Wine

[ikileo]

hey looiwte, thanks for that very extensive post. glad you are enjoying lots of wine recently. do take this momentum and try various types of wines from all over the world and enjoy it with your food. If you are buying Setanta, their flagship is actually the Cabernet.

and as for sauvinon blanc, you should indeed tried more. new zealand sauvignon blanc (NZSB) has taken the world by storm over the past 5-6 years and are extensively available anywhere. Try them and compare them with the traditional SB made in France (Pouilly Fume, Sancerre etc...) to see which style you like.

i picked up the $15 sparkler from Bottles & Bottles yesterday. It was the Pere Ventura Cava Tresor Brut Nature, a sparkling wine from Spain. I love Cava, they represent an insanely good value for sparkling wines. This sparkling wine went very well with the chinese food i paired it with. Clean, crisp, high acid and delicious. And now I understand why professionals will taste sparkling wine in a regular glass vs a flute (and it makes sense), the large surface area opens up the wine much faster.

Most of the time we (myself included) guzzle down flutes of sparkling wine without giving it a chance to express itself. Last night they didn't stock any flutes so they put it in a white wine glass. So while the initial mousse faded, the spritz and crispness of the wine was still there but with much more open flavours and scents. And at $15, this is a ridiculous steal.

and yes, i am very excited with my tuscan trip...been doing heaps of research. thankfully my best friend lives in florence so he'll be able to show us around also. My wine country segment of my trip starts of in visiting various producers in the Chianti region, followed by heading down to Montalcino to visit Brunello producers. Excited!

I have got to control myself, i have another 5 bottles incoming.
- A 1999 syrah from cornas
- A 100% Marsanne, Hermitage blanc
- 2 bottles of lakes folly cabernet blend
- A bottle of Crozes-Hermitage

i deperately need to clear space in my wine fridge.

 

[Delusion_Disorder]

Noted there is a good bargain walking around in Chinatown Point ....

Yalumba The Signature Cabernet Shiraz 2005...S$56 now

A reserved, rather closed but smooth and elegant wine that takes time to reveal its deep flavours of mulberries,c cassis, dark plums, prunes and redcurrants. It's already rather complex, with a distinct presence of lanolin, slightly meaty notes and a whiff of greenish fruit that tends to diminish with time in the glass. Neatly entwined with smooth, seasoned cedar/vanilla oak, it's long and lively, with bright, juicy fruit underpinned by fine, crunchy tannins, finishing with a lingering core of fruit and savoury notes of espresso and licorice.(18.6/95, YTD 2017-2025+) Jeremy Oliver

Good bright colour; a fragrant bouquet, with a cascade of red and black fruits coursing through the medium-bodied palate, with notes of chocolate and vanilla on the finish. Cork. 14.5% alc. Rating 94 Drink 2015 $46.95 Date Tasted Aug 08 James Halliday Australian Wine Companion

Two years in oak, then two years in bottle prior to release - it's a lovely approach. There's something old-fashioned about the flavour of Yalumba's Signature red blend . and I mean that in the most positive of ways. As a young-ish wine there isn't a great deal to it - but then, it's made to be aged. It has a lovely mix of dusty, briary, curranty flavours and more robust, chocolatey oomph, the blend of cabernet and shiraz leaning towards the former in terms of flavours, though with excellent support. It has fine tannin and enough flavour - though there's also an (attractive) sense of lightness here. If you usually like Yalumba's Signature blend you will like this - it's not overdone, it's medium-bodied in a classical way. 94 points; Campbell Mattinson; The Wine Front

Chunky, solid and chewy. Very ripe with good tannins. A big style with good tannins. Full bodied, drink now. Nice, complex dry red fruit and oak. Soft tannins with well-integrated oak. Panel of Judges, Drinks Trade

 

[ikileo]

that is a very good wine. i had an older vintage about 3 years ago and enjoyed it. the price is pretty good. which store is this? this will definitely last for another decade more.

 

[Delusion_Disorder]

Agreed...even hi A$40's in local mkt in Aust.....

Saw there were still 2 btls left...

the shop name ..barworks

 

[ikileo]

oh ok, so barworks is there...always wondered where they were located.

 

[Baggio10]

definitely a good wine of pedigree, but this is no where near its peak yet. drink a bottle now (after several hours of decanting - 3-5 hours) to see where it is, and open the other one in at least another 10 years time, if you can wait. currently the primary flavours a delicious but the years will pack on very lovely and complex secondaries and teritiary flavours that will be worth the wait.

sorry to bring back this old post..i just opened one bottle of la grange yday..

i fully agree with you...delicious and will be much better in another 10years

 

[reign]

Anyone Tried the Pinot Noir from Mt Edward 2008? Getting a bottle this weekend.

 

[ikileo]

did u get it from wine exchange asia?
never had it but should be a good introduction to Central Otago Pinot.

 

[reign]

ya, but have to go to their Boon Keng storage for collection. only saw 1 review in

http://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=789163

 

[ikileo]

yeah that's what i usually do when i pick up their stuff. but i am only free on weekends so i go there on sat mornings.

as for reviews yeah...it's hard to tell with just one person. but mount edwards is a pretty decent producer, so in the end just drink it with some food and just see whether u like it. you can add your own tasting notes as well.

 

[ikileo]

picked up my 1999 Jean Luc Colombo "Mejeans" Cornas from Booze yesterday. From the northern rhone, this wine is a 100% Syrah and should taste beautiful

will probably drink it on my birthday this year.

 

[ikileo]

any recent wine experiences or purchases? do share! lurkers come out!

 

[ikileo]

Crystal Wines having Bordeaux 2005 sale (check their site), so should be good for those who are into Bordeaux. But keep in mind, most of these wines are far too early for optimal drinking for most people.

 

[looiwte]

Do update us on your Tuscan adventures too...
Btw the place where I had my steak is Il Profeta, very near to the main Santa Maria Novella train station in Florence.
Am unable to post links yet, so you can just google 'Il Profeta Florence' and it should turn up.
Btw these days, you can see everything up close with Google Street View, ain't it great?

While we're on the geek talk, I'm using this 'Wine + List, Ratings & Cellar' app by Metosphere on Android. You can scan the barcode of your wine, input your comments and other details, logging it for reference. Thought it'd be useful as I embark on the wine journey.

Btw the Italian wine distributor I talked to at Jason's also gave me a brochure and recommended this place to visit in Tuscany, Castello di Oliveto. Basically a nice castle in a nice location, with its own olive oil and wine-making facilites. Although you look like you've got plenty of options, I thought I'd just mention this to you. I bought the Chianti and tried a few other wines from here at Jason's, and they tasted pretty good to me.
They have their own website, which I'm unable to link to, but should be able to google it easily.

Onto the subject of wine, I had a dinner with some relatives from overseas at Jumbo recently. Thought it would be interesting to try out some food-wine combos. After doing some research on the net, I tried the Trimbach Gewurztraminer with lobster and Chili crabs, and found it to be a good match. Although it had subtle lychee notes on the nose, on the mouth it was dry and sufficiently acidic to take the rich Chili crab sauce. Most on the table who attempted to take the wine and food simultaneously gave a good feedbackon this.

Another wine I tried, with a different approach, was a cool climate Shiraz huge on peppery spice and with relatively fine tannins, to match the black pepper crab in a spice-meets-spice way. Alas, in the end nobody seemed keen to order my favourite pepper crab dish and I was left to pair the D'Arenberg Footbolt Shiraz with the Chili crab sauce, which also had its fair share of spices. In the end I thought the spices from both resulted in a very 'shiok' spice explosion in the mouth, and I'll definitely look to try it with black pepper crabs in the future. Not sure how to define this approach; it's actually an 'egg each other on' (battling each other to the ends of your mouth), as opposed to complementary (one filling in where the other is unable to).

My 2 cents...definitely not qualified to do tasting notes yet, so please cut some slack where my descriptions are concerned. I'm just trying to pick things up as I go along, and sometimes that means being a bit presumptous and 'geh kiang' a bit

 

[ikileo]

@looiwte: sounds like u had a great time at Jumbo. love that place too. mixing and matching is really fun to do. when i visit my friend in florence i will bring a bottle of new world wine to give him something different from his daily italian sangiovese or nebbiolo wines. i am having a craving for spanish wines now...haven't had one in quite a while.

 

[ikileo]

@reign: have u tried your mount edward yet?

@everyone: Wine retailer 'Water & Wine' is having a sale of their Angelo Gaja wines:

This week we turn our attention to "the man who dragged Piedmont into the modern world".
Legendary Angelo Gaja has single-handedly revolutionised the wine business in Barbaresco and beyond. While he is from a family of wine makers, Angelo Gaja has trodden his own path, disputing against his father's traditional winemaking methods, and introduced bold innovations in the vineyards and the cellars. His reward as we all know now - international recognition and strings of accolades awarded to his name.



I still remember, during a private wine dinner when I've tasted a vertical collection of his Barbarescos from the mid 90s, the host spoke this: "I've been drinking Gaja's Barbaresco and Barolo since the 80s, and he is probably the only faultless winemaker I've known. Gaja's wines are worth every single cent on every drop of wine. Without a shadow of doubt, Angelo is the most respected winemaker to ever emerge from Italy. Sante!!"...Wow, those words have since vividly ingrained in my memory. I always liked Gaja's wines (when someone opens one), but that night, the amazing splendor of Gaja's wines made an overnight transformation on me. Tasting the Barbarescos and Barolos is like appreciating a work of art. Re-creation is not possible, like Henri Bonneau from Chateauneuf Du Pape or the late Didier Daguneau from Loire: You know you're tasting one, when you've tasted one...



From our last few Italian offers of the 90s (Tignanello, Solaia, Sandrone, Ornellaia, Masseto),

this parcel continues our exclusive Italian offers from the 90s, as promised. The recently acquired Gaja parcel, together with some Pieve Santa Restituta Brunellos (from the hands of Gaja's viticulture and vinification) are as rare as it gets. Some vintages are only available in single bottle, don't miss out on this exclusive offer....

These are expensive premium wines but some of the world's best. Water and Wine carries vintages back till 1990. But prices start from $118 for a half bottle.

you can email them for a full listing at enquiries@waterandwine.net

 

[reign]

Collection this SAt... problem is not sure how to express it in writing,,.,

 

[ikileo]

just express it in the way it's comfortable for u

 

[kangzkangz]

Had a Omori Estate Pinot Rose, from New Zealand, last weekend. Nice bouquet of cherries and watermelon. Crisp, clean finish. Lovely drink on a hot afternoon!

 

[ikileo]

Downed a half bottle of Felsina Chianti Classico last night to prepare for my florence trip: http://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=683895