Old-school? (assorted)

Golden Palace is probably the next most mentioned two-word after pinot noir in this blog. A few of us met up at this favoured joint for a casual time and mucking around a couple of bottles one evening and conversations got pretty hot by the time the subject of finding taxis in Singapore was brought up. Nonetheless, fortunately no one was crazy enough to indulge too far in that sacred paradox. Sort of concluded that the wines were more worthy of our attention and gusto that night. A good thing no less.

Lassalle Rose NV Brut Champagne accompanied the small dishes. Sweaty aromas of pear, plain white bread and berries greeted the nose before the moderately luscious, juicy and rather textured mouthfeel caught on. The bubbles were brisk and busy, though not especially fine. A versatile and rich rose for the dining table.

Crushed rocks and lime zest aromas were found in the next wine. Deftly oaked, treated very (rarely) masterfully and plenty of minerality too. In the palate, again, stony fruits and some earth dirts. Soft and plush in the mouth, tall-framed yet gentle, there was structure here but quite masked by the elegance. Raveneau Chablis Chapelot 1er Cru 1999.

The next wine was decidedly Bordeaux with some cedary, tobaccoey nose. Lush and soft in the mouth, in fact very soft. This seemed like right-bank to me. Classy but perhaps a tad too plush for what it is, especially at this stage of development. L'Evangile Pomerol 1998.

A decanted bottle was poured next. Ripe raspberries, quite ashy and tobaccoey actually, with hints of stems. I thought this was an aged burgundy, given the texture... perhaps a Pommard in the 80s? Finished with some dusty extract, a sign of hot climate, but the palate impression remained soft. Turned tea like later on. I guessed it wrong. It was Henri Bonneau Chateauneuf du Pape 1996. It's just as well, since the grenache-like liqueur elements I detected only in my second pour. Interesting.

The next bottle was decidedly modern. Fruitcakes essence and vanillin-scented oak on the nose. Certainly treated with malolactic-in-barrel. Fruits were dark raspberries dominated, suggesting merlot domination. The tannic structure was clearly driven out of oak treatment instead of natural skin extracts. Quite disappointing... Clos l'Eglise Pomerol 1999.

We finally returned to the burgundy land. I suggested when this was poured earlier to defer this till later as the fruits were still relatively compact. Pure red raspberries nose with plenty of cold-soak berries. Quite Chambolle like. Persistent in the mouth, at once round and voluminous too. In fact, turned rather peppery but lacked pitch and cut. The oak treatment was obvious but not dominating. Still reticent even at this point, giving an impression of squareness. Cecile Tremblay Chambolle-Musigny les Feuselottes 2004.

The next wine was a big-boy, but for what clearly appeared to be an Aussie, this actually was very well framed. Spicy oak, with vanillin elements that suggested American oak, this gave way to a still-fresh prune-like dark fruits. Quite high-pitched for an Aussie shiraz (that's what I'd guess) and probably not too old. Well, actually I was wrong - this was quite aged. Brokenwood "Hermitage" 1990.

The last wine had a noble nose of rose petals, tar, licorice and wood. This must be a ripe vintage Nebbiolo. Ash and tobacco atop very pristine red fruits and some gentleness in the tannins unlike the more arresting Barolo tannins. Quite rich and mouthfilling yet never heavy nor cloying. Bruno Giacosa Barbaresco Rabaja Riserva 2001.