The beef belches loudly

I went to an interesting wine tasting tonight held at Classified Exchange Square. Louis Mitjavile was in Hong Kong to showcase the wines from his family's estate. It's been a few years since I last tasted wines from this estate, and the twin vintages of 1989 and 1990 were justifiably famous. I looked forward to getting re-acquainted with the "belching beef"...

2007 Le Tertre-Roteboeuf - fruity, smoky, sharp alcohol, soy sauce (or in any case definitely something savory), roast meat. Obviously a little too young. On the palate the wine was actually reasonably soft and approachable.

1996 Le Tertre-Roteboeuf - nose was very open and beautiful, a little sweet and jammy, with mint, herbs and a bit smoky.  Initially I thought the wine was smooth on the palate, but with each following sip I felt the chewy tannins more and more - pretty surprising for this vintage.

2003 Roc de Cambes - fragrant and beautiful, fruity, prunes, smoky, exotic, coffee and jammy.  A bit hot on the finish.  A very complex wine, and not at all surprising given the vintage.

2006 Le Tertre-Roteboeuf - sweet nose with pine needle, mint, a hint of smoke.  Generally pretty straightforward.  Second pour was much more opulent and enjoyable.

1999 Roc de Cambes - kind of muted, with a hint of smoked meats, some fruit and mint on the nose.  Smooth on the palate.

2005 Roc de Cambes - nose was really open and showy, with lots of sweet toffee, a little smoke, mint and sharp alcohol.

2000 Le Tertre-Roteboeuf - ripe and sweet nose of toffee.  Powerful and exotic.  Definitely a crowd-pleaser, and the crowd drained the wine in no time!

1997 Le Tertre-Roteboeuf - Louis has a soft spot for this vintage, as it's the first vintage where he helped his father make the wine.  Minty, kinda nice and open, with a bit of sweet grass and a little roast meat.  Smooth and silky on the palate.

Pineapple summed the wines up in a classic one-liner - "These wines are just SEXY!" - a sentiment shared by Mr. Parker.  In fact, Mr. Parker went on record with the following line: "If wines were whores, Le Tertre-Roteboeuf would certainly be a potential candidate."

Hallelujah!