June 2017: 1995 Chateau Leoville Las-Cases, 1998 Mouton Rothschild… 

Just a few isolated notes here and there, but such sophistication and quality…

1999 Valentin Zusslin Pfingstberg Grand Cru, popped and poured at Sichuan Dou Hua (Beach Rd), 05 Jun 2017. Deep dull golden with an abundance of chalk and flinty minerals, densely aromatic with backward characters of aged crème, sweet grapefruit and minty white pepper, notably less of the usual petroleum notes. Still showing well and will hold for many more years.

2012 Maison Joseph Faiveley Bourgogne, popped and poured over dinner with Vic at Jade Palace, 16 Jun 2017. Shy but showing well on the palate where it is layered with clear citrus, firm yellow fruit and stern minerals with recessed chalky tones, displaying excellent fullness and very fine acidity, finishing with some trailing pungency. Punches way above its weight for a Bourgogne.

2012 Denis Mortet Gevrey-Chambertin VV, popped and poured over dinner with Vic at Jade Palace, 16 Jun 2017, after some aeration in bottle. Intense bouquet of red roses, cherries and camphor, displaying very good detail, presence and intensity with a streak of great acidity supported by ferrous and saline minerals though not quite seamless yet. Will be absolutely lovely when ready in another 5-6 years time.

2007 Tignanello, decanted on-site at Bedrock Bar & Grill, 26 Jun 2017. Dark currants, dark plums and black fruits glow with lovely intensity and ample concentration, fleshy with great acidity and tannins that are firm but unobtrusive, gelling very well after an hour to become utterly seamless and supple with better definition and a deeper note of raspberries, finishing with stern graphite minerals. Excellent but still not quite ready. Give it another 5 years.

2010 Valentin Zusslin Pfingstberg Grand Cru, popped and poured at the Tanglin Club, 23 Jun 2017. This wine exudes generous aromas of tropical fruits, tangy citrus, soursop and apricot, excellent in concentration with quiet intensity and that characteristic oily texture these great Rieslings possess, supported by firm chalky minerality but still a tad assertive from its cutting acidity. Keep.

1995 Ch Leoville Las-Cases (courtesy of Kieron), decanted at the Tanglin Club, 23 Jun 2017. A very deep bouquet of earthy pungency, blackberries, redcurrants and dark roses led the way, very lifted, open and agile on the palate where it is rounded and seamless with sublime acidity, almost feminine and most unlike the usual structured manner of Las-Cases, finishing a tad short but drinking beautifully. This wine appears to have turned the corner, for I still remembered a bottle (also from Kieron) that was immensely tight ten years ago at Iggy’s. Lovely.

1998 Ch Mouton Rothschild (courtesy of Vic), decanted at the Tanglin Club, 23 Jun 2017. This wine exudes a lovely earthy pungency from its immensely deep bouquet, boasting freshness, good detail and vibrancy on the palate with lovely acidity, very subtle and classy in its way, already showing good secondary nuances with succulent tones of cedar, tangerines and plummy characters with a bit of dry tarry quality. Excellent.

2007 Rockford Basket Press Shiraz, popped and poured at Jade Palace, 30 June 2017. Deep dark inky red, imbued with briar, wild berries and warm Barossa Shiraz, oozing with copious sweet tannins and layered with licorice, toffee and mocha of immense depth and richness, rounded with good acidity, finishing well with a mild peppery tone. Excellent.