Jan 2026: 2018 Rose&Arrow Hopewell Hills, 1999 Robert Ampeau Auxey-Dur Ecusseaux, 2001 d’Arenberg Dead Arm Shiraz

2018 Château Croix de Labrie. Popped and poured at Anna’s Christmas party, 21 Dec 2025. Rich bouquet of raspberries and currants, just a tad forward in fruit to match the gently oaked medium palate tinged with vanillin, displaying excellent ripeness with some subtle detail. Good balance.

2014 Domaine de Villaine Saint-Aubin 1er Les Perrières. Popped and poured over lunch at Imperial Treasure Great World, 01 Jan 2026. Light golden luminosity. Quite effusive in chromatic white tones where some vanillin remains discernible. More minerally over time, developing a saline tinge with firm acidity. Good balance.

2018 Château Sénéjac. Popped and poured at Liang Kee, 07 Jan 2026. Darkish tones of ripe black cherries, plummy characters, earth and pruny currants permeate with good lift, though the density of fruit is marred by a distinct alcoholic undertow (14% abv).

2017 Château de Chamirey Mercurey 1er La Mission monopole. Popped and poured at Otto Ristorante, 13 Jan 2026, and at Imperial Treasure Great World, 24 Jan 2026. Golden Luminosity. Nose of chalk and clear citrus with undertones of iron filings. Fleshed out with orchard fruit and floral notes that exude lovely freshness and exquisite intensity, developing further notes of marmalade. Modest finish.

1999 Domaine Robert Ampeau et Fils Auxey-Duresses 1er Ecusseaux. Popped and poured at Otto Ristorante, 13 Jan 2026. Darkish tones and forest notes dominate with a mentholic lift. Still imbued with fine density of fruit dressed in svelte tannins that carry a sweetish undertow of ripe plums, imparting fine attack and intensity.

2013 Champagne Brice Brut Rosé, courtesy of Lih Ming at Imperial Treasure Great World, 24 Jan 2026. Deeply coloured, boasting cool glacial tones of grapefruit and rounded citrus that exude a placid quiet elegance, its soft bubbles imparting smooth supple intensity with aristocratic finesse. From grand cru grapes of Bouzy.

2007 Champagne Taittinger Comtes de Champagne Blancs de Blanc, courtesy of Dr Wang KW at Imperial Treasure Great World, 24 Jan 2026. Pale, proffering a lovely density of orchard and pomelo citrus on the nose and fullish palate underscored by sleek acidity that impart clean incisive precision amid cool glacial tones. Excellent.

2019 Hospices de Beaune Santenay cuvée Christine Friedberg, courtesy of Lih Ming at Imperial Treasure Great World, 24 Jan 2026. Deeply coloured. Quite bold and savoury with a copious density of well-extracted plummy fruit laid on velvety tannins that exude a dash of sweetness tinged with diesel. Just a tad rustic.

2018 Rose & Arrow Estate Hopewell Hills Pinot Noir. Popped and poured at Imperial Treasure Great World, 24 Jan 2026. Deep purple. Very smooth and elegant, displaying excellent inner clarity and linearity with lovely freshness and vibrancy.

2001 d’Arenberg Dead Arm Shiraz. Aired in bottle for ninety minutes prior at Imperial Treasure Great World, 24 Jan 2026. A bottle that I’d cellared for more than twenty years. Still deep crimson, this flagship shiraz from McLaren Vale is creamy smooth and luxuriant, richly imbued with ripe dark plummy fruit subtly laced with licorice that exude exquisite sweetness and open supple intensity. Immaculately proportioned and integral without undue hedonism.