Ric's Wine Journal

These notes stem from a memorable party hosted by the great Dr Ngoi Sing Shang at Garibaldi, 16 Oct 2016, where we had the entire hall to ourselves for 16 persons. The occasion was to honour the visit (again) of M. Jean-Paul Dumond, Sales Director of Domaine Joseph Drouhin, to Singapore though the greater purpose was just simply to enjoy an evening of fine wine and great food amongst great company. Philippe Capdouze of FICOFI had joined us as well and Roberto, owner and chef at Garibaldi, had prepared several large chunks of white truffles (from Alba, of course) to be liberally shaved. A simple 4-course menu had been prepared, each course covered almost entirely with white truffles, including the dessert. Utterly decadent. As with these famous dinners of Dr Ngoi, there was far too much wine without any particular structured theme, though with the trio of 1989s courtesy of Philippe, we managed to conjure up a progression.

2005 Dom Perignon (courtesy of Dr Ngoi). Aromas of peaches and tropical fruit tease the senses, coupled with fresh citrus on the palate, gently caressed by fine bubbles, displaying good linearity but a tad short.

2011 Louis Jadot Saint-Aubin Les Murgers des Dents de Chien 1er (courtesy of Dr Ngoi). Slightly pungent aromas with a hint of ripe mangoes, gentle and undeniably attractive, leading to a medium-bodied proposition characterised by clear citrus with traces of bitter lemon and icing, understated in acidity, turning a bit more minerally over time. Saint-Aubin has remained good value for money but I fancy the same wine from Hubert Lamy may be even better.

2008 Bonneau du Martray Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru (courtesy of Victor). Somewhat shut at this stage (or perhaps there wasn’t adequate aeration) but some racy nutmeg and white flowers are discernible, quite tight with a spicy tone on the palate, medium-bodied with good concentration though a bit short. Deserves more bottle age and proper aeration.

2009 Joseph Drouhin Beaune Clos des Mouches Rouge 1er (courtesy of Philippe). Tight with lovely concentration of red fruits and rose petals of excellent intensity and purity, quite exciting, ending with a spicy trace. Yet to develop but the potential is enormous.

2009 Domaine Jacques Prieur Beaune Greves 1er (courtesy of Miah Hiang), served from magnum. Lovely aromas of rose petals and red cherries, very fragrant and gentle, very harmonious with good concentration and purity along with understated tannins and acidity that combine very well into a highly graceful feminine elegance. Lovely.

2009 Bouchard Pere et Fils Beaune Greves Vigne de L’Enfant Jesus 1er (courtesy of Dr Ngoi). Similar in color and character to the preceding Jacques Prieur Beaune Greve 1er from the same vintage, producing a beautiful bouquet of raspberries and roses with a hint of incense and sweet tannins, displaying very  good concentration and linearity, slightly racy with some lovely tension at the edge but could do with greater fullness and purity.

2008 Ch Figeac (courtesy of Dr Ngoi), poured from magnum. Aired since early afternoon, this wine is rounded and soft with rosy tones redcurrants on the nose and further notes of soy, earth, ripe black berries and briar on the palate, harmonious with very good concentration and weight, matched by silky tannins but yet to evolve. Way too young to drink, in my opinion.

1989 Ch Tertre Roteboeuf (courtesy of Philippe). The benefits of ageing are exemplified in this wine, vermilion at the rim but still dark at its core, gorgeous, ripe and succulent with great acidity, concentration and layering, just a tad stern with characters of grapefruit and cherries, nicely rounded but understated in structure. Excellent.

1989 Ch Gazin (courtesy of Philippe). Fully mature, exuding lovely earthy pungency with good concentration of red and dark fruits with overtones of cashews and charcoal embers, slightly dryish in texture. Very fine, but appreciably a notch below the Tertre Roteboeuf.

1989 Ch De Fieuzal (courtesy of Philippe). This wine is a great case study in terroir, opening with a superb earthy pungency with a core of tangerines that can only mean Pessac-Leognan (until proven otherwise), very open on the palate, still displaying great acidity and concentration of blackcurrants and dark red fruits with excellent depth and layering, finishing very well. Not a big name estate but, very often, these smaller estates are those that come up very well in vintages that favour that particular commune.

1996 Ch D’Yquem (courtesy of Sanjay). As expected, this D’Yquem possesses lovely concentration of nectarine amidst a hint of apricot, displaying good intensity, linearity and acidity, poised and quite elegant, though it felt a little too complacent compared with the truly great Sauternes of 1990, 1997 and 2001, missing in verve and completeness.

We decided to end our Spanish tour with a bang at the three-Michelin starred establishment Martin Berasategui, its name eponymous with its chef, arriving precisely at 1300h on 22 Sep 2016 for lunch. Like most 3-star restaurants in Europe, it’s a little out of the way, tucked away in Lasarte-Oria outside of San Sebastian, though it is not difficult to locate. Martin holds the most number of Michelin stars amongst all Spanish chefs and this flagship restaurant has held its third star since 2001. The restaurant and its environment exudes a very clean and neat feel with an interior décor that is modern, functional yet sophisticated. Yet that can, sometimes, work against it as the restaurant may tend to resemble other two- or three-starred establishments and one wished that the whole place could be more individualistic in design and feel. The staff is attentive, knowledgeable (when we thought a bottle of white didn’t feel cold enough to touch, the reply came straight away that it had been cellared at 6 degree C) and friendly enough to avoid creating a stuffy atmosphere. We went for its full degustation, a 13-course affair that stretches 3-4 hours. The food, when it came, was masterfully crafted with real sophistication and imagination, each a visual delight, quite sublime, exuding real flavours and textures in the mouth.

The wine selection, on the other hand, is excellent at low prices, if one knows how to select Spanish wines.Here, Jimmy Lim’s expert knowledge proved to be most useful and the wines we had complemented the food very well:

2007 Pago de Cirsus Navarro Chardonnay. Powerful aromas of lime, preserved tropical fruit and chalk with a hint of nutmeg and wild flowers, displaying good concentration and quiet intensity on the palate, more minerally and minty at the finish with further notes of honeysuckle emerging

2005 Finca Allende Rioja. This Rioja white has a tone of glazed creme with aromas of white flowers and a whiff of apricot, quite lovely, starting off gently, becoming more pronounced over time, though its gentleness on the palate remains most beguiling with no shortage of fruit, depth and structure, very harmonious with a sense of icing in its finish.

2011 Abel Mendoza Rioja. This wine opens with earthy tones and an abundance of raspberries and wild berries, displaying excellent ripeness, full-bodied with tight but unobtrusive tannins, finishing in blaze of spice and peppery tones. Reminds me of syrah.

2012 Preludio de Sei Solo. From Ribera del Duero, this wine exudes warm ripe wild berries, dark plums and dark currants, tight with structured tannins amidst spicy and earthy tones, still somewhat unresolved. Needs plenty of time.

Somehow though, on the whole, the food didn’t move the earth. Our palates must have been too jaded from all that intensive wining and dining over the past few days to fully appreciate the genius of Martin Berasategui. For sure though, the beef, good as it was, doesn’t surpass what we had at Etxebarri. Nevertheless, I can whole-heartedly recommend Martin Berasetegui if you are prepared to splurge EUR 220 for a 4-hour lunch. Make sure you arrive hungry.

2000 Hollick Wilgha Shiraz, popped and tasted over 3 hours at the inaugural Chapter of Physicians dinner, Grand Copthorne, Singapore, 02 Sep 2016. This shiraz opens quite unusually with aromatic sweet red fruits, red plums and rose cordial, quite perfumed with floral characters on the palate along with subtle notes of licorice and earth and a bit of medicinal trace without the usual peppery quality common in shiraz, probably reflecting the cool climate terroir of Coonawarra where this wine comes from. Sufficiently mellow now with significant bottle age and glowing brightly after some time, still imbued with good acidity and tannin structure, somewhat robust at the edges though it tapered to a relatively gentle finish. Quite fine.

1986 Leoville Poyferre, decanted on-site over dinner at Otto Ristorante, 06 Sep 2016. This wine opens with robust notes of bright red plums, tangerines and earth with the faintest trace of graphite, its acidity still vibrant on the palate where tertiary nuances of violets, blueberries, cinnamon and old leather combine to produce a sweet fragrant glow on the nose that belies its 30 years. Leoville Poyferre may not quite possess the masculinity and power of the other Leovilles but this beauty is absolutely singing without any sign of drying out. My best encounter thus far from this case purchased from Bordeaux Index some years ago. Excellent.

2008 Grosset Polish Hill Riesling, popped and poured over pasta at home, 08 Sep 2016. This stalwart of Clare Valley has barely aged, coming on strong with generous proportions of lime, pomelo and other clear citrus with a prominent diesel overtone supported by chunky minerals with crisp cutting acidity, very full, finishing on a stern note with ferric traces, yet to evolve. There is plenty going for it but it needs plenty of time to settle down. Don’t touch for another 5 years, at least.

2005 Clos du Marquis, decanted on-site at Bedrock Bar & Grill, 313 Orchard, 12 Sep 2016. Always mistaken as the second wine of Ch Leoville-Las-Cases when it isn’t; it actually comes from a defined plot within the clos of Las-Cases. Compared with a previous tasting note a couple of years back, this wine has mellowed considerably, now soft and rounded with fragrant aromas of violets, raspberries and blueberries, gently earthy on the palate where it is distinctly medium-bodied, quite fleshy and succulent though without the outright depth nor power of Las-Cases, developing a mild plummy tone after some time, finishing with mild tannins. Very fine, quite perfect for lunch.

Foie gras and wagyu beef tagliatelle. Only at Otto Ristorante.

2012 Sainte Claire Chablis, over dinner at the restaurant of Chateau La Dominique, Saint Emilion, Bordeaux, on 16 Sep 2016. There’s an attractive earthy pungency with overtones of sea salt on the nose. On the palate, this Chablis is appropriately crisp with good concentration of lime and citrus coupled with cutting acidity and flinty minerality, gelling well in a bold intense finish that went very well with the several dozen oysters.

2010 Ch La Dominique, from the restaurant list of Chateau La Dominique, Saint Emilion, Bordeaux, on 16 Sep 2016, over dinner. This is a huge wine even six years post-vintage, saturated with black fruits, soy, dark currants and enamel from the oak, highly extracted with bold tannins and graphite elements amidst saline minerals, finishing in a spicy alcoholic wake. Truly a bruising encounter. I noticed hardly anyone touched their wine.

2009 Ch Haut Bernasse, a Begerac AOC wine at EUR34 popped and poured over lunch from the list of L’Imparfait, a charming bistro recommended by the Michelin guide in Begerac, France, 17 Sep 2016. Attractive notes of dark and red plums with some earthy minerals dominate on the nose and palate, quite extracted, resulted in a slight jammy tone, finishing with an alcoholic trail. The first impressions were good, but it wears your palate early.

2001 Domaine de Combet Cuvee Lena, tasted at Monbazillac, just outside Begerac, France, 17 Sep 2016. Monbazillac is an AOC specialising in sweet wines that gives Sauternes a good run for its money. A blend of 70% semillon and 30% sauvignon gris, this wine with a burnished golden hue exudes attractive notes of nectarine and aged apricot, quite minerally on the palate where the understated sweetness imparts a somewhat stern demeanour with some degree of complexity. This is good stuff, and inexpensive as well.

2009 Domaine de Combet Grand Reserve, tasted at Monbazillac, just outside Begerac, France, 17 Sep 2016. Smoky incense with a lighter tone of nectarine, displaying fine acidity and understated sweetness.

2011 Domaine de Combet L’exception, tasted at Monbazillac, just outside Begerac, France, 17 Sep 2016. Great nose with very attractive notes of tropical fruits, displaying light textures but excellent depth and acidity on the palate with notes of pears and apricot with a medicinal trace, finishing with tangerines. We had a full bottle of this again later in the evening after the 2004 Montrose below. Very satisfying, proving to be an excellent alternative to Sauternes.

2004 Ch Montrose, picked from the restaurant list of La Table du Catusseau, Saint Emilion, 17 Sep 2016 at EUR 160 and decanted on-site. This St-Estephe produced an attractive earthy pungency with notes of dark currants and black fruits, excellent in concentration and depth on the palate, gently structured with sweet tannins. True to Montrose’s nature, it took quite some time to loosen up, eventually producing a lovely plummy tone, moving on to develop further intensity and complexity as it sat in the glass. This is a classically structured claret that is drinking very well now but yet to peak.

2014 Moreau-Naudet Chablis, a pair popped over a fabulous seafood lunch at the legendary Chez Hortense at Cap Ferret just across from Arcachon, an hour’s drive from Bordeaux, 18 Sep 2016. The only Chablis available from the restaurant list, a wine with an easy floral fragrance and sweetness, displaying good depth and concentration of citrus fruits with a forward balance matched by lively acidity, less flinty, slightly stern finish but well balanced. Not a profound Chablis but a perfect match with the several dozens of succulent oysters.

2015 Ch Landereau, popped and poured over dinner at Ch Franc Grace-Dieu, Saint Emilion, 18 Sep 2016. From Entre-deux-Mers, a region smacked between Bordeaux city and Saint Emilion, this wine displayed notes of red apple cider and mild sweet citrus, quite gentle, but it is short of fruit to match the acidity. Unconvincing.

2009 Ch Franc Grace-Dieu, drunk after a brief aeration in bottle over dinner at Ch Franc Grace-Dieu itself in Saint Emilion, 18 Sep 2016. Shy and reticent on the nose though the palate is awashed with earthy tones, dark currants, ripe wild berries and plums, medium-bodied with good balance, acidity and concentration, turning a tad stern at the finish.

2010 Ch Franc Grace Dieu, drunk after a brief aeration in bottle over dinner at Ch Franc Grace-Dieu itself in Saint Emilion, 18 Sep 2016. From what is supposed to be an excellent vintage, but this wine is closed at this stage, though the concentration of fruit and integration is certainly very good on the palate. Should be reassessed in another few years.

2009 Ch Lafleur Saint-Jean (magnum, coutesy of Dr Ganesh Ramalingam), drunk after some aeration in bottle over dinner at Ch Franc Grace-Dieu, Saint Emilion, 18 Sep 2016. This estate is located on the plateau of Pomerol, abutting on Ch Petrus and Ch Lafleur. At this stage, this wine is rather shy and reticent on the nose, though it boasts very good concentration red plums and dark berries with further notes of camphor and a dense texture of soy, medium-bodied with good harmony and depth. May improve further in bottle.

2015 Ch Franc  Grace-Dieu, tasted from barrel at Ch Franc Grace-Dieu itself in Saint Emilion, 18 Sep 2016. Quite lovely with a burnished tone of red fruits and a lighter core of tangerines, medium-bodied, very well-balanced with good acidity. Very promising.

2014 Ch Freybernat, popped and poured at Le Petit Cuisine, 27 Sep 2016. Though a table wine made for easy drinking, this wine, nevertheless, is decent in quality with a forward balance of red plums and dark wild berries with a hint of briar and earth, fleshy and rounded without any hollowness, but neither distinctive in any way.

2004 Ch Latour-a-Pomerol, decanted on-site at Foster’s Steakhouse, 30 Sep 2016. My previous impression of this wine a few months ago was rather unfavourable but, on this occasion, the 2004 Ch Latour-a-Pomerol showed very well with aromas of delicious dark fruits, highly engaging on the palate with its spread of black fruits, dark plums and blackcurrants, layered with good concentration and focus, its tannins structured yet supple enough, the wine rounded and beginning to mellow. Very fine.

19 September 2016 was truly a busy, and memorable, day. It began with a visit to Chateau Petrus in the morning, followed by lunch at Saint Emilion after which we showed up at Chateau Ausone. Visiting the two top chateaux that make the most sought-after yet least-available wines would have been more than enough to satisfy any oenophile but we went further, literally, by driving across the southwestern border into Spain in the late afternoon, soaking in the evening sights of the San Sebastian seafront before we finally arrived at Rekondo at 2100h, a Michelin-starred restaurant perched at the hilltop of the city’s outskirts, for our first real Spanish dinner where we were joined by Mr Jimmy Lim, who has lived in Spain for the past 46 years and is extremely well versed in its wines.

San Sebastian seafront at dusk

Rekondo is a cross between tasty rustic real food and fine dining. The setting is unassuming. The interior decor is almost plain but functional, complete with an old-fashioned bar counter, the waitresses fuss around you busily but efficiently, the place is brightly lit (I like it this way…why hide the food if it’s supposed to be good?) and one can dress down and make a lot of noise here.

We thought these were handwritten…but no

But the real deal lies with the food and the wine. The menu is simple, offering a fairly limited but varied range of courses, each item so very reasonably priced that I thought there must be some sort of printing error. But it is the wine list that takes the cake, reputed to be the best all of Spain. Page after page, the listing is exhaustive for Spanish wines while its international selection is also excellent with very little mark-up in prices. In fact, the great thing about wining and dining in Spain is that you get really great food at ordinary prices, and truly good wines that are inexpensive right from the restaurant itself. Its knowledgeable sommelier, a young Argentinian named Martin, was kept busy all night across the restaurant. The cellar of this restaurant is another sight to behold with its huge extensive collection of current releases as well as very old bottles (oldest is a 1750 JM Rivero) and wine bottled in very large formats.

Unbelievable

We began the evening with a 1976 R Lopez de Heredia Vina Tondonia White Gran Riserva, made from mainly viura grape with a small proportion of malvasia. The first bottle was sadly way past its peak, leaving only an empty shell. A second bottle showed better, quite lovely with alluring aromas of aged creme and apricot with lifted overtones of cinnamon and lemon. On the palate, the wine has faded somewhat though there was still fair concentration of clear citrus, slightly musky with firm acidity. Clearly a wonderful wine during its prime but now better on the nose than palate.

For the reds, we started with a 2014 Contino Gran Reserva, made of 100% tempranillo at 14.5% alcohol. This wine displayed a deep nose of enamel with impressions of red and dark fruits, well replicated on the palate with additional traces of licorice, bramble and wild berries, excellent in acidity and concentration though a tad short initially.

Try looking for this

It became more plummy over time, attaining fabulous intensity, richness and length, finishing on a minty note. Excellent, but it really needs time to show well.

Jimmy then spotted a gem in the wine list, a 2014 Algueira made in very limited quantities from 100% merenzao. Displaying a light rosy tint akin to pinot noir, this wine threw a floral fragrance of rose petals, red cherries and raspberries, medium-bodied and gentle on the palate with wonderful purity of fruit and flavours, decidedly feminine in character, firming up with greater intensity and concentration over time. Very lovely and great value for money indeed.

We pushed the boat out for the main red to go with the superb T-bone steak: a 1998 Pingus from the restaurant list at EUR975. I guess there is no better way to drink Pingus than in Spain itself, along with great Spanish cuisine. My only experience with Pingus had been a 2003 (tasted in 2010) which was bold and hedonistic. I was surprised that the 1998 turned out to be very mellow, aromatic yet somewhat distant on the nose, like a beautiful but reserved woman, where red fruits and dark plums dominate with a mild lifted earthiness, very gentle on its entry on the palate where it was harmonious and distinctly feminine, displaying red fruits with traces of camphor, gaining in gentle intensity as it sat in the glass. Not a wine of profound depth, but highly supple and open. What a great way to start our week of food and wine in Spain.

After our late morning visit to Château Pétrus on 19 September 2016, we slipped back into Saint-Émilion to make our last chateau visit in the Right Bank, traversing the narrow lanes of this beautiful wine country that circumvent its historic town centre, climbing higher and higher until we arrived at the plateau of the hill where the road finally ends at the entrance of an estate with a single word carved onto its stone pillar: AUSONE.

King’s Tower, Saint Emilion, as seen from Ch Ausone

Château Ausone sits at the top of a limestone hill at just about the highest point of Saint-Émilion, truly befitting its Premier Grand Cru Classé A status as it offers the visitor a breathtaking view of the hills surrounding Saint Emilion, not to mention the old church as well as the King’s Tower. Immediately downslope from the château are rows of vines that produce the grand vin of Château Ausone, all 7 ha of it, as well as those of Château Moulin Saint-Georges (a.k.a. the poor man’s Ausone), also part of its stable. Another 40 ha of vines under the care of Château Ausone along the slopes are those of Château Simard, which was bought over by Alain Vauthier in 2008. Here and there, remnants of ancient Roman ruins are clearly visible and even the site of the château itself is built upon ancient Roman stone works, which are now the underground cellars of the château.

Did the poet Decimius Ausonius live here in the 4th century?

We were greeted on our arrival by a pair of greyhounds guarding the property. I was reminded of Robert Parker’s hostile encounter with a dog at rival property Château Cheval Blanc years ago but these hounds at Château Ausone were non-threatening, announcing our arrival to the current proprietress and winemaker Mlle. Pauline Vauthier, who has taken over from her father Alain, epitomising the current wave of female oenologists who are increasingly running the show in Bordeaux.

Gazing down from the edge of the hill, Pauline explained that the soil on the slopes comprises a mixture of limestone and clay, upon which the vines are planted at a density of 12,000 per ha, producing a mere 18,000 bottles (1500 cases) of the grand vin annually. Sitting high on the slopes, these vines are perfectly positioned to catch the morning light whilst allowing excellent drainage downslope in wet conditions. It is no surprise, therefore, that Château Ausone managed to avoid the debilitating frost of 1956 that badly affected other estates in Saint-Émilion.

While the plantings used to be 50-50, nowadays there is more cabernet franc at 70% with the remainder merlot, not unlike Cheval Blanc, although in bottle, the blend is usually about 60-40 proportion. Another 5000-9000 bottles of its second label Chapelle d’Ausone is produced annually. The average age of the vines is 60 years with the oldest being planted in 1906 (cabernet franc). Viticulture is organic as far as possible and the chateau avoids pumping, preferring to move the wine into fermentation vats via gravity.

Looking at the old town centre of Saint-Émilion from Château Ausone

Château Moulin St-Georges yonder

The cellars of Château Ausone are truly a sight to behold: dark, cavernous, naturally cool with walls that have been hewn and toiled for centuries by stonemasons who used to work in these limestone quarries. Housed within the small number of barrels there are the much-prized 2015 grand vin ageing away quietly, and I thanked my lucky stars to have landed a miniscule allocation of 3 bottles during the en primeur campaign earlier this year.

Mlle. Pauline Vauthier explaining the vinification process

We adjourned to an elegant drawing room decorated in the rococo style for tasting where we learnt that Château Ausone, given its unique heritage and the site’s long history, is a property protected nationally for conservation. We tasted first the 2009 Château Simard, a blend of 80% merlot and 20% cabernet franc, aged in concrete vats and totally unwooded, made for early drinking. Already sporting an evolved color, this wine displays a lovely earthy pungency with a forward balance of red fruits and wild berries with good concentration and acidity, producing a very clean feel though it finished on a stern note. Good for casual pour.

There goes one precious bottle of 2015 Château Ausone

This was followed by the 2015 Château Ausone that’s still in barrel, a blend of 60% cabernet franc with 40% merlot. This wine displays a fabulous deep impenetrable ruby in the glass, exuding a gentle bouquet of dark roses, red fruits and wild berries of excellent ripeness and purity, not at all overdone. Yet to put on weight but this wine is already harmonious with a feminine character, displaying silky textures with highly supple tannins and great linearity all the way to its lasting finish.

Look at the date on the label

This represents only the fourth occasion where I have had the chance to drink Château Ausone, as the wine is expensive and difficult to source on the open market. Memories of a supremely elegant 1995 (tasted 2007) and a powerful, masculine but youthful 1998 came flooding back (tasted in 2010), as did a delicious elegant and decidedly feminine 1986 just three months ago. This visit wraps up a fabulous time spent at some of the most exalted properties of the Right Bank and certainly will not be forgotten. I must thank Mlle. Pauline Vauthier for taking care of us personally at Château Ausone, and to FICOFI for making this trip possible.

Drive too quickly and you’ll miss this

Château Pétrus. The mere mention of this name immediately conjures excitement, awe, and a sense of the unattainable. Everyone knows Château Pétrus makes one of the most expensive and most highly sought-after wines in the world, definitely the most expensive of all Bordeaux. Tasting opportunities are rare, unless you have very generous friends who don’t mind popping a bottle for you, or you don’t mind splurging several thousands yourself. A visit to the chateau itself is also difficult to arrange, unless one is properly connected. It was with great anticipation, therefore, that the pieces fell in place for me to enjoy a private visit to this venerated estate on the morning of 19 September 2016.

For years, I have heard of people scrounging all over the tiny commune of Pomerol in search of Château Pétrus but being unable to locate it, unless one is sharp enough to spot the crossed-key emblem on a small nondescript building that is otherwise unmarked. Well, all that changed about 4-5 years ago. Now, a sizeable one-storey mansion sits at the site with the famous crossed-keys emblazoned on its forbidding iron gates with the French standard flying high from a tall pole with a “P” at its tip. It does appear rather imposing but when you make the wine that everyone wants but cannot get enough of, I guess one may enjoy certain bragging rights.

We were welcomed at the door by its Ambassador Elisabeth Jaubert and, together, we trooped down to the vineyard. Château Pétrus rests right at the top of a very gentle hill, all 11.5 ha of it, flanked by Ch Gazin, Ch L’Evangile and Vieux Château Certain. Unless one actually stands right there, this small but highly significant observation will go unnoticed. As Pomerol is largely flat ground, this gentle mound, therefore, affords additional drainage of water away from the vines, preventing dilution of the grapes.

Mme. Elisabeth Jaubert

In fact, I hadn’t realised until Elisabeth pointed out that the vines of Pétrus are planted in the direction of the slope, which means that on one side, the rows of vines are planted north-south, while on its adjacent plot, they are aligned east-west. This is one little fact that makes the wine of Petrus unique.

Then, of course, there is the soil, which is largely made up of clay. In particular, there is this matter about blue clay, which really has a bluish hue due to a higher ferrous content. It seems blue clay is unique to Bordeaux, particularly over at the Right Bank where Château Pétrus sits. Blue clay is not visible from the surface, as it lies several feet beneath. However, it seems that at the site of Château Pétrus, blue clay actually reaches up to within a foot of the soil surface. Blue clay is extremely hard and impermeable, preventing the roots of the vines from penetrating deeply, forcing them instead to spread sideways in search of nutrition. Being impermeable, moisture also tends to remain on surface clay such that the roots of the vines remain relatively dry. To demonstrate this point, Elisabeth picked up a handful of clay which, truly, is moist. When the summer months arrive, this surface moisture prevents the vines from developing heat stress. This unique quality helps to separate Château Pétrus from the rest when it comes to so-called “off vintages” as its vines are capable of fending off extremes of heat as well as wet conditions. In fact, Elisabeth pointed out that the best value wines of Château Pétrus come from less vaunted vintages and I certainly can vouch for this, as memories of a glorious 1994 Château Pétrus came to mind (tasted in 2009).

These factors unique to the terroir contribute to the minerality of the wine as well as high levels of quality tannins in the merlot which, in turn, confers tremendous power and structure to the wine, yet retaining the silkiness of merlot. It is precisely because its merlot offers such optimal qualities that Petrus does not plant anything else, since cabernet is redundant. Nobody really knows when the first vines were planted at Château Pétrus, but the merlot from American rootstock (after the Phylloxera devastation of the mid 19th century) was planted sometime between 1880-90. Presently, the oldest vines in the estate were planted back in 1952. Vine density is quite low at 7000 per hectare. Like other estates elsewhere, its current merlot hanging from the vines are ripening well but the skins are still chewy and the pips yet to turn sweet, indicating that it is not yet time to harvest.

These furry ones peer down at the fermentation vats of Château Pétrus

From the vineyard, Elisabeth led us to the chai, which is modest in size since the quantity of wine produced is relatively limited. With harvesting due to happen very soon, the sorting tables, pumps and pipes are all in place. Vinification at Château Pétrus takes 15 days within its concrete vats. The ripest grapes are extracted first, starting at 14 °C, finally reaching around 28 °C at the end of the process. Prior to this, the vats are lined with tartrate to facilitate the natural environment when the berries are crushed. The wine is aged in 50% new oak for 12-16 months. Before being filled with wine, these barrels are actually steamed with water for 16 days to avoid the need for topping off during elevage. Racking takes place every 3-4 months with fining.

Not much to go around…only 2500 cases annually

After this, we moved to the château’s elegantly decorated tasting room to sample the wine of 2015 which we had just witnessed resting in barrel in the chai, where we were joined by M. Olivier Berrouet, the current winemaker at Château Pétrus who had taken over from his father Jean Claude since 2008. While both Olivier and Elisabeth are fully aware of soothsayers declaring ever so often “vintage of the century” over and over, they are in agreement that 2015 Château Pétrus is the best wine that this estate has ever made. Fragrant aromas of earth, red berries and dark fruit dominate on the nose, quite resplendent, with further notes of ripe raspberries amidst a ferrous trace on the palate where the wine is quite full, displaying great acidity and tannin structure, already very harmonious in its subtle layering and drinking beautifully at this stage, finishing with great persistence. This is truly a wine of great sophistication, power and elegance. Indeed, it is rare to come across a wine already so complete while still in barrel. We stood around in stunned silence as we took in the beauty of this wine, quite the perfect way to start a Monday morning. The folks who work at Château Pétrus must surely be some of the luckiest people in the world.

M. Olivier Berrouet; 2015 Château Pétrus brings tears to Dr Ngoi:))

This has been a most satisfying visit. Contrary to its forbidding veneer, Château Pétrus turned out to be warm, gracious and very welcoming, and I have certainly come away understanding more about this great estate and its famous product. I must thank Elisabeth and Olivier for their time and generosity, and to FICOFI for making this visit possible. Merci beaucoup!

For some of us who are lucky enough, once in a long while comes a dining experience that blows you away. I wasn’t really expecting anything extravagant as we drove towards our lunch destination at Asador Etxebarri after a leisurely morning at the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, 21 September 2016. Perhaps I should have known better, for Etxebarri is currently rated the tenth best restaurant in the world (Restaurant magazine’s 2015 Top 50 Awards). Of course, none of us knew about this fact beforehand. All we knew was that Pablo Alvarez, owner of Bodegas Vega Sicilia, had arranged lunch for us there, accompanied by some bottles of wine that he had sent over. Not only that; Pablo was also paying for lunch even though he himself couldn’t join us in person. Now, that should have meant something, for it is well-nigh impossible to obtain a booking at this venue, even though it is so far out of the way.

Etxebarri is located at Atxondo, truly off the beaten track, nestling within the idyllic hilly surroundings of the Basque Country  where clouds hung low and the only sounds one hears are the tinkling of cowbells and the gentle rustle of the cool breeze. Established in 1990, Etxebarri (meaning new house) is run by owner and chef Victor Aguinzoniz aided by, of all people, a young Japanese called Tetsu who specialises in grilling the beef to perfection. That’s right. Everything here is cooked (or grilled) over a charcoal fire, for Victor loves to barbeque. In fact, the first thing one notices upon arrival is the gentle aroma of smoked meat wafting through the mountain air.

Goose barnacles

We arrived right on time at 1330h (the Spanish start their meals late, remember?) and we were welcomed by Augusti who ushered us to a private room on the upper floor. In spite of its one-Michelin star, Etxebarri is 100% casual. Augusti was dressed down, which says a lot, but everything else is top class, particularly in their choice of cutlery and stemware. A 12-course lunch had been set that included a large selection of seafood (goose barnacles, red clams, prawns, King bolete, white tuna belly) before culminating in a gargantuan beef steak.

We hadn’t the slightest clue what wines Pablo had sent over but, apparently, he had issued strict instructions to serve them blind (with the exception of the champagne), so much so that Augusti had assigned himself to pour and serve us the wines, each of which was poured into a new glass. We began with a pair of Champagne Bollinger RD 2002, fabulous in its bouquet of deep pungency, recalling yeasty tones and malt, glowing with excellent concentration, fine intensity and complexity from crystalline minerals and yellow citrus with a touch of chalk, very harmonious with controlled dryness and sublime acidity, a superb start to the afternoon. One specialty of Etxebarri is its goat butter that complements their superbly fresh moxarella cheese spread to go with the large chunk of freshly-baked loaf, gorgeous but yet understated.

The first white came across as shy and reticent, displaying just a dash of crème and icing on the palate, light in texture yet possessing good presence with a placid mouthfeel and subtle acidity, eventually revealing some nutmeg character, finishing a tad short. Definitely not one of the usual suspects from Burgundy. Dr Ngoi wondered aloud: a rare ancient grape varietal? Quite spot on, for it turned out to be a 2014 Château de Beaucastel made of 100% roussanne, a Rhone white varietal. Interesting!

Soon, Augusti brought up a second white, glistening with a luminous luscious gold in the decanter. The colour could only mean one thing: it must be a Montrachet Grand Cru, which I concurred as well. From which producer? The bouquet glowed with aged crème de la crème and some secondary nuances that recalled yellow melons and peaches. On the palate, this wine was superbly proportioned, striking a perfect balance between the fruit, complex minerals and understated acidity, very harmonious with good layering, effortlessly seamless and not at all showy, eventually displaying a dash of burnt cider at the side with overtones of coconut, turning a little stern at the finish, maintaining its ethereal poise and elegance throughout. Not an exuberant or characterful Montrachet like Drouhin’s Marquis de Laguiche (which some thought this to be) but more placid like the Baron Thenard that I had last month, though this has more detail. We were blown away when Augusti showed us the bottle. I was very close: a 2005 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Montrachet Grand Cru !!! This estate owns 0.67 ha of this hallowed vineyard, sandwiched between the plots of Baron Thenard and Ramonet on the Chassagne side. Well, who would have guessed that Pablo Alvarez would simply just pop a bottle for us?! D.R.C. makes only three whites: this Montrachet Grand Cru, a Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru which isn’t for sale (available only for tasting within its cellars which I did in September last year)) and a Haut Bourgogne specially bottled only for FICOFI, which means I’ve tasted all the whites of D.R.C. I’m truly lucky.

We were all still abuzz with excitement when Augusti came in again with more glasses and, now, a red that showed a glorious deep ruby with an abundance of rose petals and red cherries, producing a very lovely fragrance with further notes of camphor and incense on the palate where its purity of fruit and balance were quite exemplary, effortlessly poised with grace and concealed power. This must be a Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, undoubtedly. Can this be a Romanée-Conti itself? I’ve had the 2001 before earlier this year which was quite similar, a wine renowned for its sensuality and balance. Is this a younger wine? Most of us were convinced it was, though it was a 2012 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Richebourg Grand Cru. Very very young to be drunk but already drinking so beautifully. I’d expected Richebourg to be more exuberant but it was truly elegant here.

The second red came along, very deep crimson with aromas of cherries, ripe strawberries and redcurrants, excellent in depth and concentration, bright on the palate with some briar and earth with subtle tannin structure and controlled power, quite open in spite of the density, not at all jammy. Doesn’t taste French and, since we knew these wines had come from Pablo, we guessed it must be a Vega Sicilia. But no, not yet, though, indeed, it was Spanish, the highly rated 2012 Macan (the inaugural vintage), a joint collaboration between Pablo Alvarez and Benjamin de Rothschild using 100% tempranillo grapes from Rioja Alta, aged in 50% new Burgundian oak. Highly successful.

We haven’t got on to the beef when another red was produced. Surely, this must be Vega Sicilia, very deep red, suitably bright on the palate with dark cherries and redcurrants with a dash of camphor and earthiness, displaying excellent layering and harmony with substantial power. Clearly not French but it was a 2009 Artadi Vina el Pison, a lifted pure expression of tempranillo from a vineyard in Rioja, planted in 1945. Outstanding.

2005 D.R.C. Montrachet (left), 2012 D.R.C. Richebourg (right), 2012 Macan (rear)

Yet another red was produced, exuding a lovely fragrance of bright red fruits and cherries with overtones of camphor, delicious and succulent, displaying excellent depth of fruit and concentration with a core of redcurrants and tangerine on the palate. Lovely fragrance. Vega Sicilia? Very close, just a notch down, the 2009 Valbuena No.5 from the same stable.

Simon Cheong, Augusti, Dr Ngoi

As we were about to embark on the gargantuan beef steak, there was yet another red, very close in character to the preceding Valbuena but with even greater layering and concentration of  red fruits and redcurrants of superb depth, ripeness and fabulous intensity with an overtone of tangerines, open and alluring, framed by velvety ‘gritty’ tannins as if one was chewing the actual fruit, exuding a beautiful fragrance. Surely now, this must be it and, yes, a 1999 Vega Sicilia Unico. At this point, I must say something about the beef: it is the best that I have ever had – juicy, tender, succulent, everything that beef ought to be. In fact, every item we had was sublime. There is no gimmickry, no nitrogen, no bubbles. Just real food with real flavours, utterly fresh from its very modest kitchen with basically just a charcoal grill.

Pablo wasn’t done yet. For dessert, for which there were two courses, something golden and luscious was produced, possessing a beautiful nose of honeysuckle and nectarine with further apricot, crème and stony minerals on the palate, its acidity receding just a little, its sweetness very well managed. Surely a d’Yquem? But it turned out to be a 2012 Matias Torres La Palma, weighing in at 14.5% alcohol though you don’t feel it at all.

By then, it was 1800h. We all paid homage to Tetsu at the open air terrace with coffee and cigars, the young skinny Japanese chap responsible for the outstanding beef whom you think you’re more likely to encounter at a video game arcade in Akihabara. I will never forget this great meal. I am immensely indebted to Pablo Alvarez for his kindness and generosity. A big thank you, too, to Victor and Augusti at Etxebarri for their wonderful hospitality, and thank you as well, my friends, for being a big part of my life. Gracias mucho.

Right immediately after lunch at Cheval Blanc on 16 September 2016, we moved on to Chateau Figeac which actually abuts the former, showing just how close in proximity the various properties are in relation to one another in the Right Bank. We were met by its director M. Frederic Faye, a most genial and affable gentleman. Ch Figeac shares a common distinction with Ch Ausone and Ch Cheval Blanc in that they are probably the only properties in Saint Emilion where merlot does not dominate in its blend. In fact, Figeac is planted with 35% cabernet sauvignon (itself already unusual for the Left Bank) and 35% cabernet franc with merlot only taking up 30%. Again, nobody is quite sure how this blend came about for Figeac, but Frederic claims that part of the reason is because there are three outcrops of quartz, flint and blue clay within its 44 ha of vines, with another contributory reason being its gravel soil that goes as deep as 7 metres, making it well suited for cabernet sauvignon, which gives the wine a certain firmness and structure in the great Old World style that has won Figeac legions of followers, compared with many other estates in Saint Emilion which have opted for a more modern style of wine with higher alcohol, ripeness and extraction. It is also precisely because of the higher proportion of cabernet sauvignon that Figeac does not come across so well in its youth, needing considerably longer periods of maturation in bottle before the wine softens and mellows into a classic claret. As at other estates at this time, the grapes are ripening well and, in fact, taste sweet but the skins are still chewy and the pips have yet to become sweet, which would signify that it’s time to pick. Chateau Figeac vinifies its wine in large wooden vats, adding a small amount of pressed wine to the final blend before ageing in new oak.  2009 Ch Figeac. Amazing deep and complex bouquet that suggests earth, lime and tangerines with quite a full palate of floral characters and redcurrants. Open, transparent and fresh with crisp acidity and fine supple tannins, displaying great linearity and finishing. Still not quite resolved but this will be a long-lived wine. Excellent. 2011 Ch Figeac. Attractive aromas of sweet dark currants, blueberries and violets, well replicated on the palate with traces of green elements, earth and green pepper. Medium-full  and rounded with good focus and transparency, well-integrated and more approachable than usual for Figeac at this early stage. 2012 Petit-Figeac. Nice bouquet of violets, blueberries and dark berries, rounded and approachable now, appreciably with less fat and less complexity than its grand vin but still imbued with fine acidity, tangerines, red and dark fruits with overtones of green pepper that lend a touch of spiciness at the side, just a tad short. Perfect for earlier drinking while its grand vin rests in bottle.

I must thank M. Frederic Faye for his time and generosity and FICOFI as well for organising this visit.

Chateau La Conseillante has always been a perennial favourite of mine. Rich, classy, sophisticated and complex, this wine is always reliable and, importantly as well, is still sensibly priced. As such, it was with certain delight that we made the short drive to Pomerol on 17 September 2016 and soon, we were rolling up the long driveway of Chateau La Conseillante which immediately abuts Chateau L’Evangile. We were welcomed by none other than the winemaker herself, Marielle Cazaux who immediately brought us up to speed with the winemaking at this venerated estate.

La Conseillante’s winemaker Ms Marielle Cazaux (right)

La Conseillante, which has been producing wine for more than 140 vintages, is currently owned by the Nicolas family, one of whom is actually a doctor. Marielle wasted no time bringing us straight to the vineyard proper, where all its 12 ha, which are split into 18 sub-plots, are planted with 80% merlot and 20% cabernet franc on soil that is 60% grey clay and 40% sandy gravel. Planting density is cropped at 7000 vines per ha, where the average age of the vines is about 34 years. Like most other estates at this time, the vines of La Conseillante are heavy with ripening merlot that hung low, waiting to be picked. Deciding on the right time to pick is always tricky, and for La Conseillante, workers walk down the vines twice weekly when harvesting is nearing, each time picking about 200 berries for tasting and lab analysis. Indeed, in this third week of September, the merlot already tasted sweet but we were told that the grapes were still not quite ready, the skins still a tad thick and chewy while the pips, still decidedly bitter, have yet to become rounder and sweeter. Nevertheless, the chateau is already prepared for harvesting which will take place within the next couple of weeks, with outdoor tents already set up and its sorting table installed. The juice from each sub-plot will be individually fermented in concrete vats and subsequently aged in 70% new oak for up to 18 months. Fining with egg white is utilized, as is racking every quarterly. About 10% of pressed wine is added to the final blend for additional flavouring, colour and intensity.

Sorting table and fermentation vats of Ch La Conseillante

Thereafter, we adjourned to the tasting room where a half bottle of 2015 Ch La Conseillante was opened for tasting. Of course, this wine is still ageing in barrel, and so what we were tasting isn’t quite the final blend, though it’s close. This wine displays quite an abundance of rose petals, red fruits, strawberries and irises with a trace of earth, its aromas lovely and beguiling, gentle on the palate with good levels of ripeness, acidity, concentration and understated sweetness, finishing with silky tannins. Already very fine at this stage and, like many other wines of 2015 that I have tasted en primer, it should develop very well later in bottle, fulfilling the promise of this much-heralded vintage. I must thank Marielle for her time and to FICOFI for making this trip possible.

This marks the beginning of a short but concentrated visit exclusively to the Right Bank of Bordeaux following a similar trip by the same group to Burgundy a year ago. Time truly flies. Within minutes of touching down at Merignac Aeroport on 16 September 2016, we were making our way to Saint Emilion to meet our lunch appointment at Chateau Cheval Blanc, scheduled for 1300h. At this time of year, the weather has turned decidedly cooler, the sky perpetually overcast with occasional bouts of very fine drizzle interspersed with brilliant shafts of sunshine whenever the sun broke cover. Throughout the plains, the predominant dark grapes of merlot hung low and heavily from the vines, waiting to be picked any time within the next week.

M. Pierre Lurton (right)

Even though the Right Bank does not boast any imposing chateau, the estate of Cheval Blanc immediately stands out from its peers, thanks to its manicured lawn and aristocratic-looking buildings that suggests at once wealth, breed and sophistication. We were met upon our arrival by M. Pierre Olivier, the Technical Director of the estate, followed soon after by owner M. Pierre Lurton (who also runs Ch D’Yquem) himself.

Cheval Blanc has the distinction of being the only wine that has cabernet franc as its main component in its blend with merlot making up the rest. Indeed, Pierre explained that more than half of the estate’s 39 ha of vines, split into 45 distinct plots, are planted with cabernet franc. Nobody really knows what prompted the estate to adopt cabernet franc as its main varietal. Perhaps it is because the soil here consists mainly of sand, clay and gravel, not the usual limestone composition that supports cabernet sauvignon. Nevertheless, Cheval Blanc has not changed its philosophy over the years and its cabernet franc certainly imparts a unique trace of spicy green pepper combined with velvety power during its youth, turning into a demure feminine beauty of great purity when the wine has matured. The grapes from each of the 45 plots are fermented in separate concrete vats housed in a brand new ultra-modern chai that is spotlessly clean. The wine in barrel is racked periodically and when we were there, racking was in progress for the 2015 sitting in barrel.

We were hosted to a generous lunch at the chateau by Pierre, beginning first with the Krug Grand Cuvee as aperitif, displaying strong yeasty overtones, toasted oak and earth, crisp, lively and vigorous on the palate with excellent concentration of lime and green citrus, not too dry, finishing very well. This was followed by a 2010 Joseph Drouhin Clos des Mouches Blanc 1er that displayed notes of aged cheese and chalk on the nose, gentle on the palate with unusual subtlety with recessed minerals and early secondary characteristics though the acidity is excellent, taking on a caramelised note after some time but, on the whole, this is a shy wine.

We opened the reds with a contrasting pair. The 2005 Ch Cheval Blanc displayed a lovely soft floral fragrance of young red fruits, strawberries and raspberries with a deeper core of tangerines on the palate, quite harmonious with silky supple tannins, developing a mild earthiness after some time although, at this stage, the crisp acidity is rather intense. Yet to settle down but this wine will be long lived.

Racking of 2015 Cheval Blanc

In contrast, the 1975 Ch Cheval Blanc, fully mature, opened with a bouquet of mild earthy pungency coupled with a gentle rosy fragrance that was highly enticing, effortless and persistent, a hallmark of aged clarets. On the palate, the wine displayed a feminine elegance with good complexity, concentration and purity of fruit, not showy at all, remarkably poised and balanced but holding up very well, not at all in danger of fading, proving the longevity of cabernet franc.

Bright and clear: 2015 Cheval Blanc from barrel

We concluded with a 2007 Ch D’Yquem which, of course, is part of Pierre Lurton’s stable. This Sauterne from this outstanding vintage possesses a generous expanse of nectarine, apricot, fig and glorious tropical fruits, absolutely fabulous in balance with lovely acidity, quiet intensity and concentration, exuding a great perfumed fragrance. Outstanding.

I must thank Pierre Olivier for his time and generosity and FICOFI as well for making this visit possible.