Notes from lunch at Ukiyo, one of the newet Japanese restaurants in Manila.
As was the first one to arrive, one of my wines was up first:
Valdespino Fino Inocente Sherry - Sea breeze aroma. Very dry and appetizing with an oily texture. Nutty, with a very slight cheesy quality to it. Deep and rich flavor. Good length. Excellent fino and pretty good with Japanese food. This is a single vineyard sherry from the Macharnudo vineyard. This is also notable in that it is fermented in American oak rather than stainless steel and is aged longer in the solera than other finos.
Champagne Cattier Clos du Moulin 94/96/96 - From an enclosed vineyard and always a blend of three years. I had this several years ago and I thought it was already in decline but this was showing relatively well. Very lemony, still vibrant but just a touch short. Surely past peak but not bad at all.
Mystery wine - From Richard. Very good fruit on the nose. Quite soft. Bordeaux-ish flavor. We all guessed Bordeaux. Greg detected oak right away but I only got that after some airing. It was a little difficult to figure out the vintage as the softness argued for an older wine but the color was very dark and youthful. The bottle was unveiled as a Japanese wine Suntory Yamanishi Winery 100th Anniversary Barre Selection Cabernet Franc "Tomi" 2002. Possibly the best Japanese wine I've had.
Chateau Grand Mayne St. Emilion Grand Cru Classe 1990 - Good sweet fruit. Round and soft. Cedary. Perhaps just a little past prime but still a very good drink.
We moved to Jojo's shop after lunch for just one more bottle courtesy of Jojo:
Mystery wine - Young, tannic, rather acidic finish. Pungent spice and sweet tobacco. There's an undercurrent of mushroom as well. Classic Bordeaux pencil shavings. Gets meaty after an hour. Richard guessed Right Bank. Greg went for Left Bank. I guessed Left Bank or Graves. I came closest as it was a Chateau Haut Brion 1997.