Auction in Seoul

An auction that was accompanied by a pre-auction tasting of a few of the wines up for auction, as well as some that were not. The affair was held at the wine-oriented restaurant of the Lotte Hotel here in town. Seoul Auction (not a wine specialist, but a general auction company) was in charge.

There were probably 30 wines open, ranging from the bottom of the barrel to a few of real interest.

The logistics were terrible. It was held at the bar, with only about five tables in the room. One practically had to fight to get to the wine and then back away again. Except for the high-end wines, it was a self-pour event with all of the bottles lined up on the bar. There were only two tables with water pitchers for washing glasses and they were directly in front of the wine. Each taster was given only one glass. As if that weren't enough, the wines were all opened less than 10 minutes before the tasting began. None other than the two Moutons and the Pontet Canet were decanted. I did manage to cajole a few extra glasses out of the bar, so that I could try to let a few of the wines open up in the glass. Unfortunately, I found that when I walked away from my barstool for a moment, the bartendress threw away my notes and washed my glasses.

• 1998 Château Valandraud Virginie de Valandraud

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Saint-Émilion Grand Cru

  This is the second wine of the garage chateau, Valandraud. PURPLE. Nose of PLUMS, VANILLA, GRAPES (wonder how it was macerated), PEPPER. Mouth was UNCTUOUS, RIPE. Fun to taste in the same way as a Pomerol in a flabby year or a big CdR from Freres Perrin. An enjoyable guilty pleasure, but I'd get tired of it very fast. I'm not sure what was missing, but I would guess it was missing acid and probably is out of balance from unusual maceration. I know nothing about this wine so I am just guessing.

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• 1989 Château Pontet-Canet

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

  Not a hint of lightness at the edges, still deep and dark throughout. Nose had a relatively seductive vanilla character that did not mask or distract from the size of the fruit, which included not just the normal black fruit but what seemed to me to be a rich note of chocolate covered cherry – by that I mean sweet chocolately red fruit. Early on it was all vanilla and fruit on nose, but with a little time, other aromatics – cigar box, even herbal came out. Wine was big and viscous and tannic on entry and remained so for the 30 minutes or so it was open, but the tannins couldn't mask the fruit, which seemed to have more of a plum-type character in the mouth than berry or currant. It's a crime that this one didn't have time to open up. Despite the heavy and relatively one-dimensional fruit in the mouth, I really liked it and think it would have begun to show its complexity. What a crime that the tasting wasn't better organized.

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• 1987 Château Mouton Rothschild

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

  On first pouring, was the most attractive wine. Solid color, no fading, but somehow a bit softer colored as could be expected from the vintage. Classic nose of blackcurrant, cedar, maybe a little vanilla/oak – very much up front. Mouthfeel was more on the order of a decent burgundy. (Actually, the words elegant and silky kept coming to mind.) Fruit was again upfront but not fat or juicy, tannins only around the edges. Never had a chance to see how nose and fruit developed. I like it and would buy if the price were right for high-class current drinking from a vintage that is underrated because it was surrounded by so many good ones.

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• 1975 Château Mouton Rothschild

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

  Colour softening to take on light brick tone at the edges, though still solid in the middle. Nose was dominated by woody smell (stems or dry oak??), cedar, some earthy element, followed by lean, lean dry black fruit. Entry was dominated by tannins, took several tastes and several minutes for that dry fruit and a bit of dust to come out. This one did get about 45 in the glass before it was taken away. Fruit rose up a little, but wine was still dominated by woody nose and tannin. Fruit remained dusty. I think this had a hint of what the wine could be...lean fruit/heavy earthy dusty character, but I suspect poor storage let the fruit dry up. Tannins seemed to have abated enough for a '75 that it might be very good if it weren't drying up. I'd love to try this with known good storage.

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• 1996 Fattoria dei Barbi Brunello di Montalcino Riserva

  Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino

  This was a pleasant surprise. I had heard that the '96s were starting to drink pretty well and were much more enjoyable than the bad ratings/press would indicate. Even so, this wine could have used some more time to open up as well. I was struck by the fact that the wine seemed to be in very good balance now. Sufficient acid and tannin balanced by easy fruit. It seems to me that it would not start to feel flabby over an evening's drinking. One of those classic cases of certain lesser vintages having the same basic flavors and balance as a greater one, just less size and complexity and less development in the glass (but we'll never know for sure since it only got a few minutes in the glass).

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Out of about 200 lots, there were probably 10 that had a reserve price low enough even to think about bidding on. Probably 50-60% of lots were unsold. Auction was in Korean, so I couldn't follow perfectly. Was major preponderence of big-name Bordeaux chateau (1st growths and other well-known classified growths) from a mix of vintages back to 1975. Burgundy was a little DRC and some negociant wines. Italy was maybe 10 lots at most. A little Aussie or Calif appeared. Nothing German or Austrian. A little South Africa and Chile.

I'll go again because there's not much else in Seoul, winewise. With better organization, the tasting would have made the afternoon worthwhile, regardless of the auction. I guess I'm just amazed at how poorly the tasting was organized. I mean, c'mon folks, you're trying to sell the wine. Organize so it shows well.