New Zealand wine and Maori art

New Zealand wines in 2018

Beautiful room in the Royal Academy, set up by NZ Wines for the exhibition of Maori art, which we are allowed to enter for free. There I attended a wine tasting, starting with Sauvignon Blanc, and found that these best wines were from Marlborough. They also tried a variety of other wines, including Chardonnay, Viognier, Riesling, and Syrah.

I found that the Chardonnays were not particularly impressive, and that the Pinot Noirs were disappointing. The best Syrah they tried was from Elephant Hill, a winery in Hawke's Bay. The best Riesling was a botrytised Riesling from Pegasus Bay, a winery in Canterbury.

Overall a positive and enjoyable experience, and learned a lot about New Zealand wines.

Even though they offer us Riesling first, I started with Sauvignon Blanc. The first ones in the lower range are squeezed stones. I skip the details. Instead, going up the category here are the best ie best balanced.

SAUVIGNON

Here some of my notes from the best tastings.

Rapaura, Marlborough the best so far great nose, figs and almonds perfect balance

Yealands single vineyard, Marlborough super sauvignon typicality, but not aggressive

Esk Valley, Marlborough the softest so far, but not complex, it declines in the end

Babich, Marlborough intense, very complex and persistent

Babich black label not as complex or long as the other Babich

Babich organic simple wine, they try it with the organic but it is not easy

Rapaura reserve, Marlborough explosive in floral nose complex and long the best so far, by far score 90

Jackson estate stich, Marlborough great nose moderate complexity

Saint clair 2017 wailau réserve Complex some caramel perfect balance

Te pa oke 2017 wairau valley impressive wine complex and long toasted notes score 90

I tried various Chardonnays but for me they confirm themselves as a sole, despite Jancis Robinson recently writing positive reviews about them. Maybe I am spoiled by so many Burgundy but these lack backbone. They try to charm but they do not convince.

A couple of Viognier without infamy and without praise, they still have to work on it.

RIESLING

babich family estated 2017 fruity good nose score 86

Felton road Bannock burn central Otago similar to the previous 19 gbp

Felton road block 1 a tad sweet ending good x fine meal score 86 33 gbp expensive

PINOT NOIR

Pinot noirs present surprisingly are not up to par.

Syrah Craggy range, le sol, 2016 good wine esp nose way too expensive 70 gbp, they are crazy

Elephant hill stone Syrah 2015 Hawker Bay best so far not cheap 44 gbp

Pegasus bay, 2016 Canterbury encore noble Riesling, botrytized nice afternoon finish, minerality and softness in perfect balance, good length excellent end for tasting 21 gbp for half a bottle

Sake pairing master class with Isa Bal MW

Isa Bal is a friendly Turkish expert of sake.  Here is some points from my notes of his masterclass.

Sake imports increases 20pc in last 5 years in the UK, no longer esoteric, western consumers know more. 

Three old misconception gone: 

1. No longer drink only with Japanese food, 

2. people understand it is not distilled but fermented and 

3. it is not necessary to drink it warm. Now easier to sell sake in Europe.

Junmai-shu (rice only; no adding of distilled alcohol)
Honjozo-shu (little distilled alcohol is added)
Ginjo-shu (highly polished rice, with or without alcohol added)
Daiginjo-shu (even more highly polished rice, with/without added alcohol)
Koshu (aged sake, only a small % of production)

COMPONENTS

rice, different kinds, main by far is the Yamada Nishiki

water, main component to characterize "terroir"

kojo (fungus transform rice's starch in fermentable sugar)

yeast (ferments sugar into alcohol, carefully selected, never indigenous)


PROCESS

Polishing: want to keep only core of rice. 70% polish to remove fat and proteins means only 30% of rice grain is left to ferment.

Parallel fermentation, yeast and Kojo work simultaneously very complex to master by brewery

Serving temperature can be anything between 5 to 55 degrees Celsius.

Depend on personal taste but also season. Best sake should not be heated too much or lose aroma.

Traditionally served in square wooden boxes or porcelain cups but depends on style of location, glass ok in modern setting. Not so fussy like in wine about shape and size of vessel.

Alcohol content significant, about 15pc but not more than a strong wine.

Can make sake anywhere and call it sake but not "Nihon shu" which is literally "Japanese sake".

Can keep open bottle for a week or more and oxidation is very slow.

TASTING

Today's tasting included 10 sakes, 9 newly bottled and 1 aged from 1992. After initial tasting we matched with beef meat balls in tomato sauce, Parmigiano, artichoke in olive oil and goose liver paté.

Meat balls difficult match.

Artichoke easiest, best pair with all sakes good match also in relative terms because virtually no wine will do, best with fruitier fresher sakes from north of Japan

Parmigiano and goose liver paté more flexible and can be matched with different sakes, especially the more full bodied ones from the south

about 50 Sommeliers at tasting, we came up with wildly different opinions on paring, because it's new and different for most of us but lots of fun trying! need to be adventurous and brave!

A lady who works to promote sake in Europe, I think at Japanese chamber of commerce, said that sake is like Japanese people : easygoing, don't like fighting (sic) prefer to go smoothly together. Sake is therefore a forgiving generous drink that will adapt to lots of different kinds of food.

She also said that sake is like the Japanese who adopt the Buddhist view to enjoy the present without thinking too much about the future so sake is made to drink soon, no aging. I asked why we tasted today an aged sake (vintage 1992) which in my opinion was the best of the 10 we tasted, complex sweet but toasted, ok with torta della nonna, apple pie, even grilled meat with caramelized sauce like pork chops. She said that one can age some sakes and the result can appeal to Europe taste because Europeans are used to aging wine, tertiary flavors.

Sake can last longer when you open bottle, oxidation slower, she said she keeps open bottle in fridge for over a week (which means she must be a lonely drinker in the evening...)

Water essential, Japan gets lots of rain, no problem for now, yet even now use deep sea water with low salinity.

Terroir not as important as in wine, most important the hand that makes it. Can transport rice and yeast across the country. Water only local ingredient. not so important good year and bad year as in wine vintages because the ingredients do not change appreciably from one year to the next.

North Japan sake is usually more crisp and dry, in the south rich and sometimes a bit sweet, both go with local food.

At the end of the tasting a reporter for a Japanese radio interviewed me and asked if I thought it might be possible to make good sake in Europe. Some are trying, including in the UK. I said I did not know if it would be as good but it would probably be different unless the European brewers import all ingredients from Japan, like the Japanese do when they make whisky, with excellent results. Water however would be more difficult to import so the end product will be different.

Tasting Piemonte

Some impressions from a tasting in London. Mostly 2011 to 2014, many Barolo and a few Barbaresco. 

Tendency is a return to traditional wine making approach, American excessive globalized taste of too much wood no longer in fashion though many still like it. 

Chinese buying land in Piedmont, even if follow rules and traditions it is not the same because locals...take the money and run. Now it becomes strictly business, passion is lost. Some Chinese buyers buzzing around at tasting today. 

Overall, UK Rrp for single vineyard Barolo start at 50 gbp and up. Barbaresco 35. nebbiolo generico da 15, Dolcetto 10.

2010 e 2013 ottime annate, solo il 2016 supererà, grandi attese. 2011 e 2015 buone, 12 e 14 difficili. 

Migliori produttori di oggi sono Conterno e Scavino.

Conterno ci ha anche aperto un 2008 (RRP 58 GBP) e un 2010 (fuori di testa a 122 GBP), entrambi in via di maturazione ma ancora giovani.

Scavino grande gamma, Bric del Fiasc si conferma, ma non c'era rocche dell'Annunziata perché 2014 non lo hanno prodotto. Il "Novantesimo", blend del 2011 per 90° anniversario fondazione della casa, non vale RRP 212!! Ci ha aperto un 2006 Cannubi, e un 2006 Carobric, quasi pronti, il Cannubi vale i 64 GBP. Il nebbiolo langhe base di Scavino a 17 GBP è un affare.

Fratelli Brovia buon lavoro, il brolo villero 2013 a 65 GBP è caro ma molto armonioso.

Voerzio troppo caro, RRP oltre i 180 GBP!!

Buono il Monvigliero di Verduno 2011 a RRP 54 GBP

Ottimi i Barbaresco 2014 di Piero Busso sui 40 GBP. Barbaresco can be much better value than Barolo.

Mature Barolo tasting, at Eurowines

We met today at Eurowines in Brussels for a blind tasting of mature Barolo. 

Thank you to Eric Daive, owner of Eurowines, for his hospitality in his first class shop in the Woluwe borough of Brussels. Do visit him for a wide choice of wine and spirits and friendly advice.

These bottles had been patiently waiting in the cellar for decades, slowly developing tertiary flavors, and today it was their day.

We tasted the wines blind, one by one, and scored them using the AIS system. Just so as not to make it too easy, two of the nine bottles were similarly aged Barbaresco, another noble wine from Piedmont made with the same grapes but in a different terroir. And two of the seven bottles of Barolos were identical: same producer, wine, vintage.

Overall, the Barolos were at, or very close to, their peak. A couple of them would have scored higher five years ago, but deciding when to open a bottle of Barolo is not an exact science. This tasting confirmed the incredible aging potential of this wine.

Or one could say of the nebbiolo variety: we added to the tasting a single bottle of Barbaresco, as a sort of control group. Sometimes considered the junior wine in the nebbiolo family of wines, this Barbaresco proved to be capable to take on all the Barolos and prevail.

The average score of today's wine was quite high, with five wines out of nine scoring above 90. This was perhaps not surprising given the high reputation of the lineup.

Only one of us correctly guessed which was the lone bottle of Barbaresco and none of us could tell which two bottles were the identical Scavino Barolo 94. The two bottles turned out to be very different indeed, even though they had been stored together for almost 20 years.

We paired the wines with a few Italian gastronomic specialties: Parmigiano cheese (aged 70 months!, none of us had ever tasted one this age), prosciutto and salami. Structured food for a structured wine. The delicacies provided by our sponsor Primitiae Italiae were a good complement for our tasting.

Preserved mushrooms, eggplant, olives, dried tomatoes and others, which matched well with the tannic Barolo and Barbaresco. You can read about their project and suggested recipes, as well as contact them to order their products on their website.

The Tasting Results

Individual wine notes, scores (average for the group), rank in our tasting and approximate market price (retail in late 2017 based on winesearcher.com data):

1. Barolo Vigna Enrico VI, Az. Cordero Montezemolo, 1996.  Top label by Montezemolo, it was a bit disappointing. Past its prime. Score 79. Ranking today: 9/9. Price: Eur 100.

2. Barolo Rocche dell'Annunziata, Az. Scavino, 1990. A great wine at its peak, full bodied, perfectly balanced and long. Score 89. Ranking today: 5/9. Price: Eur 350.

3. Barolo Bric del Fiasc, Az. Scavino, 1994. Another great one. Past its prime but still a balanced and long wine. Score 91. Ranking today: 4/9. Price: Eur 85.

4. Barolo Bric del Fiasc, Az. Scavino, 1994 (identical to n. 3).  Surprisingly better than identical bottle n. 3. A top bottle tonight. Perfect balance and very long. A harmonious wine. Score 94.. This bottle scored higher than the identical n.3 Ranking today: 2/9. Price: Eur 85.

5. Barolo Serralunga, Az. Manzone, 2000. A very good bottle, just short of excellence. A few years past its prime. Score 87. Ranking today: 6/9 ex aequo. Price: Eur 60.

6. Barolo Bussia Az. Prunotto, 1990. Another bottle that scored a bit below its original (very high) expectations. Score 85. Ranking today: 8/9. Price: Eur 120.

7. Barolo Campè Az. La Spinetta, 2000 .  Excellent bottle, full bodied, round and long. Score 92. Ranking today: 3/9. Price: Eur 100.

8. Barbaresco Valeirano Az. La Spinetta, 2004. Only one of us tasters tonight guessed correctly that this was the lone bottle of Barbaresco of the night. An exceptional, harmonious bottle, at its peak.  Score 95. Ranking today: 1/9. Price: Eur 105. The surprise winner today!

9. Barolo Vigna Elena  Az. Cogno, 2000.  A very good bottle at its peak. Ripe fruits still at forefront. Full body and long. Score 87. Ranking today: 6/9 ex aequo. Price: Eur 75.

The lineup unveiled at the end of our tasting

Facts about Barolo

King of Italian wines, wine of Italian kings: beginnings in 1850s, same as Bordeaux, under initiative of Count Cavour and King Vittorio Emanuele II, before unification of Italy.

Area: 11 towns (comuni) in southern Piedmont. Barolo, Castiglione Falletto, La Morra, Serralunga d’Alba, Monforte d’Alba are the mains ones + 6 others.

Geology: mostly clay, with chalk an sand. Continental climate.

Grape: Nebbiolo 100%. Same as for Barbaresco, generic Nebbiolo, and a few others.

Etymology: from nebbia (fog) because grapes ripen late when the region experiences much fog. Also grapes covered with pruina, a grey fungus coating late in season.

Production: 700+ vineyards for close to 2,000 hectares, ca. 11-13 million bottles, +50% in last 20 years. About 4% of all Piedmont wine, which is ca. 5% of all Italian wine.

Max yield/hectare: 8 tons (5600 liters) . In case name of vineyard is mentioned: 7.2 tons.

Alcohol content: 12.5% to 15%.

Aging: min. 38 months, of which 18 in French or Slavonia oak barrels. Chestnut no longer used, too bitter. Riserva: 62 months, 18 in oak. New trend: aging in small oak barrels, smoothens indigenous tannins and acidity. Both styles of Barolo are in use today and the debate is still open as to which is best. In the end it is a matter of personal taste and luckily we consumers can have both!

Price: retail for new wine in the market from ca. 35 euro to over 1,000 (Gaja, Conterno).

Color: garnet red.

Aromas and flavor: complex secondary (fermentation): ripe plums, cherries. Powerful tertiary (aging): chocolate, liquorices, leather, tobacco.

Evolution: potential in the bottle of well over 25 years for the best wines.

Pairing: red meat, game, pasta/risotto with hearty sauces to contrast tannin. Cured cold cuts. Aged cheeses. Structured food to match structure of wine. At its peak of maturity it can be enjoyed by itself.

Final remarks: Barolo is a powerful yet elegant wine, with infinite complexity and long aging potential. It requires all of our attention to buy, to age in our cellar and to find a proper pairing, not least because it does not come cheap. 

Comuni where Barolo is produced. (C) Diwinetaste.com

Revue des Vins de France Champagne tasting in Paris

Trade tasting at the Paris Intercontinental for sommeliers interested in Champagne. How to resist a quick Eurotunnel trip under the Channel? Here is a highlight of my tasting notes.

Belle de blanc guy mea 2010,
100pc chard top of the range
huge fragrance and complexity
great potential
score 90, 38eur

cuvée prestige William Deutz 2006

80 pc pn, 20 pc chard GC
intense long and complex this 2006
still incredibile freshness
great potential
score 92, eur 100 depending on the offers

Deutz top of the range chard 100
incredibile intensity and complexity this 2007 Amour de Deutz
a great champagne to drink now or keep a few more years
score 95, eur 125

Philipponnat blanc de noir. 2009
incredibile balance for a Pn, round and smooth while enough freshness promises a few years in cellar still
score 91, 48 euro

1522 GC 2007

named after the year the Philipponnat family came to Champagne from Switzerland
66pc pn GC 33 pc chard, 4 gram sugar
Freshness still present but quite round well balanced
score 92,eur 65

Clos des Goisses by Philipponnat
65 pn 35 chard
Always incredibile CdG, round balance very complex and persistent. A harmonious wine.
score 96, eur 130

Intemporelle 2010 by Mailly GC
60 pc chard 40 pc PN
hazelnut, butter! what a surprise this champagne .
fragrant complex round long
score 92 eur 60

Meet the producer: Tasting and visit to the vineyard of Clos d'Opleeuw, Limburg, Belgium

Clos d'Opleeuw chardonnay almost ready for harvest

Today a group of members of the BWC/AIS Club of Brussels went for a day trip to the Limburg, a province of the Flemish-speaking part of Belgium. A sunny and balmy day, perfect for a day out!

Here we visited Clos d'Opleeuw, the vineyard of Peter Colemont, for a tour of the small (1 hectare) plot of chardonnay and pinot noir and a vertical tasting.

We went to the vineyard first, which is very well kept and it will be difficult, if not impossible, to expand this level of soil/ slope/ orientation/ protection from the weather.

Peter does not believe in "organic" farming but makes minimal use of chemicals in the vineyard. No added yeasts, only indigenous: more difficult to control but can do also thanks to his limited quantities. No fining with egg whites, only some casein.

The wall of the Clos, dating back to the middle ages, protects from the weather

But let Peter Colemont explain himself about his project.



We then had our tasting. First the chards, then the lone red. Following are the tasting notes that reflect our consensus during the tasting. The scores are mine. I did not indicate prices because the older wines are sold out and Peter Colemont exceptionally agreed to this vertical tasting. However the most recent vintage chardonnay retails for some 40 euro, while the Prestige goes for 60. Peter Colemont does not sell directly unless buyers also purchase some of his imported wines.

Peter Colemont leads our tasting (© Lifang Yan)

Chardonnay 2011, 12%
Straw yellow, moderately intense and consistent. Still quite fresh though round enough for drinking now.
Score 88

Chardonnay 2007, 12%
Golden yellow and very consistent. Notes of white truffle. Minerality and still plenty of freshness make for a perfect balance.
Score 92

Chardonnay 2005, 13%
This vintage is fresher than the 2007 we just tasted, it was a cooler year. Even a tad of effervescence, some excess carbon dioxide in the bottle.
Score 90

Chardonnay Cuvée Prestige Pleistoceen 2015, 13%
The prestige is produced, only in the best years, with the best grapes, from the best part of the small vineyard. Longer and more complex than the other Chards. Again truffle and some vanilla. Obviously still too young, it has a great potential but it is a ready wine for those who like it fresh, a bit Chablis style. A harmonious wine which could provide great surprises to its lucky owner for years to come.
Score 94

Pairing with food: these complex and structured chardonnays could go with structured white meats, maybe guinea fowl or turkey, and even caramelized pork chops.

Pinot Noir 2016, 12.5%
Surprising garnet color instead of the more usual ruby which characterizes pinot noir. Red fruit jam in the nose while mushrooms emerge in the palate. Very well balanced for a young PN, much smoother than expected. It's Achilles heel is perhaps its structure, not as well defined as it could be. Moderate length. Ready with limited aging potential.  As Peter himself noted, more work is necessary on the Pinot Noir, though I personally appreciated its pleasant smoothness and was intrigued by the garnet color.

The Pinot Noir will go well with duck liver spread on toasted bread, pasta with green and red peppers and, why not?, a delicate curry or Chinese Hainan-style steamed chicken with fried rice.
Score 84

Chardonnay and Pinot Noir (© Lifang Yan)

Thank you and see you next time! (© Lifang Yan)

To complete an excellent oeno-gastronomic excursion members of the BWC/AIS Club went for an excellent lunch at the nearby Altermezzo restaurant, creative and colorful cuisine at reasonable prices.

And to finish the day we paid a visit to Tongeren, an ancient Roman city where wine was already made some two thousand years ago. Its central square and cathedral as well as the unique treasures of the Teseum before returning to Brussels.

We'll have to come back to Tongeren, to taste the next vintage of Opleeuw, to visit other wine producers in the region (stay tuned, write to us to be included in our mailing list...) and to admire the Beguinage, a UNESCO world heritage site in the center of town.

Dom Perignon brunch in the sky in Hong Kong

 

A large display of lobster is what I noticed first when I entered the bright room of the Ozone Bar at the Ritz Carlton hotel, on top of the ICC tower in Kowloon, Hong Kong. They claim it is the highest bar in the world, and I can believe it.

Every Sunday they offer the "Dom Perignon Brunch": noon to 3pm, all you can eat from an immense mouth watering buffet plus all you can drink Dom Perignon.

We were there five minutes before noon, to make best use of the time without overdoing it.

Three hours in heaven, and not only because we were almost half a kilometer high above the ground. 

This time (mid-2017) they were serving the 2006 vintage. A creamy smooth champagne. It was, as expected, complex, persistent and perfectly balanced. 

Awesome pair with cold seafood, of course, but also with more structured foods like Spanish pata negra ham and roast beef.

Score 96.

Lobster is what I saw first, but I actually started my brunch with sashimi.

Yes, jamon pata negra goes well with champagne

Final touch: gold-leafed chocolate dessert

The cost of these three hours was about 1500 HKG dollars service charge included, which was roughly the RRP of a bottle of Dom Perignon in Europe at the  time. Not bad. I think I drank close to a bottle, so the food was free. And the view!