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Hong Kong has many connoisseurs, but only one wine ‘Sifu’ aka wine master. A recent, casual lunch reminded me why. There aren’t many lunches that start with a wine from 1907, but this was the Sifu, I tried to tell you! Technically, it was a 1907 Graf au Bitz Eltviller Klumbchen Riesling Trockenbeerenauslese. In German, that translates to ‘Go F Yourself, Frenchie.’ Don’t shoot the translator, ok? This was finally a TBA that I could love, because it finished dryly! So it only takes 106 years, got it. The mental note was made. This was a wow wine that was still fresh, but aromas of hazelnut, game, apricot, peach and petrol all came across maturely. There was a ‘density’ to its tea-like flavors. The Sifu enjoyed its ‘fruit juice’ qualities. Divine, delicious and magical all came to mind. The Failo, aka ‘Fat Boss,’ likened drinking it to ‘like getting out of the shower.’ I think I would have preferred if his skinny secretary said it first (96).
Doing Just Fine at Age 106
We skipped along to a duo of 1990 Bordeaux, beginning with a 1990 Pichon Lalande. This has always been a maligned wine thanks to a 79 point rating many years ago. Everyone wakes up on the wrong side of the bed here and there, but this is no 79 point wine. It showed well on this occasion, quite forward and fragrant. It was almost rich, possessing lots of coffee aromas with a touch of grinds. The palate was leaner and dry, with garden, cedar and wafer flavors. It was a bit weedy with a ‘green edge,’ but this was drinkable. There was a high percentage of Petit Verdot this year, and there was mention of the Madame’s husband dying of cancer at the time, which might explain its sub-par performance. But 79 points? No (89).
It Was a Very Good Year
The 1990 Trotanoy was garden fresh with dusty cocoa, citrus and a waterfall of plum aromas. This was shy, yet tasty and long. It was a touch closed but still smooth and inviting (93).
1975 La Mission Haut Brion has been one of my favorite wines from the ’70s for a while, but this bottle wasn’t quite as flamboyant as recent memories. It was a bit shut down. It opened slowly but not surely into aromas of coffee, wheat, earth and a pinch of chocolate. It was tight and while I’ve had better bottles, it was still solid (95).
La Mission Possible
We changed gears to Burgundy with a 1969 Pousse d’Or Pommard Jarolierres. There was an herbal goodness to the nose and a lot of fruit in the nose for ’69. Sweet mesquite and tobacco rounded out its ‘erotic’ nose, per our token Frenchman, Sebastien. The palate was drier and more autumnal, and gas and grass developed in its nose. While it had a great nose, it palate felt relatively simple. Some stink and ice cream rounded out this very good yet conflicted wine (92).
Next up was a 1983 Clair Dau Musigny, the legendary producer whose property is now owned by Louis Jadot. In fact, 1983 might have been Clair Dau’s last vintage, but someone else can fact check that for me. I have always been fond of ’83s, and its nose reminded me why. It was sweet with forward, candied fruit, like raspberry in a hard candy. The palate was soft and tender with some nice acidity, smooth and pleasurable with strawberry fruit flavors (91).
We kept getting younger, this time with a 1990 Dujac Echezeaux. Gil came up with ‘robluchon cheese in rhubarb stew.’ Forest, mushroom and red fruit combined with cardboard and smoke, along with a touch of gas. Its palate was another soft and tender one, deliciously nutty and ready, more so than the other Dujac Grand Crus from thie legendary Dujac vintage (93).
A Bit of Burgundy
The closer was a killer, courtesy of one of Burgundy’s hottest producers. Every wine I drink from Louis-Michel Liger-Belair is delicious; even his Vosne Romanee makes me warm and fuzzy. His 2006 Liger-Belair La Romanee made me downright hot and bothered. James Suckling noted ‘roses’ while Tucker was more feeling the ‘peonies.’ Its nose was amazing; there was so much greatness happening here. Its palate had what I would call latent acidity, because its fruit was so good and covered up the crime scene. There was a kiss of rubber, as in a Lamborghini leaving you in the dust. Its palate was so rich and so much better than anything and every other red we tasted before. It was deeper, rounder and longer yet still so friendly and fresh. A recent conversation with Aubert de Villaine about Louis-Michel had Aubert calling him ‘a good addition to Burgundy.’ Those words don’t come easily when it comes to the Godfather (96).
Legend in the Making
There will always be only one Sifu when it comes to fine wine in Hong Kong, and I am glad to count him amongst my friends.
The Happy Recap
In Vino Veritas,
JK
