Wine

[ikileo]

Hmmm.. The venue is the tasting room located @ marina square. The ofter is @ groupon.

oh haha...my most recent 2 glasses of wine I didn't like were from Tastings Room at Marina Square.

but don't let my experience spoil yours or give you a bias

 

[reign]

oh haha...my most recent 2 glasses of wine I didn't like were from Tastings Room at Marina Square.

but don't let my experience spoil yours or give you a bias

But how's the food? Cos I have walked pass the place a few times just no chance to try. No worries, my level still beginner! So nothing to lose but more to gain! Worth to open a bottle there?

 

[ikileo]

food is ok but nothing extraordinary. but then again i only had their pastas and pizza and not their main course so I can't say for sure.

u can browse their menu and wine menu on their site. here's the pdf link:

food menu: http://www.thetastingsroom.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/TTR Menu.pdf

wine menu: http://www.thetastingsroom.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Wine Menu 02 Aug 2011 - Final.pdf

 

[reign]

The groupon voucher consist of 2 main either duck confit or beef cheeks + 2 wine from south africa. Which I'm thinking of either the pinot noir to match the duck or Shiraz to match the beef. Most likely I will order both duck and beef but only 1 wine. Any recommendation? Oh ya. The wine I mentioned are those that I planned to open. But if price is not really wort it then I will skip, still have the 2001 shiraz which i got frm.le benton

 

[ikileo]

are the 2 wines from SA up to their choice or can u choose?

if u bring something u better check on their corkage charges.

 

[reign]

The 2 reds are frm their them.nah not bringing my own. Just thinking of buying frm them or else go back then drink kekek.

 

[Baggio10]

Hi bros,

Able to teach me more on Burgundy wines?


zero knowledge on this area

thanks!

 

[ikileo]

i asked a similar question a year ago at another forum 'cos i wanted to know more.

this was one of the helpful replies i got. keep in mind, more research still needs to be done on your end.

First things first, how familiar are you with the Burgundy? The "ranking" system, as in Grand Cru, 1er Cru, Village, regional etc, is a good place to start understanding the region before you start buying the wines. And then the differences between the Cote d'Or and other sub-regions is probably the next most important thing to understand, followed closely by the differences in the villages (i.e. Gevrey, Fixin, Chambolle etc etc) within the Cote d'Or itself.

There are lots of resources out there, but a couple of easy to read and quite solid websites to familiarise yourself with Burgundy are http://www.thewinedoctor.com/regionalguides/burgundypartone.shtml and http://www.burgundy-report.com/discover-burgundy/
Both are really excellent places to start.

I think the best advice one can give on Burgs is to go for the producer. Good producers hardly make bad wines. There are generally two types of producers, Domaines, which grow their own grapes and bottle their own wines, and Negociants, who buy the grapes / must from growers and just bottle the wine. However, most major Negociant houses now will have both Domaine and Negociant wines. For someone starting out, you should probably start with the Negociant wines, as they have a far wider range of wines than the Domaines and a good Negociant will probably make solid wines even at the lower end. Amongst these, I would recommend that you try out Bouchard Pere & Fils, William Fevre for Chablis (both imported by Booze), Faiveley (until recently reported by Culina), Jadot (small range in Singapore, but quite widely available even in supermarkets - just watch out for storage issues), and Drouhin (cannot quite remember the importers now).

Do bear in mind that certain vintages are shut down at the moment and not drinking well. I would avoid 2005 for that reason, and 2004 reds because most of the wines are in an awkward place now. At the moment, 2001, 2002 and 2006 are drinking nicely amonst the more recent vintages for reds. For whites, 2006 is very friendly drinking at the moment (although they can be a bit big and alchy if not properly controlled). 2004 is more classic and is quite a stellar year, as is 2002, both of which are drinking beautifully. 2001 is also very good, but probably needs a bit more time.

Unfortunately, good Burgundy is far rarer and relatively more expensive than say good Bordeaux, or good German Riesling. You can get very decent daily drinking wines for under $100, but these will most probably be the low end - i.e. "regional" wines (either generic Bourgogne or Cotes de Beaune / Cote de Nuits), or at best "village" wines (i.e. Gevrey, Fixin, Chambolle etc etc). You should be prepared to pay at least $100-150 for decent mid-tier wines (i.e. "1er Crus" from good producers) and up to twice that for decent "Grand Crus". Some producers may price their wines cheaper, but that is probably because they are not very good.

The problem is that the gulf in quality (especially in less than stellar vintages) between each tier is huge, and you almost never get the magic "Burgundy" experience below 1er Cru level, and even then not very often at all. This very different from Bordeaux, when you can get a really lower-tier wine, say like De Fieuzal or Clerc Milon, for under $100, and there will not be a that huge a difference in quality between that and say the 1st and 2nd Growths that costs 10 times more. Or you could stretch and get a superb 2nd growth, like Ducru, Barton or Cos d'Estournel for just slightly more than $100. So do not get your expections too high when you start with the regional wines for Burgundy - they are lowest rung in a very steep ladder and are worlds away from what Burgundy can and does regularly achieve.

Finally given the fact that the regional wines hardly have any show of terroir at all, I would suggest that you start with village wines, which you should be able to get for just under $100 for non-sale prices from the Negociants I mentioned and significantly lower during sales. That would be a good way to try to understand the different villages.

also look at the map of burgundy and all the sub regions to get a better idea of how it's split.

 

[Baggio10]

i asked a similar question a year ago at another forum 'cos i wanted to know more.

this was one of the helpful replies i got. keep in mind, more research still needs to be done on your end.



also look at the map of burgundy and all the sub regions to get a better idea of how it's split.

brilliant! that's a good start will research more!

 

[ikileo]

my boss just got back from a holiday in South Africa and got for me a half bottle of Pinotage from one of the wineries they visited. Hope to try it soon! I haven't had a pinotage for more than a year!

 

[reign]

I tried it this year from tall giraffe.I like it very much heavier than pinot noir and merlot.

 

[ikileo]

Sigh I really need some good vino after my past 3 bad ones

 

[hkm520240]

"It is often said that all wine lovers come to Burgundy in the end, the implication being that they have eventually tired of Bordeaux, a region that for them becomes nothing more than a phase in their wine education, rather than the lifelong obsession into which Burgundy might evolve. And although I am quite sure this statement is not true for all..."

I came across this statement when reading winedoctor's Burgundy guide. Very interesting because I heard the same story from few wine connoisseurs when I met them during some wines tasting session and after we share our favourite wines region. For once I firmly believe going into Burgundy is the natural progression for my tasting career.

However after I have expanded my wines horizon, tasted some good Burgundy and meet people who hold the opposite views (They drink wines for years and still love Bordeaux). I have turned fr a believer to stay neutral on that question. As I believe my taste will change and evolve, but I do not worry where I'm heading to, for I believe these are all natural progression on one's tasting career. I hope I don't get tired of Bordeaux so soon, as I have cases of young Bordeaux stuck in my cellar waiting for me to enjoy decades later!

 

[ikileo]

that's true, a lot of burg lovers say that. however i haven't had my enlightened moment with burgundy yet. it's probably because I haven't spent that kind of money yet.

you can ask me again when i start earning 5 figures (or 6).


I wonder where are the previous peeps who used to communicate more on this forum? like Andice and Swirl84? If you are lurking around, i hope you had some nice tipple since we last spoke!

 

[hkm520240]

You don't have to be rich to drink top Burg just need to know someone who has cellar full of Burg and willing to share but I know that is not highly possible too.

Yeah those nothing but Burgundy drinker must be a group of fortunate ppl drink without have to look at the price tag. That is also the reason I stay away from buying Burg judging from the price per quality (QPR) ratio. Although after tasted some superb red & white Burg during some wines tasting & dinner, I have no doubt Burgundy produce world's best Pinot & Chard. And I love the opportunity to taste & learn more on the characteristic of different villages too.

 

[ikileo]

same same here...not enough money yet. same goes with my friends.

but i am still more than happy to stick with the other regions that I love.

 

[looiwte]

Another wine event for vinophiles!
My first year as a full-fledged 'vino' and there are so many wine fairs, tastings, events etc.
Really need to pace oneself, and one's wallet!

http://www.thelocalnose.com/index.p...he-vine/370-wrx-wine-journey-wine-edutainment

 

[ikileo]

yup i saw that event, but i'm giving that a miss as I'm organizing a wine dinner for my team of colleagues at my place that evening

 

[ikileo]

something for ya'll to spend more money on.

but for a multi-course dinner at a nice place with nice wine, i think the price is very reasonable.

 

[hkm520240]

Another wine event for vinophiles!
My first year as a full-fledged 'vino' and there are so many wine fairs, tastings, events etc.
Really need to pace oneself, and one's wallet!

http://www.thelocalnose.com/index.p...he-vine/370-wrx-wine-journey-wine-edutainment

Yup that's a good one and I am interested to go...

I have signed up for the Wolf Blass tasting on 29 Nov and I'm looking forward to taste the vertical Black Label ('93,96,98,02,05) and Platinum Label ('98,02,06) which I have never tasted before.

http://www.asianmasters.com.sg/images/menu/Wolf_Blass_Wine_Tasting__2010_.pdf