100 point perfection in Mobazillac

Excuse the mildewed label, but this super cuvee from Chateau Tirecule la Graviere was the second RP100 wine I bought (Lafite 1982 was bought in 1998). It is from Monbazillac, geographically an eastward extension of the Bordelais vineyards. It was also the second RP100 wine I tasted, and the first one (tasted in the same occasion) was not even from France (it was a Brunello). Lafite 1982 was much later. That occasion with two 100 Parker point wines was a farewell dinner for an ex-President of the Club, who was also a Wine Society member.

This wine is gorgeous; an orange gold colour, unctious with orangey notes, balanced with a long sweet acid finish. It outshone the Brunello, being the more appreciated RP100 wine that night. I think I also brought along a bottle of Vin de Constance, which we tasted before this. There were many great wines that night including Grange and Lafite 1983 (which could have been a spoilt bottle). Whatever happened to the Lafite, there were ample stars in the dessert wines department.

Vinos de Pagos

Can you see the difference on this label of a Spanish wine? Under the name of the property Dehesa del Carrizal is the DO designation, meaning that the DO applies to this single property. This is a new legal category of wines, called vinos de pagos, in which distinguished vineyards are given DO status. There are at present 10 such estates, 7 in the area of Castilla la Mancha and 3 in Navarra. Apart from a proven track record of consistent high quality, the wines have to be grown and vinified in a winery on the estate. This estate was first planted with 8 acres of Cabernet Sauvignon back in 1987. Other grapes were planted in the surrounding area, expanding the estate to 28 acres. It was granted DO de Pago status in 2006.
However, there is some controversy over this new category, as some great wine estates satisfying those requirements have not been elevated to this exalted status. Hugh Johnson (for example) argues that the likes of L'Ermita, Pingus, Calvario (Finca Allende) Vina de Olivio and various Torres properties highlight this anomaly.

Chateau Kefraya from Lebanon

I cannot remember when I first tasted a Lebanese wine, however, I know that it was at a Chateau Musar tasting. For many years, the only Lebanese wines I know were different vintages of Musar. I had seen Chateau Kefraya and bought a couple of bottles, but I had not got round to tasting them. Then all of a sudden, I found that I tasted the next two most famous wineries within 8 weeks of each other at the end of 2009. I had met Chateau Ksara at the wine fair in early November, then in mid December, at the KCC Wine Society Xmas Party, I came across this Chateau Kefraya. Ruby red, with a jammy berry nose, it was slightly sweet on the attack, leading to fruit on the palate, giving way to mouth-watering acidity on swallowing, finishing with acid and tannins as well as a slightly bitter note.

Wagyu Steak

Wagyu steak does not necessarily behave like any other beef steak at the table. This is because of the high degree of marbling which occurs in the finest specimens. When it is that well and truly marbled, it is better to think of it not as red meat, but rather as a "pink" meat - more pork than beef! After all, those specimens are much more marbled with fat than the one in the picture above.

I came to this conclusion after a meal in November 2000. We went to visit Osaka and took the train to Kyoto as well as Kobe. We did drop by the Kobe Winery and if I can dig out a photo, that will be another good tidbit. We planned to have a steak dinner at Kobe, and not knowing what wines might be available, decided to bring along a bottle of Petit Cheval to accompany the meal. That proved to be a good move. We tried the most expensive steak there. It was the well and truly marbled type and it really did behave like pork. The Petit Cheval was really threatening to overwhelm it. Another steak at the grade below, was more beefy and matched the claret really well. So what would I try the next time with the top specimens? A nice Burgundy, I think!

Nyetimber sparkling wine from Sussex

This is the top sparkling wine from England and is what put English wines on the international map. Although it is the avant-garde for the English wine industry, the founders were strangely a pair of American Anglophiles, who had actually tried to see if they can find a place to produce a sparkling wine to rival champagne outside France. So good was their result that in a blind tasting, it was alleged that although the tasters could tell it was not champagne, they could not decide which region of France this superior bubbly came from. Red faces for all when it was found to be from that little corner of England called Sussex!! It then went on to win many awards including Champion of worldwide Sparkling Wines at the Bollicine del Mondo 2009 for the 2003 Classic Cuvee.

Nyetimber has basically started with two products, a Classic Cuvee, from the normal champagne cepage and a Blanc de Blanc from Chardonnay. Here in Hong Kong, Watsons had stocked it at around $400+ and not surprisingly that venture proved short lived. Now with the elimination of the hefty wine tax, it is still selling at around $300+ at Berry's and it would be a difficult sell for non-British to buy, given that some cheap NV champagnes can be had for quite a few dollars less. However, it is a fine wine and is aged longer than most ordinary NV and basic vintage champagnes at 5 years. It has just released a rose, but whether that can topple other English wineries who have already established themselves in this sector remains to be seen.

First Growths 1997

This was a special wine dinner organized by Peter's Wine Circle in 2004. We tasted this set of Bordeaux first growths that evening, so as to make a comparison between them. This was occasioned by the great fortune of being able to obtaining the above set at a reasonable price. After a thorough reading of various books so as to arrange the wines in ascending order of enjoyment, it was decided to taste the two Rothschilds first - Lafite, followed by Mouton, followed by Margaux. It was undecided whether we should have Latour or Haut-Brion next. After having a sniff at the corks and the bottles, the order became Latour with Haut-Brion bringing up the rearguard (ie right to left in the photo). Needless to say, that evening was immensely enjoyable. Dessert was accompanied by a Guiraud of the same vintage.

My limited experience of first growth clarets would also rank them fairly similarly. The Rothschilds are the most variable. Lafite can be sublime in certain years, but really disappointing in others. I had bad experiences with immense bottle variation within two cases of the same Mouton 1994. Margaux is generally quite nice. Latour and Haut-Brion are fairly consistent in their excellence, with one disappointment each in my limited experience. The 1997 Latour (ie this one) was not at good as I expected, but still 4 out of 5. The 1966 Haut-Brion (tasted at the Two Centuries Dinner, the subject of a future blog) was initially very fine and beat the Margaux 1966 hands down. However, it failed to develop much after this. The Margaux probably suffered from some bottle stink, which marred first impressions. It then blossomed in the glass and overtook Haut-Brion, turning into a most memorable wine.