St Peray

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

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

PWC Rhone Evening

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

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

PWC Tuscany Night

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

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

Tasting the wines of Croatia

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

Pigeons for Mother's Day dinner

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

Another Wine Box from Bordeaux

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

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

Wine from the Austrian Grand Priory of the Order of Malta

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

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

Introducing your fellow pilgrims to the local wine

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

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

Chateau Talbot 2010

I tasted this wine a couple of days ago, at a leaving party for a colleague. It was a special wine bought for him and he opened it and shared it with us. I have blogged about the estate some time ago, and the only other entry about Talbot was one about how well a bottle of the 2000 vintage fared after extending breathing.

The wine was a deep purple ruby with a sweet tobacco wood berry nose. It was sweet smoky woody and fruity on the palate with a touch plummy chanpimui aromas, that extended into an tannic slightly acid backbone. Nice wine which will probably evolve into something more interesting over the next decade or so.

A Turkish Sauvignon Blanc at the Club

This is a wine I saw at the Sports Shop at the Club the other day - a Sauvignon Blanc from Kavaklidere, the oldest and best known winery in Turkey. Now the Club does sometimes get adventurous when sourcing wines for its members, either as wine of the month in the bar and coffee shop, or for sale in the shop. I had blogged about a Mexican Merlot , a couple of Cuban wines (from a Cuba Italian joint venture) and a Thai wine amongst other wines with a difference I met here in KCC.

Apart from wines made from international varieties, Kavaklidere also produces wines from indigenous varieties such as Kalecik Karasi, Bogazkere and Okuzgozu, sometime blending them with better known varieties.

Carmenere in a white wine

I blogged about seeing some interesting wines at a local supermarket venture specializing in Tesco merchandise last year and finally got round to tasting this bottle, which some adventurous winemaker added a wine made from the pressed juices (colourless) of Carmenere to Sauvginon Blanc to create a white wine with a difference. If one tries to look up Carmenere to predict how this combination would work, one would be hard pressed to find a description of a white wine made from Carmenere by fermenting its pressed juices. I had no luck. Although the wine is not a straight forward Chilean Sauvignon Blanc, it was hard to put the finger on the contribution that the Carmenere had made.

The wine was a pale straw with a  fruity acid nose carrying a hint of citrus. The palate was dry acid and fruity, with a lemony acid backbone. A dependable white but nothing that special even with the contribution from the Carmenere.

Chateau Prieure-Lichine

The Prieure of the Chateau name indicated a monastic origin which goes back 1000 years and the Priory of Cantenac was producing wines of a quality that attracted similar taxation to the wines of Hermitage and Clos de Vougeot in the 15th century. Although the estate produced notable wines and were included in famous classifications of wine estates, it had fallen victim to phylloxera, then downy mildew and also to subsequent misfortune so that by the time Alexis Lichine acquired the vineyard in 1951, only 4 hectares of vineyard were left. The estate was rebuilt and renamed Prieure-Lichine and the wines produced now live up to what is expected of a 4th Growth.

Chateau Balestard la Tonnelle

This was one of the wines I tasted at a recent dinner, a reunion of secondary school mates, and someone had brought a magnum of this wine to share. The Chateau is one that I had seen from time to time, but nevertheless had not managed to tasted until the last weekend. The estate goes back to the 15th century and was named after Canon Balestard. The Tonnelle (or tower) also dates back to the same period. It had important fans even back then; the poet Francois Villon mentioned this wine in a poem of his and two verses of this appear on the label (making it look a bit crowded). Owned by the Capdemourlin family, the wines benefit from the touch of Michel Rolland who is consultant for this chateau.

Ch Haut-Bages-Liberal 2014

I had this wine for Easter Sunday dinner. The estate is one I had blogged about before. The grand vain of this relatively unfamiliar estate is selling in the larger branches of one of the two big supermarkets, so for an Easter treat, I thought I would get a bottle.


The wine was a deep ruby with a sweet berry fruit acid nose. The palate was sweet woody acid slightly fruity, with wood and a bit of tannins mid palate, spiced with some chanpimui (dried plum flavoured with mandarin peel). There was a touch of soya sauce savouriness in the finish. Unfortunately, it did not go that well with the rack of lamb that we had.

Cordoniu's two wine producing monasteries

I blogged about coming across the wines of the Royal Monastery of Santa Maria de Poblet earlier. Looking up the information for those wines, I found out that the Cordoniu Raventos group actually includes another Spanish monastery in its portfolio, Scala Dei, of which I had also blogged. This latter also has another estate and wine which I had tried and about which I had also blogged.

Last July I found at the annual Book Fair, that someone had written a book about wines and spiritual formation. In that piece, I mentioned wines being made by monasteries as an idea if I were to think about writing a book about wine and the Church. These two estates in the Cordoniu Raventos group is certainly a good starting point for monastic wines from Spain (though they are both in Catalonia).

Chateau Bel Air 2012

This was one of the half bottles I got from the Sports Shop at the Club. I got a bottle of each some while back but did not get round to trying them out yet. This AC Bordeaux was an offering from Schroder and Schyler, better known to me as the owner of Chateau Kirwan, a 3rd Growth of Margaux that my wife and I have enjoyed from time to time over the years. This petit Chateau is a small family owned winery a few kilometers from St Emilion and naturally features a right bank cepage of Merlot and Cabernet France in equal proportions. Vinification and aging is in steel tanks.

As for the wine, it was a dark ruby with a sweet acid fruity nose. The palate showed a touch of dilution, and was acid fruity and astringent palate, with a hot tannic acid backbone.

Wines from a UNESCO Heritage Site

I saw these wines at the wine department of a Japanese department store near where I work. The illuminated capital P caught my eye and on further perusal I found that these come from the Royal Monastery of Santa Maria de Poblet, a Csitercian monastery dating back to the 12th century and a UNESCO World Heritage Site from 1991. It became part of the Cordoniu group in 1998. The area was conquered by the Moors in the Middle Ages but after the Reconquista, the French mionk brought back grape vines (Pinot Noir) from their mother abbey in Burgundy and this grape had been planted for a long time in this locality. Now indigenous grapes (Trepat, Garrut and Garnatxa) are grown and are used to make much of the wine, although a pure Pinot Noir is still made under the label Les Masies de Poblet.

Szegti Blanc de Blanc Cuvee Adele 2011

A friend gave me this bottle of sparkling wine some time ago. I had blogged about both the winery and their special take on making traditional sparklers, as well as the companion bottle which was tasted a couple of years ago.

I finally tasted this bottle a few days ago. But before considering how it tasted, a comment about the label. The label is a Klimt picture of Adele Bloch Bauer, also known as the Lady in Gold. Gustav Klimt painted two pictures of this patron of the arts and this is the first one.The wine is 100% Chardonnay fermented in stainless steel and aged for 12 months on lees. It was given 90 points by Wine Enthusiast.

AS for the wine, it was a nice golden yellow with few streams of medium fine bubbles. there was an acid appley fruity nose. An acid prickle on entry was followed by an acid slightly honeyed palate, well supported by an acid backbone. Although the winery suggested to drink it with seafood, it did not quite match the scallop sashimi nor the oyster that night.

Chateau Pape Clement 2012

We tasted this bottle the other night at supper with friends. One of them had fallen in love with this estate and had bought a few cases (of various different vintages, I suppose), and proceeded to share this bottle with us. Now I had blogged about this estate before and also visited it last May on our first visit to Bordeaux, right after the Lourdes pilgrimage. We liked the 2004 vintage and bought a bottle.

AS for this 2012, the wine was a nice deep ruby with a sweet acid fruity nose. The palate was sweet woody and plummy, seasoned with a good smattering of tannins, well supported by an acid tannic backbone.

Savigny -les-Beaune 1er Cru La Dominode

 

This was one of the wines from the recent PWC Burgundy Premier Cru (mostly) Dinner. It was one of the selections from the Wine Society wine list and I must confess to not knowing either the vineyard or the domaine. Savigny-les-Beaune is a commune near Beaune in the Cote d'Or, producing mainly red wines (85%).The vineyards are arranged up the sides of a valley in a V shape with the Beaune side producing more aromatic feminine wines and the Pernand Vergelesse side giving more robust musculine wine. The vineyard of La Dominode is right in the heart of the lieu dit Hauts-Jarrons and was named after a title of the Lord of Comblanchien and Savigny-les-Beaune.

The wine itself was a deep limpid garnet with a closed coffee fruity nose opening very slowly after pouring. The palate was sweet fruity and acid, supported by an acid (mouthwatering acidity) backbone with a touch of astringency.