straight from bottle--regretted this decision--to glass. It took more than 10 minutes before it strutted its stuff. Bright yellow with no goldening. Nose of Nashi pear and white lilies. Palate was first chardonnay fruit, then friulano, then a bit of sauvignon blanc, quite complex but not enough depth. Shorter than desired finish.
Paired well with goat Taleggio and provolone aged for 3 years.

9/2/2016 - fokker Does not like this wine:

Dinner Teochow Hawker food with braised goose and pig snout. Called for a biggish wine.
It was big alright, in fact too big to be ready. Took almost an hour in glass to show aromas and complexities of flowers, damsons and violets and little cinnamon. Long finish, noticeable tannin. A long way from maturity.
Funny enough I really didn't like it. I thought I would or should, but no. I guess I like my Bordeaux mature and soft. I might like it a lot in 10 years' time.

9/2/2016 - fokker wrote:

Dinner Teochow hawker food. Something sharp to pair with long braised congealed pig's blood and cuttle fish with garlic chives.
This Blanc de Blanc fulfilled the task alright. Sharp with crunchy bubbles, the green apples and nashi pear dominated the nose and palate. More complex and rounder than the Cuvee Oenophile, but less personality. Good value.

9/1/2016 - fokker Likes this wine:

Dinner at home with simple pot of stewed spare ribs, fish balls, cuttle fish balls, shitake mushrooms, flowering garlic chives and thick mustard greens in chicken soup. Calls for a versatile wine to combat this myriad of flavours.
Thus this CDP. Opened and breathed for an hour and decanted and served. Dark yet transparent ruby red, it is like drinking sugarless Ribena. Some thyme in the aftertaste. Medium-bodied and not too complex, the taste profile faded after one hour or so of decanting. On its way out though it still makes a somewhat satisfying drink.

8/30/2016 - fokker Likes this wine:

Dinner Shanghaiese restaurant. Rich tasting main courses of braised turtle in xiaoshing wine and ham sauce and pot-stickers (fried minced pork dumping with a crispy base) needed a wholesome wine; hence this Quintarelli. Not decanted and poured straight.
Beautiful ruby colour with thick legs in glass. Afer 10 minutes of waking, nose of flowers and Middle East spices set in--cumin, cinnamon, cloves etc. The palate was first Turkish delight with rose water, then Turkish delight with almonds, then Turkish delight with dates. Amazing: sweet but dry, singular with complexities, powerful yet light. Did not notice the 17% alcohol. I still have more than a case to play with for years to come.
Quintarelli amarone is a class on its own.

8/30/2016 - fokker Likes this wine:

Dinner Shanghaiese restaurant. Cold starters of drunken pigeon and brined duck and hot course of deep-fried frog legs and poin loin called for this 75 palmer. Poured straight from bottle to glass.
Still dark with a slightly brown tinged rim, it opended up nicely with sweet prunes and more prunes, with a long finish. Some complexities of violets and stewed black cherries, stayed alive with no deterioration nor improvement for the hour before we killed the bottle. No noticeable tannin and quite smooth on the palate. A nice drink.
Don't hold on to test your luck, or the stewed fruit might be overcooked and gets burnt.

8/30/2016 - fokker Likes this wine:

Dinner Shanghaiese restaurant. Cold starters of marinated wild veggetables with chopped dried tofu (Ma Lan Tou) and dried jelly-fish to accompany this riseling, which is light and ehtereal, with lovely apple fruit and peach, some refreshing acidity and medium finish.
Not German nor Alsatian, a class on its own.

8/29/2016 - fokker Likes this wine:

The second bottle in recent weeks. Decanted for half an hour.
This time the chocolatey aglianico sweetness, which I adore, is even more prominent than previous, and the plummy fruit taking backstage yet still evident. Vow!!! Just like one of those Cadbury bars with raisins without the sugar sweetness. No reason to age this wine.
Beautiful with home grilled termite mushrooms and Iberico pork chops.

8/28/2016 - fokker Likes this wine:

Dinner at home. Sons about to leave for UK to study. So splurge on Oscietra cavier on raw salmon, with chives and olive oil and a touch of lemon.
Champagne is the natural companion to such dish and this Bollinger did not disappont. Decanted and poured, with the nose full of fresh brioche, and palate of mirabelles (one cannot dislike a wine when it tastes mirabellish) and Williams pear, it had a smooth and long finish.
The boys and I felt like Mr. Bond.

8/28/2016 - fokker Likes this wine:

Always a big fan since I first had it in a restaurant in Tuscany years ago, this has put the faith back in me for Flaccianello after the disappointing 96.
Still crimson and dark, it emitted loads of red dates and blackberries. Medium-bodied and a very long finish with that slight bit of herbs. At its peak and will not hold out much longer.
Fantastic with my homemade giant meatballs of minced chicken, veal and sage, sauce Albufera, on a bed of pappardelle.

8/27/2016 - fokker Likes this wine:

An incidental face-off between the 98 and 99 d'yquem: my friend brought the 98, me 99, not by prearrangement-these were to round up a superb Cantonese seafood dinner with prawns, spotted snails, abalone, whelk, humpback grouper and green crabs filled with yellow tomalley.
As before, no need to describe the wines as the taste profiles were detailed in previous reviews. It is kinda cruel to compare 2 very good wines-the Chinese have a saying that you can't compare one person to another- but as it was, I preferred the 98 for it's being cleaner on the palate.
The 99 did taste sweeter and bigger, and in comparison it was HEAVY. Now it was all relatively speaking and in any other day these are wines I would love to sip on after dinner on each's own.

8/27/2016 - fokker Likes this wine:

The finale to a sumptuous Cantonese seafood dinner. After 02 Rare, Leflaive 08 Pucelles and Chevalier, 14 La Doriane, and 64 Latour, something sweet is needed, and my friend pulled out the 98 d' Yquem, and me the 99, again not by prearrangement. A nice face-off.
The description for 98 is superfluous. Many pervious reviews said it all. My addition is that there is noticeable acidity, which is nice in a sweet wine to give it structure and durability in terms of taste and asking for a re-fill. The 99 actually had a fuller body and tasted sweeter.
I prefer the 98, which went well with Mangoes and papaya.

8/27/2016 - fokker Likes this wine:

The only red after 02 Rare, Leflaive 08 Pucelles and Chevalier, and 14 Guigal Doriane, it was a welcome relief.
I have to like it: it is my birth year and my birthday was just a few days ago. Purchased a few years back from Sotheby's auction, I have had a few of this already. All bottles have high fills at least to high shoulder.
Dark red still with slight brick rim, it was mute in the first 10 minutes or so after pouring from a just opened bottled. Then cedar, tobacco, cassis and some herbs emerged, leading to a smooth and satisfying finish.
Hard to believe as it is, it matched the meaty salt-baked green crabs loaded with yellow roe.

8/27/2016 - fokker Likes this wine:

After the 02 Rare, Leflaive 08 Pucelles and Chevalier, we needed more wine to go with fishes. And I opened this Condrieu.
Just shipped from the UK the previous day, it did not feel unsettled. Quite pale colour, lots of ginger and pineapple, it drank straight away after pouring. Spicy galangal finish. Very bold, not much elegance.
Very good with the steamed humpback grouper doused with hot oil and grated ginger.

8/27/2016 - fokker Likes this wine:

Preceded by 02 Cuvee Rare Piper-Hisieck and 08 Pucelles, it is quite full-bodied with abundant peaches, honeydews and apples, and a slight touch of vanilla oak. Noticeable acid to give it balance and structure. Very developed gold colour and at it's peak. We used Bordeaux glasses and it drank well straight away; the acid mellowed somewhat after 10 minutes.
Paired well with wok-fried butterflied tiger prawns and steamed abalone with dried mandarin peels.

8/27/2016 - fokker Likes this wine:

Not decanted and poured straight into Bordeaux glass. Five minutes later It started to sing. Golden yellow. Tons of yellow cherrie and mirabelle. Slight Kumquat. Long finish.
Excellent with lightly boiled sweet prawns, spotted sea-snails and poached slices of whelk dipped in light soy sauce.

8/26/2016 - fokker Likes this wine:

Took about half an hour after pouring from bottle to glass to open up. Some cedar, violets, cassis and cherries, with a touch of tobacco leaves and cinamon.
A very pleasant wine and eager to please. Very good with deep-fried shredded white turnip in batter, a Teochow specialty.

8/25/2016 - fokker Likes this wine:

Opened and decanted:purply red with a slight brown rim. Evolved nose of rose, tar and blueberries, the figs and balsam dominated the palate. Nice black Muscat grapey finish. Complex. Very ready. I purposefully kept this at a higher temp since I shipped back a case a year ago, to render it aging faster.
Excellent with the Pizzocheri with cabbage, Casera cheese, and a light touch of pancetta.

8/24/2016 - fokker Likes this wine:

Healthy ruby colour. Opened up well with upfront Pinot fruit. Nice red fruit/Roundtree red gummies juiciness on the palate. Not too complex and shorter than desired finish.
More ready than the 03 Malconsorts I had a week earlier, with a few more years' life ahead. Very very good with minced beef and egg fried rice.

8/24/2016 - fokker wrote:

A very very interesting wine indeed: non-dosage as a Blanc de Blanc. Pale colour with lots of Granny Smith-for those who have spent some time down under-this means tart but unique flavored green apple. Granny Smith from nose to palate, start to finish. Very polarizing.
I appreciate it for it's singularity.
You may or may not.

8/24/2016 - fokker Likes this wine:

Dinner Cantonese Hawker food. So not decanted nor breathed. Took about 10minutes for the true beauty to emerge in glass.
Plums and herbed like sage and thyme dominate the nose. Palates of sweet raspberries and blackberries intermixed with some sage and fresh grass. Sweet, intense and bold. Full-bodied and long finish. Can keep for at least 5 more years.
A dish in itself. Matched well the broccoli stir-fried in clay pot with prawn paste.

8/23/2016 - fokker Likes this wine:

Opened and decanted for 1.5 hour before dinner @ home. Paired with pot of pork tendon meat, minced fish balls and Teochow mustard greens braised in a brothmade from salty fish head and tail. Dipped morsels in Teochow chilli oil.
Dark and opaque. Thick and viscous with legs that don't dissipate. Explosive aromas of black fruits and spice, cinnamon, anise, cardamon,etc. In the mouth all above with stewed prunes and well-balanced acid to keep it fresh and from cloying. Did not notice the 17% alcohol; I used a decanter with a broad base and a wide neck which gave the wine a lot of surface area to exhale the alcohol. Married the chilli well. Very enjoyable now, with a long life ahead.

8/22/2016 - fokker Likes this wine:

Opened for an hour then decanted. Very dark colour with reticent nose of red cherries and jujube, it was much better in mouth with lenghty fruits and some anise and cumin. Long enough finish. Drink or keep for a few more years.
Not bad with a home dinner of Thai style pot-au-feu with broth made from lemon grass, galangal, kaffir lime leaves, fish sauce, lime juice, palm sugar, and, mini eggplants, okra, palm heart, tomatoes, thai stink beans, a whole chicken and squids braised in it.

8/21/2016 - fokker wrote:

Lighter in colour than the 95 Grivot Clos Vougeot (from Magnum served beforehand), this had slight ruby/brick rim and nose of oak, cherries and prunes. In fact the taste profile was not dissimilar to the Grivot (now I know why they call Pomerol the Burgundy of Bordeaux), with more damson and blackberries, more complexity and less power.
Given this is a VCC from a renowned vintage, I am not impressed. Suggest drink up.

8/21/2016 - fokker Likes this wine:

Birthday dinner with lots of friends. Thus pulled out this 95 Grivot Clos Vougeo en Magnum. This is 2nd and last one drunk, after purchase from Sotheby's auction this Spring. Not decanted and poured after opening. It got better and better over the 3 hour dinner.
Quite dark in colour, with no brick rim, and actually darker than the 1990 Vieux Chateau Certan afterwards, it had pleasant nose of cherries and plums, with well-integrated cinnamon oak, lots of forrest floor and mushrooms. The palate of red cherries lingered on well to match the steamed pork with scallions and roasted butterflied-duck Cantonese style.
Qutie full bodied, but not multidimensional enough to earn a score into the mid 90s.
I noticed some of the negative comments from earlier reviews. Judging from my personal experience with Grivot Clos Vougeot from various vintages, it is a somewhat awkward style of Burgundy. It is darker and fuller-bodied/more tannic than most others. So if the vintage is no good or average, you drink it too early, it tastes monolithic and the tannin sucks. You drink it too late , the fruit is gone and complexity left to fate.
Thus the advantage of Magnum: the fruit can hold on longer for the tannin to settle and complexities to develop.

8/21/2016 - fokker Likes this wine:

My birthday today and had dinner with a friend whose wife shares the same day (different years though) in a Cantonese restaurant, so a Magnum is pulled out. Decanted and served.
Intense nose of white flowers and fresh yeast, the mirabelle and pear lingers long in the mouth. Sumptuous, it matched well the cold giant mantis prawn poached in Xiaoshing wine sauce.

8/20/2016 - fokker Likes this wine:

Dinner with relatives who aren't wine connoisseurs in a superb Cantonese restaurant. Drank some surprisingly tasty Cotes du Rhone Roses and Prosecos.
The wine nut in me had to have something vinously brainstorming, hence I ordered this 09 Foreau Clos Naudin Molleoux with dessert of Cantonese walnut cookies and egg custard tart.
Golden yellow with palate of ripe star fruits and Uighur Hami yellow melons, a little marmalade with that slight bitterness and refreshing acidity by Chenin Blanc matching the walnut cookies, this is not unlike Vin Santo con Cantuccini without the caramel of vin santo.
Don't see the point of aging this further.

8/19/2016 - fokker wrote:

Friday night Hotpot ritual with poached Akabuta (Japanese RED pork), Chinese grass-fed beef (a lean yellowish-brown cattle with little marbling, slightly chewy in texture but a beefy taste; a far cry from tender mushy marbled fatty grain fed beef), veal liver and sliced French duck breast, in a Cantonese style broth made from coriander, shiitake mushroom, green onions, garlic, daikon and fermented eggs.
Nose of blackberries and some vanilla oak, some chocolatey sweetness but neither full reaching nor finishing as great Right right banks do, it was nevertheless satisfying to match the simple yet tasty meat morsels.
Drink up.

8/18/2016 - fokker wrote:

Quit dark for a Burg, reticent nose that only emerged after half an hour in glass from pouring from bottle, not enough upfront Pinot attack, and some mid-palate strawberries and complexities of thyme, and finish of kirsch. Initially a 86 pointer, got better to 89 by the end with a fuller mid-palate. Will keep my rest for next year to develop more, hopefully.
Very good with fatty tuna (toro) and uni (sea urchin) sushi.

8/18/2016 - fokker Likes this wine:

Pink champagne in my favorite sushi joint to celebrate my son' s nearly perfect exam results: everything was a 100 but I have to be objective here. This was preceded by a 97 Chave Hermitage Blanc and followed by 03 Hudelot Noellet Malconsorts. Disgorged September 13.
Orange in colour with a brown tinge. Nose of red berries and jujube. Quite sweet (not in the sugary sense) with balancing acidity and raspberry in abundance; adequate length finish. Cut deep into the quite fishy taste of the sardine (iwashi) and mackerel pike ( sanma) sushi. Sublime match.