Brie de Meaux

Priced at S$63.90 /kg. A classic Brie with creamy taste, a little on the strong side.

A tale of 3 Australian wines

2006 Grant Burge Miamba Shiraz

2004 Punters Corner Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon

2006 Penny's Hill Merlot

2006 Grant Burge Miamba Shiraz

Tried these 3 at an Australian wine fair by Vineyards direct, only the Shiraz had a decent nose with interesting enough palette and length. The other two, need perhaps some decanting or cellaring to soften the tannins, else it's simply torture to drink them. It is probably unfair to judge these wines as the tasting was done using....mini plastic cups!

WolfBlass Eagle Hawk Shiraz

Not-image worthy, unless to warn one never go even nose one. Vintage? Does it matter? Tannins hitting the your face, and engulfs the palette. Absolute piss. Next!

2009-05-08 Burgundy night!

Thanks to Tiong Kiat, Albert and gang for organising this wondeful wine dinner at the China Club. A venue with a spectacular views and exquisite decor. And this was Burgundy night! With carefully selected wines from the Burgundy region of France, and wines purchased from wine culture, this was set to be a mind-blowing night of Pinot noirs. It was tough to look for the images of the wine labels on the net, hence, only one is attached here. I shall take the images myself and post it up.

This was my first foray into such a wide selection of Burgundy wines, the nose is distinctively more crisp and fresh than Bordeaux. The following Burgundys are all very approachable, with hidden tannins and almost non-existant lengths, leaving me with little to note about. Burgundys known to be more complex than Bordeaux and we'll see.

The first wine tasted, was the Vosne-Romanee Domaine Robert Arnoux, 1ER Grand Cru Aux Reignots 2004. The nose was light and crisp at first, with woody tones and sour-plum notes.

The second wine was the Chambolle-Musignx by Pascal Lachaux, 1Er Grand Cru Leammoreuses 2003. Nose of fig and chery.

The third wine was again from Vosne-Romanee, Les Brulees 2009. The nose was 'big'. Hints of rust at the end of the nose.

The fourth wine was from Vosne-Romanee, Beaux Mont 2004. A rare wine with crispy and ripen fruit nose. Christophe Perrot- Minot. VV.

The fifth wine was from the same as the first wine, from Aux Reignots. This is from the 1999 vintage. Nose with hints of mushroom.

Jacob's Creek, cabernet sauvignon 2007

I tried the Vintage 2007 at one of the most popular hotels in Singapore, Marina Mandarin! The nose is really pleasant, with medium acidity and decent length. Can a structure of a wine improve over time?

Penfold's Rawson Retreat Shiraz Cabernet 2006 & Laborie Cabernet Sauvignon 2001

I brought these two to Alfred's place. Thanks to TK for the wine glasses! This Cabernet Sauvignon is from the 2001 vintage. The cork had almost dis-integrated! The wine has matured into a dark ebony. The nose is unlike any other wines. I'm unfamiliar with South African wine, and this has been a refreshing nose. The wine has interesting structure, with well-mannered tannins, slightly sharp, and an unfamiliar length.
We also had the 2006 Vintage of Rawson's Retreat, Shiraz Cabernet. The nose is excellent, wonderful floral/fruity bouquet, with well-balanced tannis/palette/length. It's really a good value-for-money wine! I wonder how well it'll mature in 5-10years?

Chateau Corbin 2000 & Blason L'Evangile 2005

We had the pleasure to taste the Chateau Corbin Grand Cru Classe St Emilion 2000 & Blason L'Evangile 2005 at TK's place. The Corbin was a 2000. It was decanted for already an hour before Wenhui and I arrived. And fresh from the memory of the Loeville Poyferre's masterclass a week earlier, everything of the Corbin was 'benched-marked' against the Poyferre. It was indeed tough to match the classic vintages of the Poyferre but the Corbin had strong tobacco scent, (not my favourite), and hints of aged fruits (can't tell what). Overall it's decent Bordeaux wine. The Blason L'Evangile 2005 was a surprisingly youthful wine which doesn't need any decanting and had bountiful fruity nose and very approable for such a young wine. All it needs now is a few years in the cellar and it will blossom beautifully!!

2009-04-22 Chateau Léoville-Poyferré Wine masterclass!

A long anticipated wine master class!! Thanks to recommendation from Wenhui's brother, Tiong Kiat . We went for this wine master class, of Chateau Léoville-Poyferré. The wine owner, Didier Cuvelier, was here himself to showcase his wonderful selection of grand vin, Chateau Léoville-Poyferré. Second wine Chateau Moulin Riche is also made by vineyard.

And off we went to St Regis, an impeccable hotel with a Ferrari F430 with several Bentleys lining the porch. We were to taste 8 vintages, the very first time I was doing such detailed wine tasting, and through EIGHT vintages! We started with the 2006 and went all the way to 1982. I shall attempt at writing notes per vintage. Wine experts, please correct me!

Chateau Léoville-Poyferré 2006:

A red-purplish wine with a smooth nose with a hint of fruit (can't figure out which fruit). Mild acidity with trace of tannins. Decent length. 6% Petit Verdot (PV), 21% Merlot (M), %73 Carbenet Sauvignon (CS).

Chateau Léoville-Poyferré 2004:

A pretty 'weak' nose, with chocolate? notes. With mild-medium tannins, sharp on the palette. OK length. My least favourite.

Chateau Léoville-Poyferré 2002:

Interesting smooth nose of hints of Sulphur. Sharp and crisp, medium to strong acidity. Complex, dry and long length. Didier suggested 15 to 20 years of aging!

Chateau Léoville-Poyferré 2001:

Fruity nose of plum and mocha!! Smelled 'woody' too, smooth, mildly-sharp, very dry, long length.

Chateau Léoville-Poyferré 1998:

The first of the 'mid vintages'. Dark chocolatly nose. SUPER nose, I can nose it all day! Extremely well balanced, tannins/acidity/length go hand-in-hand all the way! My favourite!!

40% M, 58% CS (2% PV?)

Chateau Léoville-Poyferré 1995:

Floral notes, pleasant on the palette, smooth with aged tannins. Acceptable length.

Chateau Léoville-Poyferré 1989:

A 'true' vintage! Very dark brown red colour. Fantastic nose (which fruit??). Another vintage which I can nose it forever. A bouquet of roses! Nothing to nitpick, acidity/length/tannins are balanced.

Chateau Léoville-Poyferré 1982:

A 'out-of-this-world' feeling. Doesn't look, nose like that I'm used to. Fruity, smooth nose. Strong on the palette, mild length with complex tannins. A true gem of ripen age.