Southern Rhône Wine Dinner 14/04/12

It was a saturday night. Spirits & expectations were high. I was bringing in wines to show to a group of my sisters' friends who are wine & food lovers. Two wines was paired with each dish. I am a big fan of 2 wine pairings with a meal to give people a chance to compare two different wines side by side and experiment for themselves which goes better with the food. It gives them a point of reference and also more fun, more drunk. In addition, different elements on the dish can go better with each wine. My sister cooked all the meals.

First Course: Red bell peppers stuffed with couscous and shaved iberico ham.
Wines: 1) Elodíe Balme 2010 Côte du Rhône, grenache syrah carignan 14.5% unfiltered& 2) Elodíe Balme 2010 Côte du Rhône, "Champs libres", Roaix village, Grenache. Mourvèdre 14.5% Both wines cannot be bought in Singapore. Elodie is a young and talented winemaker based in Rasteau.
Wine 1 had aromas of toasted strawberries, roasted capsicum, pepperoni and oregano fading to a more prunish nose. Flavours of dark aniseed with a firm structure. There was bitterness in the  back that faded away eventually. Brilliant with the food.
Wine 2 was meaty and exotic. It smelled of coriander, soya sauce used for steamed fish and then sweet sarsi. Flavours of strawberries, cherries, chestnuts and a nice chalky texture.

Second Course: Pan-roasted Lamb with Ratatouille.
Wines: 3) Le pointu 2007 Chateaunuef-du-Pape, "Cléments", 15% & 4) Domaine les Goubert, 2004 Gigondas, "cuvée Florence" 2004,14.5%
CDP means the pope's new castle and gigondas means the land of joy. Although seperated by a river, both produce wines with the same grapes. The soils are different as Gigondas has more schisty limestone than CDP. Le Pointu is not found in Singapore but Domaine les Goubert is carried here.
Wine 3 had a nose of roasted tomatoes on its stalks and later developed to a honeyed and light confectionary aroma with hints of floral. Flavours of coffee, honey and well integrated acid shines through to a rasin finish.
Wine 4 had a nose of coffee, truffle, and mineral. Its flavours were pronounced and powerful, savoury, meaty, soft, silky tannins, finishing with a big burst of flavours in the end. Some did not find this wine smooth because I did not decant this wine to get rid of the sediments, giving the wine a gritty texture. Note to self: Decant if it is an old wine with sediments. Don't be lazy! I was told wine 3 went better with the Ratatouille and the wine 4 with the lamb.

Third Course: A platter of goat cheese, saint nectar, and beemster with dried apricots and chocolate truffles.
Wines: 5) Domaine Faverot 2005 cotes du luberons, cuvée du général 14% & 6) Clonakilla 2009, Canberra, Shiraz viognier, 14%Domaine Faverot is not available in Singapore. The last wine was not French but Australian using the Northern Rhone style. It is available in Singapore.
Wine 5 was earthy and full of redcurrants. It reminded me of dark chinese herbs and cloves.
Wine 6 had aromas of ginger, oak, rose water, and red candied cherries. The palate had some jasmine characters, white pepper, tints of coffee and cedar. A very long length with an apricot finish. However, I felt the 2008 was better as the wine lasted longer with the oxygen compared to this one. After an hour, it was a skeleton with little flavour but charry oak.

It was good night ending on a high note. Everyone was pleased with the wines and the food. As for me, I enjoyed all the wines except the Clonakilla. It was a letdown because I know it can do better. 2009 was an extremely hot year with heat waves that produced low acid. I suppose that has to be accounted for but with a cool climate like Canberra, it is beneficial for them to give riper grapes aka more flavour. It was expected to be better than 2008! What happened?

*I am sorry that I went over the 5 minutes of promised reading time. But this rule is excluded for events.

Internet dating & Wine

At supermarkets, it can be mind-blowing when one comes across endless shelves of different wine brands. The consumer is confronted with so many choices. Time is of an essence. What do we choose? Most of the time, it is the eye-catching bottle that has a nice label. The physical played the most part in making a decision. Sounds a little like me when I choose to hook up with a woman because of her looks without considering the goodness of her character. By the end of the night, the woman, just like the wine, disappoints.

An article was published in The Economist on February 11th 2012, titled “Sex and love”. Some interesting points brought up were:

1.   Internet dating sites offer a huge range of choices and a system that can help match your specifications as to what you are looking for in a partner. Thus, it assumed that finding a suitable long-term partner through the internet would be easier.

2.   Data suggest that we do not know what we want and that our preferences differ from our selected choice.

3.   When presented with a large volume of choices, less attention is paid to characteristics that require evaluation by both thinking and conversation. Instead, more attention is paid to the physical attributes.

This applies in the context of wines. With internet sales getting more popular, it still doesn’t solve the choice dilemma in supermarkets. There may be more misses than hits, even if you were to use the advanced search to narrow down your choices. This re-affirms the old adage that less is more.

Many do not know what wines they are looking for. Sommeliers get frustrated with such customers. You help narrow down their choices and they still don’t like the wines. Knowing what your preferences are requires time and opportunity to taste various wine styles. You know you like it when you keep coming back to it.  I love big oaky vanilla-flavoured reds and rich buttery chardonnay. What about you?

Supermarket Senarios: Spoilt for Choice

I recently read a book about how humans are poor in making decisions when presented with more than two choices. I am starting a new series on situations where one goes into a supermarket and meets a wide range of choices. What do you do? Take a look at this.

 Let's say you are looking at the above. You have 5 minutes to come to a decision for tonight's dinner soiree. You have to  think of your wine in terms of price and style of what you want. You don't have much information because you have not tasted the wine but you can at least make educated guesses. The options are:
1. Piper-Heidsieck Champagne for SGD54. Not a bad price for a bottle of Champagne. Maybe to impress people who don't know much about wines but know that Champagne sounds like a great idea because of the brand. Expect leesiness, nuttiness and high acid. Tonight will be oysters and shellfish.
2. Asti from Italy for SGD34.40. A pleasing wine for most people. Sweet and good as a starter to get the good mood started. I like that with cake.
3. Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc for SGD25. For 25 dollars, it should be your typical grassy SB with lots of asparagus and passionfruit. Give me salad with that!
4. Lindemans sweet seasons for a special of 18.95. You may not know the wine but from looking at it, you can guesstimate that it probably has sweetness in there. No idea what grape it is but for that price, it is more about the sugar than the expression of a single varietal. This one is for quaffing and hopefully you won't wake up with a killer-headache.

My choice: Go with the Asti. Be cheap. Save your money for a good day. If you want to splurge, there are other stuff besides the Piper. But the Asti always loosens up the mood and women and new drinkers can associate with sweetness. Let the bubbles take you away. Marlborough is alright but for 25SGD, this one is suspect for ripeness. Good Marlborough SB this days cost more than 35 SGD these days.

Bubbles for your Troubles

Based on a recent report by Harpers (http://www.harpers.co.uk/news/news-headlines/12009-more-regions-look-to-sparkling.html), it seems that there is a growth in demand for Sparkling wines. Considering the current economic climate, I question what people worldwide are so upbeat about.

According to the report,  it says, "Sparkling sales grew 11.6% by value in the off-trade, while Champagne grew by just 1.2% in the same period (Nielsen, year to March 1, 2012). Star performers included Italian wines, up 48%, while Chilean and English were up by 26% each. French sparklers from outside Champagne grew 12.5% too".

Coming back not long ago from London and Italy, I must say that both countries have been doing a great drop in penetrating the bubbly market. English bubblies are of exceptional value and rival that of Champagne in quality but unfortunately we don't see them here in Singapore. As for Franciacorta, the Champagne equivalent of Italian sparkling wine, I have never come across any yet here in Singapore. The argument is that with the sort of money you pay for Franciacorta, you might as well buy a Champagne. Cremants, bubblies from outside Champagne, are delicious and so much more affordable than Champagne.

I suggest that if you are interested in tasting Cremants, try the ones from Burgundy, Bordeaux and Loire. They are widely available in Carrefour at Suntec city. And if you are adventurous, buy a bottle of Cremant de Die over there made from the Clairette grape. The Cremants from each region are made from different grapes so if you like something, say cheesy and leesy, go for Burgundy. Good acid and green apples, then go for Loire. Lemony and citrus belongs to Bordeaux. I can't remember if they sell Cremants rose from Bordeaux but that is absolutely delicious and reminds me of raspberry coulis.

Don't like the French? Have a go at Asti or fan-favourite, Moscato d'Asti. What's the difference? Both ASti and Moscato are made from the same grapes but Asti has a high alcohol and taste less sweet. Moreover, Asti has more bubbles than Moscato. Some say Moscato is a dessert semi-sparkling wine. Quite honestly, I could drink Moscato in the morning or anytime of the day, during any part of the meal. It's a convival drink, and most examples of it can be cosumed with levity.

The report also adds that Brazil is a country to watch out for and I must concur to that. I have managed to try a few from Vinexpo last year and I must say the quality is growing. Their style reminds me a lot of what Australia is doing from the level of ripeness obtained from their grapes (Hey, it's Brazil, it's hot). If you are interested, go to http://www.garnetnperidot.com. These guys are specialised in Brazilian wines here in Singapore and bring in Miolo bubblies. It's not a boutique winery but it gives you a taste of what Brazil is like. And if you are ordering some wines from them, you have to include their Quinta do Seival Castas Portuguesas. I know it's not a bubbly but I tasted that in London a month ago, and you can't hate a red wine like Touriga Nacional. If you like floral aromas, Nacional is your hero.

What is a Wine of Quality?

Whenever broaching upon the subject of quality, I get questions on what is a good wine and what is a bad wine. It is a strange question because we don't usually have problems telling the difference between a good and a bad apple, or an overburnt steak vs a tender juicy piece. The concept is no different from drinking a fresh orange juice vs diluted orange juice.

Judging a wine in absolute terms is the same as setting your own standards of what a good human being is. I prefer to look at a wine in context apart from just basing quality on absolutes.

Are you serving it with food? Get a wine that is not intensely concentrated in flavour or it will overpower the food.
What environment are you drinking it in - hot or cold? Have a robust red in front of the fireplace or a chilled white while basking in the summer sun.
What time of the day is it? Something ligter in the morning perhaps to start the day and heavier in the night to put you to sleep?
Are you drinking it with friend or acquaintance? Open the nice stuff for your friends or if you want to be a crowd pleaser, go for the sweet stuff.

Yes, the absolutes are important - generosity of aroma and flavour; balance between acid, sweetness and tannins; complexity of flavours with layers upon layers; harmony of sensations instead of disjointedness; a long length with a desirable finish of acceptable flavours; no bitterness in the back of the tongue or sourness that makes the wine experience unbearable.

Building a concept of quality requires time, patience and lots of tasting. You find the best pasta by going to different restaurants and comparing your present experience with the last. The same goes to wine and even love. It is hard to know what love is until you experience it or realise that you weren't happy in the last relationship because you notice the difference with your current relationship. You know what a good Pinot Noir is only when you try something better than the last. That's how you build hierachies of quality in your mind.

Most importantly, accept yourself as a unique individual with a unique taste and a biasness to specific wines. I love sherries and wines with huge amounts of oak. It may not be to everyone's liking, but it doesn't mean that it is poor quality. It is an acquired taste. There is quality but there is also knowing what you like to drink.   

New Life, New Beginnings

That's right. After more than a year, I am finally back on the blogosphere. It's been a hell of a ride but after a year of travelling, I have been tasting wines from France, Italy, Germany and England. I am now prepping up for the States as I write this. Where will all these lead to? Life, just like wine, is a mystery, and we have to wait and see. This blog is going to be used for less serious articles, which I will put on the Wandering Palate instead. The concept is going to be short and easy readings that should take up less than 5 minutes of your time. It should deliver to you pratical information that you can you use to make on-the-spot decisions when you make purchases, plan a party/dinner to go with the wines or vice-versa, and how to understand what you are drinking. We are going to start digging wines on the supermarket shelves, ponder about decisions on what to drink together, and look at what's going on in the wine-scene and how this relates to us. Exciting times!

McLaren Vale 06/01/11 - 07/01/11

My first day in the McLaren Vale and I was exhausted from catching the 6 am flight. Fortunately,I found the Vale to be not very far from Adelaide airport, around 35km away. My first visit was Shottesbrooke.



Shottesbrooke*
Shottesbrooke is being run by both Nick Holmes and Hamish Maguire.They have about 50 acres under vines and crop about 4 tons/acre. The soils in the vineyard are high in magnesium, calcium, sodium and iron.


The mower that Shottesbrooke uses to get rid of weeds.



Slasher machine take trims the vines back when they are too vigourous.


10 tonne receiver that feeds the grapes in the machines. Cost about $15000


Imagine grapes being transported along this "tracks" for gentle handling.


Rotatory Fermenter. Once popular in the 90s, but considered too anaerobic especially for reds that need some oxygen


Tanks cost $80000 each


Airbag press that can press up to 800L of juice. Cost about $100000


A Vacuum Filter that filters lees after the cold-settling the juice for 72 h after crushing. The juice that is left with more time on the lees tend to produce more flavour than free run juice.


Chardonnay planted in 1994. So far the vines have been sprayed 8 times with copper oxide and uniZ which is a fungicide


Ferrous oxidize to ferric iron by pumping water over hut to collect small amounts of oxygen. The makes it into sediments so that it can be collected and flushed out and wouldn't make the soil rich in iron.


The machine is being backflushed to reverse the flow of sand and other unwanted sediments. The water needs to be clean or it will start blocking the drippers. As a result, the vines cannot receive adequate water.


Machine to pump water and collect sediments


Dripper system


Shiraz vines in Shottesbrooke being trained into 2 cordons aka four arms with 2 arms being on the 2nd top wire. Vine spacing 1.8 m x 3.2



A tractor ploughs through the rowes and digs up the soil with a hydraulic arm and then pushes the dirt aside. The weeds are being pulled out and thrown back underneath the vines. This means the machine has to go through the rows twice to dig and throw.

2007 was also difficult in that there was a drought and this caused ripening problems. Many of the berries were slightly stalky and sappy with heat wave (defined as 5 days that were over 35 degrees). 2008 was a bad year with 15 days over 36 degrees up to 40. The evening temperatures were 35 degrees with no breeze and this caused the berries to dessicate and cook. The Baume was so high that it was impossible to measure. This was unusual for the region as most days were 36 degrees and less than 20 degree at night.


The vineyard next door that has no herbicides being used and thus weeds are growing

The climate in McLaren Vale is more mediterranean and not maritime. It gets frost in winter. I was taken for a ride through range road which was the divide between McLaren Vale and Adelaide Hills. I was told that Adelaide Hills spans from 50-60 km.

Shottesbrooke uses oak barrels from Heinrich cooperage, Saury, St Matin and AP Johns Shenandoch and Appellation. I found the Shenandoch much more beautiful on the nose compared to the Appellation which imparted a more smoky cedary aroma. I also notice the McLaren fruit has the ability to soak up US oak better than the fruit from Victoria


Shiraz suffering from zinc deficency.


A grafted vine

Alpha, Box & Dice*

Justin is the owner/winemaker of AB&D. He has had 8 years of experience in France and Puglia. He is making some really interesting wines from other varietals and believes in adding as little acid in his wines. His Barbera Cab 2009 was really delicious with at least 2 g/l of malic acid in there that hasn't gone through MLF. It was good to find that he realeased a 2002 and 2003 Shiraz that still had fruit in there with the developed characters. Justin makes only 3000-3500 cases/year. He gets his grapes from 3 different vineyards that has different types of soil (He gets some from the wollanga foothills with iron and gravel) and blends them together.

Primo Estate*

It was nice being able to meet with Daniel, the winemaker and ask him questions about the region. Daniel has a wealth of knowledge when it comes to the region. Over the last 5 years, there has been an increase in the temperatures. Night time temperatures don't change much here. During flowering, vines get reduced yield if there is a heat wave and grapes has problems ripening properly when the vines shut down. Sugars in the berries do spike up during that period. Primo crushes 400 tonnes/year and is family owned. They usually harvest in march. The region usually sees low disease presure. Copper & Sulphur are usually used to control diseases, Ridimil for downy and not much Botrytis sprays like are used. Sprays can be done up to every 10 days to control downy during December.

It was interesting to try their Colombard which had flavours of melon and cucumber. I last time I tried this grape was years ago in a French wine. I also found their Merlot to be of fantastic quality for $15. Impressive too is the 2008 Zamberlan which is Cab Sauv and 15% Sangiovese. The wine is done using the ripasso style where the Cab is being dried for 3 to 7 days on racks under aronud 40 degrees and the size of the berries start to shrink and the stalks brown. The Cab is being fermented, the juice drained and the skins placed in another batch of Cab to ferment. I found that this made the mouthfeel of the wine really complex and rounded with a long length. It tends to produce wines with a higher VA level that gives it a lift and aroma profiles of figs, dried prunes and more concentration. The 2008 MODA is made from cab sauv and 19% merlot made from the same style.




Inside Kay Bros Cellar Door


The Dead arm Shiraz. Over $70 a bottle. Delicious but ex

Additional Notes: I do recommend that you also try and pay Samuel's Gorge a visit to taste their Grenache and their Tempranillo if they have it on tasting. Other places I visited were Tapestry, which I felt made wines that were of high quality and good pricing, Huge Hamilton, Graham Stevens, Kay Brothers, and d'Arenberg (I tasted the 2007 Dead Arm Shiraz there). I wish I had more time to go and see Yangarra, K1, and Foxey Creek. Maybe when I head back to the Vale.