GINI Wine Tasting

AC: Had these two wine on consecutive nights last long weekend. I am officially spoiled with these great wine I’ve been having these couple months… I had the 04 Lascombes first and when I tasted it at the time, it just confuses me as to what makes a good vintage for these great estates! [...]

Tasted these wine 1 week ago. The order of tasting were: 1) 1998 Boisrenard CdP 2)1996 Haut-Brion 3)2001 Casa Lapostolle Clos Apalta. All three are extraordinary wine but of course, all attention were still pulled into the 1996 Haut Brion. Especially this was my first time having a sit-down dinner with a [...]

Tasted about 2 months ago but still remembered this wine (on the left in the pic) to be quite distinctive… now that I forgot about how it is different than the zind humbrecht whites which in my mind also possess a special character that stands out in aroma and taste among other whites. [...]

VW: Lots of tobacco on the nose, almost cigarette ash, cigar box. Strong sour cherry palate with spices. Good concentration and length. Unmistakably Bordeaux that is drinking well now. Just a little bit too acidic. 90 (June, 2009)

VW: Dark purple, looks young. Nose of deep currant, rather grapey, cedar and some leather. Creamy and smooth palate that is full of minerals. Tannins already integrated into a refined texture. Focused and pure, this Reysson is a great value from the 2003 Bordeaux. Taste good now but it will continue to improve for 2-3 [...]

VW: Clos Saint Jacques is a great premier cru in Gevrey Chambertin. The wine is usually quite masculine with good structure. But the best example would not simply sacrifice elegance for this. Jadot makes pretty good CSJ but this 1998 is probably a weaker example. Color is quite advanced, tawny ruby. Rather old looking for a 1998. [...]

VW: Owned by the famous Thienpont family and situated in Cotes de Francs, Puygueraud represents a value Bordeaux of classic quality. This 2005 opens with some toasty notes and orange rind. It’s not giving much on the nose at the moment. Great texture, very silky and full palate of dark fruits and mineral. The tannins [...]

AC: Quite frankly I had some expectation of this wine, not because of a 92 from RP but because of the price tag attached (C$40+). It’s not often that we hit a bordeaux over $40… or I should say not from a tasting event anyway. Not remembering the nose, I do remember the [...]

VW: This smell like a Southern Rhone on open… cherry, cola, kirsch. But this subsided after sitting in glass and the nose giving very little later on. Mostly sweet red cherry on the palate. Good amount of tannins but with a short and somewhat hot finish. I wonder what varietals went into this Petit Mars. 89 (April, 2009)

VW: Bastor-Lamontagne is a pretty good value from Sauternes. Nose is showing lots of boytritis with some dry figs and dry pineapples. Also a tiny bit of nail polish. Palate is very full, rather sweet with just enough acidity. This does seem a little too sweet after drinking more. Showing mostly boytritis now with little fruits, some [...]

VW: Mostly sweet cherry on the nose. The palate is dense with sweet red fruits from grenache. The best thing about it is the velvet mouthfeel. Drinking nice now but can keep. Grenache and syrah, like a baby Chateauneuf. 90 (April, 2009)

AC: This night we had 4 cab blend: 2006 Stratus Red, 2003 Hess collection Cabernet Mt. Veeder Napa, 2003 Chateau Phelan Segur Saint Estephe, 2004 1707 Selection de Barricas Almansa Spain. The Hess Collection has easily become my favourite as I find good balance and finish in the wine. Its mouth-feel in the palate and [...]

AC: Once again the Vatican performances. With it’s fruit nose and palate, it has good balance with right acidity. Tiny bit of grass to the taste, this wine has good finish and right amount of tannins. Not sure if it’s that I had too many cab blend the night before, this CdP [...]

VW: Much more reserved on the nose than that on the palate. Packed with tropical fuits and bright acidity that almost gave a tingling feeling on the tongue. Full bodied, just lightly sweet with a long finish that’s loaded with minerals. This got better and better as the dinner progress. More time in the cellar [...]

AC: I still remember there was a time that I tried a Crozes Hermitage. It wasn’t anything as ‘classic’ as I expect it to be. This time is quite different. This M. Chapoutier Hermitage brings me back to the arms of classic french wine. Without much fruit, yet this slightly concentrated wine has a very, [...]

AC: This old Saint Emillion confuses me whether what a ‘fruity’ wine should taste. New world (or younger) wine is usually easier to taste the fruits in the wine. But fruits in old world wine usually does not link up with the word ’sweet’ what-so-ever so makes it much harder to detect. [...]

VW: Jadot wines are often not rated high by major critics but I find them consistently delivering. The 96 version of this particular one let me understand how a good wine can be. Although there were better wine since then, it always has a special place in my mind. This 99 is at absolute peak [...]

VW: Deep purple, looks very young with slightest aging rim. Typical bordeaux nose, currant, cedar and little leather. Young on the palate, just like a 5 years old. Fresh and vibrant but not densely fruit like the 96. More elegant and classy fine example. Turning just a little sweeter with time in glass. Can be [...]

VW: Dark with plum and black berries on the nose. Opulent palate with espresso, plums and different berries. Not difficult to see this is coming from a hot vintage. The fruits are sweet and low in acidity. Intensely flavoured giving lots of enjoyment already at this early stage. Tannins are ripe and soft. There is [...]

VW: Very dark and young. Black fruits and little cedar, still quite grapy and primary on the nose. Rather dense on the palate with focused berries and leather. Ripe mouth coating tannis showing how young this is. The tannis does soften up towards the end of the dinner. Tightly knitted and quite fine. If it [...]

VW: Showing intense lychee on the nose, with some pineapple and honey in the background. The honeyed palate was very full, almost oily. Lots of tropical friuts with slight residual sweetness. Although low in acid, yet this feel very fresh. The bitter sweet finish was satisfyingly long. Fruity but much more than a fruit cocktail. [...]

VW: This wine is difficult to access at this stage. Very little on the nose but with a huge palate. Very ripe, almost a salty sensation. Intense and still rather tannic but difficult to identify any particular flavour components. It may evolve into something amazing, but with such ripe fruit and low acidity, it is difficult [...]

VW: Medium bodied and length. Quite elegant although not much complexity. Not as good as a bottle I had a year ago. 89 (Nov, 2007)

VW: One of the previous gini tasting winner. Lots of sweet red fruits with bitter cherry finish. Little tannis and drinking very well now. Not difficult to see why most people enjoyed it. 90 (Nov, 2007)

VW: Mix of tropical fruits like mango and some coconut on the nose. Some oak and grapefruit on the palate. Not too much fruit left. Finish was probably the best part with some strong minerals. Drink up. I’m still waiting to try a great Chablis past 10 years of age 90. (Nov 10, 2007)

AC: I have always liked CdP for its uniqueness in the red wine world. This one is no exception from the nose all the way to the finish it’s just… different than other red wine. Nicely concentrated but it doesn’t give you the ‘too powerful’ feeling. Nicely balanced and tannic with a good finish. My [...]

AC: These bordeaux wine do need a longer time to decant. This fifth-growth from Pauillac has a nose of dark fruits and oak. Concentrated, it’s mid-palate is so enjoyable and balanced you almost don’t want to swallow… would be even greater if finish can last just a bit longer. I find it [...]

AC: This Grand Cru from Saint Emilion has a mix of leather, smokey nose. Quite enjoyable in the mid-palate but no surprise either. Tanin level is low telling me this is the time to drink this wine now.90

GINI 14 Wine#2 – VW: Balanced and showing just a little pepper. Medium bodied with nice concentration. This is very enjoyable now and over the next 3 years. 90 (August 11, 2007)
AC: This medium bodied wine everything it needs to call itself a good old world wine. It is this wine that we [...]

GINI 14 wine#1 – VW: Medium bodied cabernet franc. Some vegetal smell, maybe asparagus? Smokey palate which is quite high in acidity. Good now and easy to drink although not quite interesting next to the other 2 reds tasted together. 89 (August 11, 2007)

VW: The smell was quite floral with some plums. Sweet and rather alcoholic on entry. Full bodied and offered immediate pleasure with the fruit laden attack. But finish was abrupt and short which detracted the experience. Drink now or sit a year to see if the alcohol settle.  88+

AC: Started off with quite an impressive nose with cherry and plum, hint of oak. Once in the palate this gives a very ordinary straight forward acidic taste. There is still some tanin remaining but just not enough fruit to balance off. If you still have this in your cellar, think about [...]

In this second installment of blogging my trip to Bordeaux in June.. Here’s Château Beau-Séjour-Bécot in Saint-Émilion, which was the first château in Saint-Émilion we visited on the first day. Château Beau-Séjour-Bécot is rated as Premiere Grand Cru Classé B in the St. Emilion Classification System of 2006.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thevince/sets/72157600401189184/show/

Slide show of my Flickr set. [...]

Um.. while I am at it, I’ve created a group on Flickr for photos you may have taken during GINI meetings .. if you happened to post them on Flickr.
http://www.flickr.com/groups/gini_wine_tasting/
If you happened to be a Flickr user do join the group!

Two weeks after returning from Bordeaux I finally have time to
1. GIMP my 10Gb of pictures and upload them to Flickr
2. Slowly annotate the pictures.
The first château that is ready for presentation is Château Lascombes, which was the first winery we visited on the 2nd day in Bordeaux:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thevince/sets/72157600545741178/show/

Slide show of my Flickr set for Château [...]

AC: Light red in color, this CdP has a soya sauce nose. When drink without food the taste even has a bit of soya sauce in it! Having said that this Clos des Pape still maintains the style of a CdP which I think is still the most unique among red wines. Slightly heavy in [...]

2005 Delas Condrieu “La Galopine” Viognier: AC – probably first time drinking a Viognier from northern Rhone. Fresh apple and pear in the nose. Fruity but not sweet with a balanced acidity. It even has a very tiny bit of bitterness. An impressive structured, full-bodied white. 91
VW: Mainly sweet apple on the nose which is [...]

AC: This is yet another great Bordeaux from the 2003. There are just lots and lots of surprises from this vintage in this part of the world. Started off with a great fruity nose, the woody (oaky or cedary?) mouthfeel is a total pleasure. This medium-concentrated wine would get an extra point if the finish [...]

AC: Nice strong nose with leather. Medium to full body with a medium concentration. Definitely fruity but not sweet with all sorts of flavour which is really why I like a nice Bordeaux. The super long finish lasted even when I was eating a spicy Korean dish and when I was washing the decanter! 92
VW: [...]

AC: Another typical Bordeaux wine experience. Carrying a floral tone, you cannot complain about its aroma. One great thing about Bordeaux wine is that you usually don’t have to guess how much attention it tries to get from you in the beginning but you can expect the result to be satisfying. This medium-bodied wine is [...]

GINI 11 (May 5, 2007) wine #3 – AC: My first dry Riesling which has caught me off guard. Nice fresh green apple aroma… once in mouth its driness took over and I can hardly taste the fruit from start to finish. 89
VW: Elegant nose to tangerine, mineral and some flowers. Powerful on the palate [...]

GINI 11 (May 5, 2007) wine #2 – AC: Nevertheless a off dry Chardonnay. Slow starting with nose of herbs. Well concentration with well balanced earthy tones on the palate. 90
VW: Very reserved nose, showing hints of mineral with lots of swirling.  Great concentration but only showing little at the moment. Focused minerals with lemon [...]

Browing rim. Sweet but reserved on the nose. The palate was simply fantastic… sweet entry, balanced, medium full. The flavour keep building and ever evolving. Still going strong to the last drop for the whole dinner. There are enough tannins to keep it in shape for few more years … but wonderful now. 1998 was [...]

Medium purple. Already showing good amount of black berry, toasty oak and tobacco. Initial entry is quite tannic but it did soften a bit over time. Open knit and controlled alcohol, it doesn’t show any overripe character from this hot vintage. Tannic medimum finish which can use couple of years. Overall pretty nice except the [...]