Wine

[Beta_Tester]

later i be at Grand Hyatt for wedding dinner, lets see got any decent nice stuff there for me to drink..

 

[lousylah]

shared a bottle of the following with the family last night:

Image: Wine Men of Gotham Shiraz 2008

brought back by my bro from down under. smooth, quite full flavoured, not acidic.

plenty bang for little buck (aud7)!

just sharing my cheap but good wine experience.

 

[reign]

shared a bottle of the following with the family last night:

Image: Wine Men of Gotham Shiraz 2008

brought back by my bro from down under. smooth, quite full flavoured, not acidic.

plenty bang for little buck (aud7)!

just sharing my cheap but good wine experience.

haiZ.... the price we paid here are always so ex compared to the source

 

[ikileo]

ever had that problem where you bring a date to a nice restaurant and want to impress her by ordering wine? You can't afford the expensive stuff but you also don't want to buy the cheapest wine 'cos that'll just make you look cheap.

Solution? Second Cheapest Wine!

 

[ikileo]

drank the 2006 Hare's Chase Springer Blend over the weekend. it was a gift someone gave my dad. Shiraz/Mouvedre/Cabernet Franc blend. My dad's friend bought it from Bottles & Bottles as I has seen it there before and there was a B&B sticker on it.

not a very nice wine. flavours very disjointed and not tasty. Didn't continue drinking after a glass.

 

[reign]

while u didn't get to enjoy a giod wine. i broke a bottle of riseling...only got to savor the smell...sob...sob

 

[ikileo]

sorry to hear that. i know how u feel.

which riesling was this?

 

[stayhappy21]

Seems like it's the season to break wines.. I broke 2 in the month of July.. A bottle of La Chappelle La Mission HB 2007 and a bottle of Miltolo GAM Shiraz 2008.. My heart sank when i saw the bottle slipped from my hands and crashed onto the floor...

So glad July is almost over..

 

[ikileo]

ouch, that must have really hurt.

i just reserved a bottle of '88 Chateau Pavie.

 

[JamesTan.]

oh goodness, the more i read about the less i know is there nay beginners section to this?

 

[ikileo]

U can try the first page. I wrote out a lot of the basic knowledge when it comes to wine and some good online resources.

Ultimately u must also consume the wine to get more experience. It's a fun journey and I encourage u to share that journey with us.

 

[JamesTan.]

Yes I will and start off i guess with the basics

 

[ikileo]

Wine is fun and interesting. Take your time with it, even the experts still don't know everything there is to know about wine.

What are the wines u have enjoyed in the past?

 

[Beta_Tester]

Btw i saw this starter kit thing. i forgot where i saw it.. They have this few scent bottle of oil or solution that will replicate the smell of some common fruit,wood or whatever scent that wine normally has.. seems cool. but bloody big kit.. n expensive. Suppose to train u to smell certain wine..

 

[ikileo]

Btw i saw this starter kit thing. i forgot where i saw it.. They have this few scent bottle of oil or solution that will replicate the smell of some common fruit,wood or whatever scent that wine normally has.. seems cool. but bloody big kit.. n expensive. Suppose to train u to smell certain wine..

no need spend so much money lah. u walk in supermarket can smell everything for FREE! that's how i trained.

open up your wallet or take out your belt and smell, that is leather loh

visit botanic gardens or any flower shop and smell the flowers, that is floral notes loh

vanilla, chocolate, coconut, toast, plums, cherries, etc... all can be tasted and tried for free for for very cheap.

i was at my wet market near my house, i saw two types of cherries, one dark cherry and one brighter lighter coloured cherry. i asked the uncle what's the difference; he replied: "go ahead and taste for yourself". i took one cherry each and tasted. both very nice. the brighter one was sweeter while the darker one had more tart component and astringency due to the tannins in the darker skin. overall i prefered the darker cherry as it was more complex and the tartness was a good balance to the sweetness. the brighter cherry was just sweet and delicious but lacked complexity.

cherries and red currants are classic indicators for spanish tempranillo, so it's good to be able to identify them. with wet market uncles like this, you don't need to spend a lot of money to be able to discern wine.

 

[MuthuCurry]

ouch, that must have really hurt.

i just reserved a bottle of '88 Chateau Pavie.

hi ikileo, care to share how much is the damage for C.Pavie? i tried the 2nd wine of C.Pavie, 2005, too fruity and sweet to my liking. never got a chance to try C. Pavie, bcos of the high cost. do share with us the tasting note.

 

[ikileo]

never had a pavie before. mine cost $150+

from a google search, the current owner, Perse, a very wealthy businessman took over in 1998, with that year being his first vintage. he moved the style into a very extracted modern style.

this has caused much controversy and battlelines as some prefer this new modern style of richness, while others prefer the pre-Perse days where it was more elegant

this controversy culminated here:

Parkerization debate

The 2003 vintage of Pavie was a flashpoint in the debate about the "Parkerization" of wine. This drought year was always going to exacerbate the Perse style of concentrated, alcoholic wines. Jancis Robinson reviewed it thus:[1]

"Completely unappetising overripe aromas. Why? Porty sweet. Port is best from the Douro not St.Emilion. Ridiculous wine more reminiscent of a late-harvest Zinfandel than a red Bordeaux with its unappetising green notes...12/20"

Yet the trade weren't too bothered since the wine was in a style that they knew Parker would like before he had even published his review:

'It is widely anticipated that Robert Parker will love it and we predict a massive score,' said Stephen Browett at UK wine merchants Farr Vintners. "

Parker even accused Robinson of lying in her tasting notes.[2]

Château Pavie - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

will drink it sometime this year and update!

additional reading: http://www.thewinedoctor.com/tastingsprofile/pavie.shtml

 

[hkm520240]

One of the way I learnt about various smells and tastes is through guided wines tasting and drink with some wine expert friends. After listen to their description on the nose and palate I will try to relate whether I can capture the same smell/flavour too. I don't have to smell my wallet or belt to learn how leather smell/taste

I tried Pavie 2005 before during a massive blind 2005 Bordeaux tasting but wasn't impress. What impressed me during that tasting was Leoville Poyferre and Angelus. Agree that Ch Pavie became a controversial wine after Perse took over. The price has rocketed since 2000 achieved perfect RP 100. But vintage prior to 1998 still quite relatively affordable. So 1988 is a very good buy.

Recently I got myself a bottle of 1978 Leoville Barton and I am very happy to add one more bottle of wine from my birth year and made by my best favourite producer

 

[hkm520240]

National Day wines promo

With Singapore National Day approaching there are some wine merchant take opportunity to offer National Day promotion

From Vinum/Caveau
http://www.vinum.com.sg/images/Annual_Sale/nday_offerlist.pdf

From Crystal
http://www.crystalwines.com/images/form/National Day 2012 Special.pdf

I would think that Caveau's promo is the usual one but the Crystal's promo really offer good value with discount equal to Singapore's age. But as I have been following their discount I notice the promo wines have shifted to those more on the high end wines compare to earlier year.

This time round the sub $30 wines are Kaiken Ultra Malbec 2009 and Kaiken Ultra Cabernet Sauvignon 2009 at $26.5. Very good price as I saw it before at some restaurant for more than $100 and the usual retail price at $50. But I will not buy any having been tasted the earlier vintage at similar price.

One that catch my attention is the Montes Folly Syrah 2004. This is one of best Shiraz from Chile. 2004 is in its drinking window and ready to enjoy. Smooth and rich with very good structure. And in a blind tasting it can actually beat Penfolds Grange. (refer to below link) although imho it can due to many factors.

Viña Montes “Grand Cru” Challenge

 

[ikileo]

oh yeah, i've had the opportunity to try the Montes Folly 1-2 years ago and it was crazy good.