'< 1980' night

The travelling Burgnut JC decided (aptly and I'm sure he did not regret) to spend his 37th birthday in Singapore although he is based in Hong Kong. The theme was pre-1980, not necessarily burgundy, but most of us had by default made it a pre-1980 burgundy night. The line up turned out to be very interesting indeed. The venue was the chinese restaurant at the New Majestic Hotel at Chinatown, which, for the record, served up classy, hearty, progressive Chinese cuisine.

When I arrived they had already started pouring the first white blind, which, incidentally was not burgundy (not by taste, nor by bottle shape). Curious nose featuring peanut skins, straw and ginko nuts. It's rather round and the fruits seemed to have dissolved (not dissipated) into the structure. Still quite lively but make no mistake this is O.L.D. Gently full-bodied and oily, and with a slight warmth in the finish: 1977 Chateau Pape-Clement, Graves blanc. This was followed by a double-bottles of Maison Verget's Chablis "Montee de Tonnere" 1er 1996, and each of them were decidedly different, a testimony that bottle variations is a fact of life. The first bottle had coconut shavings on the nose and were fully oxidative in flavour, very fat (too fat for a Chablis) but literally maderized. Interestingly it put on a tail of acid later on. Only the acid gave the hint it was a Chablis... The second bottle was better and fresher. The nose was wood-charged and meaty, no longer maderized. On the palate this too was fat but with an evident acid spine now. All in all it was better, but too over-the-top for my liking, especially recalling that this was supposed to be a Chablis...

If the previous bottle shook my faith in white burgundies, the next one more than made up for it. Served blind this had a superbly youthful flinty pineapple-y, okay, so let's just say, Meursault nose. In the mouth this was suave, fat, broad yet very very lively. Impeccably balanced with wonderful supporting acidity. Texturally round with elegant hazelnuts and crushed stones. Very punchy and voluminuous so much so that if I wasn't convinced this was a Meursault (vintage 1996 was my guess), I would have called it grand cru. When it was unveiled, my reasonings were partially justified: it was a Meursault-Perrieres (did I say grand cru?) except that it was a 1979! Indeed, a fantastic 1979 Robert Ampeau Meursault-Perrieres.

The last of the white was a little perplexing. The hue was slightly orangey, with madeira-tinged, nutty nose which was curiously fresh. As it stayed on the glass, this became brighter, with a moderate acidity. Textured, but rather brisk and penetrating, with popcorn oil flavours. I thought it was a Puligny grand cru, say, vintage 1992? Turned out to be 1996 Roger Belland Criots Batard Montrachet. Interesting (probably my first Criots?)

The liquids turned red now. The first bottle was definitely not burgundy. Very pronounced tobacco, mixing ripe raspberries and sweet vanillin in the nose. Hints of licorice. Beguiling pronounced, almost loud, acidity. Certainly not French. Smoky and ash nuances too. Very curious, but I'm quite sure it's a Spaniard. 1971 Torres Gran Coronas.

A burg followed. This one was very heavily sedimented, and a decidedly stemmy nose. Very sweet reduction of pinot kind of nose with dark cherries and minerals. Whiffs of tobacco had me thinking it was a Pommard, but again, an almost atypical sweetness for a Pommard. Very full bodied, rich, dense yet round. 1971 Comte Armand Clos des Epeneaux.

And another burg followed. This one sported higher pitch, with a very pristine black cherry liqueur infused nose. Transparent, ripe, sweet and bright, with complicating earthy hints of grilled meats and evident minerality. Ended with a massive density at the finish. Wonderful stuff, especially for a villages as it turned out to be! 1971 JL Trapet Gevrey-Chambertin L'Ostrea. (The massive backend had me thinking if this was a signature of red 1971 burgs...)

Rolling on yet another burg, the next wine was decidedly earthier and muskier, with pronounced grilled meats and almost curranty nose. (Could this be slightly dehydrated?) Very deep bright red, highly pigmented burgundy with hints of bacon fats at the nose. It was still very compact in the mouth too, with a rather rustic and dusty finish. The fruits were verging on plummy, though not flabby. Overall a very dense, compact and earthy burg. Must be the south, I thought. 1976 Michel Gaunoux Pommard Grands Epenots.

(The next bottle was sadly corked - 1971 Georges Lignier Clos St. Denis. What a shame - it would have been nice to taste a Clos St. Denis again, what more an old one like this. Just not our luck, I suppose...)

A rather charmless and reticent nose preceded a fairly dense, yet also charmless fruits on the next wine. Earth and minerals were certainly there yet hardly making its presence felt. This was dense, textured and oily but that's about it. Rather disappointing for the vineyard: 1976 JL Trapet Chambertin.

I suppose I was rather overwhelmed by the succession of old burgundies served so far. To be honest, judging the vintage became quite a futile exercise to me by now. There's still so much to learn in this space as I start treading deeper into back vintages. And I hope this kind of experience will repeat several more times so that I can wrap my mind around it.

The next wine was again very meaty and there was a certain liqueur element to it. Burgundy of course, I thought. The fruits were almost curranty, and there were earth and tobacco whiffs too. Another Pommard? Quite ashy with a totally resolved tannins (and this part had me thinking this might be a Corton). Impressively focussed acid frame even at this age, which was again very sweet yet elegant. I voted Corton, but it was 1959 Michel Gaunoux Pommard Rugiens.

The next bottle was most funky, mixing prunes and haw fruits on the nose, and laden with vitamins. Viscously textured yet ashy, with again a pruney core. Despite its Cote-de-Beaune-ness, this was unusually soft and gentle, which had me thinking of Savigny, though I never thought any would keep this long. 1978 Lejeune Pommard les Argillieres.

The night had to end with Bordeaux. These were not served blind. Everyone was going at it and all voted to open the next two bottles. 1970 Lafite Rothschild blew off barnyardy aromas which turned into lovely sweet raspberries essence. Soft and plush - I suppose this was what first growth 'class' was all about? - and though this wasn't a particularly stupendous Lafite, it was a lovely drink nonetheless. Soft, gentle core with pronounced tobaccoey character. Very sweet, and my only complain was that it turned rather cloying in the finish.

The 1967 Haut-Brion gave away its origin without shame. Cigar box and sweet currants and tar on the nose. The palate was meaty and had a somewhat slightly rustic edge. Very sweet yet dusty, lending some structure, cooking up coffee, toffee and caramels later on. Nice.