Posts Tagged 2001
Back to the ‘Old’ world…
Posted by eatbikelove in Wine Tasting Notes on August 27, 2013
Spending over a month in Australia has definitely helped in improving my understanding and appreciation of Australian wines. Interestingly, it has also helped solidify my wine preference. There are lots of very good wines in Australia but, I’ve realised that I am a crazy fan of aged old world wines which focuses more on balance and the wines being velvety smooth.
I do have lots of friends who are big fans of strong and powerful red wines (such as Barossa Valley Shiraz’s) and I can completely understand their preference. Post my trip, I have been checking my wine notes of recently tasted old world wines and I can happily say…”Honey, I’m Home!”
Tasting
Lumiere Histoire 2011
OK… after all this talk of old world wines, what is a Japanese wine doing here :-P. This is an interesting wine from Yamanishi prefecture which I recently tasted with a few friends in Tokyo. Tasted: June 2013.
Nose: Cheesy smell, hidden white flowers, white pear
Taste: medium light body, smooth body, no acidity, no dryness.
Finish: no finish to think off.
I admit, this is not my first choice if I have one.
Champagne Lahaye, Blanc de Noir NV.
Tasted June 2013 when I visited my friends in Singapore. I’ve had this on numerous occasions and it does not disappoint.
Nose: almonds, lemon zest, hint of green apple
Taste: great balance, medium weight, good acidity,
Finish: decent finish of 20 second
A v v nice champagne to go with Chinese food (tasted with Teochew cuisine)
Clos des Papes 2001
Nose: red and blackberries, strong cherry nose, hint of white pepper
Taste: good smooth texture, secondary flavours of berries and plum. Hint tannin
Finish: long finish of 30 second
A very nice GSM blend from this legendary producer. Given its age, all the harsh tannins have receded leaving a lovely smooth texture. Tasted along the champagne with Teochew cuisine. Lovely!
Blain Gagnard Chassgne Montrachet Caillerets 1er Cru 2009
Tasted July 2013
Colour: pale straw yellow
Nose: oily, white apple, pear, white flower, honey
Taste: beautiful silky texture, typical Chassagne body with the fruit taking centre stage. White flowers and good acidity
Finish: white apple and pear finish. c25 seconds.
Lovely wine and keeps on improving in the glass. After lots of swinging, the wine opens up to velvety smoothness.
Cathiard Vosne Romanee Aux Reignots 1er Cru 2008
Tasted July 2013
Colour- dark ruby red
Nose- dense mix of red n black fruits, hint of vanilla, upon opening smells like a Pauillac then reverting back to a Vosne nose.
Taste- velvety smooth with power! Good balance between fruits and tannin. Hint of mint @ finish.
Finish- long minty finish of over 30 seconds.
A very good wine that is bound to put on more weight and improve with age.
Jean Grivot Vosne Romanee Village 2005
Tasted August 2013 in Sydney Australia.
Nose: beautiful red and black fruits, cherries, velvety rose perfume, hint of vanilla
Taste: medium bodied, good fruit, velvety fruit,
Finish: good 20 second sweet fruity finish.
A good wine but shame about paying the WET tax in Australia.
Domaine Tollot-Beaut Chorey Les Beaune 2010
Tasted August 2013
Nose: cowpat at first, then slowly opened up for red fruit, cherries, raspberry,
Taste: acidic taste, red fruits, medium light body, simple structure.
Finish: 15 second finish.
A decent and simple glass of burg. On of those daily wines if you can afford it.
Domaine De la Vougeraie, Gevrey Chambertin Les Evocelles 2009
Tasted August 2013
Nose: red fruit nose, green muskiness from the oak, hint of vanilla
Taste: medium bodied, red fruits, slight hint of acidity
Finish: short finish of 15 second
Interesting wine with the potential to add on weight after a few more cellar age.
Domaine De la Vougeraie, Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru 2007
Tasted August 2013
Nose: red fruits, strawberries, hint to green, velvet texture, hint of mint
Taste: medium full bodied, red fruits, good texture, velvety smooth
Finish: 25 second finish
On a different level to Evocelles even though it is from the 2007 vintage. Good concentration.
Olivier Leflaive Meursault Tillets 2010
Tasted August 2013
Nose: white flower, lemon peel, hint of honeysuckle
Taste: sweet fruits, hint of apricot, slight acidity. Good texture.
Finish: 15 second semi dry finish.
Relatively simple wine given the price. Not sure if I am paying for the wine or for Leflaive???
Sebastien Magnien, Beaune !er Cru, Les Aigrots 2006
Nose: red fruits, strawberries and raspberries, hint of vanilla and lavender.
Taste: red fruits, started out light but gained weight once opened, good texture with a slight acidity
Finish: fruity finish of c20 seconds.
A half decent wine. Shame I only have a bottle.
El Matador from Rioja. Ole Ole Ole!
Posted by eatbikelove in Producer Wine Tasting on May 15, 2013
What do you think will be a Spanish wine El Classico? For me, I guess that will be Rioja v Ribera Del Duero. Both regions predominantly uses the same grape variety (Tempranillo) and make great wines. Up until early March 2013, Ribera Del Duero had the edge given my very bad experience with Rioja. A few years back, a few colleagues and I were given a Jeroboam of Rioja Grand Riserva 1999 and it was kept under ‘perfect’ storage underneath the desk of one of my colleagues (next to his smelly shoes for added curing…). Safe to stay, my first experience of Rioja (all 3 litres of it) was an off bottle and it managed to put me off Rioja (ignore the pun :-P).
Well, BBR decided to do something about that and invited me to a Rioja producer’s tasting in the China Club earlier in March. The Rioja producer in town was Carlos Lopez de Lacalle whose family owns Artadi wines, the producer of one of the best Rioja wines.
The wines were paired with chinese cuisine and I must admit, the pairing worked very well.
Carlos was an excellent host as you could tell the passion he had when discussing about his wines. He made a very good comment that the Rioja region makes very good wines but unfortunately the Rioja names that we normally associate with are the mass produced, thin ‘plonk’. Carlos admitted that Rioja producers need to do more to educate the wine drinking community of quality Rioja and I am was slowly starting to understand what he meant as his wines were beautiful. The only constructive criticism I can think of is PLEASE UPDATE YOUR WEBSITE (it looks a bit too fresh!) http://www.artadi.com
I thoroughly enjoyed the night (admittedly a bit too much) and thank you Joyce for the invite.
It was a great experience and it has definitely dispelled my previous bad experience of Rioja. I guess my current El Classico score is Rioja 1: Ribera Del Duero 1. Maybe, next time I should badger my friends to organise a Vega Sicilia v Artadi El Classico! (If you know any friends who have these wines, please let me know 😀 )
Tasted Mar 2013
Nose: good violet perfume and black fruits, hint of coconut from the oak
Taste: good silk smooth, slightly acidic and rustic, good balance with lots of fruit
Finish: 20+ second finish
A very nice fruity wine but I believe given a few more years this wine will be a superstar!
Tasted Mar 2013
Nose: violets and blueberry, hint of cassis, good perfume n hint of mint
Taste: tannic dryness, hint of vegetal flavours, medium bodied,
Finish: 25 second finish
The most tannic of the lot tasted that night. Definitely needs time.
Nose: hint of leather, less perfumy and less red fruits than 2004. Is this the evolution from good storage?
Taste: lighter in style, hint or red fruits, v good balance and smooth silky style
Finish: a 20 second elegant finish
A very elegant wine with a nice smooth texture.
Nose: very perfumed, cassis, black fruits,
Taste: Medium full bodied, acidic but good balance, good concentration. A lot more dense than Pagos Viejos
Finish: 30 second finish
The El Pison series is definitely a level up from Pagos Viejos (although I think the 2004 Viejos is giving these wines a run for their money)
Nose: good red fruit, hint of vanilla,
Taste: less fruity than 2002, red fruits, slight acidity and medium bodied
Finish: 30 second finish
Good wine.
Nose: leather, hint of earthiness, red fruits, velvety nose, mocha
Taste: great balance, red fruits, smooth, silky texture, great acidity. Medium bodied.
Finish: 40 second finish
Carlos’ comment for this wine was simple: ‘Its El Pison 1995, what more should I say’. A very very good wine. Glad I was able to saviour (a bit too much of) it at the tasting as I later found out it currently costs GBP280 a bottle!
To PC or not PC, whilst being sandwiched by an Italian and an Aussie
Posted by eatbikelove in Wine Tasting Notes on May 14, 2013
Do you remember the days when you were young and you hung out with your mates all day long without even thinking twice. Sadly, as age catches up and everyone else has different priorities, it seems harder and harder to catch up with old mates… which is all the more reason to treasure these gatherings and drink good wine! 😀
Recently, my uni mates and I arranged for a long overdue catch up (like all good 3 Michelin stars, we had to book over 1 month in advance). The location was a nice private kitchen in TST and we decided to have a mini vertical of a chateau that is currently gaining superstar status, Pontet Canet. Like all good wine tastings, we choose an Italian to get warmed up (after some bubbly of course) and a strong Aussie Cab Sauv to make sure we were all tipsy at the end of the night.
After a quick taste, it become blinding obvious that PC 2001 was denser and needed more time so we enjoyed the wines in this order; Chianti Classico, PC 2002, PC 2001 followed by Majella Coonawarra
Overall, it was a great night which was also educational the difference in vintages was more pronounced when tasted side by side. Bravo to my friends who brought the wines and I can’t wait for the next gathering!
Nose: very fruity nose of black fruits and cassis, hint of herb and mint,
Taste: medium bodied, a bit light for a Chianti, low acidity, easy to drink but a bit hollow on the mid palate.
Finish: short finish of 10 second
An OK bottle but I felt it was lacking the usual Chianti fruitiness. Perhaps it would’ve benefited with more aeration?
Nose: liquorice, dense red fruits and a hint of blackcurrant and mint,
Taste: red fruit and wine gums, slightly tannic, good fruit and medium bodied,
Finish: 20 second finish
A good wine. The wines are easy to drink and delicious when paired with food.
Nose: denser than 2002, black fruits, creme de cassis, hint of herb, sweet black fruits like blueberry, hint of vanilla
Taste: sweet red fruit, slight tannic dryness, this is still a young wine! Medium bodied and with a very good and silky texture
Finish: 30 second fin with a coffee aftertaste.
A very good wine with nice fruit. I was amazed at the finish when I sensed some coffee aftertaste…
Nose: oily texture, concentrated black fruits, alcoholic nose, hint of medicinal cough syrup
Taste: sweet cabernet sauvignon made in a new world style, not tannic, very fruity with a slightly reductive nose.
Finish: 15 second finish
A solid wine which expresses Coonawarra Cab Sauv well without being overextracted. Shame we had it after the 2 PCs!
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