Wine

[ikileo]

pics from last weekend's tasting for South America wines.

2011 Concha y Toro Sauvignon Blanc Terrunyo Los Boldos Vineyard Block 5 - Classic new world SB. Loads of grass but with clean high acidity. Lacked a bit of concentration for me.

2009 Tabalí Chardonnay Talinay Camachaca Vineyard - From a micro-micro climate in the Limari Valley. This was very good and reminiscent of good Pouilly Fuisse. Elegant, well integrated and affordable

2006 Viña Santa Rita Triple C - Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon & Carmenere. No wonder it had that herbaceous element but also that cabby fruit. It had something there but it didn't seem fully opened yet. Perhaps it needed to open up more and sleep for a while longer. Good potential

NV Valdivieso Caballo Loco No 11 - A solera system style of red wine blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Syrah, Carmenere; basically no vintage. Ripe and ready to drink with touches of sweet fruit, soft tannins. Quite nice.

2007 Cuvelier de los Andes Grand Malbec - Our first Argentinean Malbec of the tasting. I haven't had a fruit bomb in a long time and boy did this explode in my mouth. Lots of richness and needs time to calm down, at least another 5-8 years. Right now, for me, it's not approachable.

2012 Bodega Chacra Pinot Noir Cincuenta y Cinco - Our 2nd Argentinean wine; from the team at Sassacaia. From the get go we knew it was pinot. But it was a confection-ed nose of sweet strawberries and candied cherries. Palate was quite fruit forward and rich with classic pinot notes; but not refined and quite one-dimensional compared to other pinot experiences. Maybe it was temperature or needed to open more?

 

[ikileo]

After some time, I've finally updated the mainpage with more relevant and interesting information for those interested in wine. Lots of videos and pics for you to explore!

Have fun!

 

[malcom90]

port wine

any suggestions for port wine <50$?

 

[ikileo]

supermarkets have options in that price range.

for wine retailers you can look for Cockburns Fine Tawny Port at Wine Connection.
while not a port in name because it's not made in portugal, but made in the same style as port you can check out De Bortoli Sacred Hill Old Tawny Port from Australia, available at Crystal Wines in River Valley

 

[doran_lum]

Looking for a wine chiller, does a double glass or triple glass layer matters ? I was told in Singapore humid weather it's better to have triple glass layer to avoid condensation.

 

[ikileo]

Looking for a wine chiller, does a double glass or triple glass layer matters ? I was told in Singapore humid weather it's better to have triple glass layer to avoid condensation.

if the price difference it not that much, get the three layer one.

but to be honest, high moisture is also good to keep the corks moist so that they don't get loose over long term.

depending on long you intend to keep your wines in the wine chiller for, if it's within 5 years then it doesn't really matter; just get one that fits your budget.

for longer term storage you can get a high quality fridge or invest in external off-site wine storage.

 

[ikileo]

I haven't done a proper wine review in a while. Picked up a casual drinking wine at Isetan supermarket earlier this week and just drank it tonight.

2010 Grands Terroir de France Cahors, $35 (UP: 47. Promo until 31st May)

Isetan Promo

My fancy bottle opener



Where is it from?: The sub-region of Cahors France which is located in the south-western part of France. It's general region is known for producing big and powerful red wines and a great source for good values wines.

French Wine Regions Map



What grapes go into a wine from Cahors?: Like most of other French wine regions, there are certain laws that a wine from Cahors has to abide by in order to be officially called Cahors. By law, it must have at least 70% of the grapes made from Malbec Grapes. The other 30% can either be a mix of the well-known Merlot grape or another local grape called Tannat.

In this case, this wine is made from 100% Malbec grapes.

Malbec Grapes



What's Malbec? Doesn't it come from Argentina?: Most people know Malbec as the very rich and ripe red wine from Argentina but it actually comes from France! And prior to the 1950s, it was a relatively common grape used in Bordeaux wines as part of the Bordeaux blend.

It was exported and planted in many countries but found success in Argentina which most of the modern consumer recognize its rich, ripe and opulent fruit.

These days it's volume in France has reduced and has more-or-less remaining in as the key grape in the Cahors region in France where it makes a more 'French' style of Malbec where it's less overtly fruity and has more tannins than it's Argentinean counterpart. And it ages well too!

There's an awesome and easily digestible article on Malbec here: What is Malbec Wine? 5 Amazing Facts About Malbec | Wine Folly



So how does this wine taste?: That's the most important bit isn't it? It was suitably chilled and I taste it over an 1.5hr period. I didn't decant.

At first opening: The flavours weren't a little muted. It had a a very savoury and meaty fragrance. Taste was a little austere but the wine reveal a sweet core of delicious fruit just before swallowing

Over the next hour, it opened up tremendously with the fruit showing more but it still had the 'French' style of restraint with some fine and clean tannins giving it a bit of grip and good structure.

You have to take note that this is quite different from the really juicy and ripe casual Malbecs from Argentina. This is a bit more serious than that as it's more of a dry style of Malbec. It would recommend you let it air in the glass for at least 15-20 minutes before tasting it.




Final words: Personally I enjoyed this wine for the price. I would recommend it as a great casual wine for pretty much any non-spicy meat dishes or BBQ. I have only seen it at Isetan Supermarket.

 

[ikileo]

Watched X-MEN: Days of Future Past yesterday evening and we had dinner beforehand at one of our usual haunts: Imperial Treasure Nan Bei Cuisine in Ngee Ann City.

Food is good, price is reasonable and no corkage fee!

I had an unfinished bottle of the Cahors (see above) and I wanted to pair chinese food with SHERRY!




NV Lustau Manzanilla 'Papirusa'

Lustau is one of the top producers of Sherry and make a wide range. This is their basic range and already it's very good.



What is Sherry? Isn't that a girl's name?: Sherry is a fortified wine from Spain stretching back to the 13th century. In the 15th - early 20th century it was a considered as one of the finest wines in the Europe favoured among royalty and popular in UK as well.


What's a fortified wine?: Simply put, a fortified wine is a wine that is made traditionally from grapes but halfway through the process, an alcohol spirit (usually brandy) is added to stop the fermentation and increase the alcohol content. Port is another famous type of fortified wine. In the case of sherry it is fortified by distilled grape spirit.


Why fortify wine?: Traditionally in the days before modern technology, refrigeration and proper storage, it was a way to preserve wine for longer. Some of the best sherries and ports last for decades upon decades, stretching back to the 1800s even!


Where is it from?: To be called Sherry, it needs to be from Spain, specially in the region of Andalusia. Even more specifically has to be within the sub-regions & cities of Jerez de la Frontera , El Puerto de Santa María and Sanlúcar de Barrameda.

What grapes go into a Sherry:It has to be made from either one of these 3 grapes.

Palomino: the dominant grape used for the dry sherries. Approximately 90 per cent of the grapes grown for Sherry are Palomino.

Pedro Ximénez: used to produce sweet wines. When harvested these grapes are typically dried in the sun for two days to concentrate their sugars.

Moscatel: used similarly to Pedro Ximénez, but it is less common.



How do I differentiate between the Sherries?: The world of Sherry is big but there are a handful of main style of Sherries takes from Wikipedia. The most common are the first 3. The one I drank was a Manzanilla.

Production is interesting as it involved a 'cloud' or 'cap' of yeast in the barrels, almost like a pillow between the surface of the wine in the barrel and the top of the barrel to keep it essentially air-tight. This technique stretches back centuries.

Fino ('fine' in Spanish) is the driest and palest of the traditional varieties of Sherry. The wine is aged in barrels under a cap of flor yeast to prevent contact with the air.

Manzanilla is an especially light variety of Fino Sherry made around the port of Sanlúcar de Barrameda.

Amontillado is a variety of Sherry that is first aged under flor but which is then exposed to oxygen, producing a sherry that is darker than a Fino but lighter than an Oloroso. Naturally dry, they are sometimes sold lightly to medium sweetened but these can no longer be labelled as Amontillado.

Ximénez (PX) or Moscatel grapes, which produces an intensely sweet dark brown or black wine, or by blending sweeter wines or grape must with a drier variety.

Here's a good 3-min video explaining Sherries and their various types

Here's another good article on Sherry in a condensed form:

Wine Anorak: Sherry




So how does this wine taste?: This wine by-itself has a smell that reminds me a bit of the Chinese Rice wine (Hua Tiao Jiu). It needs to be chilled and it also reminds me of the ocean due to its saline qualities.

Sherries do taste quite different from your usual white wines but it a great experience and matches many types of food. In this case the pairing experiment was inspired by the Lustau Sherry & Chinese Food pairing dinner in HK that I found online where someone had written a review. Click HERE for the review.



What did I pair the Sherry with?: Think about Fino/Manzanilla style sherry as suitable for seafood, salty and even vinegary items.

I chose a traditional Nanjing Salted Duck and 'Drunken' Chicken in Hua Tia Jiu to match. As it was light, clean and salty.

The wine & duck brought out the intense flavour of the duck; if you don't like 'duckiness' then this pairing is not for you; but I enjoyed it.

The chicken and wine was good as well. The chinese rice wine and the sherry had similar notes and brought out the natural sweetness in the chicken!

Foreground: Drunken Chicken
Background: Nanjing Salted Duck


The Cahors I had it paired with deep fried pork ribs and claypot eggplant with minced pork. Both matched well with the sweetness of the Cahors wine which showed a lot more fruit after 24 hours and was drinking very smoothly! So if you have time remember to decant and let your cahors air!

Cahors with the braised eggplant and pork ribs

Dinner overview



Final words: Sherry is definitely something I want to get into more for these two reasons:

1) Versatility: the whole range of sherry styles (bone dry to sweet) means it matches a whole range of food. The taste and smell may be new but it's all about expanding your palate and trying something new.

2) Dirt cheap: no one drinks sherry, especially in Singapore; only the winos and those in the know. What does this mean? You can get high quality sherry that overdelivers on the price! As a Singaporean, this to me is the Holy Grail.





You talk so much, where can I buy and who are the good producers?:
- Equipo Navazos @ Artisan Cellars (Palais Renaissance basement)
- Perez Barquero @ Booze.com.sg (download their pricelist)
- Lustau @ The Standish (Holland Village Shopping Centre Level 2)
- Assorted top producers @ Taberna Wine Bar

 

[ikileo]

u were looking within SG market or within Aussie?
If it's aussie then there's lots of stuff.

i agree with seppelt

the other one is Morris of Rutherglen.

 

[ikileo]

Casual dinner last Friday @ Extra Space Marymount

Random dogs mulling around Extra Space Marymount

Let's start with spanish jamon and sausages!

Don't forget the fibre with a grilled chicken salad!

Casual wines from italy!

2007 Castello di Querceto Chianti Classico Riserva - in an awkward phase now despite airing considering it's a good producer from a good vineyard. Wines do go through a 'dumb' or 'shutdown' phase where it just doesn't show and it's all muted. Best to let it sleep for a couple of years more.

NV Sorelle Bronca Brut Prosecco - easy drinking and delicious. lots of flavour and a great crowd pleaser.




Main Course - FAT BOY BURGERS
Mine was the jamaican pork one.

We ended off with some coffee & MILO from the dolce gusto machine that I brought along. we always need a hot drink or espresso to finish off.

OMG Espresso Intenso!

OMG MILO!

 

[ikileo]

It’s June holidays, if you are out travelling or bumming back in Singapore and just chilling; here’s some wine info for you guys who want to enjoy sparkling wine without paying a price premium for Champagne: pick up a bottle of Prosecco instead?

I'll be doing some wine threads once a week or something to share knowledge since people have been PM-ing me on wine stuff semi-regularly. If you have any wine topic you'd like me to cover or recommend please let me know




What is Prosecco?
It is a sparkling wine made from the North Eastern region of Italy. Specially in the regions of Veneto and Friuli Venezia Giulia.

Map of Prosecco producing regions



What's the main difference between Prosecco & Champagne?

LOCATION: Due to laws guarding agriculture in Europe, to call a bottle of sparkling wine Champagne, it must be from the Champagne region in France and made in a specific way. Same goes for Prosecco. It must be grown in specific regions of Italy using specific grapes in a certain method.

GRAPES: Speaking of grapes, in order for Prosecco to be called Prosecco, it has to be made primarily with their native Glera grapes and some other permitted native grapes.

Champagne on the other hand can only be made using 3 types of grapes: Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and pinot meunier

Glera Grapes


PRODUCTION: To put it simply, Champagne secondary fermentation happens individually in the bottle while Prosecco undergoes secondary fermentation in large stainless steel vats. What’s the diff? It’s cheaper.

Read more about secondary fermentation (for those who are nerdy enough) HERE

TASTE: There is a difference in taste because they use different grapes. There are many styles of champagnes and Prosecco, depending on the producer, but generally Champagnes tend to be rich and complex while Prosecco tends to be fresh and crisp in style. These are just generalizations.




Why is Prosecco so much cheaper than Champagne?

PRODUCTION (again?): As mentioned earlier the large stainless steel tank fermentation that Prosecco undergoes is a cheaper method than the method Champagne uses where each bottle must be processed individually making it pricier.

MARKETING: This should say it all. It’s the pedigree and perception of Champagne. That being said, top level Champagne is not something that even a top Prosecco can attain consistently.

Fancy bottle to make you pay more

AGEABILITY: Wine people value ageability in a wine and good Champagne can definitely do that. You heard about that stash of more than 170 year old bottles of Champagne that they found in a shipwreck? The wines still drank well. Prosecco is unable to go that distance.

Read more about the Shipwreck Champagnes: Shipwrecked Champagne in historic tasting



What's a good Prosecco to intro?
As with all types of wine, there is good prosecco and there's bad prosecco. Good prosecco will have lots of flavour and everything in balance. Bad ones may just been slightly sweet and flat in flavour and you may be able to still taste the alcohol.

I would recommend you not buy that fancy gold Bottega bottle of Prosecco. It looks fancy but, in my opinion, it's not worth the money.

Here are 3 for you to check out and they're all under $50.

1855 Bottle Shop: Nino Franco Rustico Prosecco
Wine Exchange Asia: Villa Sandi Prosecco Extra Dry (it's not dry in taste)
Isetan Supermarket: Reversanti Prosecco

Enjoy some over the top Prosecco Porn from a guy who uses too many words

 

[zenoallo]

i was about to register myself for a wine classes when i stumble upon this thread. This thread might just save me 500 euros

 

[ikileo]

Welcome

Save money in wine classes. Most info is readily available online

 

[grace.lee]

i was about to register myself for a wine classes when i stumble upon this thread. This thread might just save me 500 euros

Enrol for a wine-tasting session with a good critic, just as good as a wine class imo. You can learn as much if you ask the right questions.

 

[patryn33]

i was about to register myself for a wine classes when i stumble upon this thread. This thread might just save me 500 euros

500 euros? What's covered in the class?

 

[ikileo]

Enrol for a wine-tasting session with a good critic, just as good as a wine class imo. You can learn as much if you ask the right questions.

Imo unless it's an advanced class to explore specific regions etc... U don't need to attend an expensive wine class.

As with any subject or skillset once u don't practice it, it will be forgotten. Wine introduction merely opens the door for u to understand the basic concepts and wine. After that it's how often u go out and taste and try new things and research on your own.

In Singapore wine classes tend to be expensive and u really don't need to pay that kind of premium. Most of it is touch and go to be honest.

Lastly the trick with famous wine critics is to find someone who has a similar palate as yours because wine is subjective. So how do u know your palate enough to match it to someone else's? By drinking and tasting widely to establish what u are inclined to enjoy.


Bottom line, save money on wine classes unless u are doing an in depth exploration of specific regions.

 

[Baggio10]

i was about to register myself for a wine classes when i stumble upon this thread. This thread might just save me 500 euros

Where are you based? if Singapore, can always join for the sessions here. very informative.

 

[zenoallo]

Im in singapore. Do you have any recommendations for the sessions you talked about?

 

[ikileo]

The hwz sessions loh haha... Our monthly gathering with a wine theme.

We all bring a bottle from a specific region or type of grape and we drink them blind so we don't know who brought what. We then guess and we talk.

It's a great way to learn more abt wine. Next session is slated end June. U keen?

The next session is southern rhone in france

 

[Jendezvous84]

Hi, everyone
Can anyone please tell me where can I get a "Innocent bystander VIGNERONS & WINEMAKER Victoria 2012 Moscato" in Singapore??
Please...
Sorry if I cause spam entries and greatly appreciate from you people.