Pigeons for Mother's Day dinner

I decided to try something new for Mother's Day dinner this year, pigeon. Here in Hong Kong, we are talking about tender dovecote squabs and not wood pigeons which have been shot (as per UK and Europe). I just simply roast them, but ended up not having the time to make a sauce or a jus to accompany them. I had tried pigeon for my wine dinners at the Club, and they have been a useful dish to match with many different red wines. The only caveat is that whilst Chinese style roast squabs are very useful, as are plain roasted pigeons, any fancy twists by the chef is bound to cause problems when pairing wine (Once someone decided to add a Cajun rub before roasting). I had a New Zealand Pinot Noir with these pigeons and it went down a treat.

Another Wine Box from Bordeaux

Last year I blogged about getting a bag of Bordeaux AC wine from France (I cannot remember if it was from Pau or Bordeaux). Well this year, there were no wine bags from the supermarket I visited in Bordeaux, but the more conventional wine boxes. Apart from the basic AOC types (Bordeaux and other regions), I was pleased to find a box of a less basic appellation - Blaye- Cotes de Bordeaux. Having only limited luggage space, that was of course the box I bought. One could also see this was a supermarket own brand selection from Carrefour; I suppose wine is considered an important enough product to go and source an own brand line. That said, Marks and Spencers is one of the chain stores you find own brand wines here in Hong Kong.

We tried the wine on the day I landed - it was a deep purple ruby with a sweet acid fruity nose. The palate was soft sweet fruity with a smattering of tannins and acid, bolstered by a soft acid tannic backbone. Nice!

Wine from the Austrian Grand Priory of the Order of Malta

Being a Knight of Malta with an interest in wines, I soon found out that both the Grand Priory and some of the other national organizations have vineyards and produce wines. Although I have found out much from the Web, this was the first occasion I have seen a bottle of wine from one of these sources, this time the Grand Priory of Austria. From the Web, I understand that Lenz Moser produces these wines, but I had not been able to find them in Hong Kong.

I was chasing up the Missal for the Order, and tracked down a copy at the hotel where the Western Association (of the USA) is staying and bought a copy. This sight greeted me on the opposite side of the room - a Blauer Zweigelt wine of  the 2015 from the Commanderie of Mailberg. Prior to this, I had obtained from the people at the stall of the Hotel Solitude a contact for getting these wines. I hope we will see them in Hong Kong soon.

Introducing your fellow pilgrims to the local wine

The wines of South West France are not particularly well known, and when it comes to the restaurant where we were staying at Lourdes, most people go for the more familiar names, of which the most obvious is Bordeaux. Yet few knew about the delights of the various red and white wine districts around the foremost pilgrimage destination in France. Of course, the wines of Madiran, Jurancon etc are no strangers to me (I blogged about trying them last year).

One dinner, somebody decided to get the various pilgrims from our nearly 100 strong contingent from Australia, Hong Kong, Korea and Thailand mixing together. Someone had offered me a glass the night before, so I ordered a bottle from a well known producer in Madiran and started offering it to the others. Many were quite surprised at the quality of this (to them) unknown wine.