St Peray

We had this white at the Rhone evening the other day. Saint Peray is an appellation in Northern Rhone situated just south of Cornas, which produces mainly white sparkling wine. In its heyday in the 19th century, these traditional method sparkling wines were held in higher esteem than Champagne, but its fortunes have declined in the intervening years. Some still white wine is also made. The main cepage is Marsanne (90%) with the remaining being Rousanne (and perhaps a little Rousette).

AS for this wine, it was a nice lemon yellow with hints of green at the edge. The nose was crisp but a touch closed as it was too cold initially. The palate was soft crisp with hints of citrus supported by a soft acid backbone. A nice drink, but not acid enough to be a good pairing with fish.

PWC Rhone Evening

We had a Rhone Evening over the other last weekend. It was a compromise solution when the number of dinner participant vacillated between the number to proceed and the number to cancel. The original theme was supposed to be Make Wine not War (featuring wines from places well fought over in the past centuries). This theme will be revisited later, but when the decision was made to proceed, it was not possible to get all the wines for the earlier theme.

In the end, we settled for sampling Rhone through a couple of Croze Hermitage and Chateauneuf du Papes. A new style oaky Gigondas completed the lineup of the reds. The white was a St Peray. The only sparkling I know from the Rhone area is the sweetish Clairette de Die, so Champagne substituted for the welcome sparkler. Unable to get a Muscat de Beaumes de Venise at short notice, we had a bottle of the house sticky to go with dessert.

PWC Tuscany Night

We had a Tuscany themed wine dinner the other night. We had a couple each of Chianti, Brunello as well as Cabernet based reds. I had thought of getting a couple of Vino Nobile de Montepulciano as well, but we didn't have enough participants for more wines, nor was Vino Nobile easy to find. A prosecco had to do service for the welcome sparkler as I had not found what Tuscany has to offer in this department. Although the Club offers an organic Pinot Grigio from Sant'Antimo on their wine list, I fancied the Vermentino from Bolgheri a touch more. AS for dessert, a Vin Santo Toscano from Frescobaldi wrapped up the evening.

The star of the night was always going to be the Sassicaia 2012, though one of the Brunellos gave it a run for its money. Both need separate entries to do justice to them.

Tasting the wines of Croatia

I had just spent the past week or so in Croatia, participating and speaking at the 25th FIAMC Congress (poster above). During the time, I had taken the opportunity to sample the wines of Croatia, few of which I had tried before. Currently in Prague for a short visit before heading home, I intend to sample both the wines and the beers of the Czech Republic, and we can see which country has the more interesting wines. (of course Bohemian beers are famous, but then this is a wine blog). So far I have tasted Frankovka (Blaufrankisch), Grasevina (Welschriesling) and Plavac Mali (a cousin of Zinfandel, which originated from Croatia) and they have all been interesting. Individual wines will need separate entries to do them justice.

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.