DESMOND’S BIRTHDAY DINNER - St Pierre, Singapore (29/1/2013)
I have not had dinner at St Pierre for the longest times. Chefs had come and gone, and it was just about to move to new premises on Sentosa island, so I was rather looking forward to the meal when Desmond called us together to celebrate his birthday. The Greek chef (ex-Fact Duck, whose name I cannot seem to remember, and who has since left St Pierre) cooked up a wonderful meal for us, with imaginative food marked by a light touch, all going perfectly with the wine.
REDS
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2008 Domaine Ramonet Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Vergers - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru
I loved this wine - it is right up my alley stylistically and about as close to the platonic ideal of a good 1er Cru white as I come to for some time. The nose was subtle and complex, with light notes of roasted almonds and white flowers touched by a bit of musk, gentle wafts of red apples, some earthy mineral, and then a touch of spice. With time and air, more expressive notes of sweet white fruit and cream, along with a striking minerality rose to the fore - a gorgeous bouquet. The palate was equally lovely. It showed fine balance, with supple acidity winding its way through through lovely juicy apple flavours and a crunch of white peach layered with light honeyed tones on the midpalate. Always lithe, focused and precise, gliding into a gentle finish of lemon notes that tailed away with a floaty bit of spice and limestone mineral. Light-footed, elegant and so complex for a young wine, and opening up all the time in the glass. This had no pretensions towards Grand Cru depth, but it was quite a complete 1er Cru all to itself. Superb and drinking well young - this beat out a very good 2004 Carillon Puligny Referts on the same flight - but I would give it a few more years in the bottle to truly develop. (93 pts.) -
2004 Louis Carillon Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Referts - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru
This was no doubt very good, but seemed to be in a rather surly phase. I loved the nose from first pour. It was deeper, maybe just a touch riper than the elegant bouquet on the Ramonet that preceded it. Here, there were rather deep, expressive notes of ripe apples and earth, a touch of fresh cut flowers and a hint of green herb, all packed against a solid backdrop of chalk and mineral. True to its terroir, the palate was very full, very round and luscious, with mouthfilling flavours of ripe apples and citrussy lemons, but all laced with tons of bright, juicy acidity that drove the wine into a long finish of mineral and spice. This was a very grippy, intense wine, but still very primary. There was great length and depth wed to a typical energy and finesse, yet this seemed a bit lacking in complexity, especially in the rather one-dimensional midpalate. To be fair, those who liked slightly bigger wines around the table loved this, and one or two thought it was drinking at peak. I was of the opinion that it needed time though, perhaps 3-4 years more. At the moment, it was impressive, but not as alluring as many of the great Louis Carillon bottlings I have had in recent years. (92 pts.) -
1976 Joseph Drouhin Corton-Charlemagne - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru
This was heavily oxidised - brown in colour, tasting of honey and flat sherry - a pity. NR (flawed)
WHITES
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1976 Rapet Père et Fils Pernand-Vergelesses 1er Cru Ile des Vergelesses - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Pernand-Vergelesses 1er Cru
I really liked this. What a nose it had, absolutely knock-out, with ripe red cherries and cooked strawberries layered over lovely backnotes of Burg funk, with wild brambly undergrowth, meaty, leathery notes, a touch barnyard even, then a serious dash of spice and mineral. With a bit of air, the funk clears off, and more spicy notes emerged. A wonderfully fresh, complex bouquet. The palate was deliciously mature, with glorious bright acidity racing through its delicious flavours of red cherries, strawberries and haw flakes, with a lovely little counterpoint of loamy earth and root vegetables. Lovely spicy hint at the finish too. Super fresh for 1976, and drinking quite at peak. While not the most breathtaking wine, it was very yummy indeed. Excellent stuff. (93 pts.) -
1989 Faiveley Charmes-Chambertin - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru
This was another excellent, mature Burgundy. The nose was a bit of a challenge at first, very funky, with earthy damp soil and wet dog notes. Thankfully, the funk clears up significantly with time, becoming quite meaty, adn revealing a backdrop of black cherries and plums, earth and spice. Actually very nice. It was the palate that I really enjoyed though. This was drinking wonderful. It was soft, very mellow; still nicely fresh, but clearly from a lower acid year, and then velvety tannins, almost melting across the mouth with black and blue fruits - dark cherries, berries, maybe plums - ceding way to with lots of spice and earth at the long finish. Some little bits of dried hawthorne berries came out as well. Not the most complex of wines, and certainly not the strongest 1989 Grand Cru I have had, but a very complete package in its own right, and drinking just about perfectly now. I do not think this will last much longer though, so time drink up. (93 pts.) -
1995 La Poderina Brunello di Montalcino Riserva - Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino
Another lovely, fully mature wine that was drinking beautifully - this made it a rare three in a row. It had a very classic BdM nose, with smoke and meat aromas, black cherries, herb and dried earth. Lovely stuff. It was drinking so well on the palate too. Deliciously complete, with fresh, but perfectly integrated acidity and velvety tannins formed around crazy delicious flavours of black cherries and dried berries with a meaty undercurrant. Yummy. Good finish too, ending with a tiny little stream of earth, spice and cigar smoke, with some licorice twists underneath. Again, not a great, great wine - it lacked the depth and breadth for that - but the stars sligned with this one - fully mature, beautifully paired with some beef, just lovely. (93 pts.) -
1990 Domaine Juliette Avril Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Du Majoral - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Excellent stuff. This was quite surely the least well-known name amongst the reds, but it was probably the pick of the bunch - one of the great reasons to drink wines blind! Served next to a 1999 Armand Rousseau Charmes-Chambertin, this seemed absolutely Burgundy-like, so much so that very few of us guessed Rhone. The nose showed sweet aromas of red cherries on loamy earth and some flowers, only a twist of garrigue at the end made me think it might be a southern Rhone instead. The palate was at a perfect place - soft and velvety, with beguiling notes of spice and dark cherries folded into gentle acidity that lapped around the midpalate, then a gentle finish of meat, smoke and garrigue. Very full in the mouth, yet perfectly elegant and superbly balanced. This was ridiculously delicious. It finished just a bit short, but no one really took umbrage - we downed this in record time. (93 pts.) -
1999 Domaine Armand Rousseau Père et Fils Charmes-Chambertin - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru
This was a little jarring after the quartet of nicely developed reds that preceded it. While a very good wine indeed, I think it still needs several more years in the bottle before really showing. It had a beautiful nose though, soaring out of the glass with fragrant wafts of red cherries and raspberries touched with bramble and spice and flowers, all patted down with a bit of earth. Wow. The palate was unfortunately less charming (excuse the pun). On first pour after half-an-hour in a decanter, what stood out was very bright, racy acidity, rather unusually so for a 1999, and then bright red cherries and chewy raspberry flavours, laced with orangey citrus notes and a waft of roses. Nice flavours. This came across as a very substantial Charmes, with plenty of stregth, but such was the freshness on it that it still came across very elegantly - a marriage of power with grace if you will. At the moment though, it is also one of those 1999s that still carry quite a bit of primary fruit on the attack, but seem a bit shut down towards the finish. There was length to burn for sure, but it was just a bit thin on flavours on the backpalate, showing sublte notes of mineral and spice built upon still rather firm tannins. Impressive, but even with time in the decanter and in the glass, and paired with some meat, this was clearly not ready. Try again after 2016. (93 pts.) -
1976 Château Latour Grand Vin - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
A good Bordeaux but not a great Latour - this seemed to be losing a bit of energy; a bit disappointing for a Latour that was “merely” about 35 years old. Still though, we all enjoyed this. It certainly smelt old, with some soy suace notes, wet earth and damp undergrowth more or less layered over subtler dark fruit and meat notes. The palate was better though. It reflected its vintage quite clearly, rich and ripe, rather low on acidity, showing sweet, yummy flavours of dried cassis wed to a puff of damp tobacco leaves and then a savoury, almost salty mix of meat and undergrowth nuances. Still a very solid wine I thought, perhaps drying out a touch on the midpalate, but the finish came back strongly, showing rather fresher, almost juicy, with tiny bits of smoky tobacco and spice supported by firmish tannins. All in all, still very enjoyable. Drink up though. (92 pts.)
SWEETS
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2001 Zind-Humbrecht Pinot Gris Clos Jebsal Sélection de Grains Nobles - France, Alsace, Alsace AOC
Wow - this was something else. My wine of the night by some distance, and that it saying something given the very decent line-up we had. The nose was just crazy - honeyed figs, sweet grenadine, orange peel, earth, spice, all melded into a lovely, glowingly sweet bouquet. Wow on the palate too. This was thick and rich, with a profound depth to its layers of ripe apples, apricots and tangerines, again orange peel, then lighter notes of orange blossoms; yet such was the fresh acidity that drove the wine all the way from the attack to the finish, that this was so balanced and pure, with all the complex little bits superbly integrated and held together with lovely tension. Such an elegant wine in spite of its strength. Great finish too, drawing away in a little honeyed glow pierced by mineral and spice notes. About as complete a sweet wine as I have had in a long time. Great stuff. Still very primary, so I would have waited a few more years on this wine, but it was nevertheless great on the day. I have a feeling this will be one of those wines that drink well youth all the way to decades into the future. I would love to try it at the next 10 year mark though. (95 pts.) -
2006 De Bortoli Noble One Botrytis Sémillon - Australia, New South Wales, Big Rivers, Riverina
Good, but a bit too much. I had a bottle of this some 4 years back, from a similar 375ml, and the wine does not seem to have developed at all in the intervening period. The nose was quite attractive, with sweet scents of dried apricots and peaches, nectarine and honeyed figs, with a little whiff of rubber at the side. The palate was a bit of a shock after the effortless excellence of the Zind-Humbrecht SGN that precded it though. Very rich, extremely sweet, with slightly too little acidity to properly lift its thick, viscous flavours of dried apricots, nectarines and mangoes moving into a richly honeyed finish. This was actually pretty yummy, It certainly had impressive heft and depth, and the balance, while needing a touch more freshness, was not entirely out-of-whack so as to render it cloying, but it is damn sweet and probably need a decade or more to mellow and allow some complexity to show. (91 pts.) -
NV Chambers Rosewood Muscadelle (Tokay) Special - Australia, Victoria, North East, Rutherglen
Tasting this back-to-back with a De Bortoli Noble One really showed how good the Aussies are at making these Rutherglen style stickies - this was just that much more interesting, complex and, most of all, balanced. It had that uniquely dark and spicy Christmas cake nose, with black fruits, raisins and dried figs drizzled with molasses and littered with some dried rose petals and a deeper, meatier note. A smidgen of alcohol at the edges aside, it was an alluring bouquet. The palate was every bit as rich, or even richer than the other sweet wines on the table. In fact, it was positively viscous with unctuous flavours of dried figs and raisins wed to chocolate and spice as the wine moved through a moreish midpalate and into a long, mouthfilling finish. However, for all that monoltihic depth, the wine was actually very drinkable, blessed as it was with a nice fresh acidity that somehow kept it balanced and whole. Delicious stuff, and quite complete. Again, there was a little stain of alcohol right on the edge of the backpalate which distracted somewhat from the overall experience, but that aside, I enjoyed this quite a bit. (93 pts.) -
1976 Klosterhofgut Wehlen Wehlener Munzlay Trockenbeerenauslese - Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
A very nice way to end the evening. This had a complex little nose, with sweet apricots, peaches and figs flecjed with some honey, a touch of earth and a little rubber note. Nice. The palate was not the brightest given the warm vintage, but there was stil a nice freshness to its rich, sweet flavours of apricots soaked with honey. A nicely integrated finish wound its way out with a sprinkle of spice and a hint more of that rubbery back-note picked up on the nose. As with so many of TBAs, this seemed ageless and almost agelessly primary - it will go on for years and years yet. (92 pts.)
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