KOT Selections adds Mosel Rieslings to its portfolio

Producer: Daniel Vollenweider, Weiser-Künstler

(Pictures from Weingut Vollenweider and Weingut Weiser-Künstler)

Fate can have a serendipitous effect. Seventeen years ago, when Ong YiXin was a cellar hand at Dr. Loosen, it would have been a long shot to imagine that the friendship he struck with fellow intern and budding winemaker Daniel Vollenweider would evolve into a business partnership today. In his current role as Managing Partner of wine merchant KOT Selections, YiXin reminisces about those early days. “We both young, crazy and didn’t have girlfriends back then, so all we could talk about was wine and more wine,” quipped YiXin. Subsequently YiXin worked several vintages with Daniel, starting off in a small one room apartment that doubled as a makeshift winery.

Nakata Scores a Hat-trick with “N” Sake

Producer: "N" Sake by Hidetoshi Nakata, Takagi Shuzo

Clad in a dark blue Tom Ford denim jacket with matching jeans, Hidetoshi Nakata cuts a precise figure as he enters the private room at French fine dining venue Les Amis to promote his latest venture. After achieving worldwide fame in the arenas of football and fashion, Nakata’s third big venture focuses on promoting something closer to home and heart – Japanese sake. After a pilgrimage through various Japanese prefectures that saw him visiting over 250 producers, Nakata discovered one that could help him realise his vision of producing a premium sake. The chosen brewery, Takagi Shuzo, has been making sake since 1685 and already produces the much sought-after Juyondai label, one of the few internationally recognised brands. “To me Takagi Shuzo was the best, because of the sake master’s knowledge,” said Nakata.

Austria's Wine Specialties

Producers: Wieninger, Loimer

The famous Danube river provides the backdrop to this vineyard in Wachau

In souvenir shops around Austria it is common to find T-shirts light-heartedly proclaiming “No kangaroos in Austria.” It’s a self-deprecating reference to how the small Central European country (pop. 8.5 million) is often overshadowed by the fame of its barbeque loving namesake. But this country, which holds a wealth of Baroque architecture and birthed talents such as Gustav Klimt and Johann Strauss could not be more dissimilar. A recent trip there unearthed further secrets unique to the Austrian wine landscape.

Wine of the Month - January 2016

This month's WOTM is a real curio. It is a white wine made from Rotgipfler, which even in its native country Austria is a rare find. I only had the pleasure of tasting it due to a chance encounter with a fellow sommelier who showed me this wine in a blind tasting. While it was a good bet that the wine was made from an indigenous grape from an Old World country due to its unusual taste profile, pinning down the actual region was a challenge. The density and richness of the fruit led me to believe that it was from a warm climate, a guess that proved wrong when the wine was revealed as having come from Thermenregion, named for its profusion of thermal springs and marked by sunny, dry summers with cool winters. Although the grape can be made into sweeter styles, this is a dry wine. 

Photo credit: WineLeo

Wine: Johanneshof Reinisch Rotgipfler 2012

Tasting note: A beautiful golden hue to this wine that hints at its generosity. The palate lives up to the promise, exhibiting ripe tropical fruits and notes of yellow peach, rock melon, herbal candy and a slight nuttiness. The full, oily texture is counterbalanced by high acidity and a refreshing finish. The unique flavour offers an interesting alternative to common grape varieties and the price is very wallet-friendly.

Distributor: WineLeo

Wining and Dining this Festive Season

Company: Pernod Ricard

It's a few short days till the close of the year and I hope that you have met your goals better than I have. My resolution to have a quiet, wallet-preserving December have so far been for naught. Dinner at the Michelin starred Qui Plume La Lune in Paris far overshot my budget, but their rendition of roast pigeon was as good as it gets. Juicy, oh so flavourful and accompanied with a rosemary jus that shows how good the French are with sauces. Closer to home, a Christmas dinner at Snack Culture brought out the playful side of dining. The sous vide and deep-fried chicken breast was a pleasing contrast in textures and exemplified owner Tat Hon's creative approach to cooking (he promises "fun dining, not fine dining"). If you lament the profusion of soulless franchised restaurants in Singapore, do try out this place, located in the convenient and yet obscure CT Hub along Kallang Avenue.

Wine of the Month - November 2015

How on earth to keep track of all the Penfolds wines? They have the Cellar Reserve Range, Koonunga Hill, Bin Wines, Luxury Wines, the list goes on and on. Fortunately, one thing Penfolds excels at is communication. Every Penfolds tasting that I have attended has had eloquent, passionate ambassadors with in-depth knowledge of the wines, who could explain the technical differences between the RWT Shiraz and Magill Estate Shiraz. A Penfolds event is truly a sybaritic feast, a line-up of voluptuous, sensual wines that leave you giddy with delight. No need to tease out subtle flavours here; the wines are unabashedly rich, proudly Australian and compellingly pure. It would be easy to select Grange or Yattarna as the WOTM - these are fantastic wines, but the breadth and quality of Penfolds is such that there are many gems to be found within their collection. One wine that I enjoyed recently was the Bin 150 Marananga Shiraz, first introduced in 2008. Made from Barossa Valley fruit, this wine is matured 16-18 months in new and seasoned American and French oak.

Wine: Penfolds Bin 150 Marananga Shiraz 2013

Tasting note: This new-ish addition to the Penfolds portfolio displays the classic richness and ripe fruit one would expect from the Barossa Valley, but what elevates this wine is its enticing cornucopia of spices - a mix of clove, mint and caraway seeds. Plush, gorgeous and refreshing, this is a wine to uncork when you want to make an impression.

Comparing Apples to Apples to Apfelwein

Producer: Obsthof am Steinberg

For those who are only interested in wine, you may want to skip this post. Although if you are in Frankfurt, spiritual centre of apfelwein, you certainly shouldn't deprive yourself of the opportunity to try this local specialty. Made from pressed apples and fermented to produce a beverage with alcohol in the low-to-mid single digits, it bears more than a passing similarity to wine made from grapes. Vintage apfelwein? Check. Use of different varieties, each which contributes its own flavours? Check. Ability to improve with age? Check (well at least that's what I was told).

Wine of the Month - October 2015

German Riesling is proof that wine doesn't have to cost an arm and a leg to deliver great pleasure. Provided you choose a good producer, even their entry level Rieslings can be great. Poor and mass-market Riesling will often use sweetness to mask faults in the wine and lack that electrifying quality that the best Rieslings possess - a combination of thrilling acidity and explosive fruit. This month's WOTM is produced by Reichsgraf von Kesselstatt, managed by Annegret Reh-Gartner whose husband is a two-star Michelin chef.

Wine: Reichsgraf von Kesselstatt RK Riesling 2014

Tasting note: Made from a combination of own-grown and purchased fruit from the Mosel, Saar and Ruwer Valleys. Light bodied with a little residual sugar, this wine has immediate charm, but also packs a solid extract of quince, grapefruit and lime flavours. An ideal wine to entertain guests or with light dishes, the wine's low alcohol (9.5%) and bracing acidity simultaneously refreshes and stimulates the palate.

Tolpuddle Makes a Splash at Shaw + Smith Luncheon

Producer: Shaw + Smith, Tolpuddle Vineyard

Michael Hill Smith (R) with Monopole Managing Direct Michael Chong

This year Shaw + Smith celebrates its 26th vintage. In town for a tasting of his latest wines (paired with exquisite dim sum from Jade Palace Restaurant), winemaker Michael Hill Smith MW shows no sign of resting on his laurels. Highly anticipated was the tasting of wines from Tolpuddle Vineyard, an estate in southern Tasmania that Michael and his cousin Martin Shaw had acquired back in 2011. “We went on a road trip not expecting to buy anything except lunch and dinner in Tasmania, and ended up with probably the best vineyard in Tasmania with 20-year old Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.” The north-east facing vineyard has soils composed of light silica over sandstone.

Weekend Winery Business with a Co-op

This post was contributed by Lucia Santoso, an avid wine lover, musician and traveller currently based in Germany.

Harald Weiss presents a selection of Schriesheim wines

Imagine you’ve inherited a hectare or two of vineyard. What do you do? Quit your day job and honour the family tradition by launching into the wine business? What would be the risks? Can you earn a living out of it?

First world problems, I see you roll your eyes… But in Germany this can be a real situation one would face, and there is a solution - keep your day job and run the wine business in the weekend, by joining a winemaker’s co-operative (Winzergenossenschaft), explained Harald Weiss, GM of the Schriesheim co-op.