Seppeltsfield Para Tawny 1988

I had mentioned this wine in a number of previous posts. It was something that came as a pleasant surprise; I had not even marked out the stall for exploration (perhaps they did not specify clearly enough what they were showcasing in the exhibitor's info). Seppeltsfield is an old Barossa winery founded in the mid 19th century. They have a series of old fortified Tawnies, even back to the end of the 19th century, a small volume of which they might be persuaded to sell at rarified prices. They had this cask for tasting at the booth - the 1988. A nice tea colour, with a sweet nose full of vine fruits but noetheless harbouring hints of spirit, the palate was sweet buttery, complex and nutty with the nutty buttery elements hiding what must be a sturdy acid backbone giving sterling support.

Quintarelli and Dal Forno

One of the opportunities that presented itself at the Grand Tasting Pavilion at the Wine and Dine Festival this year was tasting the wines of the cult figures of Quintarelli and dal Forno, both from the Valpolicella area. Both are famous for their versions of the classic Veneto blend and I tasted them in a lineup suggested by the merchant designed to highlight the outstanding qualities of each as I progress. Although the 3 wines tasted were made from grapes which had undergone some drying, two were actually at the basic entry level of classification, with the dal Forno Valpolicella richer and more tannic than the Quintarelli offering. The Rosso di Bepi, which basically is Amarone in less than perfect years, certainly took the game to a much higher level.

Almiviva 2010

Almaviva is the name given to the wine that is the collaboration between Chateau Mouton Rothschild and Vina Concha y Toro of Chile starting in 1997. A vineyard of some 85 ha was established in the Puenta Alto area of the Maipo Valley planting Cabernet Sauvignon and other Bordeaux varieties for this wine. The fruit is hand harvested in small trays before destemming and a light crushing to release juices for fermentation in temperature controlled steel tanks. The wine is matured in new French oak for some 16-18 months before egg white fining prior to bottling. I tasted this wine at this year's Wine and Dine. Deep ruby with a Ribena rich berry nose, it was sweet blackcurrant fruity on the palate, with tannic acid backbone (a touch salty) for support.

Bottling a Barrique of Claret

I saw the manual bottling of a barrique of claret at the end of the Wine and Dine Festival this year - when I say the end, I lterally mean the end, it was at the exit point that I saw the vigneron valliantly struggle to put all the content of the barrel the array of empty bottles he had also brought along. He was using a manual syphon to bottle, and that brought back memories of me bottling the contents of a demijohn during my forays into home winemaking. After the bottling, the corking was done manually, with a machine machine that is an industrial version of what I had used before. After that the bottle tops were dipped in wax to seal it. Then the labels were manually stuck on.

Tasting old wines at the Wine Fair

Old wines, especially those over say 30 to 40 years old are not easy to come by and one of the special things that one can do in wine fairs is to taste the odd old wine or two. I had the opportunity to taste a few at this year's wine fair earlier in the month, not to mention a couple of bottles from the 1980s. Apart from the old 1962 PX that I had already blogged about, there were also a couple of old vin doux naturel from Languedoc - a Banyuls 1950 which actually tasted older than the Rivesaultes 1946 also on show.

As for the wines from the 1980s, I chanced upon a merchant dealing with Seppeltfield's old fortified wines, even from the end of the 19th century. Now even though they were only having 1988 for tasting, this was opening the door to many older wines, though how many of these actually fall within my budget is another matter. (BTW, the other wine form the 1980s was the Duhart-Milon 1986).

Wine Fair 2013 - Fortifieds

Sometimes in the middle of the event, it is not obvious that certain themes are developing, but on hindsight it becomes very obvious. One of the targets for my Wine Fair "campaign" was to taste enough new grapes so as to take my tally up to 400. The unexpected theme was fortified wines. First there was the trio of old wines, Don PX 62, Banyuls 50 and Rivesaultes 46. There was also Marsala from Marco Bartoli, introduced by Sebastiano himself. Then there was the company which deals with both old Pineau de Charentes from Lheraud, as well as old "ports" from Seppeltsfield. Now that must count as a secondary theme for this year's Wine Fair.

The ASM Wine Tasting

The Annual Scietific Meeting (ASM) for the Anaesthetists' College and Society was held last weekend. Started in 1996, I had basically attended every one at least in part except for the second one (1997). I cannot remember when they added a wine tasting at the end of the proceedings for an additional social item, but it has now been an acknowledged feature of the meeting.

It has always been enjoyable and I had organized the one in 2007 as well as helped in the sake tasting in another year. Last year the merchant who provided the wines decided to give a lengthy lecture on biodynamic wines and that did not go down well at all. This year's presentation on Burgundy wines was well received though it was still on the long side. The wines were nice enough to make a good impression.

Wines from Tursan

Tursan is not a well known wine producing area as far as Hong Kong is concerned, though having seen the map above hanging at the back of a Lourdes souvenir shop, I had got my bearings for it. I was basically leaving Wine and Dine Festival on the Sunday when I stumbled upon this stand at the Admiralty exit showcasing Tursan wines. They emphasized its proximity to Bordeaux, their local indigenous varieties and the fact that they had made a number of wines to go with Asian cuisine, both Japanese and Chinese. The attraction of obscure grapes was one I could not resist, and I tasted a couple of whites.

A different way to encourage extraction

When red wine is fermented, the grape skins (or pomice) goes into the fermentation vessel and some form of agitation is used to encourage the interesting substances in the skins to leach out into the fermenting must to end up in the finished wine. The most dramatic of these is used in the brief fermentation of that great fortified wine, port, in which the maceration and fermentation is cut short by the addition of alcohol. The classical way to aid maceration is foot treading, but robot treading and pumping over also number amongst the methods employed. The latter is also used for ordinary still reds, as the the simple expedient of manually pushing the cap down into the must.

I learnt of a very different way involving pressure vessels as I was finding out (as well as tasting) a German Fruhburgunder. First I though it is the same as the ordinary Pinot Noir which in German is Spatburgunder, but in fact they count as two different varieties. The grapes ferment in a pressurized vessel in which the pressure is released when the pressure reaches three atmosphere above ambient. Imagine shaking a bottle of soda pop and then unscrewing the cap. Everything bubbles vigorously and the contents are thoroughly churned. That would also happen to the must as well as the skins, thus aiding extraction of the interesting material from the latter. Well one lives and learns!

One Wine One World

There are two wines, a white and a red, which were made for this project, One Wine One World, which ended up as a blend of wines from a number of different places around the world, to emphasize the elements that the various wine regions had in common, with the proceeds going to charity, mainly the Maimonides Foundation which promotes communication and understanding amongst Jew, Christians and Muslims. One of the people that the wine was served to was Pope Benedict XVI during his visit to the UK, at a lunch with Bishops in Birmingham.

The red was blended from Mexican, Californian and Southern French wines, with a cepage of Grenache, Carignan, Syrah, Petite Sirah, and Cabernet Sauvignon. The white was an assemblage of wines from Italy, Slovenia and Hungary and made from Pinot Grigio, Friulano, Ribolla Gialla, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and a little Furmint and Chevalier. AS for the wine celebrity behind this project, it is James Suckling.

Furtiva Lagrima 2009

Una furtiva lagrima
negli occhi suoi spuntò:
Quelle festose giovani
invidiar sembrò.

This is the beginning of the famous aria from Act 2 of Donizetti's famous opera, L'elisir d'Amore. I certainly did not expect to see a wine of that name at the Wine Fair this year, more surprising that it was a product of a Portuguese winery. I had just visited a booth nearby, having marked a wine for tasting, when I spotted the name on the label of the bottle on the counter. I sang the opening phrase and the person behind the counter gave a thumbs up. It was indeed named in honour of the aria!

Made from a mix of Syrah, Touriga Nacional and Alicante Bouchet, the wine was a deep purple ruby, with a blackberry woody nose. The palate was slightly sweet with plenty of berry fruit but was also a touch savoury. Tannins and acid provide good support for the wine.

Essence de Dourthe 2008

This is a special cuvee from the Bordeaux negociant Dourthe, made from the best fruits of five of its top vineyards, Belgrave (Haut Medoc), Le Boscq (St Estephe), Pey la Tour (Bordeaux Superieure), La Garde (Pessac-Leognan) and Grand Barrail Lamarzelle Figeac (St Emilion Grand Cru). The fruit was picked at optimal ripeness and fermented in small oak vats separately and aged in new barrels for 12-18 months before assemblage into this Essence. So far, Dourthe has only released 2 vintages -2005 and 2008, and the latter included the St Emilion property which was not part of the 2005 selection.

I met this wine at this year's Wine and Dine Festival. Ruby with a berry fruity nose with slight minty notes, the palate was slightly sweet but full of berry fruit. Tannins kicked in mid palate accompanied by acid, which harmonized to provide a solid backbone for the wine.

Le Charlesmagne 2004 from Corton

I had previously blogged how, like certain Chateaux in Pessac-Leognan, the whites of Corton are more sought after and also more expensive than the reds, which are also produced at a higher volume. Most of the wine is either sold under the appelations of Corton or Corton-Charlesmagne, but there is also a small lieu-dit of En Chalesmagne (0.28 ha) which can use the AC of Le Charlesmagne.

I met this bottle at the Grand Tasting Pavilion at this year's Wine and Dine Festival. A golden yellow in colour, it had a closed crisp fruity nose as it was a touch too cold when served. The palate was sweet and fruity with a creamy acid aftertaste evolving into a good acid backbone for structure. I'm sure it would become more interesting with age and at the right temperature. (NB. white Burgundies, especially venerable wines from top sites need to be served at temperatures akin to venerable reds, but are too often served at temperatures for fresh whites, sending the wine into a dazed hibernation.)

Cabernet gernischt from Inner Mongolia

Now this is one Cabernet that was not mentioned in the earlier blog. I had come across this enigmatic variety on browsing the exhibitors' info, but was not able to find it in VIVC. Googling it yielded little information, until an article wondered if the name was somehow a corruption of Cabernet Gemischt, an easy enough transcription error, with gemischt meaning mixed in German. Yet this was no mixture of Cabernet vines, or even a cross with either Cabernet Sauvignon or Franc with s mixture of pollen, the identity of the other parent not being certain. Wikipedia notes that some Chinese wine industry figures feel that it is actually Carmenere, first introduced by Zhangyu Winery into China's Shandong in 1892 mistakenly as mixed Cabernet, hence the name. In fact that turned out to be the correct hunch as Jancis Robinson has reported that DNA analysis by her wine grape book co-author has confirmed the grape to be Carmenere.

I chanced across the wine during the Wine Fair last weekend. There were 3 vintages on show, with a fortified VDN as well!

Don PX 1962

I had seen this Toro Albala Don PX 1962 in last year's Wine Fair and bought a bottle. This year they opened a bottle for tasting so that was a chance not to be missed. I had met these old fortified PX stickies before, but not one quite as old as this. They also showed me older ones, including one from the 1940s which got rated RP100, but those were out of my budget.

Back to this wine, it was a very dark tea coloured, liked overstewed Pu-erh tea and quite opaque. The nose was that of an old sweet wine, smoky with plenty of dried vine fruits. The palate was sweet with vine fruits and a rich pruney note, well supported by a raisiny acid backbone.

(PS The photo is from the later 2015 tasting)

Cabernets galore

One of the unexpected findings in this year's Wine Fair so far is the profusion of grapes called Cabernet something. Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon are somewhat familiar and has generally entered the vocabulary of many wine drinkers. I had also tasted a Swiss wine with Cabernet Dorsa last year and I see that a vendor has a varietal wine from this grape. Having visited the Fair for 2 days running, I had discovered another 2 Cabernets, Cabernet Moravia and Cabernet Cubin. Unlike Cabernet Dorsa, which is actually not related to either Cabernet Franc or Sauvignon (which incidentally is Cabernet France crossed with Sauvignon Blanc), these 2 new discoverires are related to the two classic Cabernets. Cabernet Moravia is Cabernet Franc crossed with Zweigelt, whilst Cabernet Cubin is Blaufrankisch crossed with Cabernet Sauvignon.

Muskat Moravksy

I went to one of the stalls I marked out for a look; it was one promoting Slovakian wine. Many of the varieties of grapes presented had been tasted already, so I was just looking around. They told me that there is this local variety of Muscat - Muskat Moravsky, which is a cross between Muscat Ottonel and an unspecified grape and suggested that I give it a try. It was a nice golden straw, with a grapey nose with orange notes. The wine was off-dry with acid orange fruit on the palate, and an orangey acid backbone for support.

When I came home and looked up the variety, I firstly mis-typed Muscat and found nothing. What was evident was that there are a lot of Muscats (their numerous synonyms notwithstanding). That is the same even with the Muskat spelling, with which I finally located the variety. The unspecified other parent turned out to be Prachttraube, and the Prime Name was an even more inpenetrable Mopr!

Chateau d'Yquem 1995

There were a few "trophy wine" I wanted to taste at the Grant Tasting Pavilion of the Wine and Dine Festival this year, and this is one of them. I had blogged about the disappointment of Mouton 1988, and another is that I could not get to try Pontet-Canet 2010. d'Yquem was a very nice drink, but it did not seem to have been as outstanding as say the 1989 which I had bought a few half-bottles. I had previously written that then 1983 was a nice Sauternes, but as one expects Yquem to be in the stratosphere year in and year out, that was considered a disappointment.

Back to the 1995,the wine was a rich golden orange in colour, with a sweet luscious nose with lots of botrytis character and plentiful dried apricot acidity. The palate continued with the sweet luscious theme as well as the dried apricot fruit and acidity, the latter of which gave sterling support as a nice backbone. Not disappointing in the 83 mold, just somewhat lacking in the WOW factor, even when I managed to have some pan-fried foie gras to accompanied it.

Preparing for the Wine Fair

As I mentioned in a previous blog, I usually peruse the exhibitors' list and make notes about what I would try and see. Having done so over the past couple of days, it seems that the wine fair still holds a lot of interesting things for me, even if we confine ourselves just to wine. In the products listed, there are at least half a dozen if not over ten obscure grapes that I have yet to taste. Some even come from say Georgia, or Turkey, which were the focus points of 2011 and 2012 respectively. I had aggressively tried everything going then, but it seems that there is much more to be explored. This is more surprising for Georgia as I had met them in 2 wine fairs and 2 Wine and Dine Festivals. The problem with the latter is that I have not been able to access the wines which they are showing, but I suppose that is the nature of that event.

There seems to be a large delegation from Penglai on the coast of Shandong, as there were well over a dozen exhibitors, but they do not list the products they would present, but then neither are the Japanese sake brewers or Shozu distillers, although there are numerically more of them willing to send pictures and descriptions of their wares from Japan. (Not having counted the sake brewers, I have no idea if the percentage is the same, though it really seems that only one Chinese winery made any impression (because of Cabernet Gernischt) but that needs another blog).

Chateau Mouton-Rothschild 1988

I tried this wine at the Wine and Dine Festival over the weekend. It was one of those eagerly awaited bottles, so where the scheduled time comes, there was a good long queue forming. I did not come early, so I ended up tasting the tail end of the bottle. The problem with this is that the bottle never gets properly breathed and then the wine will not be at its best.

Even with this caveat, I find the wine a little disappointing. Ruby garnet in colour, the nose was meaty and fruity but with a slightly green leafy note. There was sweet fruity with a touch of spice on the palate, well supported by an acid backbone, but somehow there was still this lingering hint of leaf. It is unusual to find any hints pf green in a well-aged wine and at 25 yrs old, I think leafy notes or hints of greenness should well have disappeared. Maybe it was even worse when it was younger! I am glad I did not buy any of it then.

Cserszegi Fűszeres

This is the new Hungarian grape that I tasted at Wine and Dine yesterday. A cross between Irsai Oliver and Roter Traminer, it was developed in 1960 at the Pannon University of Agriculture. It has a high yield with high sugar, harmonius acidity, cold resistance and a distinctive aroma, which brings to mind its parent Irsai Oliver. It is usually made into semi-sweet and dry wines.

The Benedek Cserszegi Fűszeres 2012 was a pale straw with a touch of green. An aroma of orangey musct grapiness was on the nose, which followed onto a dry grapey palate, with a good acidic backbone for support.