TNs: Pearl of Burgundy HK trip report

WINE TALK
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HONG KONG PEARL OF BURGUNDY WINE TRIP - (16/1/2025-19/1/2025)

Wine-laden few days in HK as usual, notes below but will cram my EP thoughts here since I am not knowledgeable enough to assess such young wines individually. Overall thought '23 was a weaker year than ‘22, last year’s EP tasting had many wines that made me go wow but the wines in both colours were primary and unyielding, and frankly tough to taste (perhaps because the winemakers’ lunch and EP tasting were on the same day this year).
First day lunch and dinner wines
Arbor was definitely a highlight, such great value for lunch and agree with the friend who recommended this that the chef does proteins superbly. Pigeon and langoustine were superb, just a shame that the Kagoshima beef wasn’t available (CNY menu that had abalone instead…).

Pearl of Burgundy winemakers’ lunch with mostly 2015s and 2020s
Was expecting most of the wines to be shut but a surprisingly strong showing across the board from two warm vintages, the '15s especially were shockingly ready after a few shut ones last year. Top wines for me were the '15 Lignier CDLR, '15 Mortet CSJ and the magnificent '15 Roulot Boucheres. Finally, it was an absolute pleasure to be seated with Marianne Duroche who shared her knowledge generously with us at the table.

Wines at Bar Cyclone
A couple of wines at Bar Cyclone which wasn’t the most pleasant experience. Decent wine list, but not worth the bad attitude. Nonexistent wine service, wanted to charge us 1000 HKD for cleaning up something that took 5 mins for us to do it ourselves, steak was chewing through nails. Perfectly fine with bad service at traditional establishments with good food, but not at such upscale places. Visit the many other wine bars in HK that offer a much better overall experience like Zau Mei, LQV (didn’t manage to hit Mato).

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Pearl of Burgundy Gala dinner
Crazy gala dinner with many wow wines, but if I had to pick the highlights were the '76 Pousse d’Or, '90 H-N Richebourg, and the stunning '98 William Selyem for the reds; '06 Sauzet BBM, '19 Domaine de la Grange des Pères and '66 Dom Perignon for the whites/champagnes.

Wines with HK friends
Always a pleasure meeting HK wine friends who are always generous with their knowledge and wines. Fantastic array of wines for an open theme and a lucky day for my guessing.

  • 2012 Roagna Langhe Solea - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Langhe DOC (19/1/2025)
    Brought as an extra. Ripe tropical pineapple and pear fruit with a waxy texture, became more oxidative with air. Guesses were all over the place for this but if I were blinded I would have thought a more tropical, but also more acidic version of a Tondonia white. (91 pts.)
  • 2016 Domaine des Tours Grenache Blanc Vaucluse Les Tours - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Vaucluse (19/1/2025)
    Easy enough to guess this as a white from southern France but couldn’t narrow down any further. Initially quite similar to the Roagna but this became more aromatic and softer after some time with obvious hazelnut notes. A little too dense and clunky for me, could feel the alcohol on this. (89 pts.)
  • 1999 Bernard Dugat-Py Gevrey-Chambertin Vieilles Vignes - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Gevrey-Chambertin (19/1/2025)
    Served alongside the Laurent, I thought that this was the Laurent blind. Masculine and savoury black fruit with a vibrant ruby appearance that suggested a strong vintage so I thought this was a '99 Gevrey. No slouch but the better CSJ terroir of the Laurent won the day. (91 pts.)
  • 2001 Dominique Laurent Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Clos St. Jacques - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru (19/1/2025)
    So suave and floral on the nose that I thought this was a Vosne or Chambolle until it was revealed that this and the Dugat-Py were from the same village. Clearly from a cooler, underrated type of vintage so went for '01. Very red-fruited and elegant without any trace of unintegrated oak, the unanimous favourite of the lunch. (94 pts.)
  • 2006 Marc Sorrel Hermitage Le Gréal - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage (19/1/2025)
    My contribution. Most managed to land on a northern Rhone from the mid-'00s but guesses were mainly in Cote-Rotie. Saw from previous notes that this had some bottle variation, thought this was a little sweet and plummy without the signature red-fruited VA lift from Sorrel. Very fresh, but strangely didn’t have any structure. (90 pts.)
  • 1999 Domaine de Marcoux Châteauneuf-du-Pape Vieilles Vignes - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape (19/1/2025)
    Enjoyable in a generic old wine kind of way but the complexity and depth of the wine have all but disappeared. (88 pts.)
  • 1993 Château Figeac - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru (19/1/2025)
    Guessed '95 right-bank because of the red-fruited character and the absence of any pyrazine notes. Light and elegant for a Bordeaux that was almost Burgundian (but in no way underpowered). Another very good '93 Bordeaux, possibly an under-the-radar vintage? (93 pts.)
  • 1993 Château Trotanoy - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol (19/1/2025)
    Unfortunately corked but this had more stuffing than the Figeac alongside, might have been even better if it was a good bottle. NR (flawed)
  • 1985 Château Léoville Las Cases - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien (19/1/2025)
    Was reasonably confident of this being from the '80s because of an old-school leathery note that was only present during this era, but thought this was a Paulliac like GPL initially because of the inky pencil lead notes. When revealed to be a St Julien I immediately said this was a '85 Las Cases because of the gorgeous, layered dark fruit that only this vintage achieved as I usually find Las Cases to be too sturdy for my liking. Brilliant wine and a pleasure to revisit this, think I liked this more than the others. (94 pts.)
  • 2000 Domaine Charvin Châteauneuf-du-Pape - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape (19/1/2025)
    Much fresher than the '99 Marcoux that came previously, wasn’t quite sure where this was from initially but once it was revealed to be a CdP managed to correctly deduce that this was a '00 Charvin. Lovely restraint with pretty, savoury red fruit that finished a little sweet. Showed quite similarly to the Sorrel that came before surprisingly. (92 pts.)
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Burgundy Prep has replaced Tassel Swag as The New Look in '25. The wines still look dashing, tho. Fantastic run down. Glad to see good news on the 15s. And particularly glad to see some many wonderful showings at the Grand Tasting.

The '02 side-by-side with the Rousseau CSJ and the Arnoux-Lachaux Clos Vougeot seems entirely my jam. Wonderful, thrilling notes there.

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Shame you had a bad experience at Bar Cyclone. I had a great time there last time, Jack, the owner was there then who is really cool.

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Quite a set to work through there and great note taking to capture information on so many wines. The vigor of youth is on your side! Too bad about the Drouhin RSV. I would expect that should be in prime form. It seems other wines more than made up for the occasional miss. How did the nebbiolos get into the mix? Contributor choice?

Cheers,
fred

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I opened an ‘85 Montelena just a couple of months ago, and it was exactly as you describe your bottle. Ah well, nearly 40 year old wines are always a bit of a “luck of the draw” experience.

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@Nick_Christie Cheers, indeed was lucky to have tasted many terrific wines at the gala.

@Mikko_Tuomi I recalled your rec that’s why we went, but unfortunately the staff weren’t the most polite…

@Fred_Bower Tried my best but there were some that I completely forgot how they tasted like unfortunately (like a Bernard Moreau CC and a Fourrier Griotte). No rules on what bottle to bring, usually up to the table agree on the rules if everyone knows each other (ours was a good magnum).

@David_Bu3ker Very true, doing a '90s US wine dinner next month that I hope to have better luck!