Wine

[ikileo]

Field report from the suntec fiesta. Not bad. If u bought the premium ticket go all the way into the premium tasting area where the wines that won a medal in the wine style competition yesterday. But pace yourselves there is a lot of wine. My gf and I are taking a break now to get hydrated and carb up.

I spat everything. Since I took notes I will spend about 2+ hours to get through 2/3 if the wines in the premium region

 

[Beta_Tester]

Any recommendation for red wine. Maybe around 100bucks+-? i wanna bring to Jaan for dinner. Something nice after that will wash down with Champagne.. if nt i just have Champagne the whole dinner..

Thanks!

 

[Do_As_Infinity]

Field report from the suntec fiesta. Not bad. If u bought the premium ticket go all the way into the premium tasting area where the wines that won a medal in the wine style competition yesterday. But pace yourselves there is a lot of wine. My gf and I are taking a break now to get hydrated and carb up.

I spat everything. Since I took notes I will spend about 2+ hours to get through 2/3 if the wines in the premium region

Walking around trying different wines, yet to try the premium section.

 

[hkm520240]

I was at the Wines Fiesta (WFA) this afternoon too. As I didn't get the premium tickets so I visited the booth set up by the wine importer/representative or the winery themselves. But I did not cover as much as I wish as mid-way I was pulled by a friend to attend the Vini challenge open category and later also attended the 2007 Bordeaux Masterclass.


Bordeaux 2007 Masterclass by hkm520240, on Flickr

The Bordeaux 2007 Masterclass further confirm that 2007 is a learn, soft, early accessible vintage and does not possess great length. Nevertheless there were few reds I like which are Domaine de Chevalier and Pichon Baron. However dessert wines seems better in 2007 and Ch Suduiraut is outstanding.


Larra Pinta Merlot 2009 by hkm520240, on Flickr

Visited Banfi booth by Auric Pacific and tasted some wines from Tuscany Italy from whites to Chianti Classico, Brunello and end with a sweet Rosé. Some of the premium wines has ran out so I didn't get a chance to taste. But I look at the pricing... for a Chianto Classico above $40 and Brunello $80-90 and their top range above $100, the price is simply not attractive... (and the price quoted is after discount)

After that got a chance to taste some Australian wines and I picked up a bottle of Merlot from Claire valley which is not very common. Quite a nice robust Merlot at 15% ALC which I found ripeness and little hints of sweetness but definitely don't feel the heat. But what surprised me is the price which is just $25 and so this was the only bottle I picked from the show. (Later at home I checked their price list and found out it is selling AUD$20 back in Australia - link: http://www.byrnevineyards.com.au/pdf/order_form.pdf )

Not that I always like to drink Australian wines but too often I can pick up a good bargain Australian wines with the sales around. But of course we should also venture into other wines style and countries but with the price and availability issue the pace will be slower.

On another note on wines, I also tasted some of the Bordeaux wines before I was interrupted by friend. One took my attention is Ch Potensac '08 because I also have few bottle in my cellar. It was quite nice and to my surprised I saw it was selling for $39 at C4 when I did some shopping at C4 after dinner. This was definitely a super bargain added with advantage of 5%+5% disc with POSB everyday card (only applicable this weekend). I got mine at $40 and thought i was a good buy already

 

[ikileo]

how was your vini challenge?

came back last night too tired to write anything. will write my report later this afternoon. met fellow forumer looiwte there as well!

 

[hkm520240]

We won in the first round but we didn't proceed to the final as my friend need to leave first. So I spent my time in the Bordeaux masterclass instead of looking for a partner to compete at the final.

 

[Beta_Tester]

ah banfi.. its been a while since i had the Banfi. My friend worked there. has since left the coy. Wonder still gt lobang bo.

 

[ikileo]

[WARNING: BIG THREAD OF RANTING]

I arrived at the WFA just before 1pm and spent the next 5 hours there with 2 breaks in between to rest, refresh my palate and empty my bladder. Had my gf in tow.

Headed for the Premium Tasting Area first. Went through all the different categories (sparkling, individual white varietals, individual red varietals, rose) but didn’t go through all 100% of each category, especially when entering the red wines. Went through at least 85% of all the stuff available

The Premium Tasting area supposedly were all the wines that had won an award at the Winestyle Awards that were awards over the past 2 days from bonzes to silvers and some gold. To be honest, for my palate, I dunno how some of these got an award.

IMO there was a lot of new world showing of the wines at the Premium Tasting Area. The whites fared better with some nice ones showing classic varietal qualities. A large proportion of the Chardonnays were (IMO) over-oaked with a heavy buttery hand. Hits and misses with the Pinot Gris and other white blends. Rosés were quite nice with some decent ones.

Somehow for the reds, I feel that whoever the judges were, they were giving points to rich big full bodied reds. Some had a annoying amount of oak and only a handful (again IMO) were balanced. But then again, keep in mind most of them were young with barely 2-3 years in the bottle so their big fruit forward nature were more obvious.

Chile was showing strongly IMO, with my fave Syrah and Malbec (surprise surprise) came from Chile. I didn’t really have a fave Cabernet or Cabernet blend as I found most of them to be super rich and after a while that big bold fruit ended up tasting very similar to each other.

Subsequently I walked around and it was at the ProChile botoh that I tasted, possibly, my favourite one for this event: 2004 Valdivieso La Primavera Field Blend (Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec & I can’t remember but it was a Bordeaux Blend). It was a rich wine but I felt it was one of the more balanced ones around.

Then there was the 2008 Bordeaux tasting booth by the Wine Review Magazine. Despite the annoying French guy next to me trying to hit on one of the girls pouring the wines, the ’08 were showing quite nicely, good typicity of the regions. Still young though and would need at least another 5 or so years for things to happen but can easily go for another 10 or more.

The Austrian wine booth was interesting and something I really wanted to get into but it was crowded with a small group of Japanese ladies wanting to drink the sweeter wines while being hit on by some fat british guy. The Austrian guy behind the counter was busy chit-chatting with these two ladies from Eastern Europe and laughing and basically ignored as the two ladies hogged the entire space in front of the booth. I managed only to taste the high end Riesling from one of the top Austrian producers ‘Huber’ and his entry level Gruner Veltliner which was remarkably approachable and delicious.

There were a couple of other booths I visited like ‘Wine Universe’ and tasted a rather delicious (but overpriced) merlot from Switzerland. Their Spanish range was not bad but their Rhone range was just super extracted.

Overall I found the wines in this WFA Wine Fiesta to be not as exciting as the one I attended 2 years ago. A lot of the wines were in an extracted fruit heavy style (for the reds and least) and only a handful were balanced. The whites had a much better showing but had poorer representation due to the Asian demand for reds. Maybe it was the environment that spoilt my mood because as I was focusing on the wines I just hearing Caucasians chatting up Asian girls and hogging up the booth space while Asian girls were going to each booth and asking ‘do you have sweet wine?’

I do applaud the effort of this event and it’s good to see an ever increasing number of people attending such events to try as much wine as possible. But I also feel that on the organizers part that they are showcasing wines that are too mainstream, lacked diversity in style and in some cases perhaps, too entry level; and for the higher end stuff, there’s just Bordeaux. I believe from MuthuCurry’s account, that this was a similar issue at the other WineFiesta.

With wine slowly but surely become more mainstream (which it should), retailers are now going on bulk and pleasing the masses (ie: sweets and rich reds) rather than providing something eye opening. There were wines that were delicious and lovely, but I was hard to find a wine that made me go ‘wow’. Or maybe I was just in a bad mood haha....


- i took notes for all the wines i tasted and I will take time to get them all up online.

-do share with my your comments.

 

[ikileo]

Any recommendation for red wine. Maybe around 100bucks+-? i wanna bring to Jaan for dinner. Something nice after that will wash down with Champagne.. if nt i just have Champagne the whole dinner..

Thanks!

Jaan for dinner? what are you having for dinner? what's the menu so I can pair this nicely. $100+ no problem. I can even get you some nicely aged stuff.

 

[Beta_Tester]

i think i gotta get some wine there. Bloody corkage kills. Horrid..

whats your email bro? i forward u the list.. they have wine pairings and all.. but whats a nice bottle to get me started than their wine pairing in your opinion. Best bang for buck. They just send me the menu list in pdf. just that heng i got 50% for food n i 25% off beverage.

 

[Beta_Tester]

Menu is this n the wine pairings.

LANGOUSTINE
LIMEQUAT MARINADE, OLD RADDISH SPECIES, WILD FENNEL and AQUITAINE CAVIAR
NV Sherry, Fino Seco, Valdivia, Spain

TRUMBETTA ZUCCHINI
BURRATINA, BASIL, ALMONDS and BLACK OLIVES
2008 Lirac Rose “Clos de Sixte”, A. Jaume & Fils, France

RAVIOLI
ORGANIC HEN EGG, ARTICHOKE, MELANOSPORUM TRUFFLE and CANTAL
2004 Côtes du Rhône “Guy Louis”, Tardieu Laurent, France

LANDES FOIE GRAS
CHESTNUT HONEY GLAZE, CONFIT BEETROOT, RHUBARB FONDANT and WILD WATERCRESS

ATLANTIC HALIBUT
SUMMER VEGETABLES, SHELLFISH RAGOUT, “POTEE”BROTH and IBERICO di BELLOTA
2005 Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Morgeot, V. Girardin, France

ANJOU PIGEON
THYME ROASTED, WILD MUSHROOMS and CELERIAC
2007 Cabernet Sauvignon, Cape Mentelle, Australia

FINEST CHEESE SELECTION and CONDIMENTS
By ARTISAN CHEESE MAKER, HERVE MONS
(SUPPLEMENT $35)

‘CHOCONUTS’
JIVARA MOUSSE, PEANUTS, MACADAMIA NUT ICE CREAM
2007 Breganze “Torcolato”, Maculan, Italy

CAFÉ EXPRESS
MIGNARDISES

the wine list is in PDF..

 

[MuthuCurry]

[WARNING: BIG THREAD OF RANTING]

I arrived at the WFA just before 1pm and spent the next 5 hours there with 2 breaks in between to rest, refresh my palate and empty my bladder. Had my gf in tow.

Headed for the Premium Tasting Area first. Went through all the different categories (sparkling, individual white varietals, individual red varietals, rose) but didn’t go through all 100% of each category, especially when entering the red wines. Went through at least 85% of all the stuff available

The Premium Tasting area supposedly were all the wines that had won an award at the Winestyle Awards that were awards over the past 2 days from bonzes to silvers and some gold. To be honest, for my palate, I dunno how some of these got an award.

IMO there was a lot of new world showing of the wines at the Premium Tasting Area. The whites fared better with some nice ones showing classic varietal qualities. A large proportion of the Chardonnays were (IMO) over-oaked with a heavy buttery hand. Hits and misses with the Pinot Gris and other white blends. Rosés were quite nice with some decent ones.

Somehow for the reds, I feel that whoever the judges were, they were giving points to rich big full bodied reds. Some had a annoying amount of oak and only a handful (again IMO) were balanced. But then again, keep in mind most of them were young with barely 2-3 years in the bottle so their big fruit forward nature were more obvious.

Chile was showing strongly IMO, with my fave Syrah and Malbec (surprise surprise) came from Chile. I didn’t really have a fave Cabernet or Cabernet blend as I found most of them to be super rich and after a while that big bold fruit ended up tasting very similar to each other.

Subsequently I walked around and it was at the ProChile botoh that I tasted, possibly, my favourite one for this event: 2004 Valdivieso La Primavera Field Blend (Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec & I can’t remember but it was a Bordeaux Blend). It was a rich wine but I felt it was one of the more balanced ones around.

Then there was the 2008 Bordeaux tasting booth by the Wine Review Magazine. Despite the annoying French guy next to me trying to hit on one of the girls pouring the wines, the ’08 were showing quite nicely, good typicity of the regions. Still young though and would need at least another 5 or so years for things to happen but can easily go for another 10 or more.

The Austrian wine booth was interesting and something I really wanted to get into but it was crowded with a small group of Japanese ladies wanting to drink the sweeter wines while being hit on by some fat british guy. The Austrian guy behind the counter was busy chit-chatting with these two ladies from Eastern Europe and laughing and basically ignored as the two ladies hogged the entire space in front of the booth. I managed only to taste the high end Riesling from one of the top Austrian producers ‘Huber’ and his entry level Gruner Veltliner which was remarkably approachable and delicious.

There were a couple of other booths I visited like ‘Wine Universe’ and tasted a rather delicious (but overpriced) merlot from Switzerland. Their Spanish range was not bad but their Rhone range was just super extracted.

Overall I found the wines in this WFA Wine Fiesta to be not as exciting as the one I attended 2 years ago. A lot of the wines were in an extracted fruit heavy style (for the reds and least) and only a handful were balanced. The whites had a much better showing but had poorer representation due to the Asian demand for reds. Maybe it was the environment that spoilt my mood because as I was focusing on the wines I just hearing Caucasians chatting up Asian girls and hogging up the booth space while Asian girls were going to each booth and asking ‘do you have sweet wine?’

I do applaud the effort of this event and it’s good to see an ever increasing number of people attending such events to try as much wine as possible. But I also feel that on the organizers part that they are showcasing wines that are too mainstream, lacked diversity in style and in some cases perhaps, too entry level; and for the higher end stuff, there’s just Bordeaux. I believe from MuthuCurry’s account, that this was a similar issue at the other WineFiesta.

With wine slowly but surely become more mainstream (which it should), retailers are now going on bulk and pleasing the masses (ie: sweets and rich reds) rather than providing something eye opening. There were wines that were delicious and lovely, but I was hard to find a wine that made me go ‘wow’. Or maybe I was just in a bad mood haha....


- i took notes for all the wines i tasted and I will take time to get them all up online.

-do share with my your comments.

At least u still get to try "some" pretty decent wines, I had not seen a single bottle of decent Bordeaux wines from straits wine wines fiesta .. Wat a wasted trip, shld have gone to suntec WF.

 

[hkm520240]

ikileo, I'm curious what wine you got for your premium tix? Or u got the food pairing book?

 

[Do_As_Infinity]

ikileo, I'm curious what wine you got for your premium tix? Or u got the food pairing book?

The wine they giving are from Yealands Estate. The title is Full Circle, Merlot. Cant remember the year thou. Something special is that its in plastic bottle.

 

[ikileo]

@hkm I got the book. Which is good for me cos I like to cook and I like to know about the history of food.

 

[ikileo]

@beta tester: what is the corkage? The wine pairings look sound. But I dunno about the sherry, had it before and wasn't so great.

 

[hkm520240]

The wine they giving are from Yealands Estate. The title is Full Circle, Merlot. Cant remember the year thou. Something special is that its in plastic bottle.

Oh I have never seen a plastic bottled wines and that will be quite interesting. It is not difficult to understand these bottles consider more green and environmental friendly with lesser bottle weight and thus contribute to lesser carbon emission during transportation. But I believe it will be largely limited to entry level wines and mean to be drunk young. At the moment I think there is no proven evident for these wines to cellar well in plastic bottle too.

@ikileo: Isn't the free book is 108 Great Chinese Dishes Paired?

 

[ikileo]

Yup, it's the Chinese food book. As for the wine, just drink it before this year is through, no loss.

Man now I really need some good juice to
get me going. At a wedding dinner with some really mediocre wine right now...

 

[Do_As_Infinity]

Oh I have never seen a plastic bottled wines and that will be quite interesting. It is not difficult to understand these bottles consider more green and environmental friendly with lesser bottle weight and thus contribute to lesser carbon emission during transportation. But I believe it will be largely limited to entry level wines and mean to be drunk young. At the moment I think there is no proven evident for these wines to cellar well in plastic bottle too.

@ikileo: Isn't the free book is 108 Great Chinese Dishes Paired?

I tried their sauvignon blanc at the premium section. What I can say is that it gives a very typical NZ sauvignon blanc taste, grassy, crisp. One of the clinic I attended, the speaker mentioned about the wine not having enough acidic lvl. I have yet to get the chance to try their merlot as I got myself the book too. And yes the free book is 108 Great Chinese Dishes Paired by Chng Poh Tiong.

 

[Do_As_Infinity]

Yup, it's the Chinese food book. As for the wine, just drink it before this year is through, no loss.

Man now I really need some good juice to
get me going. At a wedding dinner with some really mediocre wine right now...

ikileo, were you the guy in grey tee yesterday? That the only guy I noticed spitting every wine he tasted.

Can't wait for your notes on those different wines