Ponsot @ Clementi on a Tues night

Very angry with TT over his flying aeroplane antics, hence went home and popped this with B.

2004 Ponsot Bourgogne Cuvee Pinson
This is from Chambolle vines. Nose was expressive with slightly tannic and fresh acidity on the palate. Most importantly the palate wasn't diluted at all compared to a few lower level Burgs I had recently. I didn't particularly like this cuvee, but hey at $36, this is as good a quaffing Burg as it can get.

Wine bought from Grand Vin.

Masi @ Mag's Wine Kitchen

Looking for a drinking hole after dinner with B, we decided to give this place a try as we couldn't find any more wine places. Went to Cuvee before that, but found out that they close at 9pm.

Mag's Wine Kitchen is really a hole in the wall kinda place where there's barely enough seats for 20ppl and the kitchen is just beside the dining area. Apparently they only serve set lunches and dinners so we settled for a cheese platter (later we found out this was $35!!) and some bread. The bread was pretty good and the cheese platter came with 4 types of rather strong cheese. A bit too strong for my taste though.

Their wine list was pretty impressive, but no wine by the glass. So we settled for this half bottle of Amarone, which I've always wanted to try.



Masi Amarone della Valpolicella Classico Costasera 2003 (half bottle)
The color was very bright ruby, very transparent. By the color alone, I would have guessed it’s a pinot. The nose wasn’t forward in the first 1-2 glasses, but after nearly an hour, the third glass emitted a ripe and relaxing aroma. On the palate, it had soft tannins, extremely mouth-filling and of course the raisiny sweetness was subtle and not cloying. Finish was reasonably long. It’s medium to heavy bodied but definitely not as “kao” as a Barossa Shiraz. Investigating the bottle further I noticed it was actually 15% alcohol. But definitely didn't felt like it. Probably because of the sweetness.

This was my virgin taste of an Amarone and indeed it’s an interesting drink. Personally, I wouldn’t go out of the way to hunt this down but of course I wouldn’t say no to it if offered.

David Duband @ Clementi

Shared this with E with a serving of fried rice and roast duck.


2004 David Duband Chambolle-Musigny (half bottle)
Intense aroma from the first pour. Initial impression was the nose of newspapers or dried leaves being burned. A while later another distinctive aroma emerged. The smell of vegetable stalls in the wet market! Hidden behind this vegetable aroma was a merlot-y smell. Indeed a very unique nose. One friend said that it reminded him of mushrooms.

On the palate it was rather diluted but clearly with red cherry flavors characteristic of pinot. Kind of like how diluted Ribena tastes like. Quite acidic and leaves a warm feeling in the mouth and chest. Signs that it is shutting down? Personally it’s a miss for me but E enjoyed it more.

Wine bought from J&D Burleigh.

Paolo Scavino Barolo @ Basil Alcove

Dinner with B at Basil Alcove along Middle Road. Managed to get corkage at $10 instead of the usual $15 because we brought a half bottle. My dinner selection this time fell short of expectation but B's dinner set was much better. In fact her mushroom soup was so good that I ordered one for myself. :P The soup tasted just like mushrooms blended with minimal liquids. Very rich and mushroomy. And I suspect a dash of truffle oil (?) as well.


2000 Paolo Scavino Barolo (from a half bottle)
From the color, it looked grayish and dull red. WS review said that it was full-bodied, but somehow I tasted it to be light-bodied. Watery in texture. Very tannic and acidic in the mouth with red fruit flavors. The aromas were intense and smoky, as expected for a Barolo. Really too young to be drank now, bordering on disappointing. Reminds me of a very young Bordeaux. Indeed meant to keep for 10-20 years at least.

Wine bought from J&D Burleigh.

Wine Dinner @ Clementi

Dinner with B, E and ZB at my humble abode. We had roast duck, fries and Guinness Stout sausages. After that we had cheese sausages and blueberry cheesecake (not pictured). Along with the meal we had 2 wines, both from Voyager Estate. This is a winery in the Margaret River region in Australia and one of my favourite brands for cheap and value-for-money wines.

Voyager Estate Cabernet Merlot 1998
Wow, 1998 is almost 10 years ago. Had some difficulty in uncorking this oldie as the cork seems a tad fragile. Noticed lots of sediments sticking to the bottle itself as I decanted it. Indeed, this is an aged wine.

The first glass tasted closed and reserved. But after 30mins, the intensity of it showed up as we progressed through dinner. This seems to be a recurring experience. I really need to decant my wines longer next time. The color was slightly brownish maroon and the nose exhibited herbal notes and hints of smoky tobacco. The herbal notes seems to be stronger this time as compared to the previous time I tried this at the Moomba "Voyager Wine Dinner". The palate was structured and drinking very well now, though to nit-pick, the acidity seems to be lacking slightly. Tannins were fine and there was some sweetness in the wine, akin to raisin and prunes. As expected for an aged wine, the primary fruit flavors were gone, replaced by minty/earthy flavors. Overall, a very enjoyable wine especially at its price level!

Wine bought from Hermitage sale.

Voyager Estate Chenin Blanc 2006
Ah, the memories of tasting it at the Voyager Wine Dinner several months ago came flooding back. This wine was served then as an aperitif, however we drank it as a pre-dessert wine this time round. Bottled in screw-cap, this wine is meant for early drinking.

The aromas were intense, invoking images of cold climate fruit like pears and apricots and images of frolicking on the grass on a breezy summer day. The color was very faint, bordering almost on transparent. Palate-wise, the acidity frame held up the sweetness of the wine very well. If I were to make a comparison, this wine is similar in style to German Kabinetts. Dry with a noticable sweetness level. Again, for the price this is an extremely value for money wine. Ladies will definitely enjoy it (while guys don't need to pay an arm and a leg for it :D).

Wine bought from Moomba sale.

Choya Kokuto Umeshu
We had this as a sweet ending to the meal. This plum liquor is different from the normal ones because it's sweetened with black sugar (kokuto). Tried it once many years back in Japan and loved it ever since. Very thick and syrupy in nature with almost no acidity. That's why really need to add some ice or water with it. The nose wasn't fantastic but the palate was velvety, mouth-filling and of course robustly sweet. There was some of the coffee and smoky flavors from the black sugar. Overall, an excellent end to a good meal with good company!

Wine bought from DFS.