Wine Journey - A beginning

Started this Wine Journey with a few wine blokes.

Some links: Wines for Asia 2011 - 2008 Bordeaux tasting
Wines for Asia 2011 - Bordeaux 2007 tasting by the Wine Review
Chateau d’Esclans Rose wines!

I shall be writing the wine notes there more often than here, do check it out!

Of BBQ and wines

It was a long time coming, the idea of doing an 'atas' BBQ has floated in my imagination for eons. With Chef Maurice and Marcus, we finally got down to it. Along with food, there was great wine!! Shown here one of my favourite wines of the night, a Sauternes from Chateau de Fargues!

Menu

• Plain Cibata / baguette from Cedele, with roasted garlic (~1.5hours in 200C), mashed with generous dose of fresh oregano herbs and a dash of virgin olive oil. Fantastic Home-made garlic bread!
• Ebi prawns with orange peel, basil, sea salt. Pan fried over BBQ fire. Super twangy taste the prawn, wonder if any 'injection' or any other treatment was done to it.
• Scallops (in half shell), with 3 part sake, 0.5 part japanese shoyu, 0.5 part sesame oil ~ 2 hours marination. Delicious.
• Salmon fillet, with lemon zest, mint & parsley, olive oil, ~2 hours marination. Direct BBQ failed (sticks to the grill, should oil the grill more?) Didn't taste too well.
• Oil fish, with lemon zest, sea salt, rosemary. Direct BBQ or pan fried over BBQ was absolutely delicious. Salmon and Oil fish were both ~2 -3cm thick!
• From Chef Maurice: vegetables, portobello, pork belly, rib eye steaks and a special 'silver pillow' of golden mini mushrooms with baby asparagus and shitake mushrooms. A dash of truffle oil would have made this perfect.

The alfresco mood !

Chef Maurice with the Silver Pillow

Planeta Alastro 2006 - not very balanced.
Chateau Segur Haut Medoc 1986 - Classic Paulliac
Corison Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2001 - Big and smooth.
Chateau Haut Bages Liberal 1985 - Pencil lead, felt like merlot/right back, chewy tannins, good stuff. Perfectly drinking now.
Barton & Guestier Chardonnay Brut NV - Toast/nuts, reminiscent of Epernay, but this is not from Champagne, hence it's just a 'Chardonnay' Brut. Superb value for money.
Gewurztraminer 1967 - Honey/apricot nose of gracefully aged white wines. Fruits a little fading, guess Pinot Gris/blanc type. Too old to really tell. Acids/tannins virtually done.
HJ Shiraz - Pretty modern and forward Shiraz. Classic Mclaren vale.
Saint Joseph - Peppery/lavender nose. Really beautiful to nose all day. Palette pretty pleasant and decent finish. Contender for WOTN.
Chateau Monteil Sauternes 1971 - Honey/Apricots. Going to be the end phase. No sign of 'spice', hence not a great year for Sauternes?
Chateau de Fargues Lur Saluces Sauternes 1980 - Honey/Apricots, completely mature, with some acid/tannins to firm up the while. Not tiring to drink. Would have preferred this house at 20-25 yrs old. Could be on the down slope from here.
Meursault - Interesting. Japanese maker buying grapes form Meursault and creating a Burg wine.

First, First, and first.

How often do you get Latour 64 and 96 at the same table? And throw in a Lafite 64, it was a night of stars. What a privileged night to celebrate my birthday!

My birth year! Not a great vintage for france but this Grand Puy du casse is great! Thanks TK!

Colour of a wine is important, here's Marcus analysing the pigments within a claret.

One of the great things about wine and dine is food pairing.
A memorable moment: Cold crab + plenty of roe and Spatlese from Egon Muller.

Surprises are one wine buff's favourite haunt, a creamy, complex Chardonnay from Lucien le Moine. The most VANILLA flavoured nose in a wine I've ever had!!

A rare Clos Saint Dennis from Camille Giroud.

lafite 1964, salty, fermented nose of Soy. Result of heat damage? Or not enough decanting? Harvest was done during the rainy portions of 1964, hence losing out to the neighboring rivals Latour.
Latour 1996, youthful, complex, layers. Didn't quite wow me.
Latour 1964, dark ruby, looks like a 10 year old wine. Not particularly ready.
Tattinger 85, honey, pineapple nose. Little bubbles left. Palette smooth but didn't follow with the huge nose. Didn't know what to expect for such an old champagne but pretty satisfied with this.
Henry Boillot Puligny Montrachet 2009: White flowers, acidic nose, prefer with raw seafood.
Grand Puy ducasse 1979: Elegant, classic paulliac. Enjoyed this more than the 1sts. Super value for money!
Lucien le Moine Corton Charlemagne 2006: Creamy, complex, layered. Generous services of Vanilla on the nose and some on the palette. Only the finish is lacking.
Prunotto Barolo 1971: A very very much alive 40year old wine. What a privilege to try a Barolo of this class. Delicate is hardly the word for Barolo but this was what it was. Finesse, balance, never overpowering at any moment. Very fitting wine amongst the big Bordeaux this Italian was!
Louis Trapet & fils Chambertin 1983: tried this in a Riedel Sommieler Burgundy: Nose had hint of rose, perfume. Tannins rough and hint of bitterness.
Camille Giroud Clos St Dennis 1976: Delicate, approachable.
Egon Muller Spatlese 2003: Ripe, rounded, would prefer a bit of acids at the end to balance the wine.


Pedigree/class/provenance/bottle variation - The ups and downs of wines, especially getting a very aged one.

Food pairing, decanting, type of glassware, serving temperature - Dozens of factors to affect a wine.

The chase for the illusive drops of God---> Continues!

Chateau Guiraud: Saccharine Harmony

Sauternes, the Capital of Sweet wines! Presented by Profiters International and we had 3 excellent vintages 2000, 2002 and 2007 to savor from one of the top houses making these sweets. Chateau Guiraud.

Augustin Lacaille, brand ambassador from Chateau Guiraud sharing the history of Guiraud, wine making and various insights regarding Guiraud.

Dezmand from Profiters and Augustin having a toast with the golden wine.

The stars of the night. The 2000 had the usual white flowers on the nose, some honey on palette, acid was still there, shor tinifhs. Having 50% semilon and 50% sauvignon blanc, it was a year with 6hl/ha, a relatively small yield even by sauterne's stanard. (regular Bordeaux yield 50hl/ha and Sauterne's generally would yield 15hl/ha. The 2002 had apples, and it's elegant and light, ready to pair with chinese roasts (65%/35%) . 2007 was minty, quite refreshing and elegant. I find the 2007 the most complete, not quite ready to drink now but I believe with right preparation and glassware, this can pair well with smelly cheeses or be served as apertif or a desert wine on it's own.

With the Sauvignon Blanc in the blends, it brings away a lot of the sweetness and heaviness associated with Semillon heavy type of wines.

The lovely trio which I can drink all night long without my palette growing tired. Thanks to Profiters International and Chateau Guiraud!

Kopi-O

What's in a wine? Usually you have the 'nose', ie the fragrance commonly described with flowers, fruits and minerals. The 'body', or the palette, describe with names such as silky, lean, brooding. The 'finish' or after taste as sharp, smooth, long, sweet.

One in a while, a wine appears and throws the terminology dictionary out of the window, and the 2003 Hermitage Chapoutier is one of them. Opened at 3pm, and till ~9pm+, the wine was compellingly huge, still purplish at the rims, and threatens to beat any nosy drinker into submission. When serve lightly chilled, the palette was silky, creme, akin to heavy dose of condensed milk to a Kopi-O (Plain black coffee). At a certain stretch, the nose AND the finish was darlie-liciously minty. The palette was big, but smooth....until the bouncer jerks you at the neck and gives you a sharp blow right at the end with unusually rough tannins of 8 years. Even with food, this wine was difficult to handle. I enjoyed the experience of this, especially when the stars was aligned with another bottle (the 1988) of the same maker and plot at the same tasting was totally unexpected! The 1988 was herbish, delicate, smooth on the palette and was completely different!

Decanting - 吃风

It was an experiment, to really see how decanting affects a wine. The victim, a 1997 Talbot. Decanting half of it for ~2hrs showed tremendous difference, with the decanted losing out in an direct TKO by unanimous decision. 97, being a 'lean' year, usually wouldn't show much balance nor fruit. Having uncorked the bottle, it wasn't exactly obvious deciding the amount of time to decant (if any was needed). I went ahead with a Bodum large base decanter. Hindsight: A Riedel Merlot decanter for 1hr should do the trick? More victims along the way..

'the NOSE', at Extra Space storage, having 3 identities to confuse the rest of the drinkers while Kenneth, demonstrates the lost arts of reverse decanting.


Château Branaire-Ducru 1975, fruit going, bordeaux, but can't guess the plot at all.

Chateau Talbot 1997, decanted version: lean, uninteresting, bord-like? Bottle version, left-bankish nose, decent palatte.

Chateau Grand Mayne 1999, decent

Caparzo, Brunello di Montalcino 2001. Can't tell any sangiovese from the nose nor palette. Need to drink more italian!

Di Fatto Monferarrto Rosso (vintage?), an interesting Australian, big and sweet, there's softness to it too.

Morton Estate, Hawkes Bay, NZ, Merlot Cabernet Sauvignon 1998. Also pretty sweet, high merlot content. Cabernet which gives the structure.

Lychee Creme

Full of lychee, white flowers, citrus, this Cewuz is fresh, a bit sharp in the finish. The palette was smooth and creamy, akin to having a dose of Lychee Creme! Delicious maybe with more decanting. Fruit could be going so start drinking yours if you have any!

Marcel Deiss Gewurz St Hipplolyte 2002
Rating: 8.5/10 $69 (before 30% discount)
RTD: Yes if price right!!


*rating is my personal view, taking price into consideration

A Rhone affair

WW: look at all the Aluminum clad warriors at the back, waiting for their turn patiently to be entered into the foray.

A very delicious dinner, here we have wasabi prawn and salted egg yolk.

Some big names of the night, CDP, Cotie Rotie, Hermitage rule the night!

The view from OCBC building, 33rd storey!

The menu!

A poorly taken shot, but one of the highlights that made me speechless. A thick broth, ulra smooth, with Shark's bone cartilage, fish maw and bamboo pith.

A picture perfect roasted lamb shoulder. Yummy!

Wine #3, similar to #2, with cloudy/unfiltered look. This was in fact the WOTN of many, E. Guigal Cotie Rotie 1988.

An excellet desert to end the night, chilled royal jelly in young coconut!

Wine affociados taking notes and pictures.

Three of my favourite wines.

Chateau Rayas blanc 2006
Côte Rôtie Barrière 1970
E. Guigal Cotie Rotie 1988
Domaine Font de Michelle Cuvee Etienne Gonnet Chateauneuf de Paper 1998
Paul Jaboulet hermitaget la chapelle 1989
Domaine de Lavieielle Julienne VV CDP 2000
Domaine de Lavieielle Julienne reserve CDP 1999
Giaconda Shiraz 2000
Jean-Michel Gerin Cotie Rotie Les Grandes Places 2001
Chateau du Vatican CDP 2003

Wine photography: An intimate session with wine and lights

Tattered labels and half-broken cork, I had a good session with a 41yr old wine, photographically at least! Contact me at perqjon@gmail.com if you have to have your wines 'shot'!

Tattered label and cork. '1970' is barely visible on the cork.

A top down look at the cork, looks pretty healty while keeping out all the fungi!


A classic shot of a wine bottle.

Of Grapes and Rice

Standing room only, row of 1degree fridges, steaming Oden, what a din. Then it all stops. Shouts are muted, the cold of the air-conditioning is faint, the epitome of rice fermentation. Balance on the palette and finish. Mildly heavy, round, smooth. It was a 2nd session....man..


REWIND: It was an ordinary session, with Bordeaux, Champagne, Italian and Spanish. There was also 7-up! The Nvmanthia was interesting, filled with Chocolate, butter and TM mentioned the force will appear in a few hours. Camensac '79 could be a bit too old, vegetal, a bit 'watery', fruit is going but tannins are still alive. Barde Haut's nose reminds' of Paulliac, palette of merlo, a meatier finish then at typical 97. Bruno Paillard was very yeasty, fresh, easy to drink. Fiano have the 'nose of the night', white flowers, wished more acidty present. 7-up was good too.

Session turned extra-ordinary with a trip to Orihara with TM and gang and we had the pleasure to taste the 1978 Daiginjo, alcohol 16%.....and the room started to spin.

Wines
Chateau de Camensac 1979
Nvmanthia 2007
Barde Haut St Emillion 1997
Bruno Paillard 1999
Colle di Tilo Fiano
7-up

1978 Daiginjo, alcohol 16% (image taken by WW)

Orihara liquor shop and bar
Tori-Tama Restaurant
11 Unity Street #01-02 Robertson Walk
6836-5710 and 6836-5680

Nose of char kway teow & herbs

A friend commented, why do wines smell of western foods, like Liquorice, figs, rose, black currants and not asian foods such as char kway teow, kway chup etc? It's an intriguing question though I'd never think that wines should smell much like char kway teow or even western foods such as steaks or salads. These foods are a mixture of ingredients put together by man, hence nature shouldn't allow it. The vocabulary taken to wines speaks of natural flavours, either a plant, fruit, or elements of the ground. This wouldn't be surprising as a vine takes nutrients from the earth and a grape is a fruit!

Another question I had is the lack of 'eastern flavours' in wines. The call was answered last night, the distinctive nose of Ling Liang (Antelope Horn). A 'herb' which soothes fevers (especially for me), this flavour stood out in the. It was the Jamess 2001 Cotie Rotie. A cool vintage, the unripeness shows in the herbaceous nature of this wine.

Speaking about wines smelling of Asian herbs, I've also had Myras 1982, which smelled heavily of cordyceps (A widely used herb in Chinese medicine and cuisine)

Other notable 'eastern flavoured' wine includes the Ausone 1975, with clear direction of Ceylon Tea.

Earth, wind and fire

It was a casual affair turned serious and into an epic showdown of wines. Up to 15 were presented. Thanks to WW for the organisation and logistics. The night started with a flurry of strong reds, a dash of champagnes, and another flurry of Auslese, TBA, fortified wines and more sweets than my simple palette could take. I was really a happy man by the time we finished and time was really flying. Some blabber here with notes from memory.

Flight of the 2007s Burgundies
JT brought a 2007 Gerard Mugneret Nuits Saint Georges Les Boudots with a very forward palette. Opened for 30mins during lunch and it was capped. Would like to see how it evolves over another 3-5 yrs. I opened a Laroze de Drouhin Chambolle-Musigny 2007 at 3pm and decanted at 5pm. The nose at 7pm was a yummilicious 'gummy bear' licorice, palette was very tight and tannins was pretty hard. Did a double decanting at ~730pm and wine turn bitter at 8pm (wine was opening?). At 9pm+, wine tasted fine with the usual figs and palette was pleasant. This is still really young and tight and I believe the decanting has almost reached a limit. This is the first time trying 2007s and a pretty good and ripe vintage for Burgundies and I look forward to trying more in the coming years.

Battle of the titans - Old wines
An enchanting, mysterious and brooding lady, with whiffs of raw wild flowers, and carrying a stick of honeyed-cherries. Sashays well onto palette yet with hint of tannins lingering at the finish. Unlike anywines which I've tasted, this was really good and interesting. Guessing at least 20yo and stabbing at the dark at Pomerol, this was one of the best wines of the night, the Plince de la Beaudye Pomerol 1970 fr Marcus. This evergreen 41year old one is a great surprise.

Next we had another lady, this time more poise than the Pomerol, proportioned in all the right areas, in a flowy summer dress with a long slit not unlike a chinese cheonsgsum. She carries her conversations well and puts one at ease. She's like a long lost friend whom you swear you have known all your life and would bet your last dollar that you've seen her somewhere. It's..like..'coming home'. Coming home it was, to the noble grape of Cabinet Sauvignon. Yet, it is not Paulliac, but on the famed godly grounds the tiny Gravelly Meadow of Diamond Creek in Napa valley. Perfumes of the earth, rocks, with the easy-going and harmonious palette and a wondrous finish. Time to bring this 33yr old back to see mama.

And yet there was more. Which wine house is more famous and creates passion that obsessed wine drinkers would want to tattoo on their bodies? Or that one wishes that the House's claret flows through his veins? The passion for a heavenly drop of God, the Canon-la-Gaffeliere 1983. The favourite house of W, this is a superb wine, with the signature jammy and sweet nature of CLG's wine. The 1983 is a little vegetal, but still great. Comparing with the delicious 2004 and 1998, there's nothing like aged wines!

The rest of the entries will be entered in separate posts.






Ghislaine Barthod 1er Cru les Cras Chambolle Musigny 1996
VDP "Le Ciecle" 1996
Laroze de Drouhin Chambolle-Musigny 2007
Domaine Jamet Cote-Rotie 2001
Chateau canon la gaffeliere 1983
Plince de la Beaudye Pomerol 1970
Gerard Mugneret Nuits Saint Georges Les Boudots 2007
Giusto di Notri Rosso Tosca 2001
Diamond Creek Gravelly Meadow 1978
Harmonie blanc de noir 2005
Robert Weil Kiedrich Grafenberg Auslese 2001
Fritz Haag Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr Auslese 1995
Weinlaubenhof Kracher No.7 TBA 2002
Chambers Rosewood Vineyards Rutherglen Special Tokay

Huber's Food & Wine Fair 28-29th May 2011

*No images as I didn't bring my camera!*

A new event on the calender? Organised by The Straits Wine Company and Huber's Butchery. The Straits Wine Company has been holding the wine fiesta yearly around October season. A look at the 2009's Wine Fiesta by The Straits Wine Company here.

The scale of the Huber's F&W fair is pretty small, with just four 'booths' of wines covering mostly Australian and a dash of Italian wines. Food wise, there was smoke salmon (best dish in my opinion), ox tail soup, beef steaks, sausages, various types of breads and cheeses. The entry charge is SGD$25 per pax and it's all-you-can-eat.

Notable wine selection included Rocca Delle Macel Sasyr Sangiovese Syrah 2007 from Tuscany, Italy. Discounted price of $39 was reasonable. Copletrone Montefalco Rosso DOC 2007 from Umbria, Italy was great, with rose, deep floral nose and a very pleasant palatte. Moving to Australian, the notable wines were Woodstock Shiraz 2009 and Woodstock The Stocks Shiraz 2008 from McLaren Vale. The 2009 was had nose of white flowers, some pepper on the palette, saccharine notes, very pleasant. SGD$29! The Stocks 2008 was smooth, balanced and a delicate Shiraz for such a young vintage. The Stocks takes it's grapes from a 'monopole' with vines up to 110 years old. Priced at SGD$83, it's a great value for money Shiraz!

Other wines worth mentioning:
Woodstock Old Fortified NV. SGD$59 (RRP $68.80). Bernice, the representative from McLaren Vale, mentions that one can keep this for months in a fridge. This has the usual honeyed, chocolaty nose but a very pleasant light palate Bernice recommends Vanilla icecream + a shot of port and a crushed Ferrero Rocher (Can't wait to try this!!)

G.D. Vajra Moscato 2009 SGD$28 (RRP $34.80)
A very decent and delicious Moscato with good finesse. Acidity rounds off well in fine harmony with the fruity. A little too much sugar for my liking but this is a sure hit with the ladies. A first round TKO with Brown Brothers.


Wines not worth mentioning:
Schloss Schonborn Marcobrunn-Kabinett Riesling 2008
Flat, sugared drink. Would prefer some acidity to balance the wine out. Fruit was also not much present.

Personal thoughts: A good event to bring together friends for a lazy brunch or 'tea'. Would prefer the food to be warmer and some of the wines/beers more chilled. Hope to see more events from Huber/Straits Wine Company!

Wine Lottery

What's better than free wine? Getting a wine which is out of reach! Especially the aged and rare...

Chateau Cazeneuve 2000. Hint of rich chocolate in the first nose, then banyard all the way. Heavy and round, but balanced. Should be great with Stir-fry, BBQ, Roasts. Suggest decant 2-4hours.

Rioia 1975. Fruit still alive, tannins are still heavy, suggest 3hours decanting. Surf chilled.