The Asian Winehunter

We had a chance to try some of the wines from this famous St. Emillion Garagiste during a dinner. Here are some notes from that night. 2001 Ch. La Dominique - St. Emillion This property is just next to Cheval Blanc so it should be capable of better things in the future. Right now it is just in the drifting in the middle - not bad but not really a standout. Starting in 2005, Thunevin is going to have his hands in this so it would be interesting to taste the results. The '01 has a medium body, fruit forward although not in abundance, tanins which are okay but not really that refined - I didn't like the slight green/vegetal tinge ( just my personal prefs.) 88 points. 2004 Valandraud Blanc #2 The first vintage was in 2003 and is now overseen by his wife which used to be with Domain Leflaive; this is a typical 50/50 blend of Sauvignon Blanc & Semillion blend. In reality, this is the 2nd wine of Valandraud blanc. Aromas are sharp, acidic, greenish. In the mouth pretty much the sa...

Some weekend tasting notes and notes on more corkscrews. 1997- Tenuta Ornellia. IGT When this was first released years ago, I was perplexed about the incredibly high ratings bestowed upon it. Deferred judgement and finally tried it again. Is it very good? - yes! Is it oh my god amazingly good? - well that would be overdoing it. Hints of cassis, fruits, gaining complexity with age, some hints of tobacco, fine, smooth tannins and long finish with a slight minty touch. Right now, I would say it takes perhaps 1-1.5 hours opened and aired in bottle ( with a little air gap). Decantage may cut this time in half. One caveat ( to this mouth ) was it tasted better in more modest wine glasses. When switched to the more massive Bordeaux glasses, it seemed to get gnarled up a little. Perhaps it was the extra air or maybe it was later in the night?? Either way - good and ready now, might get slightly better in a couple of years but suspect the peak/plateau is inside of 5 years and should stay there...

2003 Pichon Baron - Pauillac. Green peppers & Cassis,but to a certain extent possibly overcooked?Slightly alcoholic whiffs which blow off later - overall pleasing nose with some impact. On the palate however, it just doesn't come across as well even slightly light/thin in relation to the first impression from the nose . To me, the wine seemed a little disjointed and could have been due to the fact that we opened it a just few days after it arrived (~US$75-85). 92+? pts 2003 Lynch Bages - Pauillac. Again that slightly overcooked Cassis & green pepperish smell. This one doesn't blow off with time and seems to be quite present - to the overall detriment of other elements. Huge lashing of tannins - folks this is not close to the 2000 by a mile(~US$48-50). 88points. 2003 Leoville Barton - St. Julien. Black fruits, green peppers(slight) - at first has a little hint of the smells from the previous 2 bottles but a) goes away with time b) is not an overpowering factor and adds...

Stocks of 2003 Bordeaux are now rolling into cellars and shops at full swing. So far this wine geek has only tasted a handful. Initial tastings have been from Pauillac and St. Julien so far. The results have not been encouraging - I am pretty sure this vintage overall is nowhere close to 2000 - Caveat Emptor!!! While not a comprehensive sample, the wines tasted so far have a disctintive aroma. It's hard to use words but this aromas is a mixture of overstewed/burnt cassis, a hint of tar and blackened capsicum/green pepper - like when you take your eyes of the saute pan for too long. In the better wines, this blows off or becomes very faint enhancing the overall experience. In other instances, it dominates and is a little annoying. In my limited tastings of Pauillacs so far ( no 1st growths yet), I get more worried as it seems, the core of the wine seems a bit diluted/thin especially in mid-palate (Pichon Baron and Lynch Bages) - this fills out a little with time as the tannins make...