Dec 2024: 2017 Drouhin-Laroze Clos de Bèze 2014 Philippe Chéron Gevrey Clos Varoilles 2017 Claire Naudin Clematis Vitalba

2020 Turkey Flat Shiraz. Tasted at home from 5-9 Dec 2024. Deep garnet, boasting ample swathes of plummy red fruits and currants with a sprinkling of cherries that conceal a subtle sheen of vanillin. Wonderfully lithe and agile in spite of the density of fruit that carried an undertow of stems, beautifully contoured with rounded tannins that add immeasurably to its overall elegance and sophistication. Held up very well throughout those five days.

2017 Claire Naudin Clematis Vitalba. Aired in bottle ahead of dinner at Shang Palace, 09 Dec 2024. Dull golden. Elusive bouquet of high-toned citrus and distant floral hues with a restrained lift. The medium-full palate is imbued with a distinct reductive salinity, highly agile with a delicate balance of lychees and Chinese medicinal notes that morphed together with seamless detail and layering, very correctly nuanced with overtones of glazed honeysuckle. Grows on you.

Champagne Roger Coulon Rosé de Saignée Brut NV, from the list of restaurant Riviera, 10 Dec 2024. Dark orangey hues. Predominance of grapefruit with dry refreshing intensity and subtle minerality, the fruit a little more forward and perfumed over time.

2019 Evening Land Seven Springs Pinot Noir. Aired in bottle ahead of dinner at Bedrock Bar & Grill, 16 Dec 2024. Purplish crimson. Brief swathes of delicious dark cherries and currants from the ample presence of darkish fruit structured with pliant supple tannins, shutting down quite quickly on the nose even as it gained further fruity intensity with a bit of savouriness along with a distinct salinity.

2019 Domaine de Montille Saint-Aubin 1er En Remilly. Aired in bottle ahead of dinner at Crab At Bay, 18 Dec 2024. Pale greenish, exuding distant fig and green fruits. Medium-full. Rather steely with a distinct reductive minerality enhanced by its dryish intensity, taking on a chalky shine after a couple of hours without relaxing its tight grip.

2014 Philippe Chéron (Domaine du Couvent) Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Clos des Varoilles monopole. Aired in bottle for three hours ahead of dinner at Otto Ristorante, 23 Dec 2024. Fairly deep in purple, proffering a delicious restraint of cherries and red fruits on the nose with a hint of balsamic elements. Medium-full, very evenly proportioned with sleek acidity although there is a certain attenuation of depth, leading to a mid-palate shine. Softened after another ninety minutes, becoming a little more velvety with delicate detailed tannins. Still youthful but beginning to turn the corner compared with a previous bottle last year. Bought over and produced by Prieuré Roch from 2020 onwards, costing five times more.

2021 M Chapoutier Crozes-Hermitage Blanc. Aired for two hours ahead of dinner at Liang Kee, 28 Dec 2024. Pale, opening with chiseled white tones matched by a clean minty lift on the zesty medium palate, the fruit set slightly backward in favour of inner clarity, finishing with a dash of salinity.

2017 Domaine Drouhin-Laroze Chambertin-Clos de Bèze Grand Cru. Aired for three hours ahead of dinner at Imperial Treasure Great World, 30 Dec 2024. Purplish tint of pinot with a predominance of red plums and dark cherries on the nose. Medium-full, showing some restraint at first with overtones of haw though the fruit, acidity and smooth tannins are already well-integrated, imbued with a saline tension that imparted elegant verve. Fleshed out with richer tone over time, proffering a bit of sandy detail amid early complexity.