Aug 2017: 2012 Drouhin Criots-Batard, 2001 Mount Mary Quintet, 1982 Penfolds Bin 820, 1990 Ormes de Pez, 1986 Cos D’Estournel…

2005 Chateau de Villars Fontaine, popped and poured over dimsum at Asia Grand, 06 Aug 2017. This Bourgogne Hautes Cotes de Nuits is still surprisingly tight with overtones of aged crème supported by a firm streak of stern flinty minerals and beeswax, notably deeper and more complex than before, opening up with further notes of preserved nutmeg. Quite attractive.

2007 Domaine Valentin Zusslin Pfingstberg Grand Cru, popped and poured at Song Garden, 07 Aug 2017. Effusive aromas of diesel and complex white flowers, quite dense, with a hint of nectarine, layered with gorgeous crème de la crème that added immeasurably to its supple intensity, finishing with stern ferrous minerals. Excellent, but still youthful.

1987 Jean Boillot Puligny-Montrachet Les Pulcelles 1er, popped and poured at Song Garden, 07 Aug 2017. Typical of Les Pulcelles, this wine is dominated by a strong minerally sheen that suggests paraffin, icing and beeswax with overtones of crème and white flowers, imbued with great concentration and vibrant intensity, just a tad stern at its minerally finish. Very fine.

2004 Ch Ducru Beaucaillou (courtesy of Hiok), double-decanted at Song Garden, 07 Aug 2017. This stalwart of Saint Julien is showing very well, exuding  a very lovely earthy pungency with abundant depth of dark currants, raspberries and rose petals, well layered with glorious fruit, sublime acidity and high-toned minerals that produced great tension across the palate, fleshy and rounded, finishing with ferrous elements that lent a trace of austerity at the finish. Still far from peaking. Excellent.

1989 Ch De Fieuzal (courtesy of KP), tasted blind at Song Garden, 07 Aug 2017. Well evolved in tone and colour, this wine opened with a lovely rosy fragrance amidst some mild attractive earthy pungency. Soft, seamless and feminine, somewhat short, developing a spicy after note at the finish. I was spot-on in picking out the estate.

2012 Meulenhof Wehlenur Sonnenuhr Auslese (courtesy of Jonny), popped and poured at Song Garden, 07 Aug 2017. Lifted with generous notes of lime, clear citrus, tropical fruits, nectarine and melons, already wonderfully complex in spite of its youth, teasing the palate with supple detail. Excellent.

1982 Penfolds Cabernet Shiraz Bin 820, courtesy of Hsiang Sui at his residence, 09 Aug 2017. Dusty red, fully evolved with weak aromas of aged dark fruits and some licorice, medium-bodied, producing further notes of tangerines amidst its mild port-like demeanour, tapering to gentle minty finish. Past its prime.

1991 RL Buller & Son Rutherglen Calliope Shiraz, courtesy of Hsiang Sui at his residence, 09 Aug 2017. Well evolved with mild characters of cedar and port, medium-bodied and open with good linearity and spicy tones though without much layering.

2014 Sea Smoke Southing Pinot Noir, courtesy of Hsiang Sui at his residence, 09 Aug 2017. Rather dark in tone, showcasing brilliant dark cherries with lovely intensity and vibrant acidity, yet gentle with some feminine character, well-integrated, just a tad short. Very fine.

1962 Marques de Murrieta Vinos de Rioja Ygay Etiqueta Blanca, courtesy of Hsiang Sui at his residence, 09 Aug 2017. There are distant aromas of misty red fruits in this wine largely dominated by stern medicinal herbal tones, dry and slightly spicy at the edges. Past its prime.

2004 Belle Epoque Perrier-Jouet, courtesy of LF at Glen, 11 Aug 2017. Attractive bouquet of toasty oak with some yeasty pungency, quite deft on the palate, displaying good definition with good presence of clear citrus supported by a lifted minerally spine, finishing well.

2013 Clos Mogador Nelin Priorat, courtesy of LF at Glen, 11 Aug 2017. White flowers with gentle rosy notes of red apples here, displaying good fullness and lovely acidity, finishing with dry gentle intensity. Very fine.

2011 Alejandro Fernandez Tinto Pesquera, courtesy of LF at Glen, 11 Aug 2017. Great lifted earthy pungency on the nose with a good expanse of rose petals, camphor and ripe cherries on the palate, slim in profile, well-structured with subdued tannins but short.

1982 La Rioja Alta S.A. Gran Riserva 904, courtesy of LF at Glen, 11 Aug 2017. Gentle open bouquet of red fruits and cedar that evoked a lovely feminine fragrance, highly supple, still retaining excellent concentration, acidity and length. Very fine.

1982 Faustina V Rioja, courtesy of LF at Glen, 11 Aug 2017. Good colour, exuding a gentle bouquet of cedar, cinnamon and other tertiary characters, displaying good presence with gentle sweetness and fine acidity, quite rounded and seamless but lacking in  character.

2000 Malescot St Exupery, courtesy of LF at Glen, 11 Aug 2017. Great colour, open with a lovely lifted fragrance along with some very attractive earthy pungency that immediately suggests a wine of subtle intensity, seamless with very fine detail and excellent depth of glorious dark berries, rounded and fleshy, finishing with excellent linearity. Excellent.

1996 Krug, popped and poured at Chef Kang’s on 18 Aug 2017, courtesy of the newly-anointed one-Michelin start chef himself !! Very lovely bouquet, boasting deep a yeasty pungency with toast characters as well as honeysuckle that produced some lovely intensity, filled with a broad expanse of crème de la crème, rich citrus and clear crystalline minerality on the open palate with good complexity, just a little short. Excellent.

2012 Joseph Drouhin Criots-Batard-Montrachet Grand Cru, courtesy of Vic, popped and poured at Chef Kang’s, 18 Aug 2017. Closed on the nose at this stage, though almonds, white flowers, incense and paraffin tease the palate with sublime acidity, fleshing out beautifully with superb fullness after some time, developing a further dash of ferrous minerals that produced a stern trace, finishing with exotic spices. Excellent. Drunk way too young now, of course, but it is great knowing there is so much wonderful potential from this highly limited bottling.

2001 Mount Mary Quintet, courtesy of Hiok, popped and poured at Chef Kang’s, 18 Aug 2017. Delicious dark berries and dark currants fill the nose and palate, infused with an attractive minerally tone and some gentle earthiness, open, rounded and fleshy, just missing in real complexity which is somewhat unusual for a mature Mount Mary. Also a tad short at the finish. Nevertheless, I’m still a great fan of what is probably Australia’s best cabernet blend.

2007 Ch Ducru Beaucaillou, courtesy of Professor F, popped and poured at Chef Kang’s, 18 Aug 2017. Deep in colour. Open and rounded with good concentration, becoming more plummy and fuller over time with a hint of tea leaves amidst dryish textures and a hint of enamel that left an impression of feminine intensity, its lack of opulence and layering betraying the weak vintage.

1990 Ch Lagrange, popped and poured at Chef Kang’s, 18 Aug 2017. Deep purple. Surprisingly reticent on the nose, taking a long time to develop just a mild complexity, though the abundance of dark currants and ripe wild berries on the palate is apparent right from the outset, open and rounded, slightly dryish, displaying good presence with sweet subtle tannins but underwhelming, lacking opulence and charm, finishing short. I’d expected more, really.

1990 Ch Les Ormes de Pez, courtesy of KP Hui, popped and poured at Chef Kang’s, 18 Aug 2017. Effusive lifted aromas of fresh dark cherries and dark fruits, well replicated on the palate with a smoky dry tarry quality, very lithe and supple, open and delicious with great presence and superb integration.

1989 Ch Brane Cantenac, courtesy of Jing Jih, popped and poured at Chef Kang’s, 18 Aug 2017. This wine exudes delicious cool ripe berries, gentle with open dryish textures and lovely presence, its feminine stance reinforced by silky tannins and subtle detail, very well integrated. Quite the epitome of a wine from Margaux commune.

1986 Ch Cos D’Estournel, courtesy of WCY, popped and poured at Chef Kang’s, 18 Aug 2017. Dark in colour and tone, still rich in dark berries and delicious black fruits at its core that produced some lovely intensity amidst textures of dry tea leaves, distinctly feminine now, still retaining excellent acidity, just a tad short. Excellent, by any standard.

2009 Rockford Black Shiraz, popped and poured at Chef Kang’s, 18 Aug 2017. Deep purple with lifted aromas of bold ripe Barossa fruit, layered with excellent presence and depth, displaying that characteristic liquored after-note that makes this sparkling shiraz so appealing. Excellent.

2012 Didier Dagaeneau Buisson Renard, from the list of Bistrot du Sommelier, Singapore, 22 Aug 2017. Closed with just the faintest hint of morning dew, developing more creamy tones over time before exploding with lovely complex of crisp white citrus and bright minerals with a generous sprinkling of bell pepper and gentle exotic spices, displaying excellent depth with great acidity and fine intensity, finishing with a minty glow. Excellent.

2012 Jacques Prieur Beaune Champs-Pimont 1er from the list of Bistrot du Sommelier, Singapore, 22 Aug 2017. Expectedly darker in tone from this source, this wine is generous in ripe dark berries, quite fleshy, eventually producing a wonderful plummy tone of great brilliance and intensity with superb acidity, finishing well. Great stuff!

2000 Ch Grand-Puy-Lacoste, decanted on-site at Bistrot du Sommelier, Singapore, 22 Aug 2017. Superb earthy pungency here, richly layered with evolving dark fruits and mocha, rounded and fleshy with a firm minerally tone amidst some cigar box dryness and gentle secondary nuances, slightly tarry, structured with supple svelte tannins. Still yet to peak. Excellent.

2009 Ch Bernadotte, popped and poured at Ka-Soh, 24 Aug 2017. Showing much better than a previous bottle tasted earlier this year, this wine carries good concentration of ripe dark berries, blackcurrants and cedar and some exotic spices, displaying good secondary development with some biting intensity towards the finish, well integrated, still showing traces of wood. A poor man’s Pichon Lalande.

2005 Carpineto Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Riserva, popped and poured at Otto Ristorante, 31 Aug 2017. Deep ruby red, exuding mild earthy tones with layers of dark and red fruits, toast, violets and blackcurrants with a graphite trace of unprecedented richness, structured with tightly knit sexy tannins, showing some secondary development. Beautifully ripe and delicious, caught at a most exciting phase. Excellent.