Wine

[stayhappy21]

(Almost) Monthly HWZ Wine Meetup

Location: Extra Space Boon Keng
Date: 25 May
Time: 7.30pm
Food: Whatever zhi char we can get
Wine Theme: Varietals/Regions/Subregions you've never had before
Wine budget: $40 - $100

Other Details:
- Bring your own glasses
- @hkm: how can we arrange for ice buckets?

Other request:
- To make it more fun and interactive and so that all of us can learn more, I would like to request for all of us to do a bit of research on the wine/varietal/region that you are bringing so that we can all learn from it. Don't worry, it's not a test or a chance to show how much knowledge u can haolian, we are all learning and exploring together!

Attendees:
Hkm
Ikileo + 1
ikileo friend
Looiwte +1
Reign + 1
stayhappy21 +1?

More are welcome! All those other lurkers in the forum please join us or if you know of someone keen ask them! we're friendly and we don't bite! promise.

Yes i will be bringing a +1 for the wine dinner.. Probably bringing a red as well. Cheers!

 

[lovejade]

Are u guys going to wrap up the bottle n make each other guess which region wine is from ?

 

[stayhappy21]

I'm going to put in a wine holder bag that keeps its label and shape out of sight.. Is that going to be ok?

 

[stayhappy21]

On a totally unrelated note: the list of wines on offer for crystal wines is out!
Anyone getting any wines? Any wines worth getting??
Any opinion, comments?

 

[MuthuCurry]

list will be released tmr noon. I wonder how this year's one will be. Last year's one was ok, previous years' was better.

but please don't forget about my loire purchase.

i am drooling in front of my laptop at office, while going thru the promo list ...

 

[danz7777]

Hi all, I have a wine fridge to sell.

WTS
Tecno Wine Cooler - TWC 133CD - 52 Bottles


Tecno Wine Cooler - TWC 133CD

It can hold 50 Bordeaux bottles, but usually nowadays u know la, bottles all sizes. So for me it holds 40. My collection is growing faster than I think it will. O.O So selling this away. Less than a year. Around 10 months old. Its wooden racks, not the lousy metal ones.

STILL IN WARRANTY!!!

You guys see if anyone will want it.

Price 350.

I bought it for 500 plus from courts.

 

[ikileo]

i am drooling in front of my laptop at office, while going thru the promo list ...

I have downloaded the list and reformatted it so that each sheet features each countries and is in order of price. You can access it from the download link here:

Download Crystal Wines List - Reformat.xls from Sendspace.com - send big files the easy way

Hopefully this is easier to navigate.

Personally for me i'm not getting any, but stuff i'd recommend (aside from the BDX, Burgs)

Champagne: The rose and Blanc des blancs under $100 look attractive. If you got the $$, 2002 was a very good vintage.

Rhone:
CH PESQUIE COTES D VENTOUX CUVEE TERRASSES 2010
SANTA DUC GIGONDAS TRADITION 2009
SANTA DUC GIGONDAS LES HAUTES GARRIGUES 2009
Most of the CdP producers are the good ones, 2007 was a good vintage.
JABOULET HERMITAGE LA CHAPELLE 1996
The other really good stuffs are really expensive, at the >$150 segment you can't really go wrong

Italy: (a lot of the 2007 are painfully young, what i am recommending are stuff you can drink within 2012 and the next couple of years.)
Il Borro IGT
Pio Cesare Moscato
Fontodi
Frescobaldi BdM & Lamaione


Spain: (these all need time, still very young, but very good producers and a good look into the Priorat region)
Pintia
Alion
Artadi
Clos Figueres/Mogador

Argentina:
- Kaiken Malbec (regular and ultra)
Catena Zapata Malbecs (estate and high end)

Australia
Grosset (the wines can drink now, the polish hill riesling must keep long long)
De Bortoli Botrytis Semillon is good for a sweet wine at this price
Voyager 2005 Cab Merlot (that was what I brought during our last outing)
Massena 11th Hour
Greenock
Kooyong Pinot Noir
Clonakilla
Mount Mary
Jasper Hill
Leeuwin Art Series Chardonnay
Henschke Mount Edelstone


Chile:
Santa Rita Casa real Cab
Don Melchor Cab (very rich and juicy but needs times, even the 2002 i had last year was overwhelming)
Montes Folly (awesome Chilean Syrah)


Germany: ALL (haha)


New Zealand:
Wither Hills Sauv Blanc
Misha's Vineyard Pinot Gris
Villa Maria Sauv Blanc
Dog Point Sauv Blancs
Felton Rd Pinot Noir
Ata Rangi Pinot Noir
Martinborough Pinot Noir

USA:
- Dominus, Napanook and Montelena are good but expensive

 

[ikileo]

I'm going to put in a wine holder bag that keeps its label and shape out of sight.. Is that going to be ok?

that's fine. to hide the label usually you can just give a right wrap with foil and that works ok too.

as for hiding the bottle shapes...that would usually mean it's either Pinot Noir/Riesling/Syrah haha....don't worry do what you like.

the last time I poured my wine into another empty and clean labelled generic bottle to 'hide' the shape.

 

[ikileo]

Are u guys going to wrap up the bottle n make each other guess which region wine is from ?

yeah we are wrapping it and serving them blind. more fun that way.

we can attempt to guess but usually it's for us to focus on the wine itself and not have any pre-conceived notions. since the theme is 'varietals/regions I (personally) have never had before' we could all be stunned with a tiong wine; we dunno...haha

you wanna join in? it's really fun and we have wine newbies and oldbies sharing in the experience!

 

[stayhappy21]

I have downloaded the list and reformatted it so that each sheet features each countries and is in order of price. You can access it from the download link here:

Hopefully this is easier to navigate.

Personally for me i'm not getting any, but stuff i'd recommend (aside from the BDX, Burgs)

Champagne: The rose and Blanc des blancs under $100 look attractive. If you got the $$, 2002 was a very good vintage.

Rhone:
CH PESQUIE COTES D VENTOUX CUVEE TERRASSES 2010
SANTA DUC GIGONDAS TRADITION 2009
SANTA DUC GIGONDAS LES HAUTES GARRIGUES 2009
Most of the CdP producers are the good ones, 2007 was a good vintage.
JABOULET HERMITAGE LA CHAPELLE 1996
The other really good stuffs are really expensive, at the >$150 segment you can't really go wrong

Italy: (a lot of the 2007 are painfully young, what i am recommending are stuff you can drink within 2012 and the next couple of years.)
Il Borro IGT
Pio Cesare Moscato
Fontodi
Frescobaldi BdM & Lamaione


Spain: (these all need time, still very young, but very good producers and a good look into the Priorat region)
Pintia
Alion
Artadi
Clos Figueres/Mogador

Argentina:
- Kaiken Malbec (regular and ultra)
Catena Zapata Malbecs (estate and high end)

Australia
Grosset (the wines can drink now, the polish hill riesling must keep long long)
De Bortoli Botrytis Semillon is good for a sweet wine at this price
Voyager 2005 Cab Merlot (that was what I brought during our last outing)
Massena 11th Hour
Greenock
Kooyong Pinot Noir
Clonakilla
Mount Mary
Jasper Hill
Leeuwin Art Series Chardonnay
Henschke Mount Edelstone


Chile:
Santa Rita Casa real Cab
Don Melchor Cab (very rich and juicy but needs times, even the 2002 i had last year was overwhelming)
Montes Folly (awesome Chilean Syrah)


Germany: ALL (haha)


New Zealand:
Wither Hills Sauv Blanc
Misha's Vineyard Pinot Gris
Villa Maria Sauv Blanc
Dog Point Sauv Blancs
Felton Rd Pinot Noir
Ata Rangi Pinot Noir
Martinborough Pinot Noir

USA:
- Dominus, Napanook and Montelena are good but expensive

Wow.. You really know your wines very very well!
I'm impressed!! Very impressed!

 

[cysg24]

A new member to HWZ, just chanced upon this thread and just wanted to say a very big thank you to ikileo for starting this! Very informative and comprehensive!

 

[ikileo]

Hi cysg24 thanks for your post. I may have started the thread but also thanks to the wine thread contributors as well to keep it going.

What kind of wines u like?

 

[danz7777]

hi, i'm new here... very interesting forum... what is the gathering about? anyone can join?

 

[ikileo]

hi danz7777, welcome to the wine forum.

as per the description, the gathering is for people on the forum to get together over a meal and everyone brings a bottle according to the theme for the meal. the wines are served blind so we can taste without bias and guess what they are (if you like). but it's more to know more about wine and explore more types/regions/varietals etc. it's a very open concept.

would you be keen to join? anyone can join in, newbies to oldbies. as long as you are interested in wine, it will be fun.

the current theme for next friday: Wine Varietals/Regions/Subregions you've never had before. that that should be an eye opener us to try new things we've never had before. But if you've never had a bordeaux or an aussie wine in your life, that's perfectly fine and you can bring a bordeaux or an aussie wine.

We usually put a budget for the wine so that no one goes out to buy regular supermarket mass production wine. The budget in this case is $40 - $100. as for the food, this time we will da bao in zhi char (most likely) to Extra Space and then we wine and dine there.

are you in?

 

[ikileo]

on a side note, i bought this on a whim last night with my gf to consume.

NV Wolf Blass Sparkling Red Moscato for $24.90 @ Cold Storage. But i am pretty sure it available everywhere.

very serviceable for the price. not complex, simple but I liked the balance it had. it got better as the hour passed. loads of fresh red fruits on the nose and palate. I like how it started off with the fruit and then transitioned into a drier finish. not for everyone who expects a semi-sweet wine, but for those who want a balance between a dry and semi sweet wine, this is a good and inexpensive option.

 

[cysg24]

I agree! I used to prefer whites when I was younger but I grew a liking to reds especially how well they go with certain types of food. I am biased towards Malbec thb; one of my favourites.

I actually live in the UK, alcohol is generally cheaper here than in Singapore!

Hi cysg24 thanks for your post. I may have started the thread but also thanks to the wine thread contributors as well to keep it going.

What kind of wines u like?

 

[ikileo]

oh nice...yeah UK has a very very good range of wines, especially from europe. plus they have a long history for european wine trading. any malbec producers you fancy? i'm assuming most of them would be Argentinean? (or possibly from the only malbec appellation in France: Cahors?)

 

[cysg24]

No particular favourites actually but at the top of my head, probably Weinert? What about you? Any reds you would like to recommend? Something dry would be good so I can use it in my stews too. Haha!

oh nice...yeah UK has a very very good range of wines, especially from europe. plus they have a long history for european wine trading. any malbec producers you fancy? i'm assuming most of them would be Argentinean? (or possibly from the only malbec appellation in France: Cahors?)

 

[ikileo]

one of the most famous argentinean producers that has received international acclaim is Catena Zapata.

Laura Catena from Bodega Catena Zapata – Episode #929

but there are so many argentinean malbec producers.

Achacal-Ferrer is the other famous one

You might want to try Cuvelier Los Andes. It's the estate belonging to the owner of Chateau Leoville Poyferre.

Alta Vista makes a good range (from entry to higher end) and so does Trapiche.

But i'm sure there are many more.

For stews I find rhone wines work very well too. especially southern rhone wines.

 

[Condor]

Wish I could join the session next week but I'm supporting another event to raise small dollars for the taxi driver family of the recent accident.

I should be going to Crystal tomorrow to take a look. Anyone else going?