Aug 2020: 1999 Château Ducru Beaucaillou, 2017 Heitz-Lochardet Pommard Poutures, 2014 Domaine Faiveley Clos de la Roche, 1999 R Ampeau Auxey-Duresses Ecusseaux, 2017 Bentrock Sandhi Chardonnay…

2019 Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc, poured at home after three hours of aeration on 02 Aug 2020. Pale. Unmistakable soft tangy pungency of sauvignon blanc on the nose, producing excellent dry racy presence and transparency with notes of complex citrus, pomelo and a hint of peppermint. Very well-integrated with fine precision and layered with gentle intensity, finishing with good persistence. Great value.

Champagne Leon Launois Cuvée Réservée Brut NV, popped and poured at Crab at Bay, 07 Aug 2020. My second bottle in as many months. Excellent concentration of yellow citrus tinged with white smoke and pomelo that exerted very fine intensity and acidity within a sheen of smooth bubbles. Contrasted  very well against a relatively austere minerally base. Great value.

2009 Carpineto Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Reserva, drunk at home after a two-hour aeration with pork cheeks and foie gras, 09 Aug 2020. This wine has softened considerably, now a tad mellower and more open, revealing an abundance of red currants, dark plummy fruit and ripe wild berries with good inner detail, structured with pliant tannins that are almost velvety in tone as it finished with overtones of mocha and dark chocolate.

1999 Château Ducru Beaucaillou, decanted on-site over lunch at Bedrock Bar & Grill, 10 Aug 2020. Dull purple with a dusty rim, exuding a dark rosy-hued fragrance evoking ripe dark cherries, raspberries and mulberries with a laid back sur-maturite. Medium-full. Possesses very fine understated intensity and acidity, revealing fine inner detail of earthy gritty graphite minerals as it finished with traces of dried mushrooms and medicinal powder. Drinking very well, just missing in outright charm and opulence as expected for this vintage.

2017 Domaine du Roc des Boutires Pouilly-Fuissé, popped and poured at Ka Soh, 15 Aug 2020. Intense white tones, vanillin and clear citrus on the nose amid diesel undertones. Shows excellent concentration, linearity and length with superb zest and freshness, developing lovely delicate intensity over time along with subtle characters of tropical fruits. Quite excellent.

2018 Domaine du Roc des Boutires Pouilly-Fuissé Aux Bouthieres. Poured from magnum at Tunglok Signatures, 16 Aug 2020. Lovely luminosity. Fairly sharp intense bouquet of white floral tones and chalk though only medium-bodied, displaying tight chalkiness and graphite minerals topped with a dash of crème on a backdrop of relaxed fruit that limited its expanse initially, eventually opening up to reveal subdued detail as it developed greater body with a rounded presence of delicate citrus. Not quite ready. I think the 2016 was better off the starting blocks.

2017 Hospices de Beaune Meursault-Charmes Cuvée Bahèzre de Lanlay 1er, courtesy of Dr Ngoi. Poured from magnum at Tunglok Signatures, 16 Aug 2020. Rich in fruit with an immediacy of coconut, bananas and frangipani. Medium-bodied. Very well layered with lovely depth and detailed nuances of tropical fruit that transcended the palate with good transparency and gentle intensity.

2014 Chateau de Puligny Montrachet Puligny-Montrachet Folatieres 1er, courtesy of Grace. Poured from magnum at Tunglok Signatures, 16 Aug 2020. Good clarity on the nose and palate with distinct minty overtones. Medium-full, imbued with refreshing citrus underscored by a dash of ferrous minerals that imparted subdued intensity throughout its length, finishing on a slightly spicy note.

2008 Domaine Thibert Père et Fils Pouilly-Fuissé Les Champs, courtesy of Vic. Poured from magnum at Tunglok Signatures, 16 Aug 2020. Dryish nose of recessed chalk. Open with a light touch that conferred great clarity with a fleeting sense of intense citrus on a base of ferrous minerals, displaying cool rounded presence with some early maturity.

Champagne Grande Siècle NV at Tunglok Signatures, 16 Aug 2020. Unusual minty nose of fluoride. Open with an evenly-toned minerally detail amid dry gentle bubbles within a narrow spectrum of flavours against a backdrop of understated yellow citrus.

2004 Champagne Alexandra Grande Cuvée Rose, courtesy of MH at Tunglok Signatures, 16 Aug 2020. This offering from Maison Laurent-Perrier is rather deeply coloured, proffering a slightly burnished tone of tangerines that lit the dryish palate with a distilled orangey glow amid gentle minty and yeasty overtones, draped with very fine soft bubbles.

2008 Champagne Cassy Cuvée Sophistiquée, courtesy of C J at Tunglok Signatures, 16 Aug 2020. Cool refreshing mint. Quite full on the palate with a predominance of white tones, displaying lovely dryness and integration with excellent concentration of fruit albeit within a narrow spectrum, exerting a silky smooth intensity.

1988 Joseph Drouhin Vosne-Romanée Les Beaumonts 1er at Tunglok Signatures, 16 Aug 2020. Rather opaque, almost murky, proffering good density of mature red fruits and dark plums on a medium-bodied palate. Still laced with fined acidity though the fruit is clearly fading.

2006 Champagne Perrier-Jouët Rosé, courtesy of LF at Tunglok Signatures, 16 Aug 2020. Quite deeply coloured, delivering overtones of mandarins and orangey flavours delivered within a superbly rounded body that is beautifully soft and supple in spite of its fullness and intensity. Still youthful.

2017 Domaine Heitz-Lochardet Pommard Clos des Poutures 1er monopole, courtesy of Mr Hariyono at Tunglok Signatures, 16 Aug 2020. Tasted blind. Classic pinot tint, proffering a full rounded gentle bouquet of red fruits and dark plums with traces of incense. Medium-bodied. Beautifully integrated with a lovely feminine warmth and softness, finishing with fine linearity. It’s relative lack of length implied a premier cru but I thought I was tasting a Chambolle-Musigny.

2007 Domaine Jacques Prieur Musigny Grand Cru, courtesy of  C J at Tunglok Signatures, 16 Aug 2020. Darkly, appropriately imbued with dark fruits and plums that exude a slight herbal trace on the nose though this was more pronounced on the palate where some medicinal sweetness was discernible along with a sense of toughness, not helped by the lack of inner detail.

2015 Domaine Mongeard-Mugneret Échezeaux Grand Cru, courtesy of MH at Tunglok Signatures, 16 Aug 2020. Closed. A big wine, tight and brooding now though the abundance of dark raspberries, wild berries and black currants beneath that unsmiling veneer is evident.

1979 Champagne Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin Rosé, courtesy of LF at Tunglok Signatures, 16 Aug 2020. Beautifully evolved in colour, exuding a well-defined accentuated bouquet of tangerines and orangey tones. Still imbued with excellent concentration and intensity within its cloak of dry bubbles, exerting superb freshness and vibrancy with cool refreshing zest that bounced off a bed of bright shiny minerals. Excellent.

2014 Domaine Faiveley Clos de la Roche Grand Cru, courtesy of Sanjay at Tunglok Signatures, 16 Aug 2020. This wine opens with an abundance of red fruits and plums on a classic tarry floor laid with smoldering ember, medium-full, displaying some early evolution as it traversed the palate with fine detail and urgency, finishing with a bit of smoky incense. Drinking very well.

2007 Borgogno Barolo, popped and poured at Venue by Sebastian, 21 Aug 2020. Dark. Substantially weighty and burly, imbued with sweet dark currants and wild berries with a spicy tinge. Developed more plummy tones with better purity after some time, more open and inviting with a hint of red cherries even though its ground minerals imparted some persistent austerity. 

2016 S de Suduiraut Vieilles Vignes, popped and poured at Wah Lok, 22 Aug 2020. Dense, effusive white tones of crème, vanillin and icing from its superb concentration of fruit that recalled peaches with a trace of salinity, traipsing the palate with refined acidity and dry intensity. Settled down after some time with excellent clarity, becoming discernibly more relaxed and a little more minerally. I would drink this while the Ygrec of d’Yquem sleeps, though this wine itself is excellent in its own right. 

2005 Château Sociando-Mallet, aired in bottle for two hours to go with pizza at home, 23 Aug 2020. This wine exudes a classic Haut-Médoc character of dry earthy textures, dark fruits and wild berries. Rather stern and unsmiling, offering only an occasional glimpse of fresh black currants, missing the exuberance and verve of the 2000. 

2000 Château D’Issan, popped and poured at Asia Grand, 27 Aug 2020. Deep delicious bouquet of red currants, raspberries and ripe wild berries with a lovely lift, displaying excellent concentration, intensity and acidity that imparted superb freshness. Developed further notes of Chinese tea leaves after some time with a hint of capsicum and spice amid ferrous undertones, building up to a strong spicy finish with velvety biting detail. Excellent.

1999 Domaine Robert Ampeau Auxey-Duresses 1er Ecusseaux, popped and poured at Otto Ristorante, 29 Aug 2020. Clear deep ruby, exuding a precise very finely detailed bouquet of dark cherries and raspberries tinged with a bit of earthiness, fairly effusive and deep. Highly attractive. Medium-full. Superbly fresh and harmonious, gliding across the palate with very fine acidity that conferred silky smooth textures, developing great suppleness and detail with a wonderful purity of fruit on a base of distinct but subtle earthy minerals, finishing with a lovely bit of charred wood quality. Great stuff!

2017 Domaine de Montille Saint-Aubin En Remilly 1er, popped and poured at Crystal Jade Paragon, 29 Aug 2020. Pale. Good clarity and freshness on the nose and medium-bodied palate with a rather understated delicacy and intensity. Great balance, beautifully placid and elegant. Very refined.

2017 Bentrock Sandhi Santa Rita Hills Chardonnay, courtesy of LF, popped and poured at Crystal Jade Paragon, 29 Aug 2020. Light golden. Gentle lift of distant yellow citrus. Medium-bodied at the first pour, striking a very refined rounded polite elegance that’s almost ethereal, beautifully proportioned and utterly Burgundian. Fleshed out over time, becoming a tad sweeter and creamier with greater fullness and intensity though still retaining good clarity. Excellent.

2011 Pauillac, courtesy of Kieron. Decanted on-site at Crystal Jade Paragon, 29 Aug 2020. Tasted blind. Very deep purple, proffering dark currants within a bright sheen of vanillin and enamel on the nose with specks of bright minerals amid distant dark fruits on the medium-bodied palate, rather unconvincing on the whole. Gelled a lot better after some time as it fleshed out with soft purple fruits and currants tinged with dark plums and licorice, showing true Pauillac character with fair detail. The third wine of Château Latour. 

2009 Kistler Cuvée Catherine, courtesy of Sir Robert. Popped and poured at Crystal Jade Paragon, 29 Aug 2020. Purplish, tinged with a hint of early evolution. Quite effusive in gluey resinous hues with a lovely fragrance. Dark, fleshy and highly supple with a dominance of dark currants and black fruits, suitably intense but well balanced, still yet to shake off its trace of enamel.

2018 Coldstream Hills Chardonnay, drunk at home after being aired in bottle for two hours, 30 Aug 2020. Pale. Rather shy on the nose though there is a very fine concentration of delicate yellow citrus and crisp acidity that stings the medium-bodied palate with focused intensity within a fairly narrow spectrum of flavours balanced by a subtle ferrous tone, showing good transparency. 

Champagne Veuve Clicquot Rosé, popped and poured at Bedrock Bar & Grill, 31 Aug 2020. Light orangey hue. Good concentration of hazelnuts, dried apricot, orange peel and bark that blazed across the palate with bright dry intensity within a narrow spectrum. Softer and more relaxed after some time, fleshing out with a deeper burnished tone amid traces of austere minerals.