What a guinea pig feels like

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I attended a small wine tasting tonight. Actually it was more like a focus group, except that we were all pretty knowledgeable about wine. My friend runs a wine retail business on the side, and he was looking to import some wines from a small Burgundian producer. He wanted our collective opinion on this lot of wines before discussing business with the supplier.

The wines were mostly unremarkable. Quality was average at best and there were other, more competitively priced wines with better quality and brand recognition. Guess my friend isn't gonna take on this particular domaine...

My tasting notes are as follows:
1993 Michel Gaunoux Bourgogne - still fruity with nose of grilled meats, prunes and a bit of gravel. Very acidic and grippy on the palate.

2005 Michel Gaunoux Beaune - much sweeter on the nose, almost bubblegum-like, but a bit smoky at the end. Medium acidity on the palate.

1996 Michel Gaunoux Beaune - my first reaction to this wine was "WTF?!" Very farmy nose, almost like wet dirt, stewed prunes, moss and rotten wood. The wine was clearly off. Medium-high acidity.

1998 Michel Gaunoux Pommard 1er Cru - pretty nice and fragrant, with sweet fruit and leather on the nose. Medium acidity with quite a strong alcoholic kick at the end. Probably my favorite wine of the lot.

1999 Michel Gaunoux Pommard 1er Cru Grands Epenots - some sweet fruit in the nose, with smoked meats and a hint of acetone.

2002 Michel Gaunoux Pommard 1er Cru Grands Epenots - sweet nose that fades to an acidic one, which was a bit strange. Grilled meats and leather notes. Slightly high in acidity.

2006 Clos Salomon Givry 1er Cru - this monopole had more concentration, still smoky on the nose with an acidic finish and some grippy tannins are the same time.

2005 René Cacheux Chambolle-Musigny - color was very dark, concentrated nose which was fragrant and pleasant, with sweet fruit and a bit of gravel on the nose. This became much more chalky and gravelly later with further aeration, and basically fell apart. Hard tannins with a slightly acidic finish.

2006 Kerlann Chablis - I would never had guessed that this was a Chablis...would have said it was either a Cali or Aussie Chardonnay. Very heavily oaked, with a ripe nose of pear, vanilla and gravel. Slightly acidic on the palate. Not enjoyable at all.

Now I know what it feels like to be a guinea pig or lab rat... Hopefully I'll have better luck next time and will get to try better wines...