2013 Arnaud Ente Meursault Clos Ambres, 2006 Dom George Roumier Bonnes-Mares, 2001 Marcassin Sonoma, 2002 Clos de Tart, 2004 Chateau Rayas Reserve

Some of us from Bacchus met on 15 May 2018 at Origin at the newly-renovated Shangri-La Singapore where, thanks to Kieron, corkage was completely waived. The original theme was to drink monopole grand crus from Burgundy. However, that got twisted and we ended way off theme, but the eventual line-up still turned out to be absolutely smashing as everyone pulled out the stops. Thank you all for your generosity, as always.

Champagne Pierre Peters Cuvee Resérve Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru NV, from the restaurant list. Dull golden. Lovely bloom, evoking characters of smoke, some incense, generous green melons and delicate citrus, showing great freshness, open on the palate with excellent definition and intensity tinged with sweet pomelo and bitter lemon, exuding a lovely yeasty pungency over time, snapping into sharp focus at the finish. Superb.

2013 Domaine Arnaud Ente Meursault Clos des Ambres, courtesy of LF. What a gorgeous bouquet, effusive in honeyed toast and heated stones with superb lift, most mesmerising. Highly delicate and supple on the palate in spite of its ample fullness, distinctly minerally and rounded, very focused with fine definition, gently layered at first before going on to develop wonderful depth, glowing with traces iron ore at its persistent finish. Truly outstanding. What a privilege to have tasted this rarity, ranked on par with Coche-Dury for Meursault for both quality and pricing. Merci !!

2009 Domaine Henri Boillot Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru, courtesy of Vic, poured from magnum. Rich in concentration of fruit with a clean lift of early aged crème and cool characters of vanillin chalk, slightly reticent at first, eventually developing glorious depth and intensity that produced a superb stinging mouthfeel. Excellent now, and will be outstanding in time to come.

2008 Domaine Ponsot Chapelle-Chambertin Grand Cru, courtesy of Pipin. Deep ruby, exuding intense notes of red fruits and dark cherries tinged with earth, very ripe, amidst a lovely glow of heated stones, open and fleshy with traces of dark undertones. Absolutely superb in concentration and acidity, finishing with great persistence. Excellent.

2005 Domaine Prieure-Roch Chambertin Clos de Beze Grand Cru, courtesy of LF. Deep opague dusty red, as is quite usual for this domaine. The bouquet is superb, forward in camphor and fresh red fruits, conveying great excitement and verve, matched by an abundance of delicious dark currants and ripe dark berries on the highly supple palate, taut with superb focus and linearity as it drew to an intense rounded finish with slight medicinal tones, still remarkably youthful. Outstanding.

2001 Marcassin Sonoma Coast, courtesy of Andre. Dark in color, exuding a superb earthy pungency with tremendous lift, leading to darker but supple tones of raspberries and dark cherries on the palate, gently layered, underscored by a base of ferrous minerals. Highly focused with vivid detail, opening up with a lovely tangerine glow over time, superbly balanced with great elegance and refinement. Outstanding.

2002 Domaine du Clos de Tart Clos de Tart Grand Cru. Deep clear ruby. Absolutely superb in its wonderful bouquet, displaying a deep effusive glow of dark cherries and red fruits, exuding great purity of warm ripe fruit with a deep core of tangerine, structured with exciting tannins on a bed of velvety intensity, utterly seamless. Outstanding.

2006 Domaine George Roumier Bonnes-Mares Grand Cru, courtesy of Kieron. Glorious in color and bouquet, just slightly forward, delivering bold darker tones of ripe raspberries and dark currants on a cedary floor with certain intensity that immediately conveys the classic terroir of Bonnes-Mares. Racy, open, extroverted and supple, carrying just a bare vegetal tinge. Excellent.

2004 Ch Rayas Reserve, courtesy of Andre. Showing some evolution towards vermilion, this wine proffers a superb bouquet of predominant red fruits and tangerines, very lovely in depth, concentration and intensity, yet never heavy on the palate, displaying a certain deftness with great linearity and focus, tightly controlled. Excellent.