5/21/2024 - palfr2 wrote:

Pall Mall 67, Singapore. I see i have a previous note on this which may be more accurate in relation to the unique Pinot Blanc profile. Tonight it is the pereceived dosage that sticks out. Palate bias after a slew of zero dosage Champagnes a few days ago.

5/19/2024 - palfr2 wrote:

Pizzeria Chichetti, Singapore. I have not had a Piemonte wine in a long time so my palate is not well calibrated. The alcohol level jumps at me because I am mostly drinking Champagnes and Burgs. Beyond the tar and brawny finish there is nice matter and midpalate texture. Strikes me as painfully young though. Should evolve well.

5/16/2024 - palfr2 wrote:

Antonio's , Minami Aoyama, Tokyo. Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi. As far from a typical verdicchio as I could imagine. This is an orange wine as the back-label confirms this sees extended skin-contact. It is a very dry and matte package with great energy. Praline on the quite complex nose. This can make for very intersting food pairings with stronger falvoured seafood for example.

5/14/2024 - palfr2 wrote:

Peach Blossoms Singapore. Champagne pairings with gourmet modern take on Chinese food. BdB with oxidative vein. This feels lithe in typical Savart style. I like the Savarts which are full of details and lift. However they require lots of attention and can be drowned out in the inevitable noise of large tastings.

5/14/2024 - palfr2 wrote:

Peach Blossoms Singapore. Champagne pairings with gourmet modern take on Chinese food. I mistook this for its flight companion the Diebolt Fleur de Passion 02. -A bit oxidative lower bubble suggest this needs drinking now. A good surprise as to how competent Bedel likely was already 20 years ago.

5/14/2024 - palfr2 wrote:

Peach Blossoms, Singapore. Champagne pairings with gourmet modern take on Chinese food. High expectations coming days after I had the stellar 06 of the same cuvée. Blind this proves the weaker of the flight on the nose alone. This is quite tired and the cardboard note has us speculating this is likely TCA tainted. A very very good Champagne otherwise in the universe of higher dosage Grower BdBs.

5/14/2024 - palfr2 wrote:

Peach Blossoms Singapore. Champagne pairings with gourmet modern take on Chinese food less yeasty than tlhe Nogers cuvée from same producer next to it, though the wines bear a very clear family resemblance. Comes as more simple than the Nogers with the latter quite the step up especially in terms of midpalate density.

5/14/2024 - palfr2 wrote:

Peach Blossoms, Singapore. Champagne pairings with gourmet modern take on Chinese food. Pink to light copper colour. Love the pinpoint vivacious mousse here. Filigreed red and bruised apple. It is the dominant PN-derived note despite the wine being a blend of 3 varieties.

5/14/2024 - palfr2 wrote:

Peach Blossoms Singapore. Champagne pairings with gourmet modern take on Chinese food. Nose of almond paste and yeasty spritz. This is the Cuvee now known as DMY that sees longer lee aging. Together with the Gaspart Brochet 333c next to it the most convincing flight of the night. A Champagne of weight and structure, very satisfying and suggests wines from this house have aging potential.

5/14/2024 - palfr2 wrote:

Peach Blossoms Singapore. Champagne pairings with gourmet modern take on Chinese food - Very rich, moderate bubble, quiet mousse. Very broad for a BdB. One could guess other grape varietals. Musky note.

5/12/2024 - palfr2 wrote:

Home tasting with friend, Singapore. Comes on the heels off Georges Remy 4 Terroirs and Diebolt-Vallois Fleur de Passion. Filigreed and spherical. What sets apart very good wines from great wines. End to end seamless experience. Something heady and spirit-like. Great complexity. Feels like a tad bit less power than the Mont Benoit which featured PN mostly rather than this blend of Meunier and Chardonnay.

5/12/2024 - palfr2 wrote:

Home-tasting with friend, Singapore. Lots of butter on this. Beeswax too upon opening. Yeasty notes, the ones that engulf you at the local artisan bakery. That characteristic carries over into the midpalate texture. The dosage while present here helps rather than it distracts. IMO adds heft to midpalate. The lemon curd present too, white flowers a bit less so. Good good stuff.

5/12/2024 - palfr2 wrote:

Home tasting with friend - very ripe fruit that makes the zero dosage a non-issue even when having the wine without food at aperitif. Slanted towards Pinot Noir, oxidative bruised apple note is updront. Long and saline finish "à la Brochet". Good stuff even if in my personal value system zero dosage is not quite Champagne anymore, sort of a cross with (good) still wines.

5/10/2024 - palfr2 wrote:

Dinner at Edouard's - Cassis , savory, medium lenght. Another data point for me of how great old world Syrah ages. IMO it loses past the 15-20 year mark its highly distinctive varietal+terroir expression of bacon, bloodmeat, pepper etc...So I found this a bit unidimensional next to HB 86 which had a few extra gears.

5/10/2024 - palfr2 wrote:

Dinner at Edouard's - Classically styled package and proportions of a bygone era. Balance all throughout. Cornucopia of black and red fruits with cassis more obvious. Cigar wrapper. Very good, probably at peak

5/10/2024 - palfr2 wrote:

Dinner at Edouard's - Lots of palate amplitude and heft. A bit muted initially and after airing the nose yielded.complex brioche notes and tarte tatin. Some oxidative notes show on the finish betraying evolution? I would say at peak now and very satisfying BdN. It was only eclipsed by Collin Roises but that is the fate of many a Champagne when faced with one of the greatest BdB. A somewhat misplaced apple-to-lemon comparison as they serve different use cases.

5/10/2024 - palfr2 wrote:

Dinner at Edouard's - Rhubarb on the nose, there is so much complexity. Extremly layered midpalate. Based on my recollection of an otherwordly 13 disgorged Roises i think this is still early days for this. There is so much woven into this that i suspect it can show very differently at different stages of evolution though always brilliantly. This wine has always made me weal at the knees the 4 or 5 times I have had it.

5/10/2024 - palfr2 wrote:

Friday night wine dinner at Edouard's - my first Keller!!! Petrol is subtle and not dominating which I guess is a good thing as one gets to pick tye filigreed nature of this wine otherwise. There is a sound acidic backbone. It is complex but discreet and not heady. One has to pay attention. Good+ but not a white wine epiphany.

5/10/2024 - palfr2 wrote:

Friday night wines at Edouard's - Richness on the nose. There is almost a resinous note. Does this see new wood or a specific char? Very hard to pick as a Chenin if I were to taste this blind. In the mouth what is special is the viscosity and mouth-coating oil-like texture. Serious and more a wine of sttucture and proportions tham aromatic fireworks. This did not necessarily improve with more time in the glass. Not my first Rougeard but the first Brézé so I was eagerly awaiting this experience.

5/9/2024 - palfr2 wrote:

Les Copains, Seul, Korea. I see i have a previous ecstatic nose on this wine. Social setting tonight so i could not pay the same attention. Nothing suggesting though i should disown my previous assessment. Very yeasty, opulent fruit and as good a palate presence for a Champagme as I have had. Meunier goodness. One of my reference Champagnes.

5/9/2024 - palfr2 wrote:

Les Copains, Seul, Korea. Oh suprise this is quite good! Typical BdB profile. Better complexity than most BdB NVs. Albeit at NV level the goodness of how the brioche side comes together pefectly with the lemon curd and green apple reminds me of Peters Chetillons!!! A wine i will want to revisit.

5/9/2024 - palfr2 wrote:

Les Copains, Seul, Korea. I like the lighter year profile. Peony and floral notes on the nose. Red fruited and lifted. Good persistence. Good drink

5/7/2024 - palfr2 wrote:

Casa del Vino, Gangnam, Seul. This looks like Lambrusco!!! No pale rose or copper colour. Red with some darker hues. Initial whiff suggested strawberry and other red fruits in a candied package. Not my favourite flavour profile. Warming and airing put everything back in place with the yeasty character taking center stage and palate depth that matches Brochet s Mont Benoit. Texturally very similar except from brawnier apsect of the fruit on the finish. Glad I have some in the cellar. Better with food as the dosage is low. Awesome match with the sea-urchin linguine we orderer. Better for tasters who have already cut their teeth on a good cross section of grower styles.

5/6/2024 - palfr2 wrote:

Rubrica in Seoul - opens very austere such that me and my guest guessed zero dosage. With air and likely some warming the fruit becomes friendlier and more exhuberent. Straw leaning copper colour for this BdN. Several facets to the red apple fruit so good complexity. A satisfying Grower Champagne.

5/5/2024 - palfr2 wrote:

At Derek's - suffered in comparison of 03 vintage of the same wine ans 99 NSG Boudots from the same producer. In a word a bit dilute and underpowered consideration of terroir and producer quality. Prompted some at the table to mention that 09 was a very abundant crop and speculate that yields for this plot may have been too high. May have been just a subpar bottle. The tell-tale Vosne spices were unfortunateky absent too.

5/3/2024 - palfr2 wrote:

Late night drinks @Derek s Dakota House. Tasted blind. Complexion of a warmer vintage / riper fruit definitely. Not stewed or cooked, just on the borderline. Big ball of cassis. Overachieves relative to reputation of vintage. The vintage character crowds out terroir a bit as it is displays no very obvious Vosne character.

5/3/2024 - palfr2 wrote:

Late night drinks at Dakota House - Medium weight. Very good persistence and length. Dark fruits. Pot pourri and freshness imparted by minty and camphor notes.

4/30/2024 - palfr2 wrote:

Pipette @ Bar a Thym - "Vin sous voile" - oxidative but that side is nicely in balance with acidity and finish of the wine on a different register. Practical uses for such wines are limited though objectively. Comte Cheese , Morille mushroom chicken...

4/30/2024 - palfr2 wrote:

TBC - A bit tannic. Exhuberrent pinot fruit but not smacking of overripeness.

4/30/2024 - palfr2 wrote:

La Pipette dinner @ Bar a Thym, Singapore. Oxidative nose with curry and nuts. Good acidity and lift. I like this a lot. Tastes like a Vin Jaune but less overpowering.

4/30/2024 - palfr2 wrote:

La Pipette dinner at Bar a Thym - 100% Trousseau. Very pale colour. Strawberry and light gripping tannins. Not tons of complexity. More for easy drinking with light food.

4/24/2024 - palfr2 wrote:

American Club, Hong Kong. Very primary, all Cab Blend exhuberent fruit. Neither overly modern nor cloying. Walks the line between classic and ripe vintage. I would be curious to compare with the 16. This has the stuffing to age. Strikes me as too young now but should settle in nice drinking window 5 years hence.

4/23/2024 - palfr2 wrote:

Epure, Hong Kong. Very typical of the 2013 vintage with red fruit profile, elevated acidity and great florality. This opens very tannic in a profile not too dissimilar from a Nebbiolo. Balance improves markedly with airing and there is good 1er Cru level of flavour complexity. It is a good drink though it lacks a bit of oomph, truly fluorescent or zingy fruit to make it into my 2013 pantheon e.g. Bize Latricieres or the entire Fourrier line-up. This is at or close to peak but will last 5+ years without problem.

4/20/2024 - palfr2 wrote:

Singapore, brought to a friend s house and procured from the cellar of a most discerning other friend. Colour is dark straw. Not dark enough that one would suspect Premox. Nose is rather reassuring. It displays floral notes and a candied apricot touch that would not be out of place in a Sauternes. The palate has little fruit left (if it ever had it) and rather provides a tactile sensation of weight and minerals. Quite taut. It does not have the oily and buttery sensation one associates with older regimes of white burgs wine-making. A thing of curiosity rather than sheer hedonistic pleasure. I am quite pleased a 30-year old white burg proved beyond drinkable.

4/16/2024 - palfr2 wrote:

Home-drinking. One of my favorite wines and a staple of my cellar. May it go on like this! I have had near epiphanies with this wine however no two disgorgements show the same. Tonight is Sept 16 which would point to a 08 base plus earlier vintages blended. I have stopped playing the base vintage game with Egly as I believe the deft wine-making mostly transcends the vintage character. On this showing this is not the best rendition as I find that it loses verve rather quickly with a discreet mousse. Taste lingers on with great sapidity but when a Champagne finishes too close to a still wine there is a "je ne sais quoi" missing. Not quite complete. I have had older VPs with more power e.g. the 12 and 15 disgorgements. May be down to bottle variation. Still a mightily fine drink.

4/15/2024 - palfr2 wrote:

Home-drinking, friends over brought this. Nice Chardonnay for once not done in the "de rigueur" reductive style. I don't find the oxidative notes reported by other. This is too rich for my tastes however. More than warmth there is a noticeable sweetness on the finish that suggests that the Maconnais yielded much riper wines in '14 than the perfectly balanced Côte de Beaune. I am curious to try other wines from this producer.

4/14/2024 - palfr2 wrote:

Home-drinking. Disg October 2019. It does not reach the plenitude of the 2015 Disgorgement I had a few weeks ago. Telltale Egly praline is not showing as strongly. Very complex however. Candied orange fruit. A fine drink now but having sampled many this will build a nice further patina over the next 5 years

4/14/2024 - palfr2 wrote:

Home-drinking- consistent with previous note. Followed an Egly Rose and in comparison showed a bit light in terms of personality/singularity. Lots of lemon curd and very yeasty. Very gulpable.

4/12/2024 - palfr2 wrote:

Home-drinking - Vivacious but quality mousse. Lots of yellow fruits. Pear, quince. There was apple too as it opened but Pinot-led flavours are less pronounced than one would expect from the 60% PN in the blend. Lot of amplitude and fat on the midpalate. Should get more layered with aging. It feels like the underlying fruit was appropriately ripe. Together with the medium dosage (by todays standards) this lends a nougat-like quality. Acidity is medium minus. Clos des Goisses is a famed long ager. A perfectly good drink today but better things beckon with time

4/11/2024 - palfr2 wrote:

Pall Mall 67 - Singapore. This is very matt in taste. Very fresh. Great complexity for low ABV ofv11.5%. Shows flavour intensity does not need high alcohol. Very tactile. Great freshness but the acidity becomes gradually apparent at the back-end to propel the finish. In my wheelhouse style-wise, very much for lovers of classically proportioned wines, leaning austere

4/10/2024 - palfr2 wrote:

Home-drinking - July 2014 disgorgement. Dark copper colour. An elegant oxidative note jumps out of the glass. We are in the land of Sherry, Jura or Selosse wines. Clove spice is the more specific descriptor I can think of. The oxidative character is right at the limit where it moves from providing intrigue to outright defining the wine. I believe Egly has gravitated over time towards a more balanced style. Great length and persistence. This avoids the shortcoming of many BdNs which can border on inscrutable monoliths. This is fully resolved displaying many nuances. A food wine and I think the most singular in the Egly range though personal preferences may lead one to prefer the Rose, the VP or even the Vrigny.

4/8/2024 - palfr2 wrote:

Home-drinking - my note of 24 Jan 24 still applies.Super reductive nose. As the wine stretched its legs, warmed in the glass as I sipped it over several hours , the richness was more evident. This is how wine memory works. I was more focused and I had an excepional Labet Chardonnay etched in my memory from the night before. On this showing this feels like this top cuvee from Belargus can improve in terms of balance in ripe/riper vintages.

4/6/2024 - palfr2 wrote:

Ma Cuisine, Singapore - Intense slate and smokiness on the nose. Lots of midpalate sap. Very kinetic with high acidity well interwoven. Long sapid aftertaste. Carries the 14% ABV very well, the richness is only evident on the fawning finish. Soil-to-glass transfer very evident here, this is as far away from simple varietal expression as can be.

4/5/2024 - palfr2 wrote:

Disgorged 2023 so a recent release. This cannot be showing best as conventional wisdom is that most Egly will show markedly better with 2 year post disgorgement and will improve from there. Good underlying juice but on this showing this does not edge out the VP or the Vrigny.

4/4/2024 - palfr2 wrote:

Home-drinking - Disg July 2017 so 2013 base I figure. Feels more primary and less evolved than the 16 disgorgement I had recently. Yeasty nose and telltale praline flavour if Egly wines. Lots of primary Pinot Meunier goodness and drive that fills the palate spherical. It is a wine that can age quite gracefully. The Vrigny is undervalued in the Egly stable. It provides the Egly magic with age and is the only take of the master on 100% Meunier.

4/2/2024 - palfr2 wrote:

Home drinking - this is quite exceptional in terms of complexity. Yeasty nose intermingled with apple topnote. Nicely oxidative, woven in the wine fabric. Mousse opens a bit aggressive and peppery but quickly takes backseat to the underlying juice. There is vanilla and spices too. The praline found on Eglys.The nose is to die for. Very saline on the finish.

3/31/2024 - palfr2 wrote:

Pall Mall 67 Singapore - nice viscosity, very mouth-coating. Reductive but subtly so. Closes with some sweetness. A very satisfying entry-level Chenin

3/30/2024 - palfr2 wrote:

Home drinking with improvised tapas/pintxos with my favorite anchovies - was supposed to be a 166/2010 base according to my Cellartracker inventory. I am not worse off for the retailer or auction's house mistake as the 168 iteration showed amongts the best in a recent vertical I attended. It has all the flavours you associate with masterfully executed Champagne blend whether the bruised apples from the PN, apricot from the Meunier etc... It is all the Champagnes in one! How everything is woven together into a spherical package is extarordinary. The Grandes Maison's best response to the best Grower offerings! There is amazing midpalate richness and yet it is perfectly countenanced by the drive and acidity. Very sapid and long on the finish.

3/29/2024 - palfr2 wrote:

La Bottega, Joo Chiat Rd, Singapore. I am partial to this wine as I had an epiphany of sort many years ago. It is the simplest wine in the range of a storied Piemonte producer. I find the good Barbera wines to be amongst the very best nouveau wines combining power, intense fruit, adequate complexity. This is an ideal wine to pair with tomato dishes whether pasta or pizza. Uncomplicated drinking, very affordable and yet this is full of character, an artisan wine. I bet it can age some but this is intended for youngish drinking.

3/28/2024 - palfr2 wrote:

Pall Mall 67 Singapore- BYOB by dear friend. An open Barthod!!! A rarity! This mixes dark fruit character of riper year with good freshness. Without looking at label this feels like 13% ABV not 14% or above. Complexity on the nose with brambly notes. This strikes me as reasonably evolved already and is in a drinking window of sorts. Classic in a non-classic vintage ?