TN: '80 Leroy Chambertin, '92 Dujac CSD, '04 Groffier BM, '04 Leflaive Chevy etc

T’S BIRTHDAY (MONKEY YEAR WINES) - Aoki Restaurant, Shaw House, Singapore (6/8/2020)

Long boozy lunch to celebrate Tung’s birthday

BUBBLES

  • 2006 Louis Roederer Champagne Cristal Brut - France, Champagne
    Fresh and lovely - this was a great way to start lunch. I really liked the nose, with its gentle wafts brioche wafting around a lifted core of green apples and lemon zest. Really alluring. The palate was absolutely lovely - clean, defined, precise, with a lovely structure of fine acidity and stony mineral running through pure flavours of fleshy white fruit laced with a sprinkle of lemon zest. Powerful and intense, yet so pure and effortless, this was a lovely wine just starting to come into its own. (93 pts.)
  • 2002 Piper-Heidsieck Champagne Cuvée Rare - France, Champagne
    Lovely. A completely different character from the elegant, refined 2006 Cristal we had alongside - this was a bigger, more obvious expression - but boy was this ever delicious. I loved the nose here, with its lovely notes of yeast and brioche and honeyed yellow fruit. So attractive. The palate was absolutely delicious. Round, ripe and fleshy, it showed lovely flavours of red apples and rupee yellow fruit, maybe a touch of honey - big, powerful and mouthfilling stuff, but all this still wonderfully poised and balanced, with lovely balancing acidity carrying the wine into a full, satisfying finish just touched with a bit of toasty brioche and hazelnut notes. The mousse was a bit coarse, but otherwise truly delicious stuff. Drinking well now too, but with still with headroom left - this could age for a long time more. A superb champagne all round. (94 pts.)

WHITES

  • 2016 Jean-Claude Ramonet Chassagne-Montrachet - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chassagne-Montrachet
    Very impressive for a straight village. The nose was still really youthful - with shades of reductiveness and more than a fair share of new oak; but there was a nice Chassagne character beneath that, with notes of yellow pear, some preserved lines, maybe a touch of beeswax, and then some spice and mineral shades. Very nice. The palate was very impressive, with a nice depth and roundness to its honeyed pear and white apple flesh flavours, these wed to a lovely sense of lithe freshness lent to it by lovely lemony acidity and a good streak of mineral that ran from the midpalate all the way into satisfyingly long, creamy finish with just a hint of spiciness. This had really lovely depth and balance for a village Chassagne. Young still - but it will grow up into a really solid wine. I would love to have this again in the next 2-3 years. (92 pts.)
  • 2004 Domaine Leflaive Chevalier-Montrachet - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chevalier-Montrachet Grand Cru
    Absolutely superb. The last bottle I had was tragically premoxed, but this more than made up for it. What a nose this had, with its lovely drifts of red apples and light cream laced with Leflaive’s typical minerality - all chalk and flint and stone. Lovely. What a palate this had too. Transparent, pure, brilliantly balance - it took my breath away. This just glided through the mouth on a beautiful flow of white fruit - think red apples and pears - and lovely stony, flinty mineral, maybe a touch of sweet cream just lurking behind. Awesome stuff. An archetypal Chevalier - this had all the power and creamy depth of a top Grand Cru, but with the lithe, sinewy elegance that the very best Chevalier-Montrachets have. What a wonderful finish it had too - long, intense and insistent, this just clung to the back palate with a show of white fruit laced with a beautiful flinty, chalky, minerality. This was an absolutely brilliant wine, drinking quite at peak. Wow. (97 pts.)

REDS - IN 12 YEAR INTERVALS

  • 1980 Maison Leroy Chambertin - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambertin Grand Cru
    A really nice 1980. The nose had a lovely mature Burgundy ring to it, with sous bois and truffles wafting around a core of dried fruit - think preserved strawberries and sweet cherries - and then just a little dusting of spice and mineral, all these layered with a touch of Leroy’s whole cluster funk. Lovely. The palate showed perhaps a bit past prime, but was still absolutely charming. It had a lovely ring of dried strawberries and fresh red cherries infused with a lovely bit of high-toned spice, earth and mineral, all pulling away into a lovely, full finish. The fruit had the richness one would expect of a Leroy wine, but the wine also had a lovely, transparent Chambertin typicity, along with the all the sinewy muscle and strength one would associate with the terroir. Very good indeed. Time to drink up though. (93 pts.)
  • 1992 Domaine Dujac Clos St. Denis - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Clos St. Denis Grand Cru
    Surprisingly alive for a 1992 wine, this was a charmer. The nose was really mature andlovely, with old Burg notes of damp earth, sous bois and meaty funk floating amidst sweeter tones of dried raspberries and strawberries, and then a touch of herb and dried florals. Very nice. The palate was surprisingly alive, with fresh acidity and fine tannins forming a nice backdrop for pure, transparent flavours of sweet cherries and red cherries seasoned with lovely bits warm spice and gentle mineral. Absolutely delicious, and really surprisingly full and creamy for a 1992 red, with a long full finish to boot. Great stuff. Probably time to drink up though. (92 pts.)
  • 2004 Domaine Robert Groffier Bonnes Mares - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Bonnes Mares Grand Cru
    An absolutely delicious 2004 wine. This was a great way to end the lunch. It had lovely nose, with wafts of toast and spice swirling around sweet red cherry and blueberry aromas, all these weighted down with a lovely accent of damp earth and sous bois. Nary a hint of green on this. It actually felt really youthful and lively on the palate too, with fresh acidity and fine tannins framing deep, full, powerful flavours of red cherries and darker berries, these seasoned with a lovely mouthful of warm Morey spice. Great long finish too, with the deep fruit bedded down with a nice bit of earth and mineral. Absolutely delicious stuff - a powerful wine, in pure Bonnes Mares fashion, yet this was pure and transparent, with a noble elegance to it. Yummy, with its best years ahead of it yet. (94 pts.)

Posted from CellarTracker

funny how, with taken, even “off vintages” can shine. Nice notes.

Assume taken is Dujac. Surprised how well 04 Chevy performed as that was such an awkward, backward, seemingly reduced/over-sulfured vintage.

Thanks for the notes Paul…sounds like a great evening. When Leflaive is firing, it’s quite a thing. Glad you’re back posting, too.

92s from top producers have been drinking well for some time now. Telltale sign of a 92 note is “drank surprisingly well…”

They used to come at a discount in retail and restaurants but no more.

I absolutely love Aoki

Thanks for the responses guys - always interesting to hear takes on the wines.

Great set of wines. 04 was a great vintage for Leflaive except it did show a bit more sulphur initially. Groffier is an interesting producer.