It was a crazy 3 days, with a taste of 7 bottles of wine.... + meals including Roast Duck/Pork Knuckles with home made delicious apple paste (hand made by TK)/heavenly soba/salmon sashimi/tenderloin beef/buffalo wings/pork ribs/and a host of pasta/salads/etc. It's enough to satisfy any King!!Thanks to TK's and Albert's invitation 1997 Château de Villars Fontaine, here seen in the middle with a 2005 bottle (labelled customised for Albert). Crisp Chardonnay from the great Burgundy region, very easy in the palette with balanced acidity and fruit with a short finish. A white to start the sashimi/sushi with.
I brought a Gewurztraminer from Domaine Weinbach 2007 from Alsace region. A grape traditionally on the 'too sweet' on the palette, this is typically a favourite among girls. Fruity aromas fill the nose. A tad young, the tannins relax after ~30mins of decanting, revealing a smooth and crunchy palette with a bouquet of lychees in your face!!! Serving temperatures for sweet wines need to be ~12 degress Celsius or less. Absolutely fantastic! TK mentioned this has notes of Sauternes (wine) or even hints of Y'quem. (I've no idea as I've never been close to the 'great white wines..')
The reds were served almost concurrently with the whites and notable the Aloxe Corton 1ER cru Les Fournieres under the house of Tollot Beaut & Fils. This 1996 vintage has classic burgundy notes of Fig, and pleasant lightness on the palette. Wine opens beautifully after ~hrs of decanting and it's very drinkable!
The Pommard clos des epeneux is from the house of Comte Armand and as Pommards are known to be hard, this 2000 vintage bottle was uncorked hours before decanting for ~1-2hours before revealing it's flavours. With nose of burgundies (fig), this Pommard could do with more years under proper cellaring?
The 5th bottle is the Duhart Milon under the Lafite label. This 1997 is 12 years old already but still has considerably tough tannins and spiciness to challenge another 10yrs in the cellar? After another 16 hours of 'corked decanting', it lightens a little but yet refuses to reveal it's secrets. The 1989 vintage has been known to be a great tasting vintage.
And on NDP itself, we had the Chateau Certain from Pomerol of the 1997 vintage, courtesy of TK. Still a fan of the Left Bank, I've yet to come to terms to appreciate Saint Emillions and Pomerols. This Pomerol is a tad spicy and a little heavy. With light nose of dark fruits, the palette is heavy and the tannins are still a tad offensive. TK mentioned that another bottle he's tried was much better, hence bottle-to-bottle variation at play here?
Finally, on Post-NDP, I wasn't too keen to drink much anymore. We were at lunch at Janice's and with plenty of red meats and a bottle of Wolf Blass Riesling 2007 (courtesy of Anne), there wasn't much to think about, and pop! With 30mins of decanting (un-cork only), this Riesling was surprisingly easy on the tannins and acidity, proving very drinkable. The crispness I like in Riesling was missing though and perhaps a hint of Sulphides was present as I had a slight headache afterwards.
All in all, a great NDP long weekend with many great wines, great food and company!!
Happy birthday SIngapore!!!
