Hong Kong Wine Recollection. Retrospective notes. 2005/2/7

Year	Wine	Price	Rating
1985	Domaine Chevalier, Graves n/a - so - ws	n/a	***
2000	Alban Grenache, Edna Valley mildly corked, tannic and concentrated, earthy, meaty - so - ws	n/a	**
2001	Vergelegen, South Africa In a blind tasting setting, I thought it was a high-end California wine made in Bordeaux old world style (Verite comes close). Mildly jammy, lots of black cherry, not super powerful, yet concentrated and elegant. Old world style turns up with aeration such as tobacco, green pepper and cedar. Very complex. Tasted three times with consistent notes. - so - ws	n/a	*****
2001	Insignia, Napa Valley Consistent notes. A very different style than other vintages, complex and elegant in the same bottle, subtle and attractive - so - ws	n/a	*****
2002	Kangarilla Road Estate Shiraz, South Australia At HK$88 each, this must win the most valuable wine of this trip. Very concentrated although tannins are quite coarse. RP gave 93 points. I don't think it is that good but perhaps it will be better in a couple of years. Will be interested to re-taste. - so - ws	n/a	***
2000	Chateau Montelena Estate Cabernet, Napa Valley Montelena's flag ship cabernet. The 2001 is much better. This wine has a tint herbalness common in many wines of this soft vintage. Still an outstanding Napa cab. - so - ws	n/a	****
2001	Montes Alpha M, Santa Cruz Wonderful blackberry with mild stone and chalk hint. Quite consistent with previous vintages. Distinctive. May be a bit softer than I remember. - so - ws	n/a	****
2000	Chateau Lagrange, St. Julien Complex tobacco, mocha, vanilla, licorice. Not as powerful as many 2000 Bordeaux. Quite ready to drink. Elegant long finish. - so - ws	n/a	*****
1999	Zema Cabernet, Coonawarra kinghim brought this back from Australia. I think it is corked. - so - ws	n/a	*
2001	Rosemount Balmoral Shiraz, McLaren Vale deeply concentrated plum and pepper, tannic, jammy - so - ws	n/a	****
1999	Allegrini Amarone, Amarone dried fruit sweetness, very long finish. A bit too sweet for my taste - so - ws	n/a	****
1999	Castel Giocondo, Brunello di Montalcino Balanced and elegant. Lots of berry, mineral and spice and complex. - so - ws	n/a	****
2002	Elderton Exclusive Estate Shiraz, Barossa Valley Unexpectedly concentrated, plummy, jammy. - so - ws	n/a	****
2000	Lengs & Cooter Old Vines Shiraz, n/a n/a - so - ws	n/a	***