2004 Domaine Romanée-Conti Bâtard-Mont 1990 Pichon Baron, 1998 Penfolds Grange, 1934 Murrieta Castillo Ygay Logroño Rioja, 1993 Leroy Vosne-Romanée Les Beau Monts, 1985 Château Haut-Brion, 1988 Krug Brut

The usual suspects kicked off the New Year with a bang at Imperial Treasure Great World on 20 January 2022. “Great Wines” was the theme…

2008 Champagne Bollinger La Grande Année Brut. Pale. Rich lifted bouquet of lime, tangy citrus and tropical fruits bathed in  fresh morning dew. Full-bodied, displaying lovely tension and intensity with fine detail tinged with minerally austerity amid overtones of flint and gun smoke. Fleshed out with juicy depth and creamy smoothness after some time, maintaining great precision.

1988 Champagne Krug Brut, courtesy of LF. Distinctly mature on the nose, exuding nutty characters and burnt ends. Almost pungent. Still amazingly fresh and full, gently caressing the palate with refined soft bubbles. Open with quiet intensity, displaying regal presence. One is really drinking its distilled essence.

2019 Shaw & Smith Adelaide Hills M3 Chardonnay, courtesy of Kieron. Aired for two hours in advance. Tasted blind. Pale. Profusion of cool tones on the nose while the medium-bodied palate is imbued with white fruits and citrus that exude sheer delicate intensity on a velvety bed of white tones with fine tension and superb precision, lingering with a soft glow of nutmeg at the finish. Everyone thought it was either Coche-Dury or Roulot. Shows real class and sophistication.

2004 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru, courtesy of Sir Bob. Luminous golden hue, proffering a recessed chalkiness with an unusual note of fluoride that lead to a placid expanse of cool tones on the palate. Surprisingly soft, medium weight, fleshing out with ripe tones of yellow fruit before giving way to a full classic Puligny chalkiness underpinned by an unique salinity. Normally available only for tasting within the cellars of D.R.C. (ie. never for sale), Aubert de Villaine had gifted a bottle to Sir Bob. What a privilege!

1993 Domaine Leroy Vosne-Romanée Les Beau Monts 1er, courtesy of Sir Bob. Lovely colour with a slight crimson rim, exuding a lovely fragrance of crushed red fruits, haw and rose petals. Open and seamlessly structured with superb understated intensity, displaying a rich mid-palate of ferrous elements and minerals tinged with a dash of saline. Caught at its peak and will last for many more years. Outstanding.

1990 Château Pichon Longueville Baron. Deep garnet. Still astonishingly fresh and full with a juicy suppleness though its innate masculinity is evident, imbued with a superb density of black fruits and dark currants that ran deep into its core, yielding fine inner detail though its Pauillac character is less immediately obvious.

1998 Penfolds Grange, courtesy of Kieron. Deep impenetrable purple. Its New World trait is immediately obvious, characterised by forward density of dark currants, black fruits and raspberries still yet to shake off its coat of varnish and enamel. Full-bodied, displaying sweet plummy tones with a juicy velvety suppleness. Powerfully structured with controlled hedonism, yet pliant enough. Quite impeccably proportioned and balanced. Worthy of its reputation but still far from peaking.

1985 Château Haut-Brion, courtesy of Vic. Deep purple, exuding a classic glow of capsicum, haw, herbal elements, currants and dark cherries only possible from a well-aged claret. Equally captivating on the velvety palate where vibrant cool ripe fruit and dark rosy characters dominate with amazing freshness and seamless integration, seemingly younger than its age. I’d thought it to be a ’95. What lovely maturity! At its peak, and will hold.

1934 Marqués de Murrieta Castillo Ygay Logroño Especial Rioja, courtesy of LF. Good colour. Clearly aged with a really rustic Old World heaviness but still imbued with a full expanse of warm ripe fruit that is distinctly sweet and pruny, its acidity still unexpectedly robust amid overtones of traditional medicated powder. Into its eighty-eighth year, and still holding on. Amazing!