Taittinger Artist Series

It was entirely serendipity that I got to find out about this Taittinger Artist Series of champagnes. There was an importer's Xmas champagne promotion and I thought I might try and get a bottle or two of the 1985 vintage (that being the year of my medical graduation and with the 30th anniversary around the corner).There was this Taitinger Artist Series 1985 on offer at what seemed a reasonable price and so I bought one. I got a surprise when the above arrived, especially after I opened the box and took out the blue bottle.

Googling the Web yielded more information. The series was started in 1983 and the Taittinger Website shows a dozen bottles, with the date of the art bottle, which is however different from the vintage inside it. The above bottle was done in 1990 by Roy Lichtenstein, but the wine was from the 1985 vintage as already mentioned.

A mind-boggling red blend

Now Cabernet Sauvignon can blend with a large variety of grapes, but most are not shy wallflowers like Pinot Noir, so when I came across a wine with exactly that blend at the Winter Food Festival last weekend, and in equal proportions, I was intrigued as I would have thought the Cabernet would overpower the Pinot and the latter's delicacy would be drowned out. In  a way I was right. That 2010 Rosso del Camul was a deep ruby, with a berry fruity nose tending towards the more dominant black fruit types. The palate was sweet and fruity with a touch of wood, well supported by an acid backbone. No one would have guessed the 50% Pinot Nero from the colour, nose or palate.

Verdeca

I tried this white the other day; a Verdeca del Salento IGT 2013 from Rosa del Golfo. Although it sounds like a varietal, it is actually only 90% Verdeca, with 10% Chardonnay. Although Verdeca can ba a synonym of Verdicchio, this grape is not related to those other grapes. This Verdeca is an indigenous Italian white wine grape mainly grown in the Emilia-Romagna (Colli Piacentini) and Apulia where the grape is thought to originate. Varietal Verdeca can be minerally (even flinty) tending to high acidity and vegetal notes especially when under-ripe. The wine itself was a lemon yellow, with a slightly crisp almond nose. The palate was soft and fruity with a soft acid backbone in support.

W... Dreams ... ......

To continue from yesterday's blog, we explore about the wine itself, W... Dreams ....... The wine is only 97% Chardonnay, with a sprinkle of some local Italian grapes to spice up the wine a bit. Jermann does make a pure varietal Chardonnay (which sees no oak), but this oak matured wine (11 months in 300L French oak barrels) seems to be better as well as the better known one. AS for the wine I tried (vintage was in Italian and unfortunately off the photo due to curvature), it was a nice golden yellow, with a grapefruit nose sporting meaty notes. The palate was crisp with grapefruit notes, well supported by a lemony acid backbone.

The naming of that Jermann Chardonnay

It must have been the time when I looked up Vintage Tunina in my Hugh Johnson Pocket wine book that I first became aware of this eccentrically named wine. As I wrote in the blog about the estate, I met the wine in person a few weeks ago. Dedicated to the U2 album "The Joshua Tree" (1987) and with the name of the wine taking inspiration from a song in it - Where the Streets have no name, the wine (first made in 1987) was initially called "Where the Dreams have no end" for the first nine years. From 1996, the name became" Were Dreams, now is just wine!" for seven years. After this the wine became W... Dreams .... .... (see tomorrow's blog). For further details about the label and capsule, you might like to go to Jermann's website to learn more.

Morellino di Scansano

This is an appellation which I read about (probably from one of the Johnson Pocket Wine Books) some time before, but only just got to taste. Made from at least 85% Sangiovese, like the other Tuscan wines as Chianti, Brunello and Vino Nobile etc, this wine obtained DOC in 1978 and got upgraded to DOCG in 2007.

Morellino is the local synonym for Sangiovese, so the name of the wine is directly derived from the main grape and not from any connection with morello cherries (which it may taste like0 or other spurious speculations. This example was ruby with a slightly sweet tannic nose. The palate was soft slightly fruity and a touch tannic, well supported by an acid tannic backbone.

Folle Blanche

I was given a couple of bottles of Gros Plant du Pay Nantais, which is made from this local grape Folle Blanche (Gros Plant is the local synonym in the Nantes region). Folle blanche comes from the Cognac and Armagnac region and has been used for brandy production. It tends to produce tart acidic wines, more suitable for brandy production than as a table wine.

The above example is a biodynamic product from Domaine de l'Ecu, and is my first encounter of  Gros Plant du Pay Nantais. It qwent quite well with the seafood elements (clams, garoupa slices, abalone etc) of a Cantonese hotpot. The wine was a lemon yellow, with a crisp fruity nose. The palate was acidic with slight fruitiness and a hint of wood or plum or prune notes. An acid pruney backbone provided structure.

The seventh grape of Champagne

Although I had stated that there are 6 permitted grapes for making Champagne in the blog entry about the cuvee de 6 cepage from Moutard, I was wrong; there is a seventh grape. The grape is called Fromenteau locally but is in fact none other than Pinot Gris elsewhere in France. Thus the permissible cepage for Champagne contains four variations of Pinot Noir - Pinots Blanc and Gris being colour variants by mutation and Pinot Meunier being a chimeric variant giving a downy underside to its leaves (cf Grenache with colour variants as well as Garnacha Peluda). Chardonnay sort of bridges the pedigree, being a crossing of a Pinot grape with Gouais blanc, which also gives Petit Meslier when crossed with Savignin. That leaves Arbane, for which no pedigree information is easily available.

A 40 year old Banyuls

Apart from the Mas Amiel '69, I had also tasted another old fortified wine from the Languedoc-Rousillon region - a 1974 Banyuls at this year's Wine Fair. Although both Maury and Banyuls are both Grenache based vin doux naturel, the latter has an added appellation of Banyuls Grand Cru, which is matured for a longer time. However, this 1974 wine is of the basic Banyuls appellation and not of the stricter Grand Cru one. As for this wine, it was a ruby red with a sweet spirity fruity nose. The palate was sweet fruity and nutty, and well supported by an acid tannic backbone.

Krasnostop

Although I was unable to attend the full Wine Fair, and though I was also much occupied with the Mexico Conference, I had nevertheless tried doing a tiny bit of homework before the show. One of the results of such homework was that I could add Krasnostop to my collection of eclectic grapes. Looking the name up in VIVC, most entries point to Krasnostop Zolotovskii ( with Krasnostop Anapskii being a mutation). The odd one out is that Krasnostop could also be a Tsimlyanskii Chernyi. However as all three are black and originate in the Russian Federation, I am at a loss to know which of the three it could be. These three grapes have been found to be unique to the Rostov area where they are now grown. If one takes safety in numbers, let me guess that the wine I tasted was made from Krasnostop Zolotovskii.

The above wine was a deep ruby, with a plummy acid nose. The palate was sweet acid with berry notes and a touch of wood (reflecting 18 months in barriques), leading onto a soft plummy acid backbone.

Bellavista Vittorio Moretti 2006

This was the top offering from Bellavista and the climax of the tasting flight at that annoying importer's tasting. Like the others in their range of sparkling wines, this special cuvee (named after the founder) which is only made in the best years uses just Chardonnay (55%) and Pinot Noir (45%). The base wine is fermented in old oak barriques with the secondary fermentation bottles, both stoppered with cork as opposed to closed with crown caps as is done normally. A total of 8 years bottle aging passes prior to release.

This wine was a pale straw in colour with a few streams of very fine bubbles.There were tuna and bamboo shoot notes on the nose with perhaps a touch of wood. The initial acid prickle leads to an acidic palate and then a soft mousse, going onto a lemony acid backbone which gave good support and structure.

Champagne Charles de Cazanove Traditional 1er Cru Brut NV

This was tasted blind against a South African sparkler in and Old vs New World tasting at the end of the anaesthetic conference. As it turned out, this is a champagne from an interesting house. Founded in 1811, it grew in reputation eventually supplying Prince Metternich as well as various presidents of the Third French Republic. Served to King Edward VII as a prelude to signing the Entente Cordiale, the British King was taken by the wines and had it supplied to him under a personal label.

The 1er Cru Brut NV champagne we tasted was a golden yellow with few streams of fine to medium bubbles. The nose was crisp with a hint of fruit. The palate started off with an acid prickle turning into a delicate mousse, showing a delicate acid palate with a touch of bamboo shoot and a smattering of pineapple notes, leading into an acid fruity backbone.

Ch Smith Haut Lafitte Blanc 2010

I had blogged about this estate before, but more about the spa and the cosmetics made from the waste from winemaking. My wife introduced me to the estate. as its red wine was one both she and her mother liked. I tried the white later and found it very good as well. I had a taste of both white and red wines at their table in that unsatisfactory importer's tasting at the end of November.

After tasting the white second wine, I moved to white Grand Vin which (unlike the 100% Sauvignon Blanc of the second wine) had a splash of both Sauvignon Gris and Semillon (both at 5%). The wine was a pale lemon yellow, with a crisp acid and fruity nose.The palate was crisp fruity acid and woody, well supported by an acid woody backbone.

Jermann di Silvio Jermann

This is an Italian winery I first met over 10 years ago, with their Vintage Tunina white wine at a "Tre Bicchieri" dinner organized by a wine importer at a hotel restaurant. This family owned winery traces its history back to 1881 when the founder left Burgenland in Austria, to settle in Friuli Venezia Giulia via Slovenia. I met its iconic and eccentrically named Chardonnay (blend) at the annoying importer's tasting the other week and so I decided to blog on this estate.

Leaving this Chardonnay to another entry, I recall looking up the Vintage Tunina after having tasted it. This is a field blend involving Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Ribolla Gialla, Malvasia Istriana and Picolit. When I first met this wine, I had no started collecting grapes yet. Now Vintage Tunina would be a good introduction to some interesting indigenous Italian grapes.

La Boheme Wines

With my wife and daughter busy with the final rehearsals leading to the opening night of Turandot at the end of the week, opera is very much on my mind. What I did not expect was to find 3 bottles of a set of four wines on the shelves of one of the supermarket chains, sporting the label La Boheme (both operas were by Giacomo Puccini). The wines turned out to be from the De Bortoli stables and the name celebrated the fact fact that the famous Australian diva Dame Nellie Melba came from the Yarra Valley, where these wines originate. One of her famous roles was as Mimi in La Boheme.

As you can see, Act One is a Riesling, Act Three a Pinot Gris and Act Four a Syrah Gamay. What is missing  here is Act Two, a dry Pinot Rose according to the website. The opera itself contains a tavern scene where the main protagonists eat, drink and order different types of wines, though they do not really correspond to the ones in this range.

Another range of wines from different soils

I had earlier blogged about a range of Muscadet exploring different soils, which I saw in the neighbourhood wine shop specializing in organic wines. I just found that the same shop now carries another series of wines, this time from the Languedoc region, doing exactly the same across a total of 11 subsoil types.

They have four wines from that series available (here in Hong Kong, since they are an outlet for an importer),  namely Basalte, Marnes, Poudingue and Schiste. Unlike the Muscadets in the earlier blog, the cepage varies and so do the appellations. As you can also see in the picture above, the wines available also vary in their vintage too!! Well, let me see if they have a set of a single vintage, then we can really do a "soil tasting" with the Muscadets together.

A deceptive Barolo

I tasted this Le Cecche Barolo 2010 at the organic neighbourhood wine shop the other day. I am not sure if this wine is organic or not (probably not) but the deceptive bit is nothing to do with this, it is to do with the light colour of this traditional style Barolo. If no one had told me that this is a Barolo, I would have said from the colour that it is a Pinot Noir. It was difficult to catch the colour on camera, so I had to tinker with exposure to get it to match what I saw in the glass.With a sweet berry nose, for which the WSET terminology use the term strawberry, I can see many being surprised when the encounter the heavy presence of tannins in the mouth.

Erbach Marcobrunn

Apart from wines from Niersteiner Pettenthal, I was also able to taste wine from another great German vineyard, Erbacher Marcobrunn, at this year's Wine Fair. I think I read of this vineyard in a Chinese book, claiming to survey the top100 wines in the world. The Marcobrunn of the name literally means the spring at the border, the border being that between the towns of Erbach and Hattenheim, also named thus (or near so) from around 1200. in 1810 thepeople of Erbach built a frame over the well and named it Erbacher Marcobrunn, much to the annoyance of Hattenheim townsfolk. In the 18th century, the Barons Langwerth von Simmern helped established the reputation of this vineyard all over the world, with the Tsars of Russia, Presidents Jefferson and Eisenhower being amongst the lovers of this wine. Unfortunately, the presenters of this wine at the Wine Fair is not Langwerth von Simmern, but an equally fmaous estate with a long history Schloo Schonborn.

Mas Amiel '69

This wine was on show at this year's Wine Fair. I had known of Mas Amiel many years earlier and I am sure I had tasted some of its modern style Maury, but I cannot recall having tried the traditional rancio style fortified wines from their stables. These latter are the wines which are aged in glass demijohns in the open for a year of the sun, the moon, the heat and the cold of the Cotes de Rousillon countryside, before prolonged aging in old vats in their cellars. This results in the traditional oxidative style of fortified sweet wines, which are characteristic of a few traditional fortified wines. As for this 45 year old Maury, it was a light garnet with a slightly nutty sweet acid nose with a hint of smoke. The palate was sweet acid a touch nutty and a touch pruney, well supported by an acid backbone.

Noval LBV and Vintage 2007

There was a booth which must be from AXA Millisme (from the wines showed) in that frustrating tasting. They had both the LBV as well as the conventional vintage port from the same year (2007) on show. Now this presents an interesting opportunity to taste an LBV against its own vintage of the same year (and estate). Just because both wines are from the same vintage and estate does not mean that the blend is the same for the two. Indeed, since the end charactersitics of the two wines are different, one would expect notable difference is both the grape as well as the sites for the fruit going into the different wines.

Although the vintage port had been decanted and aired for 2 hours prior to tasting, a spirity nose was still unavoidable. It was thus a touch surprising that the LBV just as hot and spirity on the nose, even with the extra barrel aging. The acid was less apparent on the palate with the LBV compared to the vintage, but the backbones were both spirity, sweet and acidic.

German Chasselas (or Gutedel)

I mentioned that I was attracted to the Britzingen booth by its wines made from Chasselas (or Gutedel in German) in the blog entry on Cabernet Mitos at the beginning of the week. I had only tried Swiss versions and I was interested in trying other versions, though some might say that the Swiss examples are all one needs to try.

There were a couple of wines on show, a dry one as well as an Eiswein. The dry was dry, crisp and slightly fruity with a good acid backbone. The Eiswein was a nice lemon yellow but the nose was a touch closed when I tried it, with only a hint of fruit and acid. The palate was sweet a touch fruity with a fair dose of acid, but the balance was a bit off kilter leading to a feeling of cloying sweetness. There was enough acidity in the backbone to keep the sweetness in check.

Bellavista from Franciacortia

The Bellavista winery was one of the tables that I spent a bit of time at, in the frustrating importer's tasting the other weekend. I have been trying Ca' del Bosco's wines for some time, including a still wine of theirs, but that is about all I know of the wines of Franciacortia and Curtefranca. Bellavista is another famous winery from the same area and they have one still Chardonnay and 5 sparklers on show, including their premium cuvee (named after the founder) the Vittorio Moretti 2006. Apart from the Brut NV, all the wines on show were vintage offerings, and included a rose as well as a zero dosage cuvee. The still Cahrdonnay was not bad either!

A Cabernet Mitos sweet wine

We went by the Britzinger booth in the German Pavilion at the Wine Fair last month and tried this Rotwein Beerenauslese 2013. I was attracted to this booth because they were presenting some wines made from Gutedel (ie Chasselas) of which I had only tried Swiss examples. (That is for another blog entry.)

This red wine was a deep ruby with a plummy sweet acid nose. The palate was sweet acid slightly plummy with hints of wood, well supported by an acid plummy backbone. The grape turned out to be a German Cabernet, this time Cabernet Mitos, originally believed to be a cross between Blaufrankisch and Cabernet Sauvignon bred in Weinsberg in 1970. This turned out not to be the case, as the second parent was found to be Teinturier du Cher rather than Cabernet Sauvignon after DNA analysis. Released for general cultivation in 2001, this grape showed good winter hardiness, making full bodied wines, with good levels of tannins and similar aromas to Cabernet Sauvignon. Since the Germans seem to want to make Bordeaux look-alike red wines, I would not be too surprised to hear more of this grape in the future.

Three different 1er Cru Chablis from Brocard

I tasted the whole flight of different Chablis that JM Brocard had to offer at the frustrating importer tasting that I blogged about at the beginning of the week. Framed by a 2012 village Chablis and a 2010 GC Les Clos, there were 3 premier Cru wines on show (though unfortunately not all of the same year). Two, Vau de Vey and Montee de Tonnere, were from 2011, whilst the Butteaux was from 2012. The latter was a touch less minerally and assertive in its acidity and this may have to do with the riper vintage of 2012 compared with the 2011. Of the two 2011 1er Crus, Vau de Vey had a slight note of tuna on the nose, whereas the Montee de Tonnere was much more lemony and this characteristic followed onto the palate as well. The backbone for both wines contained a good dose of minerality and acidity.

Pol Roger's Cuvee Sir Winston Churchill 2000

There were a couple of top champagnes to be tried at that frustrating importers tasting the other weekend. The Salon (I forgot which vintage) was only available at certain times and I was not at the booth at those times, whilst the Pol Roger Cuvee Sir Winston Churchill was pouring right the way through (as far as I can tell. I had tasted the 1996 before (at the Lafite 1982 dinner) and subsequently blogged about here. This time it is the 2000 vintage on show. A golden yellow wine with few streams of fine bubbles, the nose was crisp fruity with notes of bamboo shoot. An initial acid prickle gives way to a delicate mousse accompanied by bamboo shoot and fruity notes on the palate, all held together with an acid backbone still oozing bamboo shoot vegetal notes.

Niersteiner Pettenthal wines from Weingut Rappenhof

From time to time, there are some interesting gems one can taste at the Wine Fair, and a pair of botrytised sweet Rieslings from the Niersteiner Pettenthal vineyard definitely qualifies as hidden gems of this year's Wine Fair. Now I am not familiar with Weingut Rappenhof, but anyone offering a pair of wines from such a famous site merits a visit.

Nierstein is a treacherous name for lovers of German wines, with the Grosslage Gutes Domtal being a red warning light. However, a few Einzellages are really capable of delivering the best the village has to offer, and this includes the Pettenthal vineyard, which surely must be an Erste Lage. I have had wine which incorporated fruit from this vineyard, but it was a blend across village borders and was thus marketed as a branded wine. Well, they had a 2004 Auslese **** as well as a 1999 Beerenauslese on show - all I can say is - Bravo Weingut Rappenhof!

(The detailed tasting notes will need another entry to avoid an excessively long essay this time.)

The post conference wine tasting

It has now been an established tradition for there to be a wine tasting immediately following the closing ceremony of the annual Anaesthetic conference for some years now. I had been a loyal attendee of these conferences, missing only one whole conference (1997) since its inception in 1996. I had not gone to every wine tasting as I had may not be able to attend every conference in full (because I needed to work on one day or other). I had however been involved in organizing two myself, in 2007 and 2008.

This year's offering was organized by a wine importer, one that I know of. It consisted of 5 pairs of wine (one sparkling, two whites and two reds), with one of the pair from the Old World and the other from from New World. It was an interesting tasting, and I will take some of the pairs for further blog entries later.

Peeling off to a wine tasting during a conference

The conference talks were not that interesting or that relevant in the afternoon, so a number of us peeled off to explore a number of the other happenings in the Convention Centre. A little excursion to the Christie's Pre-auction Exhibition showed only Contemporary Asian Art which were not really to our tastes, then I went off to the annual wine tasting of a certain wine importer.

The arrangements were problematic this year (I had not attended before); an unreasonable delay for registration caused frustration for attendees. It also meant I had nearly half an hour less for tasting. In the end, I tasted some Chablis, some Franciacortia sparklers, some Sauternes etc, though I need a proper evaluation before I can determine if I will go again.

An organic sweet Airen

Now Airen has had a bit of a bad press, but I have been lucky in meeting reasonably good examples over the years, which I had blogged about earlier (here and here). I tasted another interesting wine made from Airen at the Wine Fair a couple of weeks ago, an organic sweet example. I did not have time to go through their product range but they had another sweet Granacha which I tried as well.

This sweet Airen was a nice orange tea colour, with a sweet orangey citrussy nose. Somewhere in the midst of all that was ginger, which was immediately picked up by my wife. The palate was sweet orangey (also gingery), going onto a backbone that was initially more sweet than sour, but finishing with a more prominent dose of acidity.

The Bordeaux lookalike featuring a Japanese hybrid

At the same location (though probably presented by a different trading company) to the Kyoho wine was this Lumiere Histoire 2008, looking for all the world like a Japanese attempt at a Bordeaux style wine. The cepage though was a bit different though, with Cabernet Franc (used in Bordeaux) and the special Japanese secret ingredient Black Queen. Now Black Queen is a special Japanese interspecific hybrid, resulting from crossing Bailey with Golden Queen. Both parents are interspecific hybrids with vinifera and labrusca pegrees, but Bailey is also descended from a third species, V lincecumii Buckley, a variety of V aestivalis, which is native to eastern North America. Vitis aestivali is the official grape of Missouri.

As for the wine, it was ruby with a sweet plummy acid nose spiced with a hint of wood. The palate was sweet acid and slightly fruity, with a sweet acid backbone.

Another Kyoho wine - a Japanese one finally

I have tasted a number of wines made from this iconic Japanese grape, one varietal example from Australia and another a Korean blend. Finally in this year's Wine Fair, I was able to try a Japanese wine made from the grape. According to the booklet of the Japanese Pavilion, there should be two on show, but I only ended up tasting this sweet one. {The other was not called sweet in the booklet, and may have been semi-sweet).

The wine was a pale lemon yellow, with a slightly sweet tropical fruit nose. The palate was much sweet with a hint of the typical labrusca foxiness as well as a good dose of acidity, which persisted to provide support and structure.

A Regent Beerenauslese

I blogged about the grape Regent and a red wine made from it a couple of years ago; that example was a Spatlese. I have now encountered a Beerenauslese made from this grape, at this year's Wine Fair. This 2011 Regent BA was ruby with a very sweet fruity nose. The palate was sweet with berry notes with a leafy sweet backbone for support. Although there was no specific mention of acidity in the tasting notes, it could not be that deficient in it, as there must be some to prevent an impression of cloying sweetness on tasting. Although Regent is supposed to have a tendency to high tannins, it was neither obvious in the last wine nor this (that said, the "leafy" quality could be a manifestation of green tannins).

The Napa Valley Reserve 2006

I had this wine at a family dinner in Los Angeles, whilst stopping for a lightning visit to my aunt and cousins after the Mexico conference last week. I have not met this wine before, but as my cousin Ray is also a wine enthusiast, I have no doubt that this is some interesting Californian offering. This it turned out to be. When I looked it up on the Web, it transpired that the Napa Valley Reserve is a private wine club, offering wine and more to its members. It seemed that its wines are made by a team including a winemaker from the cult Harlan Estate. As for the wine, it was a nice deep ruby, with a sweet berry fruity nose. This sweet berry fruit continued onto the palate accompanied by savoury and woody notes, well supported by an acid tannic backbone.

Champagne de Sousa and Champagne Zoemie de Sousa

I had known of Champagne de Sousa for a while and tasted some of its products at a previous Wine Fair. What I am not familiar with is the Zoemie de Sousa brand. That is a brand they created in 2004, for a range of champagne emphasizing freshness and for early consumption rather than aging.

But back to the original Sousa house, which began when a Portuguese soldier returned to settle in the region where he fought in the First World War and settled in Avize. His son married a grape grower in the region and the da Sousa house was born. Going organic in 1989 and biodynamic 10 years later, the estate owns much old vine in top villages in the vicinity of Avize. Other characteristics of the house include late ripening, extensive lees aging, full malolactic fermentation and aging of reserve wines in oak.

A Japanese wine made from Adirondac

I tasted a Japanese wine made from a grape variety I have not tried before - Adirondac. Having copied the name wrong, I was at a loss to find out what it was, until I discovered that I actually have the catalogue of the Japanese exhibitors at the Fair. Adirondac is an American table grape (according to VIVC) obtained by crossing Isabella with another unspecified grape, and Isabella is itself a labrusca vinifera hybrid. This Adiron 2014 was a pale ruby with a sweet jammy berry nose. The palate was sweet with berry fruit and just a slight hint of labrusca foxiness. A sweet acid backbone provided support.

Muscadine grapes again

I had blogged about wines made from muscadine grapes tasted at the 2010 Wine Fair before. As I related in the post last week, I had got to learn more about them in this year's Wine Fair. Muscadine is a large family of grapes, with 126 cultivars listed in the VIVC database. Scuppernong, which I'm sure I had tasted in 2010, was only one of those 126.

This year I tasted another 2 white and one red cultivars; the white ones being Carlos and Magnolia and the red one being Noble. To be sure, they all had their characteristic foxy, musky notes, and being rather unfamiliar with the special nuances of this species, one finds that they are very much similar. Nonetheless (grape collecting apart) it remained an interesting and instructive experience.

Hokkaido Winery

I found out that this winery was exhibiting at this year's Wind Fair, so I made a note to pay them a visit there. My first encounter with their wines was this botrytised Kerner,which I don't seem to have blogged about yet! I bought that bottle some 10 years ago, and still am waiting for an occasion to taste it.

They had a whole range of wines on show. I started off with a dry Kerner, and moved through a Gewurztraminer to a Zweigelt. Then I moved to varieties more popular in Japanese wine-making, such as Niagara ending with a rose wine made from Campbell Early. An interesting winery overall.

Doing a Vin Santo del Chianti tasting at the Chianti Pavilion

It was one of those serendipitous opportunities which one can take when it presents itself. Quite a few of the exhibitors at the Chianti Pavilion at this year's Wine Fair presented their Vin Santo and so I was able to get a tasting together of this interesting sweet wine.

Of the six wines tasted, the oldest was from 1997 and the youngest from 2010, with the rest (the largest "cohort") being from 2007. They varied in sweetness from moderately sweet to nearly cloyingly so, and surprisingly the least as well as the most sweet wines tasted were from the 2007 vintage. Little can be said comparing the 2010 and the 1997 wines. What is however evident is that the different estates produced very different wines and perhaps it is best to explore these separately later on in different entries.

Albarin Blanco

I was passing by this booth displaying different wines made from Prieto Picudo, when I remarked that I had tasted all of the grapes they use to make wines. It turned out not to be true, as Albarin (Blanco) is not the same as Albarino. This rare grape from a small area of Spain (there are apparently only 35 acres of this grape on earth, of which this estate has already 11) is easily confused with Albarino, which may be related but are certainly distinct from each other. Albarin comes from Leon and Asturias, and it is lower in acidity than Albarino and tends towards tropical fruit flavours. As for this wine, it was a pale lemon with an aromatic fruity nose. The palate was off dry and slightly fruity, with a slightly bitter (grape pips astringency) acid backbone.

HKIWSF 2014

Just got back from a short afternoon visit to the Wine Fair today. I had not been preparing much for this year's fair, as I had to leave for Mexico on the last day (Saturday, Public Day), and also had to prepare for the Conference which is the reason I am hurrying off to Mexico. My wife spent some time at the Chinese Spirits booths and tried out some really special (and expensive) spirits. My eyes were opened too, but I must say, I really am not a spirits person. I was surprised to find the muscadine growers from North Carolina back after an absence of a few years. Equally surprising was the fact that muscadine was a family, not one variety of grape. I learnt a little more about those grapes today.

Ch Chasse Spleen 2005

Having blogged about Chateau Chasse Spleen finally, I realized that I  still had not commented on how I found their wines on this blog. Unfortunately, I have not been able to locate the notes for the 2003 CBE tasting for now and so cannot comment on that vintage.

The 2005 Chasse Spleen was a nice deep purple ruby, with a sweet berry nose spiced with a good smattering of wood. The palate was sweet fruity tannic as well as woody. All this was nicely held together with an acid backbone seasoned with a smidgeon of tannins. All very nice and well matched to the Beef Wellington served that evening, except for an odd bottle of two with cork taint (one of which found its way into my wife's glass, unfortunately).

Champagne Zoemie de Souza's Brut Precieuse

This was a generous gift from a friend. A non-vintage Grand Cru champagne, the back label was most illuminating. It was pure Grand Cru Chardonnay (and hence a blanc de blanc). I had previously blogged about the Echelles des Cru de Champagne in the blog entry about a red Coteaux Champenois and so will not repeat what I have already written. There are 17 Grand Cru villages in all; the back label helpfully states that the fruit for this cuvee comes from the villages of Avize, Oger and Cramant, the last of which I had also previously blogged. I also noticed a date of disgorgement: 21st July 2009.

Looking up the Champagne de Souza Website, it states that apart from the villages noted above, le Mesnil sue Oger and Chouilly als provide fruit fro the above wine.

Wine for Hairy Crab

The Shanghai Hairy Crab season is here, and a group of friends got together with us over the weekend to have a tiny feast on the seasonal delicacy. Traditionally various types of  Chinese "yellow wine" (not vin jaune from the Jura, but Chinese rice wine) are drunk with these crabs, but I had got a bottle of Chablis for some seafood we were going to have for the meal, nothing special, just village level Chablis.

Well the restaurant got a little bit muddled over the dishes, with the result that I had needed to open nearly all the bottles whilst we were finishing off the crabs (which we were having first). Although the rice wine was nice and traditional with the crabs, Chablis was a better match with them (well their meat anyway), and better than with the other seafood, which tended to be sweeter in the flesh than the crabs. As for roe, we had a little try of anejo tequila, but I still go for Cognac XO for the really hard crab roe (the roe that is like the yolk of a hard boiled egg).

A pair of Pinot Gris from Heitlinger

I tasted a couple of Pinot Gris during the Weingut Heitlinger tasting. The first was their Spicy Stone Trocken of the 2010 vintage. A nice lemon yellow with an acid slightly fruity nose with a hint of sweetness and minerals, the palate was off-dry acid crisp turning fruity in the mouth. The acid remained throughout the palate and formed a nice backbone with a touch of astringency in the finish.

The other wine was a GG Spiegelberg 2012, which had a surprising hint of pink showing in its deep yellow colouration. The nose was crisp and minerally with a touch of acid and was much more tightly focused  than  the Spicy Stone. The palate was crisp yet rich with lots of minerality and acid, which persisted to form a good backbone for the wine. There was no hint of astringency in this wine's profile.

Chateau Chasse-Spleen

I mentioned Chateau Chasse-Spleen in the entry about a tasting of the 2003 vintage of Cru Bourgeois Exceptionelle in 2009. I don't seem to have blogged about this Moulis chateau or its wines though. Having drunk the 2005 vintage at dinner over the weekend, it was time to write about them. The estate was in a list of 10 wineries in Bordeaux reckoned to be consistently good value (below Cru Classe) in an article in Decanter some years ago.

Long reckoned to be a leading estate of the commune of Moulis, the estate can be traced back to 1560, when it was called Ch Grand-Poujeaux. Half the estate became Ch Gressier-Grand-Poujeaux and the rest was divided into Chx Chasse-Spleen, Maucaillou and Poujeaux-Theil. The name (meaning to dispel the melancholy or blues) was thought to derive from Byron who in the 1820s visited the estate and liked the wines, saying "Quel remede pour chasser le spleen". Planted with 73% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot and 7% Petit Verdot, the estate produces around 28,000 cases of its Grand Vin and 14,000 cases of a second wine variously known as L'Ermitage de Chasses Spleen or L'Oratoire de Chasses Spleen.

A Weingut Heitlinger tasting

I dropped by the organic wine shop in my neighbourhood the other Sunday and they were showcasing a number of wines from this organic German estate from Baden, Weingut Heitlinger. This estate which joined the VDP a couple of years ago, has holdings in some very fine vineyards, and produces some very fine Grosses Gewaches wines from both Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir. I tried a couple of Pinot Gris wines (including the GG wine) and a Pinot Noir from their GG site, produced before the estate joined VDP (and hence ineligible for GG).

There was also a blended red called Black Tie, made mainly from Lemberger (80%), with smatterings of Pinot Noir (15%) and Cabernet Sauvignon (5%). This latter was a deep purple ruby, with a woody red fruits nose and a hint of tuna fishiness on the nose. The palate was slightly sweet with a good amount of fruity acidity on the palate, accompanied by a slight hint of savouriness. This was all held together with acid and wood.

L'Effronte Vin Mousseux with Flamuss aux Pommes

That combination was finally tried at the wine dinner I organized for the doctors' association of my hospital. Well, like the jambon persille, I gave instructions to the chef on how to cook it, but this turned out less satisfactory than the starter. My take was that it is something like a clafoutis, with butter fried apples rather then cherries as the filling. The savoury equivalent would be toad in a hole where the filling are sausages. Anyway, the batter turned out more cake-like, but it was still a satisfactory dessert.

The wine was similar to my last tasting with sweet acid botrytised nose and a hint of tropical fruit (this time pineapple rather than mango) slightly marred marred by a slight metallic note, the palate was sweet with dried apricot notes which extended into the acid backbone. The two went very well together. Similar desserts, like apple crumble, strudel etc will certainly be a good match for the wine.

An Austrian Sauvignon Blanc

I just had this wine at dinner last night. There was a very large portion of garoupa, which was sliced and steamed with ham and mushroom, and such a magnificent fish dish calls for a vinous companion, hence this wine. Sauvignon Blanc is a minor grape as far as Austrian wine is concerned and this is the first time I have seen an Austrian sample, even counting wine shows and fairs.

This 2010 example is from Weingut Nigl in Kremstal, which is mainly known for its Gruner Veltliner and Riesling. A golden pale lemon wine, it has a sweet acid grassy but also tropical fruit nose. These characteristics carried onto the palate, well supported by an acid backbone with a hint of tropical fruit. Quite reminiscent of Loire Sauvignons, except that it is more fruity (tropical).

Cremant de Bourgogne

I cannot remember when I first tasted a Cremant de Bourgogne, but it must have been around 10 years or so; at least I remember buying one at a supermarket in London and drinking it later maybe or it could even be up to 20 years ago. I faintly remember that this first example was a rose rather than a white sparkler.

My latest encounter was one sold by M&S, a pure Chardonnay offering which was the welcome drink at the doctors' association dinner. Cremant must contain a minimum of 30% Chardonnay with Pinot Noir as a second major grape. Minor grapes include Gamay (maximum 20%), Aligote, Melon de Bourgogne (the grape of Muscadet) and Sacy.

Vigne de l'Enfant Jesus 2010

I blogged about this vineyard a fortnight or so ago, but have not blogged about the two or more times I had tasted this wine. I had tasted this wine before the dinner in mid September, but I have not yet located those notes. I had also read a description of this wine as well and my impression from the previous tasting would agree with that account that this is indeed a special wine. As for the 2010 tasted the other day, it was a limpid deep rose, with a sweet strawberry fruity nose. This sweet strawberry fruit continued on to the palate, supported by a mainly acid backbone with minimal hint of tannin. Nice now, but would love to know what treasures further age will reveal (say in 2020!)

Pairing Jambon Persille with Bourgogne Aligote

I finally got to match proper Jambon Persille with Bourgogne Aligote, well nearly, but it was a good attempt anyway. As I lamented last July, my first encounter with the classical Burgundian dish was not successful, so I decided to get someone to cook it for the doctors' association wine dinner. Well we almost hit the nail squarely on the head. Although I had got an extra bottle of the Aligote that we were drinking on the night for the dish, there was the extra addition of cornichons (little gherkins) within the dish. As it was, it fitted in perfectly with the rest of the dish, the jelly being a touch acidic too. The other moan would be the low-ish level of parsley encountered. That said, it was definitely better than the other restaurant version (and the chef had only my verbal recipe for reference). Needless to day, that went well with the wine we drunk that night.

Cava 1919 vintage 2010

We bought this bottle of cava 1919 of the 2010 vintage at the lobby of the Manila, on the way to dinner at a nearby restaurant. Of the selection they have, this seemed to be a reasonable wine at a reasonable price. Dinner did not merit opening the bottle, so we brought it back to the hotel. The wine is made by Casa Rojo and more info could be got from their Website. The wine-making concern grows and makes wines across Spain, with wines from a large variety of DOs. This vintage cava only uses one of the traditional triad, and is made from pure Maccabeo (or Viura), and was bottle matured for 12 months. The other white cava from this estate is made from the international Chardonnay grape. Both are Brut Nature wines. I shall look forwards to tasting this wine.

Champagne Philippe Gonet Roy Soleil Grand Cru NV

I have had Philippe Gonet's Reserve Brut (their regular NV, which was my "house"  champagne for the  PWC wine dinner) for some time and have tasted this Roy Soleil once or twice before. Looking it up again, I found that this Roy Soleil is a special Blanc de Blanc Grand Cru cuvee. First produced in 2003, the fruit comes from special parcels of Chardonnay in the Grand Cru village of Le Mesnil-sur-Oger. 30% of the wine is aged in half hogshead oak barrels (one quarter new) and the rest in stell or epoxy lines containers beofre bottling and a further 4 years of cellar aging.

I had this wine in theBurgundy tasting at the end of July. The wine was a golden yellow with good streams of fine bubbles. The nose was sweet and fruity with notes of bamboo shoots. The palate was dry, acid and slightly fruity, sporting an initial acid prickle developing into a nice soft mousse. An acid backbone provides sterling support.

The organic Santenay from Muzard

I had already tried a wine from Muzard's rented vineyards; this time I got some wine from their own holdings from Santenay for the doctors association wine dinner. Their holdings include a village level lieu-dit Champs Claude with old vines and three premier cru vineyards, Clos des Mouches, Clos de Tavannes and Maladieres. The limited budget for the dinner meant that I went for the Champs Claude Vieilles Vignes.

The wine was a dark ruby, with a rich berry nose. The palate was sweet acid with berry notes, with a dried plum (話梅) acidic backbone. This was paired with the boeuf bourguignon, and it did not clash, though a bit light for the stew.

Les Clos Perdu Rose 2012

Although I had first met Corbieres way back in 1981, when it was only VDQS, all the Corbieres I ever met was red. I met my first Corbieres Rose the other day during this tasting at the neighbourhood organic wine shop. Looking it up, I found there are regulations also for white Corbieres too!

This example from Les Clos Perdu is made from 95% Mouvedre and 5% Cinsault, a cepage more often associated with Bandol Rose. The fruit is pressed on arrival to winery and cooled to 5 degC for settling and stabilisation. Fermentation is at 18 degC with a small proportion taking place in new oak, where it remains for 3 months for added complexity. Regular lees stirring is also done for this purpose. As for the wine, it was a pale rose in colour, with an off dry fruity nose. The palate was similarly off dry and fruity with with significant body, well supported by an acid backbone, Nice!

Champagne Besnard Chevalier et Filles 2005

A French doctor was going to a Manila conference via Hong Kong (a conference that I also attended) and our group arranged a dinner to meet up with some local doctors at dinner. This bottle is what he brought to dinner, a champagne from a small grower which he tasted and liked, and kept buying for his own consumption. Now that can only be something special. In fact I could not find anything on the Internet about the grower, except listings on the websites for buyers.

I understand from Dr Blin that it is a champagne made with the ordinary cepage. The wine was a nice golden yellow with good streams of fine bubbles. There was a fruity slightly pruney nose with hints of bamboo shoot. There was a good acid prickle on entry, dying down to a nice mousse, revealing sweet slight acid palate with fruity and nutty notes, well supported by a acid backbone.

Les Clos Perdus

This is a organic (tending towards biodynamic) gem of a winery in Corbieres which is the neighbourhood organic wine shop sells. Its website shows favourable reviews from Jancis Robinson, Decanter and Parker (no less) and having tasted a number of wines which I thought lifted my impressions of the Corbieres appellation, I thought it is time to explore this winery.

The name Les Clos Perdus means the lost (enclosed parcels of ) vineyards, and refers to the small parcels of old vines scattered on the hillsides around the locality. They are low yielding hence able to produce high quality fruit, but tend to be remote, unamenable to mechanization and thus unattractive to larger producer. This winery based in the village of Peyriac de Mer in the Languedoc, producing red whites and roses of the appellations Corbieres (3 red, 1 rose) and Vin de Pay de Cotes Catalan (2 whites and 2 reds).

Ch Pouget 2009

I tasted this wine at this year's Food Expo. It was one of, if not, the first first encounters with this Fourth Growth Margaux estate, of which I had recently blogged. It seems that the cepage has changed from the info on the website as this wine has a smattering of Petit Verdot added in. It was generally well received, with Wine Spectator rating of 93-96 and a Decanter rating of 17/20.

The wine was a lovely purple ruby in colour with a fruity nose (I was a bit impaired with the remnants of a cold that day). The sweet fruitiness continued onto the palate, which was then amply supported by an acid tannic backbone.

Vigne de l'Enfant Jesus

I had this wine at a dinner last night. The wine comes from a vineyard solely held by Bouchard Pere et Fils who acquired it in 1791 and has held it since. The name of the vineyard comes from an old story about the founder of the Carmelite monastery which owned the plot until the French Revolution. This nun predicted that although the then Queen of France was regarded as sterile, she would have a baby son, the future Louis XIV, the "Roy Soleil". At his birth, the Domestiques de la Famille du Saint Enfant Jesus which owned the vineyard renamed it Vigne de l'Enfant Jesus. The plot is a 9.9 acre section of the Beaune 1er Cru Greves climat and is one of those flagship 1er Crus of Beaune (having no Grands Crus) together with Drouhin’s Clos des Mouches and Jadot’s Clos des Ursules.

Kanaan Winery Riesling 2013

I mentioned this wine in a previous entry on a Riesling tasting in the organic wine shop. This Riesling is from a winery in Ningxia, which is apparently an up and coming region in China, but this will need another blog entry to explore. As for the Riesling I had tried, it was a pale lemon colour, with a slightly peachy nose with lots of lime notes. It was dry and citrussy on the palate with a sterling acid backbone. The nose suggested a dry Riesling of the Australian or New Zealand mould, though that did not translate to the palate. With a young winery (only 4 years) and young vines, this is a very good start and Kanaan's Riesling is certainly something to keep a close eye on (even though this is not a style of Riesling I prefer).

Another Japanese Kerner sweet wine

In my blog about Kerner, I mentioned about a botrytised Kerner from Hokkaido, which unfortunately have neither tasted nor blogged about. This is not that wine, but still a sweet Kerner from Hokkaido, this time from Grace Wine. I saw this wine in a branch of a Japanese wine retailer, at the same time as I spotted this Burgundian sweet wine, and I got a couple of bottles when I bought that wine for the doctors' association wine dinner. Looking up the wine on the winery's website, it seems that the overripe fruit for this medium sweet wine comes from Yoichi in Hokkaido, having been selected for concentration and minerality. It is then fermented and aged in stainless steel. I will certainly look forwards to tasting it.

A sweet wine from raisined Ruche

I tasted this wine at the tasting where a number of wines made by Lucas Ferraris from the Ruche grape a couple of weeks ago. Apart from two dry wines, this sweet example made from dried grapes was also shown. They were also matching it with mooncakes, but I did not try this combination.

Selected cluster of super ripe grapes were dried in wooden containers for several months in temperature and humidity controlled room, and then fermented with a light pressing at the end before undergoing several months of barrique aging. The wine was deep garnet in colour, with a sweet pruney acid nose. This sweet pruney character carried on into the palate, well supported by a sweet acid backbone.

L'Effronte Vin Moelleux 2009

I opened a bottle of this over the Mid Autumn festival holiday and tried matching it with mooncakes. Now there are so many different types of mooncakes, both traditional and modern (not to mention the ice-cream type), so that one wine cannot be expected to match everything. There was also the Chilean sweet Viognier Sauvignon for company. This wine was obviously more acidic than the Chilean one. It matched well with the custard filled mooncakes, but could not stand up to those traditional lotus paste ones.

AS fopr the wine itself, it was a nice golden yellow, with a sweet acid fruity nose (with a tiny hint of mango). The palate was sweet acid and apricoty, with dried apricot acidity as a nice supportive backbone. I think it will go with my intended flamuss aux pommes at my Burgundy dinner.

A Chilean Sweet Viognier Sauvignon

I was surprised to see this Luis Felipe Edwards dessert wine at a 24 hour convenience store. That they mislabeled the price on the promotion poster to below $100 made me have a second look. Even at a little over $100, it looked an interesting enough wine for a try, and so naturally I bought it. There are not many sweet wines made with Viognier and it is not certain (even after looking up their website) whether any of it is nobly rotten. Botrytised character is evident on both nose and palate but that could be from affected Sauvignon Blanc. (In any case this is an unusual combination).

I had it with mooncakes, but the match depends as much upon the sweetness of the mooncakes more than the wine. As for the wine, it was a golden orange tea in colour, with a sweet luscious dried apricot nose. Those characters continued onto the palate with a less apricot dried fruit acidity forming a good backbone giving sterling support. Nice wine and at a good price.

A Riesling tasting at the neighbourhood wine shop

Just dropped by the neighbourhood wine shop (specializing in organic wines) whilst they were having a tasting over the weekend, this time they had a lineup of Rieslings and a special organic Corbieres. They showed an interesting wine which someone had given them, a Chinese Riesling in the New World mould. That's for another blog entry. Then (disregarding the red wine prior to the Auslese sweetie) followed a series of three Rieslings from three different makers, but all from the MSR region. First an Ayler Kupp Qualitatswein from the Saar, then back to Mittelmosel with a Trittenheimer Apotheke Spatlese, and (after the red) a Brauneberg Juffer Sonnenuhr Auslese from Fritz Haag. That progression showed off the German Rieslings nicely, and illustrated why although New World dry Rieslings have their own charm, German Rieslings have a very special place in my heart.

Isola dei Nuraghi

I met this wine at the Food Expo in August. Isola dei Naraghi literally means the island of Nuraghi or Sardinia. It is the main IDT for that island and can be white, red or rose, but most are red and based on Carignan, Cannonau (Grenache), Cabernet or Cagnulari (Graciano). I just saw some Agricola Punica reds in a branch of a Japanese wine retailer that is Carignan based but with Cabernet and Merlot mixed in. The estate is also partly owned by Sassicaia.

Back to this example (Nastarre 2013) I met at the Wine Fair, it was a mix of Pascale di Cagliari, Malaga, Monica, Cagnulari (or Graciano) and Nebbiolo. Purple ruby, and soft sweet and fruity on the palate, the wine then became acid and a bit tannic as the backbone revealed itself. (As I had mentioned, I was suffering from a cold and could not smell that clearly.) I must check how many new grapes I have also added from this wine to my collection!

The Vouvray with the unhelpful label

I finally tasted the Vouvray with the unhelpful label, the latter of which I had blogged. Just as they told me that it was a sweet-ish wine, so it turned out to be. However it was more like a heavier form of Mosel Kabinett, where both sweet and acidity were assertive, but in this case in a more robust wine with medium body.

I had it with some halibut sauced with a mushroom, clam, wine cream sauce, in my own variation of the sauce of Sole Normande. The sauce did not turn out as well as I expected, but the wine did go well with the fish. The wine was a pale golden straw with a sweet acid fruity nose that became a bit honeyed with pineapple aromas as well as a hint of metal (tinned pineapple!). The palate was sweet and fruity, adding tropical fruits as it opened up, well supported by an amply acidic backbone. Nice wine, even if one with an unhelpful label.

Vermentino di Galluria

I remember blogging about a Vermentino wine before. It was a French example by Robert Skalli, and the most remarkable thing about it was that it was labeled Vermentino, rather than Rolle. I also remember tasting a Tuscan version from the Bolgheri coast too (from Guado al Tasso, I think). This time, it is Vermentino di Galluria, a DOCG wine from Sardinia, which I encountered together with another Sardinian wine (an Isola dei Nuraghi) at the Food Expo last month. That wine was a pale straw, but due to the tail end of the cold, its aromas did not succeed in penetrating my blocked nose. The palate was off-dry and slightly fruity and enough acid to give support to the wine.

Chateau Pouget

Chateau Pouget is a Fourth Growth estate in the Margaux Appellation. Not to be confused with the Poujeaux a Cru Bourgeois (exceptionelle in the 2003 classification) from Moulis, Ch Pouget was less seen around locally than the Moulis wine. I met this example at this year's Food Expo. The history of the chateau can be traced back to 1748 when Francois-Antoine Pouget inherited the estate. For the next century and a half, it remained in the same family. It is now owned by the Guillemet family.

The vines are on average 30-40 years old, with 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc. Although not practising organic viticulture, no chemical fertilizers have been used for some 30 years. The had picked fruit is fermented in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks and undergoes 2-5 week maceration according to the vintage conditions. The wines are matured for 12-18 months in oak casks of which 30-50% are new.The wine is bottled on the estate without filtration.

Tasting Ruche from Lucas Ferraris

I went by the organic wine shop and dropped in on a tasting of wines from Lucas Ferraris the other day. I had already tasted their Viognier but the rest of the line-up was different wines made from Ruche. I had already tried the Ruche DOCG "I Firmata" of another vintage at a previous Wine Fair, but the Opera Prima and the NV Sole dessert wine made from dried grapes are both new to me. The I Firmata was like what I recorded in my notes previously, orangey, fruity and a touch floral.

The Opera Prima is their flagship wine and comes from specially cultivated vines from the Bric d'Bianc vineyard, where the nutrient poor soil restricts yields to produce clusters of small dark berries with concentrated juice.A long slow fermentation in large oak botti was followed by 2 years of maturation in one year old 500L tonneaux and a year in bottle before release. The resultant wine (2012 vintage) was a dark ruby colour with a sweet berry fruity nose. The palate was sweet and savoury in turns with plentiful fruit and touches of vanilla wood. An acid slightly tannic backbone gives support.

AS for the raisined dessert wine, that will have to wait for another entry.

Domaine Matrot's l'Effronte Vin Moelleux

I mentioned the wine in the picture above in the blog entry about sweet wine from Burgundy. This wine is made from lightly botrytised Aligote grapes from Domaine Matrot's vineyards in Meursault. The average age of the vines is 10 years. The grapes are pressed whole in pneumatic presses and the juice is fermented using indigenous yeasts at 5-8 deg C for 15 to 20 weeks. There is no malo-lactic fermentation. The wine is racked once before maturation in bottles for 9 months. I will present this wine at the wine dinner I am organizing for the doctors' association at my hospital. I will match it will a Flamuss au Pommes, a clafoutis-like dessert from Burgundy made with fried apple pieces.

Ch Lynch Moussas 2010

I taste this wine the other day with some lamb chops. The Chateau's website was not forthcoming about this vintage, but it seemed that it did well in tasting of Cru Classe from 2010 carried out by Decanter this April. It was among 9 wines which got awarded an average of 17.5 points out of 20 at the tasting and Decanter "translates" it to 91 points on the conventional 100-point scale. These nine included wines from the First to the Fifth Growths: Beychevelle, Calon-Segur, Desmirail, Lascombe, Latour, Lynch-Bages, Lynch-Moussas, Margaux, St-Pierre in alphabetical order as listed in Decanter. Can't be bad to be mentioned in the same breath as Margaux and Latour!

As for the wine, it was dark at its core with a deep purple ruby rim. The nose was rich with berry and wood notes. The palate was sweet and fruity, but also containing savoury notes and a good smattering of acid which gace good support as the wine's backbone accompanied by a sprinkling of tannin.

Louis Picamolet Bourgogne Mousseux Rouge Sec

The reason I blogged about Bourgogne Mousseux last week was because I had come across Louis Picamolet's Bourgogne Mousseux Rouge Sec at the Food Expo a couple of weekends ago. Although the cepage can include Gamay, this example is purely made from Pinot Noir. Although I managed to dig out Picamolet's website, this wine was hardly mentioned there. There was only a mention of it winning some award or another but no technical details for this wine, from this notable maker of Cremant de Bourgogne. As for the wine, it was a nice dark ruby with good streams of fine bubbles. Berry notes were evident on the nose. An acid prickle hit the tongue, quickly turning into a soft mousse, revealing a dry fruity palate with an acid backbone for support.

Grignolino d'Asti

I first tasted the grape from which this wine was made in a Wine Fair a couple of years back or so. I did not end up blogging about it. I encountered this wine again in the organic neighbourhood wine shop over the last weekend when they presented some of their wares for tasting. Grignolino is an indigenous grape of the Piedmont region which makes light coloured wines with fruity aromas high acidity and abundant tannins, the latter coming from its many pips (grignole in the local dialect) from which the grape is named. Many Grignolino d'Asti are modeled on Beaujolais wines, and to avoid overwhelming tannins, a gentle slow pressing is used.

As for this 2013 wine, it was a deep rose pink, with a fragrant slight strawberry and other red berry nose. The palate was slightly sweet with berry notes but marred by a hint of metallic character. A tannic mildly acid backbone with a hint of salt provided support.

Another reasonably good Airen

I blogged about Airen some time ago and noted that it was a widely planted grape, mainly all over La Mancha, producing huge quantities of thin acidic wine, much of which ends up as Spanish Brandy. That time a friend and I found enjoyment in a carefully made organic wine made from Airen. I tasted this other wine made from Airen at the Food Expo and thought that Airen cannot be that bad, as this second ever Airen I tasted was also reasonable. I was suffering from a bad cold, so everything was muted as far as the nose was concerned. With a deep lemon yellow colour, an off dry slightly fruity palate with a hint of bitterness, the wine was well supported by an acid backbone with a touch of astringency. Not a wine for contemplation, but fine for everyday drinking and say with some simple seafood.

The third Chateau Lagrange I've met

Now everyone is familiar with the Third Growth Chateau Lagrange in St Julien. This estate can trace its history back to the 17th Century, but its fortunes dwindled in the early 20th century, until it was bought by the Japanese liquor conglomerate Suntory in 1983, which invested and reinvigorated the estate. The second estate with the Lagrange name is sometimes also known as Chateau Lagrange a Pomerol, as it is indeed a Pomerol estate. It is amongst the first purchases of Jean Pierre Moueix in the 1950s, after the acquisition of Chx Magdelaine and La Fleur Petrus and before he slowly bought up the shares of Ch Petrus itself beginning in 1961. That estate produces rich Merlot based wines typical of fine Pomerol.

I met this third Lagrange at the Food Expo over the last weekend. This Lagrange comes from Lussac-St-Emilion, still on the Right Bank but a lesser known appellation than Pomerol. This Lussac Saint-Emilion estateis an old property once belonging to the Guimon family. Unfortunately, I have not found further information about this estate. Then again let's get back to the important thing, which is how did the wine taste? A purple ruby colour, with a closed slightly fruity nose, the wine was slightly savoury slightly tannic and a bit fruity on the palate, supported by an acid tannic backbone.

Bourgogne Mousseux AC

You may know that Cremant de Bourgogne is the appellation given to sparkling wines made by the traditional method in Burgundy. But this was not the original appellation for sparkling Burgundy wines - that was Bourgogne Mousseux which was granted for white rose and red sparkling wines made throughout Burgundy produced by a second fermentation in the bottle. The Cremant de Bourgogneappellation for white and rose sparklers came in 1975 and  for a while white and pink Burgundy sparklers can use either designation. However since 1984, the AC of Bourgogne Mousseux is reserved for red sparkling Burgundy! The grapes which can be used for these sparklers are Pinot Noir and Gamay, although the inclusion of a minimal proportion of white grapes is also allowed.

Cheverny

I met my first wine from Cheverny at last weekend's Food Expo. Cheverny is an appellation in the eastern of Touraine, and it produces white, red and rose wines from a large variety of grapes. There is another AOC Cours-Cheverny exclusively reserved for the local grape Romorantin. The reds and roses are made from Pinot Noir, Gamay blended with a minimum 15% Cabernet France or Malbec, whilst the whites are made from Sauvignon Blanc (60-85% minimum) which can be blended with Chardonnay, Arbois or Chenin Blanc.

This wine is a blend of 80% Sauvignon Blanc and 20% Chardonnay. A pale straw colour, I was not able to small much due both to my cold and the plastic thimbles used for trying the wines. The palate was fruity with a hint of sweetness and an acid slightly astringent backbone.

Tasting wines at the 2014 Food Expo

I went to the Food Expo last weekend, to see what wines they have on offer. I was not on best form as I am still bugged by an upper respiratory infection, which even having had symptomatic treatment left me rather impaired with my sense of smell. Nevertheless, there were some interesting wines, including a sparkling red Burgundy, the third estate of the same name in Bordeaux, a couple of Sardinian wines as well as a number of other wines that caught my interest. Most of the action was within the Gourmet Corner, although there are things of interest also in the other exhibition areas. I must say the crowds were a bit off-putting, especially where there are gourmet items to be tasted at a heavy discount. Nevertheless, although I am unsure whether I have added to my collection of grapes, I have had some interesting vinous encounters.

Sweet wine from Burgundy

Of the major wine regions in France, Burgundy is the one which does not really make sweet wines. Jean Thevenet of Domaine de la Bongran in Vire-Clesse makes a cuvee botrytisee from nobly rotten Chardonnay grapes, which is sweet and thus denied the privilege of the Vire-Clesse appellation. I had very much wanted to try that wine, but have not yet been able to get a bottle. apart from this, I had not known any other sweet wines from any maker in Burgundy.

Imagine my surprise when I saw on display at one of the Hong Kong branches of a Japanese wine retail chain a bottle called l'Effrontee from Domaine Matrot in Meursault. On enquiry I was informed that the wine was made from botrytised Aligote. Now that is what I call a really unusual bottle of wine and I have included it in my Chinese blog on alternative wines. I have obtained some bottles and shall look forward to trying it out.

Comparing soils

Although soils are part and parcel of terroir, few wineries and winemakers emphasize the difference between wines whose fruit comes from plants on different soils. There was however prominent in the neighbourhood wine shop specializing in organic wines, a range of Muscadet from the Domaine de l'Ecu which emphasized the different soils (or more specifically rocks) in which the different wines were grown.

There were three different wines in that series: Gneiss, Orthgneiss and Granite. All three are from the Muscadet de Sevre et de Maine appellation, all biodynamic and sur lie, and from vineyards featuring the aforementioned subsoils. Now it would certainly be interesting to try these in a side by side tasting, wouldn't it?

St Emilion dry whites

I was browsing at the Decanter Website when I came across their recent tasting of top 2012 Bordeaux dry whites. It was not too surprising for the Pavillon Blanc de Margaux to come out top, but a little more surprising that this top ten lineup only included one from Graves or Pessac-Leognan. The inclusion of the white of 2 St Julien Cru Classe, Talbot and Lagrange, was certainly interesting as was the dry white of Ch Doisy-Daene.

The real surprise was that there were 3 St Emilion whites, seeing that white wines from St Emilion are rarely found until a few years ago. Of course, like the dry white from a Sauternes chateau, they will just be generic Bordeaux. I have seen the Monbousquet white on sale but not the one from Magrez Fombruage or Valandraud.

Deakin's Sparkling Azahara Moscato

Sometimes my wife likes to use Asti as a party wine, and so I regularly keep some bottles around the house, that and Moscato d'Asti as well. Well, recently our usual purveyor seems to have run out and I decided to try an Australian example for a party that my wife was going to. The one I got was the Sparkling Azahara Moscato from Deakin Estate, but that seemed not to have hit the right buttons. It was a touch too sweet for her and the rest of the party too. Previous encounters with say the Brown Brother's Sparkling Zibbibo was altogether satisfactory, so maybe the parameters that Deakin was aiming for was just a touch too wide for that party. But then, sweetness and fruitiness are all very subjective, so if you want a sweeter Moscato, this may be the one for you. Maybe I should have got her some Moscato d'Asti.

Lucien Muzard Volnay 1er Cru Santenots 2010

We had this wine during the mainly 1er Cru Burgundy dinner recently and I had blogged about this organic/biodynamic estate which is one of the top wineries in Santenay. As had been noted in the previous blog, this wine is from rented vines which farmed and not from Muzard's own vineyard holdings. This however did not seem to have made any difference to the finished product as this is indeed a fine wine. It was a nice limpid ruby with a sweet berry nose. The sweet berry notes carried through to the palate where it was nicely accompanied by a good smattering of acid, that went on to become a solid backbone, seasoned by a hint of tannins.

A (mainly) Piedmont wine tasting

I chanced by that organic wine store and popped in to ask them to get some Burgundies from their warehouse for me to buy there.They had lined up 4 wines from a Piedmont producer - Giovanii Almondo and a Tannat from Uruguay. I had to go somewhere then and later returned when I encountered a crowd dispersing after tasting.

They had finished the Roero DOCG Bric Valdiana, so I only tasted the Roero Arneis, Barbera and Brachetto from the Almondo and the Uruguayan Tannat. The Piedmont reds were as expected, with the Roero Arneis a bit more astringent than expected. The Uruguayan Tannat was more tannic than expected and more tannic than both the previous examples from Uruguay and from France. I suspected it will take a steak au bleu well in its stride.

Domaine Henri Gouges NSG les Pruliers 2007

This was also one of the wines tasted in the mainly 1er Cru Burgundy dinner. Domaine Henri Gouges is one of the most famous estates in Nuits-St-Georges, Their family had owned vineyards for generations and this estate had been in their family since 1919. Henri had also been famous for fighting winr fraud in Burgundy in the 1920s and 1930s, and when the appellations were later drawn up, Henri as Mayor of Nuits-St-Georges recommended that there be no grand crus in this village (probably because he also held a large holding in one of the forerunners for grand cru). Now Henri's grandsons are still taking meticulous care in crafting wines which will last and last.

We had the 2007 1er Cru les Pruliers at dinner the other night. It was a limpid garnet with a sweet acid fruity nose. The palate was also sweet and fruity with the acid appearing later on to form a nice backbone for the wine.

Fruity Burgundies

I was pleasantly surprised by the up front berry fruit of the Burgundies we tasted in the mainly premier cru dinner we had last week. In the past, even the not so distant past, Burgundies are not really up front fruity, and certainly not fruity enough to be able to identify red berries or more specifically strawberries in either nose or palate. Most of the time, although fruitiness was present, some of the more specific quaities one looks for in Burgundies are those associated with age, especially in older wines, like game, truffle notes etc.

Maybe it's because the wines are from premier cru sites, all of the reds had good up front berry or strawberry notes in both and palate, even the de Villaine Cote Challonnais wine. This may be influence from the New World, but in this instance this influence is certainly for the better. A thought though, would this affect how the wines show say 15 years later, and will we have the same abundance of game, mushroom and truffle notes, now that they are some aromatically confident in their youth?

Another unhelpful label

I got this bottle of Vouvray from the original neighbourhood wine shop with the remark from the vendor that this is a slightly sweet bottle. I googled the estate (Domaine de la Gaverie) and did not get very far with the labels. I saw a couple of pictures but these had the Sec designation near where this label sports the vintage, so no luck really. Vouvray can be and is made from really bone dry (sometimes designated Sec-Sec) to really sweet (doux, sometimes also with the term liquoreux), the latter from botrytised grapes. So if the label says nothing as in this case, little can be inferred until the bottle is opened. Domaine de la Gaverie is a family run estate of some 50 acres of vines right in the heart of the Vouvray appellation, making the full range of dry to sweet still and sparkling wines.

A most annoying supermarket wine tasting

I had bought a couple of bottles of Burgundy when I decided to see what I might buy for dinner in a certain upmarket supermarket in Central one weekend,when I chance upon some promoter doing a wine tasting there. I proceeded to taste some of their wines, scribbling notes as I go and then photographing the labels. Then the promoter stopped me taking photos of the wines, even after I explained that I was using this for my own record. She then launched off on a tirade about how the purpose of the tasting was not to enable me to do my "research". By that time i had tasted three whites - an Italian Pinot Grigio and a couple of New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs. At this I left. There were one or two reds in the lineup, which I could have been interesting in buying. That is utterly her loss. I did not feel it necessary to tell her that I had 2 Burgundies totalling over $1000 in my backpack.

What wine with escargots?

I started the latest Burgundy dinner with Escargots Bourguignon as starter. I must admit that this is the first time I had done this as it is a more expensive item on the menu. This is however a popular appetizer here in Hong Kong, especially with the addition of mashed potatoes, which is unusual France. I first met it some 40 years ago, though I wasn't the one having it at that dinner.

Various matches are touted for this dish. Matthew Jukes recommended Sauvignon Blanc, which if you want to keep it in Burgundy, one has to go to St Bris. Hugh Johnson cast his net wide and came up with Rhone reds (Gigondas, Vacqueyras) Alsace Pinot Blanc or Muscat outside Burgundy. He recommended St Veran or Aligote from within Burgundy. I could not locate a St Veran 1er Cru for the 1er Cru theme of the dinner, so stuck with de Villaine's Bouzeron which had garnered RP92 on the score card. Everyone agreed it went done a treat.

Chateau les Reuilles Cuvees des Heritiers 2011

I had this wine during a celebration dinner at the Hong Kong Club the other day. It was one of their house wine. It seems that this estate is at the edge of Bordeaux, bordering on the Cotes de Duras, close to Entre-Deux-Ners and St Emilion, with the actual vineyards on the slopes and hills of Bordeaux Ste Foy. (that is the same appellation as the Hong Kong wine I blogged about in the first month of this blog. This estate is mostly planted with red grapes, but has 15% of the vineyard devoted to Sauvignon Blanc. Hence it produces red, white and pink wines.

To be honest, I cannot find this Cuvees des Heritiers at all in the Website (en francais), except for a mention of having been awarded something at an exhibition. There is a Cuvee Al Heritiage listed and I wonder if this is the same wine, just with a different branding for different markets. The cepage listed is of Merlot, Cabernet (not otherwise specified) and Malbec, but the listed percentages are a little off as the total exceeded 100%!! As for the wine, it was a deep ruby with a sweet plummy fruity nose. The palate was sweet slightly tannic and fruity, with an acid slightly tannic backbone for support.

A Burgundy (mainly 1er Cru) dinner

There was a PWC dinner the other day, featuring mainly Burgundy 1er Cru wine. Of the 10 wine, three were not Burgundy Premier Cru - first the welcoming Champagne; I could have tried to dig out a Cremant de Bourgogne, but then that still would not be 1er Cru. There was a white and a red from de Villaine and neither of them were 1er Cru. The Bouzeron was as always interesting and quite an eye-opener for many as was the Cote Challonais le Digoine, which I had blogged about some time ago. This was as much an introduction to the lesser known wine from de Villaine (the better known ones are from his half share of DRC).

I covered a lot of different villages in Burgundy with this tasting, but had to change from Chambolle-Musigny les Amoureuses to a Volnay Santenot because I had misplaced the former and could not locate it in time for the dinner.The latter however was an organic wine from an organic/biodynamic specialist. Others include Pommard Grand Clos des Epenots, Morey-St-Denis Clos Sorbe, Beaune Greve, Gevrey-Chambertin Bel Air, Vosne-Romanee les Beaux Monts and Nuits-St-Georges les Pruliers. An enjoyable evening overall.

Domaine Lucien Muzard et Fils

I failed to locate one of my bottles for tonight's Burgundy dinner so I went and got a bottle from the shop specializing in organic wines and the bottle chosen was this Volnay 1er Cru Santenots from Domaine Lucien Muzard et Fils. The domaine can trace its history back to 1645 in Santenay, and the family had been selling off their wines to negociants until Lucien's two son took over in 1995, when they started domaine bottling.

Based in Santenay, with tiny holdings in Chassagne and Pommard, they went organic in 2005 and started conversion to biodynamic in 2008, completing the process in 2011. Unfortunately, due to bad weather and the subsequent necessity of systemic fungicide, they had to abandon biodynamic certification the next year.

The two brothers farmed 13.15 ha of their own vines (which are labelled mise en bouteille a la propriete) as well as another 3 ha of rented vines (labelled mise en bouteille dans nos caves). The Volnay was from rented vines. Now I am looking for their Santenay to try wines from their own properties.

Ruche

Ruche is a Piedmontese red grape which makes a varietal wine - Ruche di Castignole Monferrato, originally a DOC wine since 1987 and becoming DOCG in 2010. Although some have pointed out Ruche's similarity to Nebbiolo in producing light coloured, tannic wines with pronounced aromas, Ruche di Castignole Monferrato is supposed to be of medium body, moderate acidity, soft tannins and with spicy and floral aromas.

As I pointed out in a previous post, I had tasted a couple of wines made from Ruche by Luca Ferraris in the HKIWSF 2011, and looking up my notes from 2011, the Bric d'Bianc was ruby with a sweet orangey nose, and the same sweet orangey fruity notes on the palate. Structure was provided by a slightly acid and slightly tannic backbone. The Ruche DOCG was even lighter in colour - a limpid ruby. The nose was similar with slightly less forward orangey notes whilst it was less sweet on the palate than the DOC wine. Tannin was less obvious in this latter wine too.

Chantereves Bourgogne Pinot Noir 2011

I blogged about the Maison de Vin Chantereves last week, as I had tried the above wine a few days before. The confusion about the name of the winery and its labels can be attributed to the company having changed its name somewhere along the line. So what of this wine hailing from the collaboration between a Japanese and a Burgundian winemaker? The Bourgogne Pinot Noir 2011 was a limpid deep pink ruby colour, with a sweet berry acid nose, slightly marred by a touch of alcohol heat. The palate was of strawberry and acid, with just a hint of sweetness and a touch more tannins. An acid slightly tannic backbone gives sterling support. There is certainly enough in this wine to make me want to try some more of their range.

Ruche wines from Luca Ferraris

I mentioned that I saw some Ruche wines as I went into this newly opened wine shop in my neighbourhood. I have now looked back at my pictures of wines that I have tried in the Wine Fairs in the past few years and confirm that not only have I tasted two wines made from Ruche in the 2011 HKIWSF, those wines I have tasted are from the same maker Luca Ferraris as was being sold in this new shop as well. I will also admit that the two wines of the 2010 vintage I tasted, sported the same mosaic picture as the wine I recognized in the new shop. As for how those two wines tasted, including them here will make this entry far too long so I will write about them in another blog next week.

A Chinese ice wine features in the Greater China Wine Book

I blogged that I had bought another Greater China Wine Book last week and I had a chance to flick through it now. I was quite surprised to find that our great motherland had 3 wines featured in it, the same as some other countries with a much more illustrious reputation such as South Africa (whose Vin de Constance I would agree is worthy of mention in any book) and even 1 more entry than Hungary!

One of these wines is a Chinese ice wine, but the one I had previous blogged about, and not even in a similar geographic location either. This is also made from Vidal, like the Changyu ice wine, but instead of being from Liaoning, this wine hails from Changbai Mountain of Jilin Province. The author felt that the quality of this wine is no less than those from Germany or Canada. Since I would not speak of German (and Austrian) Eisweins in the same breath as Canadian ones, this remark does somewhat colour my assessment of the wine.

Another new wine shop opens in the neighbourhood

I just noticed the other day that a new wine shop had opened round the corner but at the time it was closed. From the talk tasting wines at the more familiar neighbourhood wine shop, it seemed that this new shop "specializes" in carrying organic and biodynamic wines. When I git around to visiting it, sure enough there were quite a few biodynamic wines from a large variety of locations. Prominent on the shelves was a Ruche DOCG, a wine I had tried some time ago at the HKIWSF but frankly do not expect to see on the shelves. There was a whole range of biodynamic and special Muscadet de Sevre et de Maine from Domaine de L'Ecu (the name was memorable because the ECU was the forerunner of the Euro). Bordeaux on contrast was not prominent. This could be a very interesting wine shop but given Hongkongers' preferences, also one that could quickly go out of business!!

Chateau Cap de Faugeres

There are a number of Bordeaux wines with Faugeres in their name, and like others in the same situation, they form part of a large continuous estate. However, although Ch Faugeres, Ch Peby-Faugeres and Haut-Faugeres are from St Emilion, Ch Cap de Faugeres spills over to the next AOC, Cotes de Castillion and they are all under the ownership of Vignoble Silvio Denz. I think I have tasted a vintage of Peby-Faugeres and I certainly have a couple of bottles of that somewhere.

Ch Cap de Faugere is situated in the village of Sainte-Colombe and is planted with 85% Merlot, 10% Cab Franc and the rest Cab Sauvignon. The estate produces 100,000 of the Grand Vin and 200 cases of the La Mouleyre cuvee (from older vines and all matured in new oak).

Maison de Vin Chantereves

I just came across this interesting wine-making concern over the weekend. The first bit of confusion is that although the "winery" is called Chantereves, the name on the label across their whole range says Chanterives. (For those who may not remember things exactly, the added confusion comes from the Graves estate Chateau de Chantegrive). Chantereves is a micro-negoce formed by the collaboration of Tomoko Kuriyama and Guillaume Bott. Kuriyama was chief winemaker for Weingut Altenkirch between 2007-2011, whilst Bott worked for Etienne Sauzet from 1995 to 2002, after which he was appointed chief winemaker of Domaine Simon Bize. With this pedigree, it is no wonder that this micro-negoce is catching everyone's attention ever since they released their first vintage in 2010. There are four wines available in Hong Kong: two vintages of Bourgogne Chardonnay, one of Bourgogne Pinot Noir and a Meursault Crotots.

Hail damage to French vineyards

I mentioned hail damage to Chablis vineyards in the post about wine and weather a couple of months ago, but hailstorms were not only in the news in Hong Kong a few months ago, decimating a wine growing concern in the New Territories, it is also making news by wreaking havoc in some well known (and not so well known regions) in the best known wine country of the world, France. A news item few days ago listed the hail damage to that country's famous wine regions. A hailstorm last Sunday devastated 15,000 ha of vineyards in Languedoc-Roussillon around Corbieres and Minervois. A week earlier some 3000ha of vineyards in Burgundy were devastated (especially around Pommard and Volnay), whilst northern Medoc also sustained damage in mid June. This led Andrew Jefford to comment on his column last Monday on hail and its relationship to global warming etc.

100 + 101

I was just passing by and I went into a branch of this major Chinese bookstore chain for a browse and emerged buying two Chinese books on wine, in my continuing attempt to read and hopefully learn to write about wine and related matters in Chinese. One was another offering collated by the Greater China Association of Wine Critics (own translation) just like the 2013 wine book I blogged about previously. This book gathers a total of 100 wines from 13 countries, introduced by various members of the Association. 

The other book is from Taiwan, written by a well known wine critic, who attempts to introduce some of the various characteristics of the various main stream wine grapes, usual methods of production, etc via the tasting and appreciation of 101 wines which she guides the reader to taste.All in all, a couple of interesting books.

Trendy Aligote?

Aligote, the "second" white grape of Burgundy was not well known in Hong Kong until recently. Initially the easiest way to find a bottle would be through one of the big wine retailer chains, where they initially carried a Bourgogne Aligote as well as the de Villaine Bouzeron, but both rather intermittently. So it was quite a surprise first to see a local branch of a Japanese wine retailer stocking one such wine from Olivier Leflaive, and then finding another one on someone else's Bin End Clearance.

Why this sudden interest? I have no idea. Of course, the Bin End Clearance meant that the retailer had already been selling this for some while. I also wonder whether, as the Hong Kong wine lovers get to expand their horizons from the classical grape varieties and appellations, they take an interest in the lesser known grapes. It may also be that there are a few producers whose products are of a high enough quality to make the buyers take note and want to try it on their clientelle. How else would you explain, say a Rose d'Anjou made with the obscure Grolleau grape in one of the big two supermarket chains?