Feb 2018: 2009 Comte Lafon Meursault Genevriere, 2015 Montille Saint-Romain, 2001 Cos D’Estournel, 1976 Pichon Lalande

2015 Domaine Roulet L’Etoile (courtesy of The Vintage Club) popped and poured at Ming Kee Live Seafood, Feb 9, 2018. Not to be confused with the much sought-after Domaine Roulot of Meursault, this wine offers generous tones of chalk, crème and green fruits with good concentration and presence, developing some earthiness with minerally tones after some time, becoming more transparent though, essentially, this is a straightforward wine.

2007 Val di Suga Brunello di Montalcino, popped and poured at Osteria Art, Feb 10, 2018. Vermilion, proffering bright red fruits, plums and dark currants on the nose, ripe and fleshy on the palate with well-integrated chewy tannins, displaying good concentration and detail, developing some gentle intensity over time as it built towards a long glowing spicy finish. Quite excellent.

2001 Ch Cos D’Estournel, decanted on-site at Bedrock Bar & Grill, Feb 12, 2018. Deep inky black. Restraint at first, though its layers of rich black fruits, black currants and dark plums are evident, opening up eventually to reveal superb depth and layering amidst subtle acidity, framed by delicious sweet tightly-knit supple tannins supported by a cedary floor, almost savoury with growing intensity, finishing with a dark minty glow. Superb but still yet to peak. From a half dozen imported from Bordeaux Index London.

2012 Carpineto Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Riserva, popped and poured at Imperial Treasure Fine Teochew Cuisine, 14 Feb 2018. Dark purple, exuding heavier tones of dark plums, raspberries and dark wild berries amidst earthy textures and dusty tannins, showing very good concentration and structure, just slightly gruff in character. Needs further cellaring.

2004 Domaine Paul Aine Jaboulet Chevalier de Sterimberg, popped and poured at Otto Ristorante, Feb 15, 2018. Aged crème, icing and recessed chalky notes with earthy minerals on the nose, quite rich, lighting up the palate with a gleaming tone, showing good concentration, fine intensity and detail with good transparency amidst overtones of paraffin, producing an unique lift at its dry glowing persistent finish. Rhone whites are value buys. Excellent.

2010 Chateau du Moulin, at the family Reunion Dinner on the eve of Lunar New Year, Feb 15, 2018. This wine from Puisseguin, Saint-Emilion, possesses ripe dark berries with traces of burnt amidst overtones of cedar, wood and undergrowth. Agreeable but unremarkable.

2012 Merryvale cabernet sauvignon (courtesy of the late Jenny Tan Bin Hwee), Feb 16, 2018 over dinner with the family on Lunar New Year. Deep purple. Rich in ripe black fruits and dark currants on the nose and palate, layered with understated intensity, just a shade forward in balance which actually works very well for this Californian. Very fine.

2006 Ch Malartic Lagraviere, popped and poured at Gattopardo, Feb 19, 2018. Dark delicious aromas of cedar, dark currants and ripe berries. Open, rounded and fleshy with fine acidity and subdued minerals, hinting at tea leaves with a bit of dark plums amidst earthy textures and very fine gritty tannins, revealing some early complexity. Excellent.

2009 Domaine des Comte Lafon Meursault Genevriere 1er (courtesy of Roger Lum), popped and poured after some aeration at Imperial Treasure Great World, Feb 21, 2018. Superb generous bouquet of crystalline minerals, creme and chalky notes, matched by wonderful depth of fruit and layering on the palate amidst gentle saline tones and understated intensity that produced a most lovely bloom, finishing with a powerful glow of stony minerals that lingered with great persistence long after the finish. Utterly sophisticated. Outstanding.

2006 Domaine Anne Gros Clos-Vougeot Grand Cru Le Grand Maupertui (courtesy of Fatty) poured after some aeration at Imperial Treasure Great World, Feb 21, 2018. Darkish with some evolution, this wine exuded a delicious ripe bouquet of predominant dark fruits and berries, quite racy in its focused intensity, tightly structured with attractive sweet tannins, revealing some emerging complexity as it drew to a lengthy spicy glowing finish. Superb.

2007 Domaine Pierre Amiot Clos-Saint-Denis Grand Cru, poured after some aeration at Imperial Treasure Great World, Feb 21, 2018. The bouquet here is most attractive where deep delicious notes of camphor, rose petals and strawberries dominate. Somewhat narrow on the palate at first but it eventually opened up well with good purity of bright red fruits amidst dominant saline tones though lacking true depth, finishing with traces of graphite.

2010 Lucien Le Moine Bonnes-Mares Grand Cru (courtesy of Alvin Seah), poured after some aeration at Imperial Treasure Great World, Feb 21, 2018. Delicious, proffering generous aromas of dark cherries and dark currants, slightly earthy with overtones of paraffin, excellent in presence and acidity with some early development, turning brighter in tone over time as it opened up to reveal excellent depth and layering with predominant saline minerals emerging.

2009 Domaine Louis Jadot Chambolle-Musigny Les Feusselottes 1er (courtesy of Fatty), poured after some aeration at Imperial Treasure Great World, Feb 21, 2018. Very correct in pinot tint with a lovely soft core of red fruits and tangerines amidst earthy textures topped with gentle ferrous minerals, still rather tightly coiled as it caressed the palate with gentle raw intensity.

Ruinart Blanc de Blancs NV (courtesy of LF), tasted 23 Feb 2018 at SS ENT. Full-bodies, dry with abundant lime, pomelo and bitter lemon, displaying good lift and bloom.

2008 Louis Latour Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru (courtesy of LF), tasted 23 Feb 2018 at SS ENT. Shy. More minerally on both nose and palate, proffering high crystalline tones with recessed notes of tropical fruits, displaying good presence and balance with early complexity amidst stony minerals and traces paraffin, tight towards the finish with fine intensity.

2009 Kistler Sonoma Coast Kistler Vineyard (courtesy of LF), tasted 23 Feb 2018 at SS ENT. Classic New World bouquet of gentle paraffin and icing with a hint of cinnamon and skins, showing good presence and layering with transparent textures amidst overtones of tropical fruit though without true depth.

2004 David Duband Chambolle-Musigny Les Gruenchers (courtesy of LF), tasted 23 Feb 2018 at SS ENT. In spite of its opaque dirty red, this village is simply quite effusive its feminine fragrance of rose petals, showing great fluidity and acidity from a fine presence of dark cherries and earthy minerals, still tightly coiled. Could do with better resolution.

2007 Sylvie Esmonin Gevrey-Chambertin Clos Saint Jacques 1er (courtesy of LF), tasted 23 Feb 2018 at SS ENT. Probably the most restrained of all the five producers of Clos-St-Jacques, this wine is undoubtedly feminine in poise and elegance, though somewhat darkish in colour and tone imparted by the ripe dark fruit, displaying fair intensity but missing in detail and opulence.

2009 Kistler Sonoma Coast Kistler Vineyard Pinot Noir (courtesy of LF), tasted 23 Feb 2018 at SS ENT. Dark deep colour, notably heavier on the palate with a rich tone of ripe dark berries and currants, structured with masculine firm tannins that produced some lovely biting intensity.

2005 Ch Pichon Baron Longueville (courtesy of LF), tasted 23 Feb 2018 at SS ENT. This wine possesses an abundance of ripe dark berries that proffered lifted aromas of dark currants with superb depth of fruit, carrying lithe supple tannins that teased the palate with focused detail amidst earthy tarry tones, glowing with sublime acidity and fine intensity throughout its length. Quite outstanding.

2013 Peter Michael L’Esprit Des Pavots (courtesy of LF), tasted 23 Feb 2018 at SS ENT. Dark deep purple. Medium-full, rounded with ripe sweet berries and attractive earthiness amidst some vegetal trace. Caught at an awkward stage.

2015 Domaine de Montille Saint Romain, popped and poured at Jade Palace, 23 Feb 2018. This wine opened with tentative notes of nutmeg and ginger before unfurling its full canvas of exotic fruit, melons, green fruits and understated minerals with stupendous detail and transparency. Keen finish. Superb value!

1976 Ch Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande, tasted at Daniel Tan’s residence, 25 Feb 2018. Dark in colour with some mild bottle stink amidst some vegetal trace that is a classic hallmark of this estate, still retaining good concentration and acidity, clearing up after some time to reveal notes of cedar, old leather and heated stones with a plummy glow.

1995 Ch Leoville Barton, tasted at Daniel Tan’s residence, 25 Feb 2018. Deep color. Accents of Chinese tea leaves, earth and mushrooms on the nose, undeniably attractive, quite bold and forward in its excellent concentration of dark fruit. Rounded, open and supple with dry textures, just a tad short.