Mar 2021: 2004 Latour, 2007 Tignanello, 2015 Leeuwin Estate Art Series Chardonnay, 1998 Pichon Longueville Comtesse Lalande, 1996 Leoville Las-Cases, 2007 Suduiraut, 2005 Bouchard Vos-Romanée Malconsorts, 2011 Duroche Charmes-Chambertin…

2019 Louis Jadot Mâcon-Villages. Popped and poured at home, 01 Mar 2021. Cool clean icing and vanillin on the nose with a dash of morning dew and fresh grassy elements. Highly poised and collected on the medium-full palate, laced with understated acidity and intensity of ripe orchard fruit. Superbly proportioned and quite seamlessly integrated without calling attention to itself. Whereas the excellent 2017 blazes with chiseled white tones, the 2019 is all about regal elegance. Most excellent.

2007 Domaine Joseph Drouhin Beaune Clos des Mouches 1er Rouge. Popped and poured at Burlamacco Ristorante (Stanley St) on 04 Mar 2021. Well-evolved rusty red, proffering raspberries, ripe wild berries and bramble on the nose and palate with fair abundance. Shows excellent fullness and layering, exuding sweet overtones of herbal elements, mocha and licorice amid dark plummy tones, a little thin towards the finish at first though it eventually fleshed out very well with a passing burliness that suits its origin. At its drinking best.

Champagne Leon Launois Brut Cuvée Réservée NV. Popped and poured over dimsum at Jade Palace, 07 Mar 2021. Excellent presence of intense clear citrus on an understated chalky base that saturate the palate with fine clarity, layering and minerally depth. Still tight.

2007 Antinori Tignanello. Double-decanted for ninety minutes at home before bringing over to Corner Grill, 09 Mar 2021. Darkly coloured. Deep plummy nose with sweet overtones and traces of ash. Open with lovely fullness, imbued with very fine presence of warm ripe berries, dark cherries and currants framed by relaxed sweet supple tannins that impart silky smooth textures, displaying excellent balance and grip as it tapered to dryish finish. Approaching its peak.

2006 Champagne Perrier-Jouët Belle Epoque Rosé, courtesy of LF at Imperial Treasure Great World, 11 Mar 2021. Tangerines, peaches and grapefruit on the nose, highly effusive and aromatic. Beautifully open with refined acidity and a rounded dry intensity, mellowing after some time to reveal excellent presence of cool fruit that lingered long after its finish. Excellent.

2008 Champagne Pol Roger, courtesy of Raymond at Imperial Treasure Great World, 11 Mar 2021. Highly attractive bouquet of citrus fruits and bitter lemon amid a soft yeasty pungency. Slightly steely on the palate as its dry minerally presence took hold with fine precision, aided by excellent clarity and acidity that developed into a lovely crystalline glow within the expanse of white fruits. Excellent.

1996 Pahlmeyer Chardonnay, courtesy of Sir Bob. Decanted on-site at Imperial Treasure Great World, 11 Mar 2021. Deeply coloured, proffering a faint whiff of mandarins while the palate is softly layered with apricot and cool tones that oozed with some sweetness, displaying excellent presence with fine acidity and intensity that culminated in a minty glow with a trace of minerally glare. Just past its prime.

2006 Kistler Stone Flat Vineyard, courtesy of Sir Bob. Decanted on-site at Imperial Treasure Great World, 11 Mar 2021. Quite effusive in its burnished perfumed floral fragrance, forwardly balanced and full with some juicy sweetness amidst dominant ferrous elements. Well integrated but a tad short.

2015 Leeuwin Estate Art Series Chardonnay, courtesy of Sir Bob. Decanted on-site at Imperial Treasure Great World, 11 Mar 2021. Pale. Forward nose of peaches and tropical fruits. Medium-full. Wonderfully lithe, elegant and rounded. Imbued with cool fruit and delicate textures that yielded fine detail and freshness. Beautifully proportioned and poised with impeccable balance. Very Burgundian. Superb.

2015 Domaine Ponsot Saint-Romain Cuvée de la Mesange, courtesy of Raymond at Imperial Treasure Great World, 11 Mar 2021. Full presence of chiseled chalky minerals topped with icing amid a certain oiliness, displaying superb density of citrus fruit with open clarity and detail. Excellent.

2016 Meerlust Rubicon. Aired in bottle for three hours prior at Imperial Treasure Great World, 11 Mar 2021. Purplish with a hint of evolution. Well layered with very fine presence of raspberries and currants, displaying great balance and superb acidity, just a tad forward.

2000 Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste. Aired in bottle for three hours prior at Imperial Treasure Great World, 11 Mar 2021. Reductive tones dominate with a lovely earthy pungency. Open with classic Bordeaux textures, not quite as dry as northern Pauillac can be but positively glowing with superb presence of delicious rounded black fruit. Quite glorious.

2005 Bouchard Père et Fils Vosne-Romanée Aux Malconsorts 1er, courtesy of Kieron at Imperial Treasure Great World, 11 Mar 2021. Crimson. Open with a lovely fullness of ripe red fruits. Highly supple and refined, superbly integrated and balanced with fresh acidity. Distinctly feminine, as is usual with Bouchard. Very beautifully nuanced.

2011 Domaine Duroche Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru, courtesy of LF at Imperial Treasure Great World, 11 Mar 2021. Deeply coloured with a lovely lift of haw and rose petals, a perfect complement to the layered expanse of sweet red fruits and red plums underscored by a deeper vein of darker fruit that added further dimension. Excellent.

2015 Domaine Coquard-Loison-Fleurot Échezeaux Grand Cru, courtesy of LF at Imperial Treasure Great World, 11 Mar 2021. Clear ruby. Dominant minty tones on the nose. The palate is richly imbued with an excellent expanse of gloriously ripe fruit that exude a lush velvety warmth with youthful verve. Exciting stuff but I’d wait for several more years.

Champagne Bollinger R.D. 2004, courtesy of Russ at Yoshi, 13 Mar 2021. Delicate clear yellow citrus dominate amid traces of green fruits, gently seducing the senses whilst the palate is richly layered with superb intensity and definition of fruit that exude great clarity and lift, laced with sublime acidity and a hint of cordite, developing a rounded glow of crème de la crème over time. Outstanding.

2012 Domaine Joseph Drouhin Puligny-Montrachet Les Folatières 1er at Yoshi, 13 Mar 2021. Beautifully delicate on the nose, proffering gentle notes of chalk and floral elements with a dash of citrus. More expansive and weighty on the palate where its rich creamy smooth texture is supported by a lovely glowing depth with just the right degree of intensity. Drouhin, as usual, is very correctly nuanced. Excellent.

2013 Domaine Roulot Auxey-Duresses 1er, courtesy of Russ at Yoshi, 13 Mar 2021. Classic Roulot signature of high-toned clear citrus that pierce the senses with extreme focus and intensity, fleshing out with further expanse of white tones laced with sleek acidity. Excellent potential, though still rather tight at this stage.

2005 Domaine Fourrier Gevrey-Chambertin Les Cherbaudes Vieilles Vigne 1er, courtesy of Russ at Yoshi, 13 Mar 2021. Evolved with secondary characteristics of mature red fruits that exude a delicious fragrance with quiet intensity, gently layered on a deeper streak of dark fruits with further notes of haw and a dash of earthiness. Very beautifully nuanced.

2008 Château Guadet. Popped and poured at Yoshi, 13 Mar 2021. Deep ruby. Surprisingly complex bouquet of mocha, diesel, earth, dark fruits and currants. Medium-full. Beautifully sleek with a rounded suppleness, flashing an intense acidic streak that gave way to warm velvety tones, showing good balance though it tapered off quite abruptly towards the finish.

2016 Le Petit Haut Lafitte, popped and poured at home over two days 15-16 Mar 2021. Quite deeply coloured, carrying enough weight and supple presence of raspberries, dark plums, briar and ripe wild berries that open with fine agility to reveal chewy gritty detail, imparting a mouth-puckering imprint. Measures up to its grand vin.

2007 Château Suduiraut, a half-bottle popped and poured at Ka Soh on 20 Mar 2021 to go with the Chinese food rather than treating it as a dessert wine. Quite heavily coloured. Effusive in dense apricot, burnt sugar, nectarine and grapefruit with some diesel overtones. Lightened up slightly with a more even tone, displaying excellent acidity and refined intensity with controlled proportions and sweetness, eventually firming up with full gleaming presence. Excellent.

2017 Domaine Jean-Philippe Fichet Bourgogne Vieilles Vignes. Popped and poured at home, 21 Mar 2021. Rather lightly-coloured and restrained. More forthcoming on the palate where delicate high-toned clear citrus dominate amid equally bright minerally elements with a deft touch within a rather narrow spectrum of flavours, though seemingly tight. Whereas this used to be a hugely exuberant bourgogne blanc, the overall impression now is one of reluctance. Let’s hope it’s just going through an awkward phase.

2011 Champagne Pierre Peters Cuvée Spéciale Les Chétillons. Popped and poured at Empire, 24 Mar 2021. Pale. Generous lifted aromas of clear citrus with white incense. Possesses excellent freshness and zest with a lovely fullness and intensity, imbued with subtle minerally elements amid the refined acidity and crisp bubbles that coat the palate with fine definition. Perhaps my best encounter of this vintage of Les Chétillons.

2015 Vega-Sicilia Tinto Valbuena 5^o, courtesy of Hiok. Popped and poured at Empire, 24 Mar 2021. Deep opaque purple, proffering broad swathes of vanillin and enamel though, surprisingly, only medium-full on the palate where its open fleshiness was quite engaging, aided by sleek acidity and fine linearity as it tapered to a quiet finish. Not ready.

1999 Château Quinault L’Enclos, courtesy of KP. Popped and poured at Empire, 24 Mar 2021. Deep garnet core. Still rather minty and mentholic on the nose though highly supple and open with quite an even tone on the medium-bodied palate.

1998 Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande, courtesy of WCY. Popped and poured at Empire, 24 Mar 2021. Dark crimson. Absolutely beguiling on the nose where feminine aromas of red fruits and tertiary characters dominate with a soft effusive earthiness, exuding a lovely supple presence with a gentle layered depth, showing great balance and seamless integration with a classic vegetal tinge that is so highly characteristic of Pichon Lalande (though there isn’t any petit verdot in this vintage), only marred by a short finish. But nobody is complaining given that this wine has so much to offer. Beautiful. Caught at its peak.

2004 Château Ducru Beaucaillou. Aired in bottle for 2-3 hours in advance at Empire, 24 Mar 2021. Deep purplish hue. Surprisingly reticent on the nose and medium-bodied palate where the fruit is set slightly backwards, resulting in a narrower presence. Well balanced but rather nondescript with not much depth too, eventually fleshing out in the glass with some velvetiness though it remained unconvincing. Disappointing.

1996 Château Leoville Las-Cases, courtesy of Vic. Popped and poured at Empire, 24 Mar 2021. Deep garnet red with a crimson rim. Suave presence of predominant red fruits amid traces of green capsicum with an attractive pungency, exuding a warm supple ripeness within a frame of sweet velvety tannins. Quite richly layered though it doesn’t exert any kind of lush succulence, preferring to tease the medium-full palate with fleeting depth and deft intensity. Excellent.

2004 Château Latour, courtesy of The Professor. Decanted on-site at Empire, 24 Mar 2021. Deep garnet red, exerting a warm ripeness and supple fullness. Quite richly layered with sweet undertones, open with lovely balance and seamless integration. Not the most profound nor structured of Latour but it is drinking beautifully.

2016 Serafini & Vidotto Il Rosso dell’Abazia. Aired in bottle for four hours prior at home, 28 Mar 2021. This is showing so much better than a previous bottle last month, now correctly nuanced and balanced in its abundance of black fruits and dark currants tinged with a hint of haw, adequately supple, displaying some inner detail of crushed raspberries with fine structure and intensity. Drinking well but it really needs plenty of time.

2012 Château Moulin Saint-Georges. Aired in bottle for three hours prior to dinner at Corner Grill, 30 Mar 2021. Predominance of dark fruits, somewhat reticent but ample on the palate, displaying excellent concentration with a slight velvety tinge. Well integrated with sleek acidity and structure, carrying a distinct dash of heat at first in spite of all that aeration before gelling together after four hours, revealing detailed red plums with an open chewy intensity. Good finish but still not ready. Wait another 5-8 years, at least.