Wine

[ikileo]

thanks, that's great to hear.

to help you with some appreciation, I always recommend drinking more, not excessively, but taste more. As you taste and suck in the air, you really have to put your mind to it to identify it. a lot of red wines have a cherry/berry kind of flavour profile, so I would suggest to actually buy cherries and berries, and really taste them and remember it.

You can even buy a bottle a week and taste it with friends, that's what I try to do, but sometimes i end up pouring most of it out since i can't get everyone. and when u taste wine, make a note and write it down. I have a text document that has all my tasting notes. it will help you refer. as you keep practising you will get better.

A way you can start is using the wine taste wheel, http://www.vadim.com/Wine/wine_wheel.jpg
but by no means is it a perfect list because you should always taste wine and identify it with things you know. if you think the wine smells like your dog after a rain, that's fine, because your palate and your senses are personal and yours. That being said, go out there and try different types of fruits and food and herbs to expand your flavour profile so you can easily identify them better.

grab a bunch of friends for a dinner gathering, and get everyone to bring one bottle, and then have a tasting sessions or even a blind tasting. that would be really fun.

 

[bloodbecks]

Anyone into Croatian Wines?

 

[ikileo]

that would be wild, unfortunately it's pretty rare to find croatian wines in SG, simply because of the very nich market it is. however, if u do know where we can get our hands on croatian wines locally, that would be great!

 

[ikileo]

updated first page with article on wine pairing.

 

[bloodbecks]

that would be wild, unfortunately it's pretty rare to find croatian wines in SG, simply because of the very nich market it is. however, if u do know where we can get our hands on croatian wines locally, that would be great!

Well i believe there is for the nich and for the mass market. Yea i do know where to get. Do Pm me if you are keen.

 

[ikileo]

is it possible to provide that information here? and i can put it up on the front page. i'm all for helping people expand their palates and their wine horizon.

 

[ikileo]

help me out guys, what topic would be good to me to write and put up for everyone? and also what wine would $25 and under would be good to review?

 

[ikileo]

finally, updated the blog with more posts. the link is on the 1st post. i'm tasting another wine right now as i type this.

 

[kangzkangz]

You can have a review Robert Mondavi Woodbridge... now on promotion in bigger NTUCs

 

[ikileo]

sounds great...i would assume you're talking about the 2006 Woodbridge Chardonnay? Yeah sure I will try to get my paws on it within the week.

 

[bigbadber]

i used to like white zinfandel alot
esp robert mondavi's white zin

then dunno why recently, it became Rose
i tot it wld be the same, so i bought it, tried it....
sucks, didnt like it....
finish half bottle.... drink until it gave me a bad headache

another weird thing,
Beringer also used to make white zin.
now, they got both white zin, and Sparkling white zin.
dunno why lidat. im confused.
why they backside itchy go change a good thing?

i got a bottle of robert mondavi Rose. well kept condition. sell $15 only. anybody wanna take it off my hands? living at zoolong~

 

[bigbadber]

i like sweet wines cos i got a sweet tooth and theres alot of wines tat i dunno how to appreciate

i like those late harvest and moscato
brown brothers moscato is nice
and got this south africa's Nederburg Special Late Harvest

TS can i ask:

for normal wines, wats the max number of years can they be kept b4 consuming?
like 3 years , 4 years max?
is there a limit to storing them?
like wld a 2003 wine become bad/unsavoury now?
provided it was stored properly
edit: normal $20, $30 wines, not those exp types

thanks

 

[ikileo]

i used to like white zinfandel alot
esp robert mondavi's white zin

then dunno why recently, it became Rose
i tot it wld be the same, so i bought it, tried it....
sucks, didnt like it....
finish half bottle.... drink until it gave me a bad headache

by right it should be the same thing because white zin is a type of rose wine. for the sake of everyone else who may not know, white zinfandel (aka White zin) is not a white grape variety that is related to the red zinfandel grape. White Zinfandel wine is made from the red zinfandel grape via a different process to produce a sweet pink wine due to limited skin contact which is what gives it the red colour.

but of course, for robert mondavi's case, it could be due to a variety of reasons. maybe that vintage isn't that great, maybe the winemaking process didn't make the alcohol more integrated as you'd like.

another weird thing,
Beringer also used to make white zin.
now, they got both white zin, and Sparkling white zin.
dunno why lidat. im confused.
why they backside itchy go change a good thing?

they've always had the sparkling white zin, it's just that it was not available in SG before. Beringer, being such a mass producer of wines their sparkling white zins have been a great seller for them globally as an affordable, easy drinking bubbly. it's not about backside itchy, it's about meeting demand and expanding their product range; it's just business.

and there is a clear different. one is a bubbly due to secondary fermantation, the other is just a regular rose wine with no bubbles. just buy what you like.

 

[ikileo]

i like sweet wines cos i got a sweet tooth and theres alot of wines tat i dunno how to appreciate

i like those late harvest and moscato
brown brothers moscato is nice
and got this south africa's Nederburg Special Late Harvest

sweet wines are very nice, especially if you do have a sweet tooth. but don't limit yourself to just those. you can start with white wines made from viognier grapes. those wines tend to have a very nice floral/perfume like nose and delicate flavours.

in december, i did a review between 2 affordable dessert wines: Brown Brothers & Trentham Noble Taminga. In my opinion (which you should not agree with until you tried the Trentham one) I prefered the Trentham, because of its higher acidity. When drinking dessert wines, all of them are sweet, but its about how focused and controlled the sweetness is. A good sign of dessert wines is that the sweetness is balanced with acidity; without the acidity, you will taste this globby overly thick syrupy sweetness. with enough acid, the sweetness is controlled and will be very refined and elegant as it slices down your palate. The Trentham one provided much more desired acidity and you can see the full review on my blog. The address is on the 1st post.

If you're willing to spend $30+, go to Jason's Marketplace and pick up the new 2008 d'arenberg The Noble Wrinkled Riesling. its a dessert wine and their past few vintages have been really good. You can drink it now but it will definitely develop over the course of the decade. I know I will.

TS can i ask:

for normal wines, wats the max number of years can they be kept b4 consuming?
like 3 years , 4 years max?
is there a limit to storing them?
like wld a 2003 wine become bad/unsavoury now?
provided it was stored properly
edit: normal $20, $30 wines, not those exp types

thanks

for aging, there is no hard and fast rule and its kinda like a game. that's why usually i'll try to get a taste of how the wine is. generally, the more tannic the wine, the longer it has to be kept for the tannins to soften and the flavours to integrate together. so actually you'd never know until you try it, that's the thing.

curiously the 2003 wine is made from what variety. some varieties tend to keep longer than others (but this is a very general rule). some grape varieties, due to the level of tannins, have to be kept longer. in short: there is no 'maximum' number of years, because it varies from bottle to bottle. read the short writeup about aging in my 1st post on the 1st page.

for the $20, $30 ones, you'll never know until you actually drink it. since they're quite cheap, i'll actually buy it and drink it first. if it's drinking well now then good. if its still tannic and the flavours are not well integrated enough, then you should keep it. I bought a $20 spanish wine from 2005 and its drinking beautifully now.

but my advice for the current 2008 releases, especially for the reds, is that you should and better store it for at least 2 to 3 years, because the current releases are still way too young.

 

[kangzkangz]

sounds great...i would assume you're talking about the 2006 Woodbridge Chardonnay? Yeah sure I will try to get my paws on it within the week.

I've nv tried a Woodbridge b4, but I read somewhere that Robert Mondavi and a famous French winemaker started the Opus One, a very high-end wine in US.

Bought a Woodbridge Zin 2007 yesterday. Will give my comments on it once I tried it at the end of the month.

 

[kangzkangz]

i like sweet wines cos i got a sweet tooth and theres alot of wines tat i dunno how to appreciate

i like those late harvest and moscato
brown brothers moscato is nice
and got this south africa's Nederburg Special Late Harvest

You can try the greek sweet wines found at Carefour, like Mavrodaphne. But I think they cost more that $25. An affordable and very easy drinking red under Somerton is also found there.

 

[ikileo]

Robert Mondavi is said to be the grandfather of californian wines and one of the biggest influences on wine in america. He is not french, but born in the US from an italian family. To my knowledge, he was never a french winemaker but an american winemaker who strove to create wines in the US that would rival the best in europe. He has recently passed away about a year ago and because of his popularity and influence, his name is synonymous with a whole range of wines. Opus One is a very cult wine label in the US which usually commands very high prices. you can buy it in SG but only at speciality premium stores.

 

[kangzkangz]

yes he was not a french winemaker. What i meant was that he and another french winemaker (think from one of the top makers Chateau Mouton Rothchild) went into a joint venture of Opus One.

 

[bigbadber]

waahhhhh ok

will try to note all ur comments and digest them

thanks!

last month there was a wine fair/promo buy carrefour at plaza sing ground floor.
there were discounts throughout and there were some cheap buys.

wat i really liked was the south africa's Nederburg special late harvest. i think i bought it for less than $20. i think abt $18 or $19.
original price at other supermkts = $25
too bad i didnt buy more

do try it one day.

its a pity tat brown brother's Orang Muscat & Flora fairer so poorly. dont even have acidity taste.
i got a bottle with me now. will open it soon and try to note ur comments while drinking it.

 

[ikileo]

but keep in mind, it's just my opinion. you could totally disagree with me and that's perfectly fine, because it's your own preference and taste. but do try and experiment it out. buy the tentham tamiga and taste the two of them together. it'll be interesting.