What a wonderful sight, as the table was beautifully decorated with bottles…not just any bottles but foiled bottles! It was a night where ‘blind dates’ were brought to the table! The fun begins as they came filled all the way from Burgundy. Yes, it’s a Burgs night out!

One by one we, the liquid of either juices of the pinkish-red Pinot Noir or golden-yellow Chardonnay started getting us all excited…let me share the joy! Firstly…

CHÂTEAU FUISSÉ, Vieilles Vignes 2008 (Pouilly-Fuisse)
Tasting Notes: Beautiful fresh lemons with floral notes overlapping with great minerality coming along together with peaches and heavy toast. On the palate, it is light to medium bodied with vibrant lemony acidity, ripe fruits on the front before a gravelly mineral midpalate and heavy vanilla oak at the backend. Overall, nice structure with potential but has yet to meld together now.

Maison Louis Jadot, Clos-St-Jacques Premier Cru 2003 (Gevrey-Chambertin)
Ahh…the famed premier cru of Gevrey-Chambertin! One of those climats fabled to be as solid as any Grand Cru…

Tasting Notes: Red cherries, raspberries, white pepper with a whiff of vanilla on the nose. The most enjoyable part of this wine is the purity of the fruit as it reaches your palate! Not those lab produced flavourings but pure ripe red fruits ala cherries and strawberries with a hint of earth and minerality. A rather medium bodied wine with good acid, likely with medium to long term keeping potential to enjoy while Burg-erholics wait for the 2005s to lavish upon.

Domaine Pierre Damoy, Clos de Beze 1992 (Gevrey-Chambertin)
Tasting Notes: Red fruited nose with notable secondary development buzzing off with animally notes over sweet spices. Palate wise, this wine is probably at its peak at the moment. Medium bodied, noticeable soft tannins and acidity at the edge with animal barnyard notes mixed with green capsicum interlaced with red fruits and plums on the midpalate before some beautiful roses to end.

Maison Champy, Clos-St-Denis 2002 (Morey St Denis)
Tasting Notes: The nose reminds me of red currants, red berries, light spices and pepper while the palate flaunts itself with red fruits but the enjoyable part of this bottle is the nicely done intensity on the midpalate with a hint of tea as it opens up with some minerality showing its terroir. A medium bodied beauty with good acid-tannin structure that opens up with time, be patient!

Domaine des Hospices de Beaune, Cuvee Madeleine Collignon 1995 (Mazis-Chambertin)
Tasting Notes: Charming nose – spices, tea, red fruits, raspberry and strawberry cream. Palate wise - medium bodied, edgy acid with a tighter wound tannin structure coming forth with red fruits and a moderate intense tea-ish midpalate. Typical or atypical of a vintage?

Domaine Thomas-Moillard, Bonne-Mares 1997 (Chambolle-Musigny)
Tasting Notes: Wow…Brooding nose! Dark fruits, slightly earthy, sweet savoury spices and liquorice with tonnes of pepper. Among the lot, this is by far the densest wine with a fuller palate, medium acidity yet remaining rather tannic with a profile of dark fruits, plum skins, light spices with peppery notes on the palate. After 24hours in the bottle, the tannins were much more mellowed in the juice as it sung with additional rosemary together with some animal hide on the palate. At almost 14years old, this ‘97 Bonne-Mares, in my opinion is only still an infant if not in its youth. Perhaps a long way before maturity with the kind of stuffing it possesses however the level of potential secondary/tertiary development is always a mystery!



Always trust your PALate, it’s your PAL!

Santé!

I took the opportunity a few days ago (on 21 Apr 2010) to attend the Georges Duboeuf wine tasting at Sentosa Resort and Spa. Though it was raining earlier in the afternoon, luckily it stopped by the time the event began. This helped as at least a third of the space used for this tasting was held outdoors. It was certainly a sizable one with a few hundred guests and the event room was packed with the smartly attired and beautifully dressed.

 

The 4 wines featured for tasting were:

a. 2008 Macon-Villages (Cru du Macconnais)

b. 2005 Fleurie (Cru de Beaujolais)

c. 2008 Julinas, Ch des Poupets (cru de Beaujolais)

d. 2006 Pouilly Fuisse (Cru du Macconnais).

 

To go with these wines, there was an array of food; from barley & duck confit, teriyaki glazed ‘sushi’, duck ragout cherries & chocolate potato waffle, foie gras and scallop in soy balsamic vinaigrette to ravioli with spinach & white balsamic espuma.

Indoors there were an assortment of desserts, fruit trays and caviar to further satiate the guests. The food and wine were complimented with a live band which supported the ambience without overwhelming the on-going banter of the guests.

My 2 favourite wines for the evening were the 2005 Fleurie and the 2006 Pouilly Fuisse. One often talks about a food and wine pairing where one can see a synergistic union in a pairing. I must say the 2006 Pouilly Fuisse and the Ravioli with spinach and white balsamic espuma was one such pairing. The chefs were kept busy dishing out new servings throughout the night and the sommeliers had their hands full in filling up the glasses for the crowd intent on an epicurean pursuit.

I had to leave early as I had FHA to contend with the next day. But I must say it was a pleasant evening.