Château Smith-Haut-Lafitte 2013 Graves Cru Classé Blanc/ 
This wine has a turbo-charged nose of fireplace smoke, passion fruit and beeswax. Round, supple and suavely textured with lightly glycerol on the palate, this is both a highly gulpable and strongly intellectual wine thanks to its compelling intensity. It drinks beautifully now, but there’s no need to rush.

Yesterday a fine tasting with friends including wines from 1908-2019. Best ones were Harlan 2011, Cristal 1962, Cheval Blanc 1947, Monfortino 2009 etc.

Another tasting organized by Crus et Domaines de France offered the chance to complete the list of white wines and to taste some fine reds. 

The tasting organized by Crus et Domaines de France featured another seires of excellent red wines, which I have not tasted yet. The tasting was very well organized with over 170 samples available, presented in excellent conditions and respecting.

Château d' Yquem 2001 / 100 points / What a pure wine, with honey, caramel, cooked apple, bon bon, and pear tart. Dried apricots and peaches develop with time in the glass. What a palate, it is very sweet and rich at the impact, but then it’s dense and opulent like a Grand Cru Burgundy, think Montrachet. Apples, honey, and pineapples with hints of mango on the palate. This is an incredible wine, a real dream, a legend. 150 grams of RS

Château Palmer 2016 / The finest vintage I’ve ever tasted from this estate, surpassing the 2009 and 2010, the 2016 Château Palmer is a blend of 47% each of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, with the balance Petit Verdot, all of which was brought up in 65% new French oak. This magical effort reveals a saturated purple color as well as a huge nose of crème de cassis, graphite, crushed rocks, and spring flowers, and it develops beautifully with time in the glass. Full-bodied, deep, incredibly concentrated and powerful, it nevertheless just glides over the palate with flawless purity and balance, present, ripe tannins, and a finish that just won’t quit. This is Bordeaux at its most regal and classic. It will be drinkable with just 4-5 years of bottle age and keep for half a century.

Thomas Wines Elenay Shiraz 2017 / Famously the ‘lips and assholes’ leftover barrels blend for Andrew Thomas, but doesn’t look inferior. It tends towards the bigger end – more Kiss than Belford – but with a chocolatey bite. It’s just a little bit warm, and the alcohol sticks out a little too. Quality, if not the cohesion of the single vineyard wines. Best drinking: now to fifteen years. 17.7/20, 92/100. 14.5%, $55. Would I buy it? There’s others in the range I’d open first.

The Union des Grands Crus hold the en primeur tasting at the Palmengarten in Frankfurt. A great opportunity to get some more samples to complete the tasting notes and to re-taste some of the wines tasted earlier. 

Château Suduiraut 2019 /Composed of 94% Semillon and 6% Sauvignon Blanc harvested from the 17th of September to the 30th of October (three selective pickings in total), the 2019 Suduiraut is aging for 16-20 months in French oak barrels, 50% new. The alcohol came in at 14.1% with 130 grams per liter of residual sugar. Pale to medium lemon-gold colored, the nose is oh-so-tantalizing with intense notes of candied ginger, beeswax, fenugreek and crystalized citrus peel over a core of pineapple upside-down cake, honey coated almonds, pink grapefruit and peach preserves with a waft of musk perfume. The rich, concentrated palate explodes with spicy fireworks in the mouth, complementing the the exotic fruit and peach preserves layers, with a racy line to lend just enough lift, finishing with epic length and depth. 94-96 points

The 2010 Masseto is powerful, heady and explosive, with tons of density and pedigree to burn. On the one hand, I am happy to check in on it tonight, but on the other hand, the 2010 is very clearly a wine for the future. I wouldn’t dream of opening a bottle any time soon. The 2010 has been showier, but tonight it is decidedly reticent, and that's a shame, as it can be transcendental. It was one of the latest harvests at the property. Picking started on September 18 and wrapped up October 4.

What a lovely BBQ tasting under the Finland Midnight Sun! Eight guests voted Cyril Henschke 2013 as the best from the bunch. My favorites were Muga Prado Enea GR 2006 (94p), Petrolo Galatrona 2004 (94p) and Shafer One Point Five 2016 (94p). Troplong-Mondot 2000 was passed its peak while La Landonne 2012 is nowhere near for its enjoyability yet (give it another 8 years still to open up!)

Chinese Wine, An interesting journey with this great producer.