Hospice de Beaune Cuvee Maurice Drouhin Beaune 1er Cru 2011

This was one of the wines I tasted at the KCCWS AGM recently. Scrutinizing the label, one can see a line at the bottle with white letters on a black background under the heading Acquereurs, the name of the Wine Society with the Club crest. On further enquiry, it turns out that the Wine Society together with a number of its members had formed a group to bid for Hospice wines and this was the result. A barrel was bought and they seemed to be bottled in magnums (I suppose they will bottle the whole barrel in the same bottle size.) Nice to know that the Society is active in this manner; maybe one of these days, I might ask to join in on the venture with them.

As for the wine, it was a deep limpid ruby with a  sweet acid stewed berry nose. The palate was slightly sweet and acid with hints of berry and wood, well supported by an acid backbone.

Dead Arm 2004

I tasted this wine at the brunch after the KCC Wine Society AGM last weekend. This is a wine I have tasted a number of times, but though I had blogged about this label, I have not written any entries about any specific bottles I tasted. This is as good a time to rectify it as any other.

The flagship shiraz from d'Arenberg, the Dead Arm  is classified Outstanding (the 2nd category) in Langton's classification. This 13 year old wine was a dark purple ruby even with this much age under its belt, and sported a sweet minty berry nose. It was sweet with berry fruit and acid on the palate, well supported with a nice acid backbone. Delicious now but will still go strong for years to come.

The KCC Wine Society AGM

The KCC Wine Society holds its AGM on a Sunday in January and it is followed by a Sunday Brunch, with wines of course. A selection of wines are brought out from the "cellars" for the members to enjoy. The above is a selection of the wines we had this year. The wines this brunch included a very broad range, from classic clarets to Burgundies (2 each of whites and reds) to Chateau Musar from Lebanon and an Aussie Shiraz, the Dead Arm! This goes to illustrate despite assertions by some, the Society is not obsessed by claret. Some of the individual wines merit further exploration and these will merit their own entry.

Leroy disappointment

The name Leroy conjures up such expectations that anything short of perfection generates disappointment. Unfortunately, whether this is because it is a wine beyond its best, or it was just a dud bottle, my experience with the above bottle came nothing near that mark. That I tasted the bottle rather a long time after it was opened did not help matters either. The bottle was worse in my mind that the NZ Pinot Noir from the Hong Kong born dentist I had the other day, even allowing for the differences in style and age.

This disappointing wine was dark ruby, with a slightly sweet acid berry nose. It was minimally dilute on entry going onto an acid minimally fruity astringent palate, with an acid astringent mid palate and an astringent finish.

Another wine with Hong Kong connection

When I saw "Leung Estate" on the label of this Kiwi Pinot Noir, I was intrigued. Can this wine be from an estate with a Chinese or even Hong Kong connection? The answer is in the affirmative. The owner turned out be someone born in Hong Kong and then went to New Zealand to study dentistry. With an interest in food and wine, he and his wife started the restaurant Ma Maison (explaining the name on the label) and later started growing Pinot Noir in Martinborough. Apart from Pinot Noir reds, a Chardonnay is also produced as well as some special cuvees. 

As for this wine, it was a limpid ruby, with a sweet strawberry nose with some acid. The palate was sweet and acid with pronounced strawberry notes, right through to the finish.

Champagne Lemaire Cuvee Trianon Brut

We had this champagne for the New Year toast. This was one of the champagne carried by the neighbourhood wine store that I had been periodically buying from; they used to carry a greater range of champagnes and sparklers than now, but there are still many interesting ones to choose from. This example from the Champagne house of Roger Constant Lemaire  is made from 60% Pinot Noir and 40% Chardonnay, spending some 5 years in the cellars for vinification and maturation. Like the rest of its range, the base wines never undergo mal-lactic fermentation, explaining the tart character in the mouth. A golden straw colour with few streams of medium sized bubbles, there was a crisp acid slightly fruity nose. There was an acid prickle turning into a slightly tart minerally palate, with an acid backbone in support. The family however found it too tart to drink on its own.