Boutari Naoussa 2006, Greece

Bright garnet-red, bricking rim, thin meniscus; stewed red berries, cured meat, bacon, herbs, cloves on the nose; strong, grippy and grainy tannins, dried cherries, dark chocolate, spices and oak on the palate; medium to medium-plus acidity and finish. This was a surprising find in a small town in NZ, and I was pleasantly surprised by how well it was made. It is not mind-blowingly good but for $23 a pop, I won’t mind sipping this Xinamavro than some poorly made Chianti Riserva that I had yesterday.

1999 Regnard Chablis Valmur

Brilliant golden yellow core; bretty, lemon drop, oak, honeyed, light minerals on the nose; oyster shells, good minerality, ripe lemons, apricot, slightly spicy; medium to medium-plus acidity, medium finish. A little bitter aftertaste. This bottle checked all the boxes that I look for in an old Chablis but I won’t be rushing out to buy them again. Need to decant this before drinking next time so that the Brettanomyces odour will dissipate quickly.

take-out + riesling = dinner

Just a simple no fuss dinner with some chinese roast meat takeaway and a bottle of German Riesling (I drank it all!). I think I’m addicted to the roast chicken from this particular stall at Toa Payoh Central, but their soy-based braised chicken was less than inspiring, sadly. Next time I’ll just stick to their roast chicken and fatty roast pork. I literally had to stop myself from consuming too many of those deep fried lard pieces (in those kailan)! Anyway, the 2002 Spatlese Riesling by Von Schubert had a bright canary-yellow core; lifted aromas of yellow flowers, honey, fresh cantaloupe and spiced pears; ripe limes, lime peel, sweet n sour green mangoes on the palate with medium to medium-plus acidity. Finish was not as long as I hoped it would be but quite a refreshing drink with all the food. I won’t recommend drinking this as a dessert wine at all – probably best served just slightly chilled as an aperitif or with some light food. A slight whiff of TDN was detected but that was pretty subtle and forgivable. I could easily drink lots of this given its 7.5%v/v!!!

Chateau Musar 1988

Born during the Lebanese war (with the Israelites), this bottle persevered through the years despite all the sufferings it had witnessed. Secondary and tertiary aromas – notes of caramelised sugar, leather, tobacco, earth, and perhaps a touch of clove were all quite prominent. The somewhat opaque garnet-tawny core with an orange-crimson tinge belied the fruit flavours, structure and acidity that it still held, and probably will continue to hold for another couple of decades, provided the cork doesn’t give way. Not too many bottles left in the stash. Oh well. Wrote a chinese version of this (not quite the same though) here.