The Asian Winehunter

This was a tasting of 2002 Burgundies ( both red and white). The idea was to assemble wines from the same vintage, winemaker, area and just different "terroir". On the whites we had the following: 2002 Etienne Sauzet Chassagne Monrachet - Village wine Nice mineral and granite overtones. Good acidity and citrus flavors. Good finish. Slightly thin and watery but not much more can be expected at this level. ~87pts 2002 Fontaine Gagnard Chassagne Monrachet - 1er Cru Clos St. Jean The beginning nice soft, elegant, fruity/citrus nose with slight hint of mineral/rocks. Much more in the wine than the Sauzet Village wine. In the mouth rounded and elegant. With time, the minerality came forward and acidity (higher than le grand Montaigne) seem to come forward as well as everything else. This wine did not show itself of compared to Le Grand Montagne initially but closed the gap within 1-1.5 hours and was more "complete" at the end. ~91pts 2002 Fontaine Gagnard Chassagne Monr...

Bodegas Vega Sicilia was back in town and the winehunter was lucky enough to try some of their new offerings. Pintia 2003 . Cherry's, very young and astringent. Good acidity, rough tannins however. Suspect a 2 hour decant would even things out. Probably needs 3-5 years to be "drinkable". ~88pts Alion 2002 . Very pure aromas of Tempranillo Tinto Fino. Very concentrated more so than the '03 Pintia. Cherry & black fruits. Good length with finer tannins. ~91-92 pts Valbuena 2001. On the nose more refined and a step up from the Alion - on the nose that is. Seems to be high keyed and brighter than usual for a young and just opened Valbuena ( high acidity?). Short finish There was however, some hint of greenish/herbaceousness indicating possibly sub-par phenolic ripeness in grapes or stems. There was no '01 Unico as the Winemaker indicated that frost was a problem and did not live up to Unico standards. Reading between the lines... this may have also effected Valbu...