BLOG, M.D.: May 2006

MAD Pinot Noir 2004

MAD pinot noir is the brain child of 3 buddies of mine who share a passion for wine. Together with Sandro Mosele of Kooyong fame, they have fashioned a wine from pinot fruit harvested from the Ferrous vineyard. Ferrous is one of three single-vineyard designated plots of pinot noir owned by Kooyong Estate. The other two being, Meres and Haven, each of which demonstrates a distinctive "terroir".

T-notes > Youthful looking ruby red. The nose > iron ore, minerals, and slate with a touch of strawberry cheesecake. The palate > cool, perfumed red fruit flavors with a hint of spice. Elegant and very nicely balanced.

Limited availability @ Auric Pacific Fine Wines t 65-6291-1947

Joseph Roty Marsannay Clos de Jeu 2003

T-notes > Olfactory impressions - Full fledged toffee, caramel and Illy caffe' aromas. On the palate, very ripe blackish fruit with elegant layers of rich chocolate. Class personified. Superb quality @ this price point.

Have had all of Roty's Marsannays in 01 & 02 and loved them across the board. This 03 seems to me to have somewhat less structure but is hard to beat for immediate gratification.

Available @ Auric Pacific Fine Wines t 65-6291-1947

Gevrey with Grac(z)e

Graze, The Restaurant, apparently the new hip and happening establishment @ Rochester Park, was the venue for a (by our standards) small tasting of Gevrey Chambertin 1er Crus.

The overwhelming consensus on the food was that it was half decent to average at best. Service was overall pretty weak.

The juice flowed as follows:

The 2002's >

Fourrier Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Combe Aux Moines
Humbert Freres Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Les Poissenots
Joseph Roty Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Les Fontenys
Jean-Louis Trapet Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Petit Chapelle
Varoilles Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Clos des Varoilles
Varoilles Gevrey Chambertin 1er La Romanee

The 2003's >

Bruno Clair Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Clos St-Jacques
Lucien Le Moine Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cazetiers
Pascal Lachaux Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Lavaux st-Jacques

Tasting notes on the wine that made the biggest impression > Fourrier Gevrey Chambertin 1er Cru Combe Aux Moines 2002 > Youthful looking red hues with a hint of violet. Aromas of beetroot, rootstock, and a shading of lentil. On the palate, cool, clean pinot fruit flavors with a touch of watermelon even. Mid palate - floral notes do a pas de deux with a fine beef consomme. Very suave and elegant on the finish. Impressive.

Harlan 2000 @ The New Majestic

Dinner @ The New Majestic was to the celebrate the trifecta of family birthdays

in the month of May. So it was that we gathered one cool Friday evening @ the recently refurbished Majestic Hotel on Bukit Pasoh Road. It houses the once defunct, but very much alive again, Majestic Restaurant, helmed by chef Yong Bing Ngen, formerly from Hai Tien Lo @ The Pan Pacific Hotel and Jade Restaurant @ The Fullerton.

The food was at times good, at times excellent. The service was impeccable. The PDR, a wash of soft greens and beige, was perhaps too muted for my eyes.

Harlan Estate 00 tasting notes > Initially very closed despite an hour's decanting, it started to spread its wings 2 hours in to dinner. Probably one of the more tell tale California Cabernet noses on any Harlan, the palate - light to medium bodied (for a Harlan that is), espousing black plums, spice, and Hershey's hot chocolate. Fine, smooth tannins provide the platform for a very well wrought finish. A difficult year 2000 was, and yet Harlan Estate was able to produce a wine of great distinction. Quite impressive.

Side note - My favorite vintages of Harlan Estate to date - 1993, 1994, 1995, 1999, 2001, 2002

Auric Pacific Fine Wines is the exclusive distributor for Harlan Estate in Singapore. I would recommend begging if you even want to smell this wine, as each year's release is very tightly allocated.

Crimson Pinot Noir 2004 by Ata Rangi

The 2004 vintage saw Ata Rangi release its first "young vines" pinot noir named Crimson. The wine is in support of Project Crimson, whose mission is to enable pohutukawa and rata to flourish again in their natural habitat as icons in the hearts and minds of all New Zealanders. Pohutukawa and rata are known as New Zealand's native Christmas trees because of the bright red blooms which decorate each tree. The wine label is a beautifully rendered painting of the pohutukawa bloom by artist Philippa Bentley.

T-notes > Starts off with aromas of Strawberry Fruitella. There is a ripe, red fruit profile with cola, figs, cranberry and a slight leafiness. Overall tannins are fine and smooth. Not the most complex of pinots, but there is typicity, which makes for a very decent glass of pinot noir. Reminds me of Calera from California.