The Auswine Forum

Boxing Day 1941. British & Canadian forces capitulate in the Battle of Hong Kong, invading forces unleashing a wave of atrocities upon the civilian population and surrendered combatants.

What unfolds is not unexpected to many. The horror of Nanjing is well publicised. Major Dewar, an Australian serving in the British Army commands the top secret ammunition bunkers - code named Little Hong Kong. Fifth Columnists are rife and the bunkers are hidden from the civilian population .

Dewar, with enough food and supplies to last a long war, wires the bunkers with TNT and invites the enemy to come take Little Hong Kong. After a few days, he is persuaded to surrender by local socialites under the watchful eye of invading soldiers. Oddly, considering the bloodlust unfolding, the perverse cult of the enemy honours Dewar with whiskey and beer and he’s shuffled off unharmed to a POW camp faring better than many.

Tonight we descended into the refurbished bunker where Dewar holed up and we drank Chateau Palmer until the wee hours.

So many stories and great conversations the wine was barely discussed.

1966- 98pts

1979- 94pts

1983- bottle 1) 92pts bottle 2) 97pts

1989 - 91pts

1990- 96pts

1998- 94pts

2000- 93pts

2001- 95pts +

2002- 91pts

2003- 93pts

2004- 95pts

2005- 91pts

2009- 96pts+


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Only the entrance to another very cosy bunker. I didn’t take a picture due sensitivities of friends.

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Thanks for the post Jamie, and the photographs, I am indeed envious as I have a bit of history with the Chateau Palmer. The first and only wine tasting course I ever took was my local university's Faculty of Extension course on wine tarting. I had just started my collecting odyssey and thought that a wine tasting was the right thing to take. I really learnt a lot from Mr Moore but what I do remember most was that I got to taste the 1982 Tahbilk (which ended up in the cellar), a 1977 Chateau Musar (also made it into the cellar) and a 1980 Palmer (unfortunately not in the cellar - darn!).

A few years later I managed a purchase of a few bottles of the 1986 Palmer. Later, a friend poured the 1979 Palmer at a millennium tasting in early 2000. If I remember correctly it was his last bottle and he didn't do it justice because he didn't even decant it. He thought it was time to drink it and the necrophiliac in me thought otherwise. Anyway, here it is many years later and you found the '79 Palmer to be a 94 point wine. Yes, necrophilia, or what they call the English palate rules!

I've mentioned this before but the Chateau Palmer website is a gem. They have notes on almost all vintages back to the 50s. Here is what they say about the 1979:

"In January 1979, France was hit by a sudden cold spell. February was milder but wet. The weather improved significantly as from April, when the vines started to develop, ten days later than normally. The weather was very unstable and the vegetation struggled to grow. At the beginning of June, temperatures finally rose and we noted the first flowers around 12th. There were a few rainy days during the flowering process, which was late and low in coming. The flowers were in full bloom on June 21st, a beautifully sunny day. A fine wine was predicted. 1979 is the vintage with the highest quantity of harvested grapes since 1934. A glorious summer led to an ideal and late harvest starting on October 3rd in perfect climatic conditions. The bunches were small but healthy, with lively tannins and good acidity. A colorful and firm wine continued to evolve slowly and has aged well. Château Palmer’s 1979 vintage is a very seductive and fine vintage. Its nose is expansive, complex, mineral and almost Burgundian in style. Its finish is sweet and fleshy.

They go on to say: BLEND: MERLOT 36%, CABERNET SAUVIGNON 58%, CABERNET FRANC 2%, PETIT VERDOT 4%
AGEING POTENTIAL: MATURE, READY TO DRINK

Now, as for the 1966, the wine that topped your score card, the Palmer website says :

1966 is a good vintage at Château Palmer. It is the fourth best of the 60s. It precedes the excellent 1970. After a mild winter, the vegetation phase began at the end of March and accelerated over a beautiful month of April. The first flowers were spotted late May. Flowering took place under good conditions despite a little rain on June 9th and 10th. The weather over the two summer months was more varied. Rain in July, followed by a fine but cold month of August delayed ripening and maturation. In turn, the press announced a truly catastrophic vintage. However, luckily the sun and high temperatures returned on August 26th and continued on throughout September thus favouring good maturation, allowing for the shaping of a long-keeping classically beautiful vintage. 1966 is a very fine vintage, with remarkable precision and a sharp palate. Structurally, it is not the most interesting of vintages but it is luminous and its acidity help to preserve the fruit’s freshness and elegance.

They also say BLEND: MERLOT 50%, CABERNET SAUVIGNON 22%, CABERNET FRANC 12%, PETIT VERDOT 16%. AGEING POTENTIAL: READY TO DRINK BUT CAN BE KEPT A FEW MORE YEARS.

So you can imagine both my envy of you having tasted the 1966, and my reticence in opening my bottles of 1986, something that I will have to drink before it ever reaches the stellar height of the 1966.

Cheers ................................. Mahmoud.

The 66 was unanimously WOTN.

One tainted bottle was disputed and I put that down to a light scalping. One wine was leaking and I didn’t rate .

Nobody took any notes so apologies not much more forthcoming.

I've had that '66 a few times. It's an incredible wine. So svelte.

thanks Jamie, I have heard about little HK but never been. Maybe when I finally get home I'll make an effort

good to see the 09 showing so well, for some reason this vintage wasn't received as well by the critics. I could never understand that, but it certainly made purchasing of it easy in HK as the point-chasers dumped it. Of course, I stocked up

had the 05 over Xmas, tight as a drum now, needs another decade of sleep.

this Chateau has long been in my favourite 5 Bordeaux.

As with Margaux, I really rate the 83. Both are in prime drinking window for my tastes

Felix it’s mainly for wealthy collectors . Stand alone not sure worth dining ? Awesome place HKG. For wine lovers and the wealthy.

83 was great Mike. Not much of a Bordeaux commentator myself which is why I just took pictures and told a story . We do a lot of these types of events and I often avoided them. Priority was for Piedmont events

Wine aside, I like Hong Kong. I've been there many times, back from back when I was a mere child transiting ships in port, then as an adolescent when I saw the best firework display I'd ever seen (perhaps surpassed by Sydney on new years eve), and then as an adult. I like the feel, vibrancy, and texture of the place.

Coincidentally another one of my sentimental favourites has been mentioned in this thread, the 1983 Chateau Margaux, the only first growth in my cellar, a C$75 purchase many, many years ago.

Mahmoud.