1996 Palmer, 1998 Krug, 2017 The Maiden, 1999 Romanée-Conti Grands Échezeaux, 2009 Louis Jadot Clos de la Roche

These were tasted at a lavish dinner generously hosted by the great Dr Ngoi at Imperial Treasure Great World, 10 September 2025, to celebrate the birthdays of several close friends, always a great opportunity to pop large formats and to sample a wide range of good stuff. I’m always reminded after such tastings that price seldom equates drinking pleasure but I am grateful for the privilege, nonetheless. Thank you, Sir!

1998 Champagne Krug, poured from double magnum. Light golden. Predominant nose of pines, walnuts and summer hay amid subdued yeasty overtones. Still wonderfully fresh and full, boasting a delightful intensity of lime and pomelo well integrated with subtle minerality that stretched with supple length. Will last several more decades.

2011 Domaine Louis Jadot Puligny-Montrachet 1er Les Referts. Courtesy of SC. Poured from magnum. Pale golden. Profusion of rye, malt and dried coconut on the nose. Refreshingly cool with a rounded opulence, generously proportioned with clear citrus and understated acidity amid an open chalky glow.

2023 Vignoble de Pauline de Plain de Lugny Auxey-Duresses. Good colour, proffering red fruits with an effusive rosy fragrance. Medium-weight and supple, tinged with a dash of waxiness. Drinking well but short.

2009 Domaine Louis Jadot Clos de la Roche Grand Cru, courtesy of yours truly. Poured from magnum. Great colour. Lovely lift of red fruits and plummy notes, leading to a lovely rosy depth with a deeper vein of subtle fruit. Very wonderfully nuanced, revealing lovely detail. Grew a little tighter with time and food, its acidity drawing some tension. Glowing finish.

2012 Château de Fonsalette. Great colour. Subtle intensity of cherries and rose petals. Highly agile on the medium palate where overtones of ash and incense dominate with a certain waxy texture, yielding quiet detail. Open with supple succulence, developing greater intensity amid a darkish vein of delicious fruit.

2022 Domaine Joseph Drouhin Chambolle-Musigny 1er. Purplish. Subdued bouquet of raspberries and dark cherries that impart a rosy depth. Surprisingly supple and charming for such a young premier cru, its super-smooth tannins barely tangible. Already drinking so well, laced with just a hint of paraffin. Delicious.

1998 Château Certan De May de Certan, courtesy of SKY. Poured from double magnum. Good colour. Tertiary characters of capsicum, stems and herbaceous tones leap from the glass. Wonderfully fresh, just entering full maturity. Deliciously slick with a fleshy warmth and melted tannins that impart a certain elusiveness. Under-appreciated by many.

1996 Château Palmer. Evolved crimson. Effusive glow of early tertiary characters with herbaceous overtones matched by a lush creaminess. Highly integral and fleshy, underscored by sublime acidity and imperceptible tannins that produce supple intensity. Minty finish. Has distinct pedigree.

2017 The Maiden, courtesy of CHS. Very deep purple. Generously proportioned with a gravelly warmth of ripe raspberries and enamel, laid on sublime acidity and sophisticated tannins that produce silky smooth intensity. This second label of Harlan Estate is accessible now, yet will keep for decades.

1999 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Grands Échezeaux Grand Cru, courtesy of Trijono. Poured from magnum. Quite an opaque purplish core with some crimson at the rim, opening with a gentle darkish tone of wild berries amid balsamic elements. The medium-weight palate is still fresh and lively, rounded with quite a generous depth of cool dark fruits and refined acidity that impart subtle verve and fleeting intensity, though unexpectedly short.