Site Specific Pinot

Producer: Dalrymple Vineyards

An unspoilt landscape in the Southern Hemisphere. Waters teeming with whales and dolphins. And of course, lots of sheep. If you’re picturing New Zealand, then my little misdirection has worked. I’m actually referring to Tasmania, a place on the receiving end of much attention recently, not least because of the unique opportunity to view the panoramic lightshow known as the Southern Lights. The other thing it has in common with New Zealand, and of primary interest to wine lovers, is that Tasmania is also a source of very fine Pinot Noir, arguably the best to come out of Australia.

This Duck Prefers Wine to Water

Producer: Luis Pato

If there is one Portuguese trait I am most grateful for, it is their tolerant approach to punctuality. Even by that measure, only one of saintly patience could have welcomed us so warmly when we arrived three hours late due to a mix-up at the car rental company. I shudder to think what the reaction would have been had this happened in Bordeaux – when I visited two years back, a delay of five minutes had my phone ringing furiously and a quiet word of advice that le châteaux expect better timeliness from their visitors.

Wine of the Month - October 2017

After a dalliance with French grape varieties which resulted in the Super-Tuscans and their many imitators, Italy has returned to focusing on her native varieties. The current vogue for indigenous grapes can be seen in the demand for fashionable Etna wines, top Brunellos and rich Amarones. This has been aided by improvements in winemaking and the reduction of yields, meaning that Italian grapes are producing wines of increasing interest and attractive individuality. I was at a gathering of wine lovers when the Sartarelli Verdicchio "Balciana" caught my eye (and tastebuds). The estate has dedicated itself to the Verdicchio grape variety in the Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi DOC zone of Marche, the native home of the grape. This particular wine is made from late harvested grapes and according to Italian Wine Ambassador Chan Wai Xin includes a proportion of botrytised-affected grapes in the blend.

Wine: Sartarelli Balciana Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi DOC Classico Superiore 2014

Tasting note: The wine reveals a medium gold colour with a honeyed nose. The palate is dry and full-bodied, with notes of white pepper, honey, oranges and fennel underlined by bracing acidity. Lovely lush texture with a pleasing complexity.

Dirt-y Talk with Don Melchor Winemaker Enrique Tirado

Producer: Concha y Toro Don Melchor

Is the whole greater than the sum of its parts? A masterclass with Enrique Tirado, Chief Winemaker of Don Melchor aimed to show how different vineyard plots contribute to the final blend. Don Melchor is one of Chile’s signature wines, on the same level with wines such as Montes Alpha M, Errazuriz’s Don Maximiano and Almaviva, the latter a joint venture between Concha y Toro and the Rothschild family of Bordeaux. Don Melchor is also made by Concha y Toro and is named after the founder. The Chilean wine producer has had a good year, with sales increasing 23% in Asia according to trade newsletter The Drinks Business. It was ranked as the second biggest selling wine brand in 2017, behind Gallo’s Barefoot label.

Wine of the Month - August 2017

Sauvignon Blanc is a tricky grape. It's prized for its acidity, but keep it for too long and its attractive flavours of grass and passionfruit deteriorate into cooked vegetal notes. So at the recent Margaret River 50th Anniversary Tasting, when I tasted the Umamu Sauvignon Blanc Semillon and found it so fresh and vibrant, I expected that it was from a recent vintage. To my surprise it was a 2010 bottling, making it a wine that is seven years old and looking far younger than many other Sauvignon Blanc/Semillon blends at the tasting.

Umamu is the brainchild of Penang-born Charmaine Saw, an overachiever who studied chemistry in the United Kingdom and trained as a chef with Le Cordon Bleu before pursuing a career in management consulting. She sought the assistance of one of Western Australia's most renowned winemakers to craft the wines, but the marketing and direction bears her stamp. Balance and contentment are the keywords, imparting a very zen approach to what is quintessentially a western beverage.

Wine: Umamu Estate Sauvignon Blanc Semillon 2010

Tasting note: Fresh and surging with vitality, as though it was just bottled. There is prominent lime and citrus fruit on the palate, with just a murmur of oak providing the backdrop. I wouldn't normally recommend a Sauvignon Blanc to age, but there are some Asian genes to this particular wine.

Margaret River Wine 50th Anniversary Tasting

The Margaret River wine region celebrates 50 years of commercial wine-making this year. The first planting was in 1967 at Vasse Felix by Dr Tom Cullity who was heavily influenced by a research paper by Dr John Gladstones showing the suitability of the region for wine.

Singapore being a hop, skip and jump away will also be joining in the festivities with a tasting featuring some of the top estates from Margaret River. Details as follows:

Date/Time: 
Thursday, 31 August 2017, 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm

Venue:
 Equinox
69th Floor
Swissotel The Stamford
2 Stamford Road, 178882

Tickets cost SGD52.50 and are available at this link.

Separately, there will also be a dinner featuring 11 iconic wines paired with a 5 course degustation menu at Salt Grill & Sky Bar on Wednesday 30th August at 7:00 pm. Tickets available for SGD250 per person from Salt Grill & Sky Bar at +65 9769 9050 or email charmaine_a@pj-partners.com.

Small, Medium and Large in Napa Valley

Look no further than the Napa Valley if you want to see an example of wine tourism at its finest. This corner of California is a well-oiled machine of tasting rooms, tourist accommodation and world-class restaurants. The French Laundry, Thomas Keller’s temple of fine dining, is located here, as are cult wineries Harlan Estate and Screaming Eagle. But you should discard any notion you may have of an intimate tête-à-tête with folksy winemakers. Throngs of people pack the tasting rooms, and even though I was there on a weekday there was still a fair bit of traffic along the main thoroughfare, Highway 29. The Silverado Trail, a smaller road that runs parallel to Highway 29, was similarly congested, if not more so. The winery tours are well-managed however, with generous pourings and a relaxed vibe.

Wine of the Month - July 2017

If you're looking for a crisp, flavoursome white at an affordable price point, then this is the wine for you. Grüner Veltliner is Austria's vinous gift to the world, a grape that takes to the unique loess soil like a fish to water. Usually unoaked, Grüner is capable of aging well when yields are restricted. The producer Gruber Röschitz is based in the Weinvertel region and is run by three siblings. A combination of warm days and cool nights produce wines of finesse and balance.

Wine: Gruber Röschitz Reipersberg Grüner Veltliner 2015

Tasting note: This wine comes from a single, south-facing terraced vineyard and is matured in stainless steel. It opens clean as a whistle, with unadulterated flavours of pear, grilled nuts and the signature white pepper so typical of Grüner Veltliner. The palate is fresh and vivacious while showing a lovely rounded texture. A clear sense of place to this groovy bottle.

Distributor: Ampelia Fine Wines

Languedoc Greatness

Producer: Mas de Daumas Gassac

This week I tasted a Cabernet blend from the 1982 vintage that was in perfect condition and showing all of the weathered complexity that only age can deliver. It’s like looking into a careworn face and appreciating every crease the years have bestowed. From that statement you may be tempted to guess that it was a great Bordeaux, perhaps even a first growth, but this wine was in fact made in the humble Languedoc region in the south of France. Narrowing down the producer is an easier task. There is only one that makes such long-lived Cabernet – Mas de Daumas Gassac, sometimes referred to as the Grand Cru of the Languedoc.

Passel Estate – A New Name in Margaret River

Producer: Passel Estate

Owners Barry and Wendy Stimpson

After a spirited and educational afternoon evaluating some wines from the Barossa Valley, the organiser of the session asked if we would like to stay back for a few minutes to meet the owners of a small winery in Margaret River. I had initially planned to rush off to the next appointment, but as they were already there I decided it would be churlish not to at least taste the wines. I am glad I did. Barry and Wendy Stimpson are Singapore residents with high-powered careers in the fields of law and strategic consultancy, but they were bitten by the wine bug when visiting Margaret River. In 2011 they purchased the land that was to become Passel Estate. The inspiration for the name came when they volunteered part of the area as a refuge for endangered western ringtail possums (passel is the term for a group of possums). As it turns out, the peppermint trees ringing the vineyard provide the ideal shelter and food source for the tree dwellers. Plantings of Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz date back to 1994, now augmented with a parcel of Chardonnay.

Different Shades of Pink

Eight years ago, a group of us were at the Barton & Guestier Wine School in Bordeaux, where the facilitator presented us three glasses of wine to taste. The twist being that these wines were served in opaque black glasses so as to remove any preconceptions that colour might give. While most of us were able to pick out the red wine, a surprise was that most of us mistook the rosé for a white. Did this suggest that taste-wise there was very little difference between a rosé and a white wine? Would our tasting notes have been different had we been able to see the colour? Research certainly indicates so. A study by Frederic Brochet and Denis Dubourdieu in 2001 found that tasters perceived a white wine as having the odour of a red wine when coloured red.

Visiting Beaune - Maison Joseph Drouhin

The thing that impressed me most when visiting Maison Joseph Drouhin was their labyrinth pre-war cellar, but it is appropriate to provide some background first. The founder, Joseph Drouhin, established the namesake négociant in 1880 at the young age of 22. It is still a family-run company, now run by the fourth generation and headed by Frédéric Drouhin who plays the role of company president. He is aided by his siblings Véronique Drouhin-Boss (Head Winemaker), Philippe Drouhin (Estates Manager) and Laurent Drouhin (U.S. Director). Philippe was instrumental in converting the domaine over to biodynamics, a practice that came about because he found that conventional agriculture did not address the question of the long term effects of chemical use in the vineyard. Soil specialist Claude Bourguignon once shocked the winemakers of Burgundy by declaring that the soils of the region had less microbial life than the Sahara desert. Today Maison Joseph Drouhin comprises 73 hectares, the majority of which is in Chablis (38 ha), and 32 ha of mostly premier cru and grand cru vineyards in the Côte d’Or.

Visiting Beaune - Maison Louis Jadot

On this trip I was in Beaune for only a day, so selecting the wineries to visit was based on which producers could provide the greatest overview of Burgundy. I was thrilled to be able to visit Louis Jadot, a venerable business that has been operating since 1859. The founder, Louis Henry Denis Jadot initially focused on the Northern Europe market as he was from Belgium and familiar with the area. His grandson, Louis Auguste Jadot, further expanded to the Americas, Great Britain and New Zealand. In 1985, Maison Louis Jadot was purchased by the Kopf family who also own Kobrand Corporation, the sole importers of Jadot Burgundies in the United States. The company is currently run by Pierre-Henry Gagey, whose father André Gagey was Louis Auguste Jadot’s deputy.

Rosé Revolution is Back

The fourth edition of the Rosé Revolution takes place on Sunday, May 14th at Hotel Fort Canning from 2pm to 7pm. Tickets are available through Ticketflap or Peatix. Organised by Eddie McDougall, AKA The Flying Winemaker, highlights of the event include over 20 of the world's finest rosés accompanied by food and entertainment. For those wanting to go the whole hog, there is also a four-course rosé pairing menu on the 11th of May from 7pm to 10pm, and a VIP area with lucky draws and goodie bags. The list of featured wines and dinner menu are at the bottom of this post.

Wine of the Month - April 2017

While Masi makes a very dependable Amarone della Valpolicella Classico called Costasera, this is not that wine. Rather this is a duty-free exclusive made in the same mold but with a greater percentage of the Corvina grape. Corvina is considered the best grape for use in Amarone, contributing sour cherry flavours and a light, elegant structure. Amarone is one of Italy's signature wines, made using grapes that have been dried out, traditionally on straw mats. The drying process softens the tannins and activates flavour compounds, but also results in a loss of water, meaning that it takes a lot more grapes to make Amarone than other types of wine. Well-made Amarone is never cheap.

Wine: Masi "Nectar Costasera" Amarone della Valpolicella Classico DOC 2009

Tasting note: Throwing a thick sediment, this wine is drinking beautifully at the moment. It displays rich, concentrated flavours of fruitcake, raisins, chocolate and blackberry jam, cocooned in velvety tannins and a plush mouthfeel. This is a hedonist's dream, and beautifully balanced even at 15% alcohol. The freshness keeps it lively and it is all to easy to finish the whole bottle.

Visiting Beaune - An Introduction

Is there any region that appears more deceptively simple than Burgundy? Along with Bordeaux it is one of the most famous wine regions of the world. The grape varieties are simple – Pinot Noir for the reds and Chardonnay for the whites (not counting the small quantities of Aligoté and Sauvignon Blanc, and the Gamay of Beaujolais). The wines of Burgundy frequently dominate wine auctions and certainly anyone who is even faintly interested in wine would have tried a bottle, if very lucky, perhaps even a grand cru.

The Changing Face of DFS

DFS (the travel retail group) really knows how to throw a party. The recently concluded Masters of Wines and Spirits was a free-flow extravaganza of luxury champagne, cru classé wines, smooth single malts and inspired cocktails. The event was held at Tras Street in Tanjong Pagar, an area populated by small startups and dodgy KTV bars a decade ago and in recent years has seen a profusion of hip restaurants and cafes. Musical entertainment was provided by pop-rock string quartet VOX while faux traffic wardens, looking as though they had just stepped out of a modelling catalogue, helped direct the flow of bemused car drivers passing through. Canapés at these events are usually not the main attraction, but I could not help gorging on a couple of the plump baby squids on offer at Sushi Mitsuya.

All about Gambero Rosso

Now in its 30th edition, the Gambero Rosso Vini d’Italia Wine Guide covers 2400 producers and 22000 wines, making it the most comprehensive guide to Italian wines. There is compact and relevant detail for each featured producer, but I found more interest in the preface for the guide. Of the 429 wines awarded the top rating of Tre Bicchieri, 80 hailed from Tuscany, 75 from Piedmont, and 38 from Veneto. Yet the top two still wines in this edition were from neither of these places. The top red is the Gioia del Colle Primitivo Muro Sant’Angelo Contrada Barbatto 2013 from Tenute Chiaromonte, while the top white is the Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi Classico Superiore Misco 2015 from Tenuta di Tavignano. Side note – it boggles me that anyone would think that the longer the name the more impressive the wine. Surely wines such as Sassicaia, Margaux and Opus One have proven that consumers appreciate easy to remember labels? The key point here though is that these wines, from Puglia and Marche respectively, show that there is value to looking outside of the traditionally more famous wine regions of Italy.

Wine of the Month - March 2017

One of the pleasures of attending the Gambero Rosso Top Italian Wines Roadshow this month was the opportunity to taste some unusual grape varieties. Lacrima di Morro d’Alba is a richly scented red wine that bears a striking resemblance to Gewürztraminer. Most recognisable is the note of rose petal, which anyone who has tried bandung would immediately find familiar. It is found in the central-eastern region of Marche which shares a border with Tuscany. The Lacrima grape, which means teardrop in Italian, should not be confused with the Lacryma Christi of Campania, and the town of Morro d'Alba is not the same as the Alba of Piedmont. The winery representative suggests a match of Thai curries for this wine.

Wine: Velenosi Querciantica Lacrima DOC 2015

Tasting note: Macerated on skins for 20 days with daily pump-overs in closed vats to preserve aromas. A heady scent of rose petal issues from the wine, the signature of this unique variety. The palate is medium bodied with ripe tannins and a delicate fruitiness accompanied by juicy freshness. It is a wine likely to find as many detractors as followers due to the strength of its character.

Wine of the Month - February 2017

A growing trend in the wine world is the rise of natural wine. Pushed around by wild-eyed sommeliers and equally wild-haired wine critics, these wines are made with as little intervention as possible. In some cases, they can be good, and surprisingly long-lived. When they're bad, they smell and taste of sweaty socks. Their advocates can be seen insisting that these off flavours show purity and a sense of place. Perhaps, but people do some pretty unnatural things, such as showering with soap, so that their terroir is less noticeable to others.

I have tasted some natural wines that were deliciously clean and impressive. One of the best places to sample some is Wine RVLT, which I wrote about previously here. The wine world is constantly evolving, and now we have sparkling natural wines, pétillant-naturel or pét-nat for short. During the process of fermentation, carbon dioxide is generated as yeast consumes the natural sugar in grapes. Pét-nats are simply wines bottled before the fermentation is complete, thus the carbon dioxide is trapped inside the bottle while the yeast finishes eating the sugar. The cloudy appearance of the wine is due to the dead yeast cells.

For some reason or another, Australia is a large producer of pét-nats. The combination of hipster cafes, vegan and gluten free options seems to be fertile breeding ground for lovers of natural wine. This wine was made by Tim Wildman, a British-born Master of Wine who conducts wine tours in Australia. It is a blend of  50% Vermentino, 25% Nero d’Avola, and 25% Muscat. The source of the fruit is Riverland, a warm wine-growing region in South Australia.

Wine: Astro Bunny 2016

Tasting note: I was informed that the wine should be shaken to stir up the sediment evenly. Wouldn't this cause the wine to fizz upon opening? The sales staff said that it wouldn't, but it did. Consider yourself warned. The pressure is not as high as say, Champagne, more akin to cider. Very distinct grapefruit flavours, with peach and grape on the finish. Dry and light bodied. Not particularly complex but unusual and refreshing. Worth exploring at AUD35.  

The French Prince of Liger-Belair

Producer: Domaine Thibault Liger-Belair

Thibault Liger-Belair’s introduction to wine began in 1988, where as a teenager he would spend his weekends in Nuits-Saint-Georges helping a family friend in the vineyard. He announced his intention to become a winemaker to his father at the age of 16, but it was not until 2001 that he established Domaine Thibault Liger-Belair and started making his own wine. While blessed with holdings that had been in the family for generations, when Thibault reclaimed control of the vineyards which had previously been leased out he found it necessary to effect wide-ranging changes. “In 2001 when I took over the family vineyard the soil was grey. Grey soil is a sign of dead soil. That is why for the first vintage it was very important to give new life to the soil. Since the beginning I have decided to stop all chemical products and to go organic.” In 2004, Thibault went further and adopted a biodynamic approach to managing his vineyards. “The main thing in Burgundy is the soil, and the problem in the last 30 years, is that we have integrated into the soil what the vine needed, in terms of fertilisation. I have decided to integrate into the soil what the soil needed, [in order to] give to the vine what the vine needed, which is one step more. The vine is just a reflection of the soil.”

Wine of the Month - January 2017

This was one of the wines tasted at Dr N.K. Yong's Celebration 90 wine masterclass. It is a hedonist's dream, a pure exercise in pleasure from one of the best producers in the Mosel. Sugar is known to trigger a release of dopamine (the brain's reward centre), and this wine - so complex, rich and sweet, is certainly likely to have people addicted at the first sip. Gold capsules are used to distinguish the best wines of Egon Müller.

Wine: Egon Müller Scharzhofberger Riesling Auslese Goldkapsel 2010

Tasting note: The Scharzhofberg vineyard, comprising soils of grey and red slate, is the most exalted location for Riesling in the Saar Valley. Egon Müller owns 8.2 ha of the 28 ha site, making it the most prominent producer of wines from this vineyard. The colour of molten gold, this wine showed impeccable balance and freshness, with notes of sweet peach, pineapple, and a limey freshness. There are few wines that could match the finish, an impression that lingered so long on the palate it is etched into memory.

A Look at New Zealand Pinot Noir Regions

Financial markets have a saying – as January goes, so goes the year. So far, this month has been all about Pinot Noir. The La Paulée de Singapour (a celebration of Burgundian wine) has just concluded, an evening which saw several esteemed winemakers descend onto our island with treasured bottles of premier and grand cru wines. The dinner took place just a week after a tasting organised by New Zealand Winegrowers and Air New Zealand. While New Zealand’s fame as a wine producing country was built on Sauvignon Blanc, it is the Pinot Noir which has been gaining emerging as a serious contender to red Burgundy. The tasting was billed as a 360° View of New Zealand Wine, and through the creative use of a VR headset visitors were able to experience the magnificent scenery of New Zealand.

A Ground Report from Istanbul

The first time I visited Istanbul was in the spring of 2008. It was glorious weather – blue and sunny skies, with a crisp breeze blowing as we cruised down the Bosporus. With a fingerhold in Europe, Istanbul represented the meshing of the best of Middle East and European cultures, acting as a beacon of democracy alongside a respect for Islamic values. Visitors were treated to a rich cultural history spanning Greek, Christian and Ottoman rule, and a bounty of exotic foods; raw honeycomb, sweet baklava, moreish hazelnuts. Security was ever-present, but this felt more like reassurance and the dangers seemed no greater than any other European city. Istanbul was truly a Turkish delight.