Sylvie Esmonin, Gevrey-Chambertin

En Primeur barrel sample bottled and shipped for a BB&R tasting in Singapore. Nice power, good ferrous note a touch of smokiness. Darker fruit, blackberry, blackcurrant blackberry.

(at Au Trou Gascon � Paris) Three for 3 on wines tonight. Much lighter and more linear than the Pousse d�Or, but the essence of pure pinot fruit combined with earth. There is a great red fruit expression � almost sweet � that pushes the limits but stays well within bounds. This finish is long and really makes you scratch your head how a village wine can provide this much punch and impact. If the Raveneau is a grand cru …

"Simple" Friday Dinner II (Lucas, Klapsons Hotel, Singapore) : Modern styled - most of us thought it was a new world, but pretty decent nonetheless. Very funky, with wet mud and barnyard dominating the nose, along with a depth of sweet, ripe, plummy fruit. The ripeness really stood out for me. Same on the palate, some funk, but this time the dominant note was super ripe, almost cola-ish cherries. Plenty of extract, plenty of ripeness, but thankfully also good clean, …

Took 2 days to get going, but then delicious. Fairly elegant, but ripe and deep with a fine, feathered, finish. Better 2 years from now, but very promising.