As one of the true highlights of my Singapore trip, I reached out to Melvin to see if we could get together for food and wine. He was champion in organizing a dinner at Sonder for 13 of us, including my close friend Dileep. We did blind and theme was “bring good shit”. Boy, did everyone ever step up. The best part, though, was meeting so many truly nice winos. Huge thanks to you, Melvin, and to all your friends for welcoming us so warmly.
We had 19 wines total. I only have notes for 16, so I missed some—which is OK! (grin). Will count on Melvin to fill in the blanks.
#1 Sweetish lemon on the nose, a li’l peachy too. On the tongue, this has an attractive slash of bitterness—ginger-tinged, I think. Good attack and carry, guessing a champagne, maybe a bit on the young side. This was, I believe, a Gaspard Brochet NV—we had 2 of them so I’m not sure which was which (edit 333.c)
#2, chestnuts to start, plum jam. Precise, light, sort of attractively didactic. Small berry…we debate whether there is some VA or not, if yes it does seem to blow off. I think we’re clearly in Burgundy and would have maybe guessed 2014. This is a bit older, revealed as 2009 Dujac MSD
#3, dark garnet. I get a bit of tobacco on the nose, but I think I’m alone in that. Quite good to taste, strong berry and currant, but also some woodsy bits and I still get some cured tabac. Maybe I was fooled and it’s more cured meat 
Guessed a 2007 or 2009 and maybe St. Estephe. Well, at least I was in the right country and more or less in vintage line. This is quite a treat, 2011 Allemand Reynard Cornas and kept getting better and more filled out with air time in the glass
#4, Dark Brown with red tinges. Begs for duck (and was splendid with the duck confit amuse bouche). Touch of soy to accent mature cranberry. Palate follows through with this and possibly a tiny swatch of cinnamon. This is plein de charme and I guessed late 70s and wasn’t sure about Burgundy or Barolo. This is shown to be 1985 Georges Lignier Clos St. Denis. Dileep has never had anything like this (and I’m pretty sure this is my oldest CSD) and it was his WOTN, the one he tells me he’s still thinking about today.
#5, Burnished gold, a real smokiness here on the nuzzie, alluring. Yummy dans la bouche, with lemon, apple peel and…some lanolin. I gave some thought to a Rhone white, maybe from early 2000s, but the other option is Chenin and that is indeed proved out. This is a 2011 Clos Rougeard Breze Blanc and is slightly advanced—the bringer mentioned he’s had better bottles. Still fun
#6, some grass notes and lemonseed in the aromatics lean towards SB. Very lively and fresh, with a touch of ginger, yet so very composed and sure-footed. You can tell this is special, but I didn’t realize HOW special. I never could have hoped to have one of my bucket list wines and am awed by the generosity of this bring, being 2005 Laville Haut Brion
#7 apple & pear in equal parts, very defined here with good mousse. Feels quite coiled but a lot of promise here. Would guess a 15 or younger Champagne though a 2008 wouldn’t surprise me. I definitely preferred this second bottle of Gaspard Brochet (333.f Extra Brut).
#8, Goodness! Nose of truffles and slight funk but it gives way in the mouth to loads of pear, quince and tropical fruit. This is super-silky in texture, I get more tropical and it’s joined by honeycomb and ginger notes. My best guess was a 2010-or-so Alsatian PG. Boy was I ever wrong! This unicorn (for me, anyway) ends up being the 2018 Bachelet-Monnot Puligny Les Folatieres
#9, scents of flowers accent a blueberry and plum bouquet. Pencil lead later. Cherry and cassis liqueur to taste, it’s just a little bit hot, though not distractingly so—just has a small bite at the back. Still relatively young. Guessed a 2006 or 2009. Nope, it’s earlier, though we are in Bordeaux. 1998 Chateau Figeac.
#10, The aromatics here are more conversational, red and black fruits joined by cocoa and espresso. Yuh-um! Licorice, plum, black cherry. It’s so very, very good. 2000 Bordeaux? 1998? Keep going. The 1990 Chateau Pichon-Baron took WOTN for me. It is incredibly harmonious and evocative now, truly glorylicious
#11, Lifted apple and orange blossom. Quite delicious yet poised in the mouth, follow through and added some nectarine. We paired this with the sambal rice dish and it was a fine pairing. This is one of mine and there were pleased noises when the 2017 Egon Muller Scharzhofberger Ries Kabinett is shown. I wasn’t sure if this group had much access to Muller and was glad to share.
#12, dark and brooding aroma, pipe tobacco, mulberry and blackcurrant all have a say in the sniffer. Awfully good already on the tongue and still fairly kinetic. It will get better with more time, requisite fruit and some cedar & spices. I’d hesitantly guess 2005 Bordeaux but absolutely not on the year. The 1983 Chateau Magdelaine just underscores that a fair number of Bordeaux are forever wines.
#13, scents of small berry, touch of char, sandalwood. Palate finds plenty of verve, strong stuff with blackcurrant and some accenting black cherry. A level of oak that works but is noticeable. For all that, this felt a bit monochromatic to me. 1990 Chateau Leoville Las Cases was another very generous bring.
#14, this was non-blind—I brought a 2021 Beta Maus Cab for Melvin and the others to try. I wish I’d known the restaurant rules here, as I would surely have decanted this for some hours beforehand. As it is, it shows the purity of Ketan’s winemaking style and has plenty of grip. It’s just that the fruit is very undeveloped at this early stage. Leave for 10 years at least.
#15, Lifted apricot greets the nose, joined by lychee, hints of baking spices and pineapple compote. This has a sublime level of elegance on the tongue and swirls down your throat. The finish is sneakily long. While I enjoyed this tremendously, it did not have the magical fireworks of its ZH cousin. I brought this as well, from what I consider to be possibly the greatest vintage in Alsace for dessert wines. 1994 Marcel Deiss Altenberg de Bergheim Gewurtz SGN is my first of 3 bottles. Again, I would have much preferred to aerate this beforehand. Still, lots of happy faces around me.
#16, pure insulin-driven yellow-fruit cotton candy. There is just enough acidity to carry it. These guys are so funny—someone brought a 2023 Peller Estates Vidal Icewine from Ontario. I am truly picky on icewine and really only fully enjoy it in Riesling mode. I’m surprised the RS is only 180g/L
Food was excellent, and particularly noteworthy was the sequencing—all the flavours made sense in the order they were presented, and everything had a notion of subtlety that I could appreciate. Service was impeccable too. Again, the best part was a joyous evening of company and hedonism. Thank you all!
