In case you were wondering where I have been for the last 3 weeks, I came back from Japan 2 weeks ago. It was a refreshing trip to be able to walk the markets and taste the cuisine. There is no place better to taste authentic Jap food than the homelands itself. If you think you can get the same quality in your country, you will be pleasantly suprised how much better it can get over there.
So I have been busy packing for USA and will be gone for 4 months. Hopefully I will have time to write about my experience there but it being on the road makes it a challenge. We will see how things go. Happy drinking, y'all. Maybe I will post some pics?
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Supermarket Senarios: Going French
I was over at Cold Storage Orchard Point. I was quite impressed as Orchard Point has a good range of wines including fortified, sparkling and dessert wines at some reasonable prices. They also have some aged wines at good prices such as 2004 Australian Chardonnay and Soave. Today, we will look more at the French. I recommend you to check it out as there are some good finds there.
1) Chateau Germain Bourgogne 2002 at $42.95. This is a Chardonnay from Burgundy at the lowest entry level. If you are into aged Chardonnay, you can expect something toasty, honey, figs and developed on the nose and heavier on the palate. This is a wine that can go well with salty nuts or even caramel ice-cream if the wine is chilled. For a Burgundy Chardonnay, the price is acceptable
2) Paul Jaboulet Aine Chateaunuef-du-Pape 2007 at $86.55. This price for a CDP is also quite reasonable considering that CDP in France can cost from 30 to 45 Euros. From previous experience in CDP, I expect aromas of wild cherries, pepper, stewed plum notes, soy or the other extreme of floral, cherry, confectionary & liqourice. In terms of body, it is medium plus bodied. This is a wine that can go with lamb dishes with rosemary and thyme.
3) Paul Jaboulet Aine Gigondas 2007 at $57.70. The grapes are similar as Gigondas but the climate is not as warm. The soils of Gigondas too is different as it is limestone at higher altitudes. In a blind tasting, it is not easy to differentiate between CDP and Gigondas. Given the price difference, I would pick the Gigondas over the CDP.
4) Paul Jaboulet Aine Muscat de Beaumes-Venise 2007 at $76.90. This is a wine that is sweet and alcohol has been added to it to stop fermentation. It is honeyed, sweet, grapey with floral aromas and peaches. Good as a starter with fruit salad or at the end of the night by itself. My only problem is the price is slightly too high when I can get half a bottle in France for 10 Euros.
My Choice: Gigondas is my pick for tonight. It isn't overly priced like the Muscat or CDP. Its flavour-profile can be similar to CDP but the quality can be better. I would stay away from the 2002 Chardonnay as there is no guaranteed that a village Burgundy can be aged that long. Most of the time, a village Chardonnay is meant to be drank young.
2) Paul Jaboulet Aine Chateaunuef-du-Pape 2007 at $86.55. This price for a CDP is also quite reasonable considering that CDP in France can cost from 30 to 45 Euros. From previous experience in CDP, I expect aromas of wild cherries, pepper, stewed plum notes, soy or the other extreme of floral, cherry, confectionary & liqourice. In terms of body, it is medium plus bodied. This is a wine that can go with lamb dishes with rosemary and thyme.
3) Paul Jaboulet Aine Gigondas 2007 at $57.70. The grapes are similar as Gigondas but the climate is not as warm. The soils of Gigondas too is different as it is limestone at higher altitudes. In a blind tasting, it is not easy to differentiate between CDP and Gigondas. Given the price difference, I would pick the Gigondas over the CDP.
4) Paul Jaboulet Aine Muscat de Beaumes-Venise 2007 at $76.90. This is a wine that is sweet and alcohol has been added to it to stop fermentation. It is honeyed, sweet, grapey with floral aromas and peaches. Good as a starter with fruit salad or at the end of the night by itself. My only problem is the price is slightly too high when I can get half a bottle in France for 10 Euros.
My Choice: Gigondas is my pick for tonight. It isn't overly priced like the Muscat or CDP. Its flavour-profile can be similar to CDP but the quality can be better. I would stay away from the 2002 Chardonnay as there is no guaranteed that a village Burgundy can be aged that long. Most of the time, a village Chardonnay is meant to be drank young.
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
The Tastebud Myth & Wine Glasses
The market has many different sorts of wine glasses with brands from different parts of the world such as Riedel, Schott Zwiesel, Mikasa, Chef & Sommelier and Plumm. Each company has different series of glasses and each series has different types of glasses for different wines. There are glasses for everything - for different grapes and different styles. Purchasers of such glassware believe that their experience will be enhanced if they use the right glass for the wine - like fitting a shoe with the right size to their foot. But does the right glass enhance the wine?
Each wine smells different. Some are more aromatic, some can be fruity, or woody, or grassy. I believe that the right glassware makes a difference in expressing the wine aromas. Some glass shapes can concentrate the aromas better than other glasses. It may not be a better glass because it all depends on whether what you are concentrating is good or bad. Then again, I have had many ocassions where a few of us are using the same glass, but then our wines smelt different. Some more expressive than others.
Then, there are the five tastes of salty, sweet, sour, bitterness, and savoury. Each wine has different degrees of tastes. Glassmakers shape the lips of each glass in a certain fashion so that they can control the way the wine lands on our tongue to create a favourable impression. For example, if the wine is sweet, the glass should direct the wine away from the tongue's tip, where the sweet receptors are located. This is to prevent the wine from tasting too cloying. All this is based on the assumption that the tongue map exists and everyone has the same map. The reality is that it does not. There are no special spots on the tongue that contains solely sweet receptors or bitter receptors. It doesn't matter where the wine lands.
Would I still buy special wine glasses for tasting wines? It all depends on how much it costs?. Usually, such glasses don't come cheap. They cost about $25 per glass. We are talking about crystal and this is considered cheap! However, the glasses do thrill me aesthetically. They are beautiful to look at and I love drinking in style. Since wine is not just about aromas and flavour, but also how it looks visually, drinking from a beautiful well-crafted crystal can add to my pleasure and perhaps even make me approve of a bad wine.
References: http://www.livescience.com/7113-tongue-map-tasteless-myth-debunked.html
Each wine smells different. Some are more aromatic, some can be fruity, or woody, or grassy. I believe that the right glassware makes a difference in expressing the wine aromas. Some glass shapes can concentrate the aromas better than other glasses. It may not be a better glass because it all depends on whether what you are concentrating is good or bad. Then again, I have had many ocassions where a few of us are using the same glass, but then our wines smelt different. Some more expressive than others.
Then, there are the five tastes of salty, sweet, sour, bitterness, and savoury. Each wine has different degrees of tastes. Glassmakers shape the lips of each glass in a certain fashion so that they can control the way the wine lands on our tongue to create a favourable impression. For example, if the wine is sweet, the glass should direct the wine away from the tongue's tip, where the sweet receptors are located. This is to prevent the wine from tasting too cloying. All this is based on the assumption that the tongue map exists and everyone has the same map. The reality is that it does not. There are no special spots on the tongue that contains solely sweet receptors or bitter receptors. It doesn't matter where the wine lands.
Would I still buy special wine glasses for tasting wines? It all depends on how much it costs?. Usually, such glasses don't come cheap. They cost about $25 per glass. We are talking about crystal and this is considered cheap! However, the glasses do thrill me aesthetically. They are beautiful to look at and I love drinking in style. Since wine is not just about aromas and flavour, but also how it looks visually, drinking from a beautiful well-crafted crystal can add to my pleasure and perhaps even make me approve of a bad wine.
References: http://www.livescience.com/7113-tongue-map-tasteless-myth-debunked.html
Friday, May 4, 2012
Supermarket Senarios - Cabernet or Carménère
Today, we take a look at the shelves in Giant at Supermarket for some affordable swill. I'm thirsty for some red wine tonight. I just bought a steak which I am planning to fry in a pan full of butter. I am going to caramilize some onions first. Don't forget to season the steak with sea salt and cracked pepper. I am going to cook some potatoes in the oven with the rosemary and thyme.
We have:
1) Table Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon. $17.90, South African from Stellenbosch. It's from a mediterranean climate, meaning the climate can get hot in the summer, up to forty degrees. I am expecting this Cabernet to be ripe, full-bodied, full of fruits and maybe some cigar box if it is oaked.
2) Deetlefs Cabernet Sauvignon from Rawsonville at $22.80. A South African from Breede River Valley in the Western Cape. The climate is almost similar. This one is at 14% alcohol so lots of heat and ripeness too. Rawsonville and Stellenbosch are not very far from one another but Rawsonville is further from the Ocean. I think this will be even jammier than Table Mountain. Not good to have a fruit bomb affect the wonderful flavours of steak.
3) Hemisferio Miguel Torres Carménère from the Central Valley in Chile at $25.50. Carménère is a grape with lots of tannins too like Cabernet, but less harsher in texture. It is usually smells of cherries, smoke and earth and tastes of red fruit, tobacco, leather and dried herbs. If you don't like sometime as harsh as Cabernet, go for this.
4) Hemisferio Miguel Torres Sauvignon Blanc from the Central Valley in Chile at $25.50. Grassy, herbaceous and probably bland in the mid-palate just like other Central Valley examples. Not always a bad thing but at $25.50 for the same price as the red, forget it.
My decision: Go for stellenbosch. It's much cheaper than the Carménère and has bolder flavours with the steak. But if you like something softer and are willing to pay, the Carménère is good. Serving temperatures at 16-17 degrees Celsius. Forget the SB because SB doesn't work well with steak. Forget Deetlefs because if you want to go for that, you might as well get the Table Mountain.
1) Table Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon. $17.90, South African from Stellenbosch. It's from a mediterranean climate, meaning the climate can get hot in the summer, up to forty degrees. I am expecting this Cabernet to be ripe, full-bodied, full of fruits and maybe some cigar box if it is oaked.
2) Deetlefs Cabernet Sauvignon from Rawsonville at $22.80. A South African from Breede River Valley in the Western Cape. The climate is almost similar. This one is at 14% alcohol so lots of heat and ripeness too. Rawsonville and Stellenbosch are not very far from one another but Rawsonville is further from the Ocean. I think this will be even jammier than Table Mountain. Not good to have a fruit bomb affect the wonderful flavours of steak.
3) Hemisferio Miguel Torres Carménère from the Central Valley in Chile at $25.50. Carménère is a grape with lots of tannins too like Cabernet, but less harsher in texture. It is usually smells of cherries, smoke and earth and tastes of red fruit, tobacco, leather and dried herbs. If you don't like sometime as harsh as Cabernet, go for this.
4) Hemisferio Miguel Torres Sauvignon Blanc from the Central Valley in Chile at $25.50. Grassy, herbaceous and probably bland in the mid-palate just like other Central Valley examples. Not always a bad thing but at $25.50 for the same price as the red, forget it.
My decision: Go for stellenbosch. It's much cheaper than the Carménère and has bolder flavours with the steak. But if you like something softer and are willing to pay, the Carménère is good. Serving temperatures at 16-17 degrees Celsius. Forget the SB because SB doesn't work well with steak. Forget Deetlefs because if you want to go for that, you might as well get the Table Mountain.
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Some concepts to grapple with Quality - Length
You have always heard that a key consideration in determining quality is length. The longer the flavours of the wine remain in your mouth after spitting or swallowing, the better.
Experience has taught me that a wine with long length does not necessarily make a wine better. It all depends on what flavours linger in your mouth? I have had wines which had undesirable bitter flavours lasting a long time. When evaluating quality, we have to look at the context in which the wine is being served. Is it to be drank by itself or with food? If by itself, then a long length is desirable but yet again there are exceptions.
The problem with a long length is that it makes the moment when you first taste the wine a pleasure. However, it can dilute the whole experience with the rest of the bottle. Flavour fatigue can set in and the next few remaining sips of the same wine may start to lose its appeal. Sometimes, a good wine is one in which you keep going back for more and more, like an addiction. Think of it as drinking very sweet apple juice and after a while, the juice tends to get flavourless. All you can taste is sugar and sourness. Or think bubblegum when after chewing for a while, the flavour disappears but in actual fact, it is still present in the gum. Too much of something can make it bad.
When eating food with wines, it is usually harder to appreciate the food as the backpalate flavours from the wine can come into conflict the flavours of the food. This is why I find a lot of wines that go well with food tend to wines from the low to mid-end price range. That is good news for most of us who can't afford to drink $50 bottle of wines daily. For example, a cheap bottle of highly acidic, Italain Pinot Grigio or Soave can suit flavourful dishes without overcoming the dish. Its acidity brings out more flavours just like squeezing a lemon on some dishes bring out flavour. If the acidic white wine had more flavour in the finish due to picking the grapes riper, fermenting them on skins or aging them in new barrels, those stronger flavours from the wine can still linger around and make each bite you take seem heavier due to a sensory overload.
Experience has taught me that a wine with long length does not necessarily make a wine better. It all depends on what flavours linger in your mouth? I have had wines which had undesirable bitter flavours lasting a long time. When evaluating quality, we have to look at the context in which the wine is being served. Is it to be drank by itself or with food? If by itself, then a long length is desirable but yet again there are exceptions.
The problem with a long length is that it makes the moment when you first taste the wine a pleasure. However, it can dilute the whole experience with the rest of the bottle. Flavour fatigue can set in and the next few remaining sips of the same wine may start to lose its appeal. Sometimes, a good wine is one in which you keep going back for more and more, like an addiction. Think of it as drinking very sweet apple juice and after a while, the juice tends to get flavourless. All you can taste is sugar and sourness. Or think bubblegum when after chewing for a while, the flavour disappears but in actual fact, it is still present in the gum. Too much of something can make it bad.
When eating food with wines, it is usually harder to appreciate the food as the backpalate flavours from the wine can come into conflict the flavours of the food. This is why I find a lot of wines that go well with food tend to wines from the low to mid-end price range. That is good news for most of us who can't afford to drink $50 bottle of wines daily. For example, a cheap bottle of highly acidic, Italain Pinot Grigio or Soave can suit flavourful dishes without overcoming the dish. Its acidity brings out more flavours just like squeezing a lemon on some dishes bring out flavour. If the acidic white wine had more flavour in the finish due to picking the grapes riper, fermenting them on skins or aging them in new barrels, those stronger flavours from the wine can still linger around and make each bite you take seem heavier due to a sensory overload.
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Dessert wines are not for desserts alone
Many people have the impression of that sweet wines can only be meant for dessert. The lists of sweet wines are long: Moscato d'Asti, Asti Spumante, Sauternes, Tokaji, Port, Madeira, Late-harvested, Botrytis, german white wines, Grenache Vin doux Naturel and Muscat Beaumes de Venise, ice wine, etc.
Perhaps to many, it seems logical to drink sweet wines last since we have sweet desserts as the last course. However, during my travels in the wine world, this rule is not so strongly adhered to. In Italy, Moscato d'Asti is treated as a breakfast wine, sometime to start your day with. You can have it with bacon and eggs done sunny side up. The French love to have their fortified Muscat as a starter or added with rockmelon and a bowl of fruit salad. Fortified wines are wines that have high sugar in it because fermentation is stopped by the addition of alcohol called mutage. I once had Sauternes with artichokes and asparagus in Bordeaux. Auslese and Spatlese German white wines go well with oven roasted pork dishes when I was there. Recently in Singapore, I had a Moscato rosé with sweet chinese egg tart. How delicious was that!
Here's a basic principle you can learn from my experience:
1) Sweet wines do not necessarily go well with sweet stuff. The reason is that if sweet wine is not sweeter than your dessert, it will taste acidic, sour and sometimes bitter. The tongue has experienced a sensory overload of sweetness from the dessert, that it makes the sweet wine taste less sweet and out of balance.
2) Try something bitter or highly acidic with the dessert. Food and wine is a marriage. A wine that is unbalanced by itself can be balanced by the right food. A bitter wine can be like some red wines and a acidic wine can be like a young Hunter Valley Semillon or Pinot grigio from Veneto.
3) Some sweet wines are best left to be drank by themselves like Old Port and Madeira.
Perhaps to many, it seems logical to drink sweet wines last since we have sweet desserts as the last course. However, during my travels in the wine world, this rule is not so strongly adhered to. In Italy, Moscato d'Asti is treated as a breakfast wine, sometime to start your day with. You can have it with bacon and eggs done sunny side up. The French love to have their fortified Muscat as a starter or added with rockmelon and a bowl of fruit salad. Fortified wines are wines that have high sugar in it because fermentation is stopped by the addition of alcohol called mutage. I once had Sauternes with artichokes and asparagus in Bordeaux. Auslese and Spatlese German white wines go well with oven roasted pork dishes when I was there. Recently in Singapore, I had a Moscato rosé with sweet chinese egg tart. How delicious was that!
Here's a basic principle you can learn from my experience:
1) Sweet wines do not necessarily go well with sweet stuff. The reason is that if sweet wine is not sweeter than your dessert, it will taste acidic, sour and sometimes bitter. The tongue has experienced a sensory overload of sweetness from the dessert, that it makes the sweet wine taste less sweet and out of balance.
2) Try something bitter or highly acidic with the dessert. Food and wine is a marriage. A wine that is unbalanced by itself can be balanced by the right food. A bitter wine can be like some red wines and a acidic wine can be like a young Hunter Valley Semillon or Pinot grigio from Veneto.
3) Some sweet wines are best left to be drank by themselves like Old Port and Madeira.
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