2011-04-06 Extraspace Wines

Had a good time with WW and gang. A visit to the huge storage spaces at Boon Keng (www.extraspace.com.sg). A locker for 24 cases can be owned for ~SGD$80/month. We had packed food from Bendeemer food center and had the following wines.

Leitz Rudesheimer Berg Roseneck Spatlese 2009. Fruity, cripsy, very nice.
Marcel Deiss Riesling Beblenheim Alsace 2004. Would have preferred more acidity.
Schlossgut Diel Dorsheimer Goldloch Spatlese Nahe 1997. Not bad.
Domaine Fourier Gevrey-Chambertin VV 2007. Opened by Henry, tasted blind, big and brooding pinot; pretty forward wine, perhaps the old vines helped.
Machiavelli Vigna Di Fontalle Chianti Classico Riserva 2001. Opened by Marcus, this fooled me initially thinking that it's a left bank with the rich black fruity nose of Cab Sav. Turned out to be a Chianti? Having little experience in Sangiovese, this was a very pleasant and balanced wine!

A tasting at Cornerstone

A wine tasting session organised by Cornerstone over the weekend. Second wines from a few good house in Bordeaux including
Chateau Pouget 96,00,03,05
La Chapelle de la Mission Haut Brion 2005
Le Fleur de Bouard 2006
Le Pardon de Angelus 2007
La Chapelle Lafon Rochet 2005
Le Haut de Smith 2005

The vertical of Chateau Poget on the left. Overall, not very impressed. Perhaps it was the weather, environment, or the stemwares. Only the SHL / La Mission were decent enough to warrant a purchase.

The crowd and the surroundings of #01 at Cornerstone building in 61 Lorong 17 Sims Drive.

A tour of the 2nd of 7 story building by 3rd generation owner Clinton An of 'Twelve Degrees'', one of the noted storage facilities for fine wines in Singapore. I've EP wines stored here!

My wines, a palette full of Lafite...*Dreaming*

Thanks to Willy Soh from Cornerstone for the warm hospitality!!

*Clink!*

Marina Bay Sands: Wilmar & Co. 03; Reserve la Comtesse 06

Had a good weekend at Marina Bay Sands. Wilmar & Co 03 by TK, toasty on the nose at first, but somehow toast went missing after an hour after opening.

Reserve de la Comtesse 2006, 2nd wine of Pichon La Lande. dark fruits, minerals, some pepper, excellent with imperial treasure cuisine. Yum. Realised that the bath tub had a tray..what an ideal loaction to take pictures of the wine!!

Lynch Bages 1975 - Poor man's Lafite?

Domaine René Engel, Vosne Romanée, 1Er Cru, Les Brulées, 2003
Lynch Bages, Pauillac, 1975
Chatéau Pichon Lalande, Pauillac, 2004
Domaine Christian Serafin, Chambolle Musigny 1er Cru Les Baudes 2004
Chatéau Léoville Barton, St Julien, 1993

Lynch Bages, Pauillac, 1975
Very aged Pauillac, 1975!! Thanks to Morgan, what a privilege. Fruit very much present, this must be what 'silky smooth' wine means. Tannins are faint, very well aged, and there's still a decently good finish!!

Domaine Christian Serafin, Chambolle Musigny 1er Cru Les Baudes 2004.
2004 known to be a cool year, hence grapes weren't optimally ripe. Christian Serafin is vinify in classic burgundian styles. Uncork @ 10am, decant at 2pm, in cool environment. Very strong perfume through the day, dark fruits intertwined with Figs, very strong tannins.

Drinking time 8pm onwards: The strong 'Ribena' nose is not there, with forest floor, green tea?, herbal, some figs on the nose, complex palatte, good finish.

Barton 93: Very big, quite heavy still, TK opened since noon.
Lalande 04: Opened for 2 days, initially when it's cold, flambouyant nose and sweet palette, upon warming up, nose of the Left Bank was present... Excellent preparation.
Le Brulee 03: Very delicate, classic figs on the nose, light and very enjoyable on the palette.

Dom Perignon 2000 Blanc, 1998 Rose, 1995 Enotheque

A fantastic wine tasting event by Crystal Wines. www.crystalwines.com of three of the classic champanges from Dom Perignon!

The 'regular' Dom, my first Dom ever. I've heard so much about it, read about the Gold awards that this wine has been winning around the world, and finally I've go to taste it! Nose of ripe citrous, hint of toast and oak. Yummy and delicious, balanced palette and an amazing 50seconds finish! Dom usually spend at least 6 years on lees and it's a mixture of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir and one can be hard pressed to pick up a dominant grape in the finely balanced bubbly.

The Dom Perignon Rose 1998. Perfect with Sushi, Salmon Sashimi!? The wine merchant went to Akashi and 5 pax spent $3.2k on food and 8-9bottles of Blanc 2002 @ $220/btl!! Talk about indulgence!

The customised Champange flute for the Blanc 2000.

The favourite of most at the tasting, which I found it very lacking in the nose. Has yet to open at all. Enotheque is a greek word for 'wine library', and such will spend easily 9 years on the lees before a 2nd release of the wine is made. Once the wine warmed, the nose still wasn't appearing. Palette was complex with a decent finish. I'll try this with a Pinot glass and at least 1 hr of uncorked time before going near this fellow. And this cost >SGD$500/bottle!

The Wine of the Night! A sneak at the 1998 Rose...

Twin bottles of the very lovely, absolutely balanced and beautiful rose. Rose comes from the skin of perfectly ripened grapes and Dom Perignon has grapes only from the 17 Grand Crus in Champange. And since Dom Perignon is a 'vintage-only' champange, we don't get the Blanc on a yearly basis, and much less the Rose!! (though in some years, the Rose was made by not the Blanc!)

The 'must-have' family portrait, with my clear favourite on the 'top step of the podium'!!

I did buy a bottle of 2000 in the end of the evening and went for a yummy Yakitori dinner with Nick @ Robertson Quay.

Imperial Treasure

The Gosset 1999. An under-rated house, this is impeccable vintage champagne
with toast on the nose and a hint of honey on the palette. Value for money!

A very well prepared wine, which opened up ery beautifuly. The 2000 Clos Fortet did remind one of the left bank instead of the classic St-Emillion. The 2004 is a step ahead of the 2000 in my opinion with fresh bouquet and a very balanced palette.

Masterclass with Christian Seely (Pichon Baron!)

Thanks to Jackson from Denise wineshop / The Straits Company, we had the chance to taste some great wines from Bordeaux. Led by Christian Seely, the session was held at the Denise wineshop at Tanjong Pagar.


Short write up of Mr Christian Seely
Born in 1960, Christian Seely was educated at Harrow School and Trinity College
Cambridge where he took an M.A. in English in 1982.
During the following months he accompanied his father, James Seely, wine merchant
and writer, to Bordeaux, to work with him on his book “The Great Wines of
Bordeaux”.

Following this experience, Christian Seely created his own company, “Presents of
Mind” specialising in wines and gastronomy.
After obtaining his MBA at INSEAD in 1987, and after a year spent at l’Oréal in
Paris, he worked for Guinness Mahon Development Capital, for whom he managed
the turn around of several companies in which they had investments.
In October 1993 he was able to unite this work experience with his passion for wine
when he was named Managing Director of Quinta do Noval, a new investment of the
AXA Millésimes group in Portugal.

In the year 2000, AXA invited Christian Seely to take up the position of Managing
Director of AXA Millésimes, following the retirement of Jean-Michel Cazes. Since
that time he manages the AXA Millésimes group of vineyards, whose head office is
based at Château Pichon-Longueville Baron.

Besides this prestigious Pauillac Grand Cru Classé, Christian Seely is responsible for
looking after Châteaux Pibran in Pauillac, Petit-Village in Pomerol, Suduiraut in
Sauternes, Mas Belles Eaux in the Languedoc, as well as Domaine de l’Arlot in Nuits-
St-Georges, Disznókı in Hungary and Quinta do Noval in Portugal. He is also the
President of the Compagnie Médocaine, the Bordeaux Négociant, which is wholly
owned by AXA Millésimes. Apart from these AXA Millésimes companies, he is
managing director and part owner of Quinta da Romaneira in the Douro, and cofounder
and joint owner of Coates and Seely Ltd, producer of English Sparkling wine
in Hampshire, England.

He lives today in the city of Bordeaux with his wife Corinne, stepson Antoine, and
sons Theodore and