1982 Pichon Longueville Comtesse Lalande, 2003 Joseph Drouhin Musigny Grand Cru, 1990 Léoville Las-Cases, 1990 Margaux, 2010 Jean-Marc Millot Échezeaux Grand Cru 2015 Faiveley Échezeaux Grand Cru

Dr Ngoi hosted a small party to celebrate SKY’s birthday on 12 September 2021. No theme was planned but the resulting line-up confirms my view that forward planning isn’t quite necessary amongst like-minded wine lovers. Many happy returns, SKY!

2000 Champagne Pommery cuvée Louise Rosé. Fairly deep aromas of burnt toast and walnuts, showing good lift of tangy citrus and cool icing with fine clarity and acidity. Fleshed out with superb length and attractive dry intensity.

2017 Hospices de Beaune Meursault-Charmes 1er Cuvée de Bahèzre de Lanlay. Poured from magnum. Pale. Cool icing and vanillin dominate on the nose amid overtones of steamed rice. Opens with gentle delicate tones and a bit of sharp acidity before fleshing out with a lovely rounded intensity of white tones imbued with an oily density, showing early complexity. Vinified by Bouchard, this wine is set for a glorious future.

2015 Domaine Faiveley Échezeaux Grand Cru, courtesy of Dr Ngoi. Superb pinot tint. Delicious glow of red fruits and cherries with a bare tinge of earth, giving way to a slight prominence of understated minerals after some time. Rounded with subtle intensity and sublime acidity. Beautifully integrated.

2010 Earl Jean-Marc Millot Échezeaux Grand Cru, courtesy of Dr Ngoi. Slightly evolved pinot tint. Quite a profusion of haw and red fruits tinged with a touch of salinity. Rather full. Well-structured with fine intensity on an earthy base, gradually developing a lovely purity of tone as it sat in the glass. Excellent.

2003 Domaine Joseph Drouhin Musigny Grand Cru, courtesy of Dato’. This wine opens with a lovely deep bouquet of ripe raspberries and darker fruits amid characters of paraffin. Rounded with very fine sophistication and detail, showing great integration and balance without any hint of that vintage’s heatwave, its tannins having melted long ago. Excellent.

1990 Château Léoville Las-Cases. Aired in bottle for three hours prior. Dark crimson. Dominant note of capsicum and dark fruits on the nose. Medium weight. Layered with fine depth and subtle intensity, showing great balance and integration. Still youthful. My third bottle in six months from the same case, with consistent notes.

And just when we thought that was it, the star of Eric Khoo’s Be With Me brought out another two bottles and insisted that they were popped. Can’t say no to the birthday boy…

1990 Château Margaux. Popped and poured. Still quite deeply coloured, proffering dominant characters of earth and capsicum amid elusive notes of tobacco, sandalwood and mocha. Superbly lifted, wonderfully fresh with lovely supple verve, exuding exciting velvety detail with a youthful luxurious sheen on the medium-bodied palate. Finished with superb length amid traces of menthol and paraffin. Perfectly balanced. This can still outlast another generation.

1982 Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande. Popped and poured. Still deep garnet, boasting delicious swathes of ripe dark fruits with a suggestion of warm gravel. Medium-full. Still richly layered, underscored by a deep vein of glorious black currants that exude velvety succulence with excellent integration of subtle acidity and melted tannins, displaying superb control and balance. As memorable as a bottle tasted just two months earlier. Outstanding!