January Wines
Friday 5th January
Dinner at la Tour d’Argent featuring a range of Dujac wines between 1972 and 1990. Best wines at each level? Village Morey 1978, 1er cru Gevrey-Chambertin Combottes 1990 and Grand Cru Bonnes Mares 1972. There were also some sublime white wines of which Pierre Morey’s 1979 Meursault Charmes won pride of place.
Saturday 6th January
The feast continues, starting with a quartet of 1989 Chablis. Dauvissat’s la Forest was glorious from the word go but his Preuses developed exceptional depth during the course of the evening.
Monday 8th January (lunch)
Lunch at the excellent Cabotte restaurant in Gresham Street, London EC2 with Arnaud & Marie-Odile Ente and their two sons. The star of the lunch, possibly unexpected, was their Meursault Petits Charrons 2011.
Monday 8th January (dinner)
An annual dinner with a good friend in Pimlico, with various growers present. Our host is always exceptionally generous and I think on this occasion Rousseau’s Clos de la Roche 1964 narrowly topped an impressive line up. Taylors 1948 port was fabulous as well.
Wednesday 10th January (dinner)
An evening with Loic Dugat-Py presenting some of his wines over dinner. I loved the Gevrey-Chambertin Evocelles 2010, was suitably impressed by Chambertin 2005 but I think the Wine of the Night was the more accessible Mazis-Chambertin 2002.
Then back home to Burgundy for a short detox (not really) before setting out for Hong Kong on 25th January
Friday 26th January (lunch)
At the Four Seasons’ Japanese restaurant, Inagiku: my hosts had brought the wine: an impeccable, densely concentrated but much too young Lafon Montrachet 2011, and a half bottle of Mouton-Rothschild 1961 which was truly exquisite. Welcome to Hong Kong!
Friday 26th January (dinner)
A Cathiard evening at the highly recommended Guo Fu Lou restaurant. Honours shared between the sublime Malconsorts 2005 and the Romanee St Vivant 2002, though the 2000 of the latter would have won the day if it had not been corked.
Saturday 27th January (dinner)
A take over of the Sushi Shin restaurant in Causeway Bay – the best sushi I have eaten outside Japan, washed down by a variety of Coche-Dury wines. Especially notable were village Meursault 2009, Meursault Chevalieres 1976 and a pairing of 2002 and 1999 Corton-Charlemagne (the 1989 being corked, grrrr!)
Sunday 28th January (dinner)
I am extremely indebted to a very generous host for feeding us a trio of great 1990 Bordeaux: Le Pin, Petrus and a magnum of Lafite. This is a Burgundy site so I cant possibly tell you how good they were (especially Petrus)
Monday 29th January (dinner)
A gathering of friends at the Epure restaurant, Harbour City, Kowloon, where the French chef has really got into his stride. His single Michelin star is looking a bit lonely, it deserves a friend. Whoever is taking his turn as host produces a range of beautiful wines for us to guess blind, with points for various bits of information (grape, region, vineyard, grower, vintage). I just about avoided humiliation though we all managed to persuade ourselves that a flight of three Chambertins came from Vosne Romanée! Wine of the evening: Leroy’s 1996 Chambertin.
Tuesday 30th January (dinner)
A quiet night in with Penfolds Bin 389 (1990) and Bin 707 (1996)
Wednesday 31st January (lunch)
At the Ying Jee Club, Central, Hong Kong. The new restaurant of the chef formerly at Duddels. Superb cantonese food accompanied by an old friend, Meursault Perrieres 1981 under Nicolas Potel’s label, and a very pure Ruchottes-Chambertin 1996 from Rousseau
Wednesday 31st January (dinner)
At Toritama, Central, Hong Kong, a yakitori restaurant. Chablis Montée de Tonnerre 2002 Raveneau and Volnay Taillepieds 1990 de Montille, Méo-Camuzet’s 1995 Vosne-Romanée Aux Brûlées being slightly corked.
Roll on February!
