Chateau Corbin 2000 & Blason L'Evangile 2005

We had the pleasure to taste the Chateau Corbin Grand Cru Classe St Emilion 2000 & Blason L'Evangile 2005 at TK's place. The Corbin was a 2000. It was decanted for already an hour before Wenhui and I arrived. And fresh from the memory of the Loeville Poyferre's masterclass a week earlier, everything of the Corbin was 'benched-marked' against the Poyferre. It was indeed tough to match the classic vintages of the Poyferre but the Corbin had strong tobacco scent, (not my favourite), and hints of aged fruits (can't tell what). Overall it's decent Bordeaux wine. The Blason L'Evangile 2005 was a surprisingly youthful wine which doesn't need any decanting and had bountiful fruity nose and very approable for such a young wine. All it needs now is a few years in the cellar and it will blossom beautifully!!

2009-04-05 Malaysia Formula 1 Grand Prix!

Formula 1 Grand Prix, 2009! Having last been there in 2006, we finally decided to to there again, this time on K1 Platinum grandstands! We went with http://www.wheelsforfun.com.sg/ again. Here's an expansive view of turn 1 at 17mm focal length.


Drivers' parade!!






I opted for a slightly different angle for the turn1 this time. Instead of a full 'frontal' shot of the main straight, I chose to take the cars turning into turn 1. Here we have Nico Rosberg leading Jensen Button into turn 1!




A panning shot of Jensen Button of Brawn GP. Ross Brawn has proven to be a legend in Formula 1 with his tactics and technical skills with various teams over the years (Benetton, Ferrari, and Honda, which was bought over and now it's Brawn GP team!)


A nice lady amongst the green green seats of the grandstand. The amount of shelter provided by these grandstands were no match to the rain and wind which were to bombard the circuit on race day.

Kimi Raikonnen leading fellow Finlander Hekki Kovalainen.



The wifey and I.

Fellow Kimi fan!

We couldn't see/find any Brawn GP mechandise, and this was the only fan I saw who had the Jensen Button apparel!

Nelson Piquet.

Impending wet conditions saw the photo and video crew wiping out rain gear for their equipment.

It was a real treat to be in Turn 1, with a large screen TV in a corner and I had audio commentary as well via noise-shielding ear-buds, I could hear that Kimi was going to overtake Fernando Alonso, and from the screen, Kimi overtook Fernando at the final turn, and we could see and cheer him as he comes back around turn 1. This was the most enjoyable F1 ever in terms of enjoyment of the race. Kimi was to finish disappointingly as Ferrari decided to put him on full wet tyres even before rain fell hard.

Nakajima fans.

Mark Webber of Red Bull Racing makes a classic passing move on Fernando Alonso by slip-streaming the Renault on the start-finish straight and plunging down the inside of Fernando. The Renault late-braking cause the inner wheel to lock-up and alas it was too late and Mark had the corner covered!

It was ~6pm, it was dark, it was raining. The safety car almost came to a standstill to collect the leading car (Jensen Button), while almost the entire field was skating around on the wet wet track. We could feel the rain on us as the wind blew the rain into the sheltered grandstands. I love this shot, the race was in disarray, Felipe Massa kicking up a spray in the very dark conditions, with the safety car scrambling to make sense of the field.

The race was red-flagged a within another lap or so, this was 6:10pm, all cars were back onto the start-finish grid. Usually, the stewards will wait for the situation to improve to re-start the race. Fans were already booing at this stage, as >20laps of the race were left and it looked impossible for a re-start given the rapid loss of light in the rain-soaked evening. Audio commentary and video footages at this point kept the 'race' going for us as we had video and audio interviews from several drivers and team bosses regarding the handling of the situation.



It was 6:52pm, 8 minutes more to the end of the 2 hour limit of each race, when reached, will render the winner of the race as the highest placed driver when the race was stopped. Here a dramatic shot of Jensen Button being told of the conclusion that the race had been cancelled good and he was declared the winner. The dark surroundings with many fans leaving in the background shows the plight of this grand prix. The FIA and Malaysian F1 authorities will probably agree to never have a race start at 5pm local time ever. If this is so, then we have just witnessed live, one of the most dramatic races in Formula 1 history!

I love F1!

Chateau Léoville-Poyferré Wine masterclass!

A long anticipated wine master class!! Thanks to recommendation from Wenhui's brother, Tiong Kiat . We went for this wine master class, of Chateau Léoville-Poyferré. The wine owner, Didier Cuvelier, was here himself to showcase his wonderful selection of grand vin, Chateau Léoville-Poyferré. Second wine Chateau Moulin Riche is also made by vineyard.

And off we went to St Regis, an impeccable hotel with a Ferrari F430 with several Bentleys lining the porch. We were to taste 8 vintages, the very first time I was doing such detailed wine tasting, and through EIGHT vintages! We started with the 2006 and went all the way to 1982. I shall attempt at writing notes per vintage. Wine experts, please correct me!

Chateau Léoville-Poyferré 2006:

A red-purplish wine with a smooth nose with a hint of fruit (can't figure out which fruit). Mild acidity with trace of tannins. Decent length. 6% Petit Verdot (PV), 21% Merlot (M), %73 Carbenet Sauvignon (CS).

Chateau Léoville-Poyferré 2004:

A pretty 'weak' nose, with chocolate? notes. With mild-medium tannins, sharp on the palette. OK length. My least favourite.

Chateau Léoville-Poyferré 2002:

Interesting smooth nose of hints of Sulphur. Sharp and crisp, medium to strong acidity. Complex, dry and long length. Didier suggested 15 to 20 years of aging!

Chateau Léoville-Poyferré 2001:

Fruity nose of plum and mocha!! Smelled 'woody' too, smooth, mildly-sharp, very dry, long length.

Chateau Léoville-Poyferré 1998:

The first of the 'mid vintages'. Dark chocolatly nose. SUPER nose, I can nose it all day! Extremely well balanced, tannins/acidity/length go hand-in-hand all the way! My favourite!!

40% M, 58% CS (2% PV?)

Chateau Léoville-Poyferré 1995:

Floral notes, pleasant on the palette, smooth with aged tannins. Acceptable length.

Chateau Léoville-Poyferré 1989:

A 'true' vintage! Very dark brown red colour. Fantastic nose (which fruit??). Another vintage which I can nose it forever. A bouquet of roses! Nothing to nitpick, acidity/length/tannins are balanced.

Chateau Léoville-Poyferré 1982:

A 'out-of-this-world' feeling. Doesn't look, nose like that I'm used to. Fruity, smooth nose. Strong on the palette, mild length with complex tannins. A true gem of ripen age.