Big reds for big meat

It has, once again, been much too long since the MNSC boys gathered for one of our tastings, and I'm glad we finally got around to it tonight. It's Ox's turn and we have found ourselves at the Grill Room of the Hong Kong Country Club. The food has always been decent here, so I'm happy to be back.

Seafood cocktail

Beef bone marrow, sourdough with Bordier butter and chives - roasted bone marrow always makes me drool.

And bone marrow on bread is just always so perfect.

La Prudencia 'ibérico bellota' ham, 48 months, pan con tomate, honeydew melon

Traditional French onion soup, gratinée with Gruyère - pretty decent, actually.

M9 sirloin signature from Mayura Station - these sirloin caps were pretty impressive-looking.

And pretty tasty with good charring on the outside for that smoky flavor.

French fries - for some reason I found myself unable to keep my hands away from these fries tonight. I swear I must have had around one and a half servings by myself!

But of course we were here for the wines! And given that the Ox turned five sheets this year, I figured we were in for a treat!

1983 Lanson Brut, en magnum - definitely got a little age on it, and the marmalade notes showed that. This was really nice.

First flight: tasted about 1½ hours after opening without decanting.

1973 Guigal La Mouline - lots of toasty corn on the nose, nice and aged so it's soft on the palate. Lovely fruit here but a little cloudy, not so clean. Got that bacon fat. 95 points.

1973 Vega Sicilia Unico - this was more exotic, plenty of coconut butter, sweet vanilla, so sweet and soooo beautiful on the nose. Just beautiful! Had to be Vega. 97 points.

1973 Heitz Martha's Vineyard - much more juicy fruit here, very rounded and very sexy on the palate. Higher acidity here, more lively. Sweet and almost candy-like on the nose, with so much eucalyptus and mint. 96 points.

Second flight: tasted without decanting almost 3 hours after opening.

1989 Jaboulet La Chapelle - clearly more youthful than the first flight, but this was more muted on the nose. Smooth and nice on the palate. Thirty minutes later this was really fragrant. 95 points.

1989 Henri Jayer Echezeaux - beautiful fruit, pretty pure. Sweet but perhaps a little grassy? And maybe a little vanilla, too. Amazing... so, soooo fucking good! 97 points.

1989 Petrus - a little chalky, more toasty, very minty. Very smoky, a little stinky and gamey with leather notes. 94 points.

Third flight: popped and poured, no decanting.

1973 Chave Hermitage Rouge - the nose was soooo big with grilled meats, nice and toasty, soooo beautiful, sweet and elegant. And also pretty floral. Should have known the combination would mean it's a Chave. 99 points.

1989 Chave Hermitage Rouge - a little stinky in comparison. This wine needed more time to open, which is a shame.

Not only was this an amazing lineup, but the tasting arrangements themselves were very well thought-out. Very grateful to the Ox for his generosity.