Saturday, June 27th, 2009
Edward has recently posted in-depth articles on Catavino and Enobytes:
DBR Lafite, Bodegas Torres and The Future of Wine in China
‘Nava Valley’: The Fate of American Wines in China
The Enobytes piece was also aired on Wine Business.com (where Enobytes is a Featured Blog)
Look out also for Edward’s and Fongyee’s recent ‘Sinophile’ column in The World of Fine Wine Issue 24: ‘How Large is a Chinese Grand Cru?’
There’s also a fascinating article by Jamie Goode in the same issue entitled ‘Help or Hype? Fine Wine on the Internet’. Goode praises some aspects of Adegga, the on-line community and tasting note resource of which we at Dragon Phoenix are also big fans!
Monday, June 22nd, 2009
As the temperature rises in Beijing, wine storage and service become a pressing issue! Too warm a serving temperature can destroy the aromas of most wines and too cold a temperature can mute aromas, especially in more complex bottles. For storage before service, a wine cabinet is essential and for long-term storage a unit with humidity as well as temperature control is advisable (plus a storage area without strong light or vibration).
With the official ‘air-con’ temperature regulated at 26 degrees Celsius, this ‘room temperature’ proves too warm for serving most bottles. Generally speaking, big-bodied red wines should be served at around 18-20 Celsius, but higher than that and the alcohol becomes too obvious, ruining the wine’s bouquet.
In fact, in these strenuously hot days, most red wines benefit from a quick chill in the fridge before service. This especially applies to lighter-bodied reds with less tannic structure (e.g. Beaujolais, most Pinot Noirs, joven Tempranillo, lighter Loire Cabernet Francs etc.).
Whites require more planning ahead. Try to avoid putting them in the freezer because this may precipitate ‘wine diamonds’ (aka tartrate crystals) which, although perfectly harmless, can look odd to some drinkers (they occur when a wine has not been ‘cold stabilized’). A few hours in the fridge or a plunge in an ice-bucket is fine.
If you need to cool many bottles for a party, use a large plastic tub or your bathtub. Just remember to put the bottles in first – not the ice! It is not especially easy trying to insert chunky wine bottles into solid or even partially melting ice.
Sparkling wines can be served between 6-8 Celsius, refreshing whites (made from grapes like Sauvignon Blanc) at 9-10 Celsius; but oaked, full-bodied whites (e.g. most Californian Chardonnay) can be served as warm as 14 Celsius.
Basically, the higher quality the white the higher the service temperature (up to about 14-15 degrees) it can withstand. This even applies to top quality Champagnes, especially those rich in Pinot Noir (never serve these too cold! The bottle gets finished before the wine has even had a chance to express itself…).
Finally, let’s not forget rose (either still or sparkling). Robust rose wines (e.g. Spanish ones from Garnacha or some southern French roses) do not need to be too cold. But ‘vin de gris’ and some roses made by the ’saignee’ method are relatively delicate and will benefit from light chilling.
Friday, June 19th, 2009
2007 Marques de Montemor Branco 143RMB
(Available from East Meets West. Contact: Wendy Jiang, Email: wendy@emw-wines.com)
This appealing and very drinkable white wine from Quinta da Plansel is made from some very unusual grape varieties native to southern Portugal.
Their names are a mouthful, so don’t bother to memorize them! Just kick back, relax and enjoy their aromatic, fresh white fruits and refreshing acidity. This wine is perfect to drink on its own on a hot summer’s day or can go equally well with a light summer-time salad or seafood dish.
2006 Montes Limited Selection Cabernet Sauvignon/Carmenère 132RMB (on offer)
This wine is right now on offer from the Wine Bank, a small retail store (TYG Building B1 #21, on 3rd Ring east, right next to Brassiere Flo). Also available from Top Cellar and many supermarkets.
This mix of Cabernet Sauvignon (70%) and Carmenère (30%) blends two of Chile’s most successful black grapes. The wine has a very typical blackcurrant sweet fruit fragrance blended with spicy and vanilla oak aromas (plus a touch of Carmenère’s herbaceous character). The smooth and rich mouth-feel accompanied by ripe tannins and balanced high alcohol makes this lovely to drink on its own or to enjoy with strongly flavoured meat dishes – try with black pepper steak!
Friday, June 12th, 2009
It’s already mid-June. Beijing has been awash these past few weeks and months with myriad tastings - before the summer heat puts paid to most events - and our blogging backlog is already looking hefty…
In the meantime Edward has just written a new article for Catavino (DBR Lafite, Bodegas Torres and The Future of Wine in China) and is due to write about American wines in the Chinese market(s) on Enobytes. He also has his head in the manuscript of a book due for Cambridge University Press in mid-August.
But as we rack up hours of WSET teaching, we thought a note at least informing readers of what’s to come on the Dragon Phoenix blog was more than a little overdue.
Thus, once we’ve completed our next ‘Sinophile’ column for The World of Fine Wine, here’s a taste of what we plan for future posts (click on links to find your way to these posts):
Featured Tasting: Highlights from Richards Walfords trade tasting (UK)
Featured Tasting: Heitz Cellars, Napa
Featured Tasting: Clos du Val, Napa
Featured Tasting: Silverado, Napa
Featured Tasting: Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars, Napa
Featured Tasting: Cakebread Cellars, Napa
Bollinger NV Rose: Beijing Launch
Featured Tasting: Springfield Estate, Robertson
Bordeaux 2005: Wines of Bernard Magrez
China Agricultural University: Fongyee introduces Chinese students to the wines of Robert Mondavi
Raffles Beijing: Paul Jaboulet Aine dinner
China World: Chateau Palmer Seminar
… plus plenty of other features including two on Champagne (Roederer and growers Tarlant & R. Geoffroy), tastings with Angove’s, Burklin-Wolf, Vignobles Brunier, Portugal’s Plansel, Hewitson and the wines of Jean-Claude Boisset and Bouchard Aine.
There might even be the odd surprise feature too.
Finally, we will also publish a wider review of the Black Sesame cooking school food-and-wine matching exercise in which we took part (pictured below), with wines from The Wine Republic, as publicized in The New York Times (click here for full article) under the pen of Black Sesame owner Jen Lin-Liu.
