2008 Champagne Margaine Villers Marmery 2012 Dujac Vosne-Romanée Malconsorts, 2014 Ramonet Chassagne Clos du Cailleret, 1999 Bonneau Martray Corton-Charlemagne 2007 Bouchard Père et Fils Montrachet, 2002 A. F. Gros Richebourg Grand Cru

A lovely dinner hosted by Sanjay at Shang Palace, Shangri-la Singapore, on 19 April 2024 on a theme of burgundy to go with the exquisite Cantonese cuisine. All the wines were showing well. As per Burgundian tradition, we drank the Montrachet last on its own. Many thanks and many happy returns!

2010 Champagne Corbon Les Bacchantes Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru, courtesy of CJ. Considerably drier and leaner than the preceding champagne, displaying a sleek high-toned linearity from the generous presence of clear citrus, imbued with subtle shades.

2008 Champagne A Margaine Villers-Marmery Blanc de Blancs 1er, courtesy of CJ. Effusive bouquet of dense yellow citrus amid gleaming chalky tones, leading to a vibrant complex of distant floral tones, incense and toast, laced with very fine ferrous elements and superb acidity that exert a lovely dry intensity, displaying refined verve and crystalline clarity. Perfectly balanced. Excellent.

2012 Champagne Dom Pérignon, courtesy of Jimmy. Pale. Clean lift of white fruits and clear citrus with airy after notes that added to its superb freshness, exerting fleeting dry intensity within a sheer sheen of delicate bubbles. Still very primal.

2009 Antoine Jobard Meursault Genevrières 1er. Lovely luminosity. Mildly reductive on the nose, exuding a whiff of pungent durians. Medium-full. Beautifully rounded and sleek, imbued with a very fine powdery texture of vanillin with a gentle splash of crème. Highly alluring and integral with lovely refinement.

1996 Domaine Robert Ampeau Père et Fils Meursault Charmes 1er, courtesy of LF. Luminous golden hue. Slightly steely and reductive on the nose. Appropriately incisive and fullish, displaying chiseled definition. Still amazingly fresh.

1999 Domaine Bonneau du Martray Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru, courtesy of Sanjay. Slightly heavier tint of gold, exuding rounded tones of glazed autumnal fruit with a recessed chalkiness. The medium palate is softly contoured, the fruit and acidity more subdued than anticipated, yielding excellent clarity and transparency with a relaxed, placid character. Very refined but evidently past its prime.

2014 Domaine Jean-Claude Ramonet Chassagne-Montrachet Clos du Cailleret 1er, courtesy of CHS. This monopole opens with a luminous restraint, its floral white tones, nutmeg and distant chalkiness very well integrated with excellent clarity and transparency, yielding refined crystalline detail with cool aristocratic elegance.

1992 Domaine Robert Ampeau Père et Fils Volnay Santenots 1er, courtesy of LF. This wine opens with a delicate complex of mature fruit with overtones of tea leaves, cedar and savoury burnt ends. laced with a slight medicinal tinge. Still lively and fresh, elegantly structured though lean in definition with understated intensity.

2015 Domaine Georges Lignier Morey-Saint-Denis Clos des Ormes 1er. Good colour. Alluring presence of fresh strawberries and cherries that carried well on to the ample medium-full palate with gentle supple intensity, underscored by sleek acidity. Delicious. From a plot downslope of Clos de la Roche Grand Cru but on the “wrong” side of the Route des Grands Crus.

2013 Domaine Jean Grivot Vosne-Romanée Les Beaux Monts 1er, courtesy of Vic. Good colour, exuding a delicious bouquet of dark fruits. Softly contoured and feminine, displaying supple intensity with a bit of sharp attack from the pronounced acidity. A little short and straightforward, probably a function of the vintage.

2012 Domaine Dujac Vosne-Romanée Aux Malconsorts 1er, courtesy of Barrie. Classic pinot tint. This wine seduces with a sleek alluring fragrance of dark rose petals and cherries, delivering a classic rounded Dujac signature palate that is fleshy, velvety and luxuriant with understated supple intensity, imbued with seamless layers of ripe fruit underscored by a darkish vein of ferrous elements. Superb.

2002 Domaine A. F. Gros Richebourg Grand Cru, courtesy of CJ. Mature crimson. Highly aromatic in its profusion of cherries, haw, plums and peaches that seduce with elegant complexity. Fleshy but understated, boasting seamless layers of darkish fruit that flirt with fleeting intensity.

2007 Domaine Bouchard Père et Fils Montrachet Grand Cru, courtesy of Dr Ngoi. Luminous. Cool elegant veneer of white fruits and orchard, only hinting at early complexity in spite of its concentrated presence that teased with pointed sublime acidity and fleeting intensity, delicately weighted and agile. Not quite as opulent or ethereal as the 2011 or 2014 or 2017, but still poised with refined elegance, yielding fine detail. Evolving at a glacial pace.

1990 Château Suduiraut, courtesy of Sanjay. Darkly coloured. This mature Sauternes proffers an alluring sweetness with overtones of rye and medicinal malt, clearly autumnal in tone with understated acidity but still fresh, developing further notes of mature honey and apricot laced with medicinal undertones, becoming weightier over time. Ageing well.