The Asian Winehunter

1994 - Vega Sicilia Valbuena No.5 Interesting fruit aromas on opening but acidic & sour notes coming through. With air grew progressively more acidic. Wine did not seem corked - storage conditions seemed decent. Might have been an off bottle but this is a poor showing especially compared to its big brother - Unico... 85pts?? 1995 - Pichon Comtesse de Lalande - Puillac Opened with very promising notes of black fruit - somewhat muted, short on the palate and length - served straight out of the cellar. Over time ( approx. 1hour ) with air and higher temperatures it opened up and showed more of the classic Puillac character and with a "feminine" soft character. Green peppers, faint hint of pencil shavings and tobacco. Mid Palate filled out and finish was better though still a bit on the short sight. Probably can do with 3-5 more years in the cellar. 94+ pts. 1989 - Chateau La Fluer Petrus- Pomerol. Drink up. Its probably hit the maturity plateau and going downhill at this poi...

December 14, 2005. Various tasting notes. Its been a while since the last entry - sorry folks - the wine hunter has been bogged down a bit. Not very productive last few weeks as far as wine tastings are concerned. Here are a few assorted notes - no theme. 2000 - L'Interdit de Bandon A VTD by law. It looks like the owner of Ch. Valandraud broke a few too many rules to produce this and was deemed "unworthy" of AOC designation ( same story for the L'interdit de Valandraud). This opened up early and was accesible early black fruits, dense and concentrated considerable tannin but tame and quite fine. Would have to say the after bouqet in the glass and aftertaste/finish was actually better than time in the mouth. Could use a few more years ( 3-5? ) 89pts. 1999 - Chateau Quinault - L'enclos Lighter than L'Interdit but more complex. This had finese and better all round. Good now and requiring little air time 30-45mins. 91pts. 1997 - Rene Renou, Bonnezeaux Le Mellerese...

Monday night. We had a nice dinner at Petrus - the restaurant at the top of the Hong Kong Island Shangri-La hotel. The food was decent. The canapes were quite nice. The Jabugo ham was a bit of a disappointment. Anyone having had the real thing (i.e. 36month aged Jambon Iberico Pata Negra ) will feel the Jabugo came up a bit short as far as flavor depth goes. Next was the Lobster in the shell with spaghettini and oscietra caviar. Lobster was decent but I really enjoyed the spaghettini with caviar in tomato confit. The challand duck breast was quite good here - well executed. Good depth of flavor in the duck as well as a nice "fatty" layer right under the caramelized skin. hmm hmm. Anyway on to the wines. 1998 Dom Perignon : Really forward wine, acidity perceivably lower than the '96. Nutty hazelnut/almond nose. Drink up fast - don't think this is one for the long haul. 92pts. 1990 Dom Perignon Enotheque : Much better. Nutty hazelnut, almond and toasty nose. Still very ...

It’s getting towards year end and one can almost imagine the sounds of popping corks and fizzy effervescent wine just around the corner. Champagne is synonymous with celebration, elegance and abundance or at least that’s what the marketing wizards have many of us thinking. Spin city aside lets take a look at what Champagne is about. Here is a short video ==> http://www.champagne.fr/videos/en/localisation-choix.html Not all sparkling wines can be called Champagne. In fact, only sparkling wines conforming and grown in certain areas in the Champagne-Ardenne region are deserving of the AOC ( appleation d’origine Controlee) designation. Does that mean that all Champagne AOC are good? Not quite. In other parts of the world they resort to other names such as sparkling wine, Asti Spumanti, Sek and Cava - Champagne however is off-limits. The essential grape varieties going into Champagne are Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot meunier – usually as a blend. Some people would say – hang on that’s...

Dinner notes from a dinner in Tokyo with some friends. '02 Corton Charlemagne - Betrand Ambroise. Some oak, hint of citrus, fat & buttery, some power. 89 points. '02 Corton Charlemagne - Bonneau Du Matray Very closed at outset. High acidity and structure yet not overly shrill. Made the Betrand Ambroise looked downright flabby. Around 2.5 hours later, very distinct minearal/flint/rocks aromas as well as hints of citrus & honey?. This thing wasn't even hitting its stride yet ( probably 3-4 hours) while the Betrand Ambroise was sliding downhill. This one probably needs 7-10 years to really show itself. One of the best from this domaine I have had ( back to 1992). 93+points. '02 Charmes Chambertin - Charlopin Parizot. Immediately upon uponing - wonderful distinct pinot nose of cherries and red fruits. Supple, soft, light. Find myself feeling guilty - not supposed to be enjoying young grand crus like this are we? This wine did not clam up with time and air as sometim...

2002 - Alois Kracher #9 - Chardonnay Trokenbeeren Auslese (TBA) Huge bouquet of honey, apricots, figs, oranges. On entering the mouth, thick viscous although retaining a good amount of acidity - nice finish. Liquid golden nectar. 94pts 2001 - Walter Hansel - Russian River - Chardonnay Cahill Lane. On opening - not much of anything on the nose except a slight hint of toast/paine grille. After an hour a bit more hints of toast and a little bit more citrus notes - just barely. At 2 hours the wine start to fill itself out but was still closed. At 3 hours, the wine start to expand and fill out - again not by much. The dinner was almost over and people were having dessert wine. At this point it was recorked, put in the fridge until tommorrow.... ....18 hours later . The nose was much more impressive, distinct aromas of toast, almonds, lemon and white flowers - more of the same on the palate. The finish did come off a little hot but might sort itself out in a few years. At this point, this wa...

This is the Winehound's first report from a foreign country. I might just come out and state it right now I am a Whiskey novice. Having said that there have been a few revelations over the years and last night was one of them. A good friend and I ventured to a non-descript street near Akasaka-Mitsuke in Tokyo ( Close to the Otani Hotel ). In the basement of a non-descript building was a bar which went by the simple name of Grace. At first glance this looked like any bar with an extremely long counter. Then we noticed the whiskey bottles. Macallan vintages going back 1/2 century and perhaps more. We didn't realize until much later that it had a similiarly impressive wine selection. You name it they would probably have it. To start : 1972 Springbank . Frankly I was not very impressed. Good but not special. 1953 Springbank 8 yr . Whoa - they don't make 8yr like this anymore. Extremely smooth and almost caramel nose. In the mouth, very rounded, smooth as silk and incredible lon...

A particular region in Bordeaux, Sauterne - produces some of the best sweet wines in the world. The grapes which tend to go into a Sauterne are both Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon. The difference is "noble rot" or Botrytis Ceneria - a mold. This mold tends to dry out and shrivel the grape - intensifying flavors and sugar content to get a Sauterne. Perhaps the most famous or first among equals is Chateau Y'quem. What many people do not realize is that Chateau Y'quem also makes a dry white wine from the very same grapes - without the Bottrytis. This isn't made every year and when it is, total production is several hundred cases ( saw somewhere that it was around 700-900 cases but do not remember the source ). The result is "Y" or Ee-'grec. "Y" was first produced in 1959 and so far has had 21 vintages. As it is a dry wine - it technically cannot be considered a "Sauterne" and therefore labelled as "Bordeaux Superior". Rest as...

First time here and it is quite cozy. The food is quite good - standouts were the apetizers being escargots, baked crab shells and lobster bisque. At $380/pp its not too bad. Anyway on to the wine. 2003 Les Heritiers Du Comte Lafon, Machon Uchizy - Les Maranchess Very strong initially, suggest colder serving temperature, minor hints of flint - needs some air time of approx. 30min then hits its right balance of acidity, hints of white flowers and honey. Fades gracefully over time. At ~ $20 thi s is VALUE!~ 88+pts. p.s. Okay okay so this bottle is not the Macon-Uchizy but its basically the same label and bottle save for the wording. 1994 Penfold - Bin 707 Upon opening, still has primary fruit flavor and odors but not like when it was young, starting to develop some 2ndary traits but not much. Don't give this too much air time - it started to become less balanced as the night went on becoming increasingly acidic & sour. I don't want to generalize but I have just had many simi...

1995 La Mondotte, St.Emillion Grand Cru Stay away! With the '95 vintage I cannot belive this is the same wine or pedigree of the later La Mondotte. The wine looked prematurely aged for a '95, cork condition was very good however indicating that it wasn't storage. Insipid, thin, no complexity, aromas or anything good I can ascribe to it. This cannot be La Mondotte - either the label was incorrect or the wine was. Oh 83 pts. 2002 Pierre Gelin Chambertin Clos De Beze Very closed on the nose though having hints of fruits and (flowers?). Decanted for 15 minutes. Body is relatively light, a bit of tannin, certain amount of acidity. Long finish and good aftertaste. Probably missed the "drinking window" upon realease and closing up. Whether it will evolve/resolve well later is the question - it may but do not think this is a long keep. Revisit in 5 years? 89+ pts.

Lets talk about white wine. Everyone and their grandmother is talking about red wine and somehow white wine gets left behind or is treated as the "less serious wine" - rubbish. Lets look at Burgundy - the home of the most famous "Chardonnays" in the world. Probably the most famous and most expensive in the world is - Montrachet from the Burgundy region in France. What is Montrachet? - merely a plot of land. However, in the wine world that particular plot might as well be the center of the white wine universe. Consequently the hierarchy and pricing of a white Burgundy is a function of its proximity to the "center". Grossly simplified admitedly - but basically true. Something has to be said of the quantities of some of these grand crus. Some of the most famous estates will perhaps produce 1-2 barrels of Montrachet or Chevalier Montrachet in a given year. This is roughly 25-50 cases per producer. Or basically 300-600 bottles of this mythical white wine in exi...

How many wines can you recognize by looking at the labels? ( Producer, cuvee, country etc...) If you click the picture and start reading the labels - that doesn't count. Its label recognition on sight here. Instant 10 points for recognition of right 2 bottles on 3rd shelf. If you say "Romanee Conti" on 2nd bottle on 2nd shelf - congratulations - you instantly achieve rank of "Wine Name Dropper" and the quiz is over and .... wrongo dongo. Score & Ranking 3-6: Wine Name Dropper 7-10:Wine Afficionado 11-15: Wine Trade Proffesional 16-20: Wine Geek 21-24: Wine Geek with serious problems.

Tasting notes from dinner Saturday night with a few friends. 1992 Domaine Leflaive Batard-Monrachet . Nice initial burst of minerals. This wine now has secondary notes and starting its life downwards. Still some kick to the finish serve less than cold. Focus improves with colder temperature but not otherwise. Towards the end of dinner, final drops had a hint of flowers and honey which didn't appear before - lovely but the wine was flat by then. Don't think we will ever see all these components together. 90pts 2002 E.Rouget Nuit St. George . Closed unlike the Savigny tasted 2months ago. Needed some time to open up. Not a bad showing but the Savigny is probably better drinking at this point. Shutting down? 88 pts 2000 Claude Dugat. Gevrey Chambertain . The anticipation didn't match reality. Nose was extremely closed and times improved it marginally. On the palate and body extremely lean and angular initially after opening but improved with air time. Not exactly a refined Burg...

This was a dinner event held at the Jockey Club Darby Room in May, 2005. The owner and winemake of Bodegas Vega Scilia ( Spain ) were here to introduce some of their wines. Frankly, the food at the Darby was so so. Conception and execution was not quite there so I won't bother... on to the wines!! Pintia '01 : Nose somewhat closed good balance of fruit & oak with moderate tannins, high acidity, 88pts Pintia '02 : Another story - nose black&stewed fruits, hints of sweetness, coarse tannins, good balance, somewhat abbreviated/clipped finish. Probably needs ~5 years to tame some of those tannins. Drinking now - would require a couple hours of air : 91pts Alion '00 : red fruits, good acidity, firm tanins:89 pts Alion '01 : Now we are getting somewhere. Slightly reticent nose of black fruits, occasional hints/wafts of alcohol, fine tannins, high acidity, finish is good though not remarkable. : 93pts Valbuena '00 : Red fruits, nose somewhat closed, acidity sho...