2008 La Spinetta Moscato d’Asti ‘Bricco Quaglia’, Piemonte, Italy (RMB 172)
Available from Watson’s, Contact Lily Li: LilyLi@asw.com.hk  www.watsonswine.com

La Spinetta is one of the top producers in Italy’s Piemonte region. As well as making great Barolo and Barbaresco, among other wines - for a stunning example from the 1997 vintage click here - La Spinetta also produces one of the region’s best Moscato d’Asti, a delightful sweet sparkling wine (in this case named after a hill-top vineyard - bricco - frequented by quails - quaglia).

Light green in colour with attractive, gentle bubbles, the nose has Moscato’s wonderful perfume of orange blossom and lime fruit. The palate is medium sweet with just enough acidity to balance and low alcohol (5.5% abv.), making it very drinkable!

Moscato d’Asti – which is typically of higher quality than generic ‘Asti’ – does not get much better than this! Try with dishes that contain chilli (or other acidic spices) or enjoy with Chinese fruits at the end of a banquet.

NV McGuigan Sparkling Shiraz Black Label, Australia (RMB 128)
Available from Gelipu Wines, Contact Danny Wu: ausdanny@gmail.com, 13911229053 www.ai9.com.cn

Sadly, there is not much Sparkling Shiraz in China. Most of it is consumed in Australia where it is extremely popular, particularly for special occasions. This is a fun and food-friendly wine ideal for Chinese New Year banquets.

Medium purple with an attractive, full mousse, the nose has pleasant black cherry and berry fruits with a touch of spice.

The palate has refreshing medium acidity and tannin is kept to a minimum for this style of wine. Very adaptable to many kinds of Chinese dishes. We just wish there was more Sparkling Shiraz available here.

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2005 Beaujolais-Villages, Joseph Drouhin, Burgundy, France

Appearance: medium purple-red

Nose: strawberry and raspberry fruit, not too much carbonic maceration going on here so there is not that that bubble-gum, confected flavour. Bright fruit from the 2005 vintage.

Palate: a pleasant palate with low tannins, medium acidity and decent fruit. Quite good length.

Conclusion: representative and solid Beaujolais Villages in an excellent vintage. Not bad value for the Chinese market at 138RMB either from Torres China.

Rating: 16/20

2003 Trentham Estate Ruby Sparkling Shiraz, Murray Darling, New South Wales, Australia

Appearance: deepish purple.

Nose: lovely Shiraz fruit with blackberry, black cherry and even slight pepper (which doesn’t usually come from Aussie Shirazes).

Palate: lovely mousse, great fruit, even some tannin although it seems like every effort has been made to keep these low. Good length.

Conclusion: impressive sparkling Shiraz, a category we need to taste more of! Available from Gelipu for RMB 228.

Rating: 17.5/20

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2004 Rutherglen Estates Nebbiolo, Rutherglen, Victoria

Appearance: darkish red-purple colour with slight orange rim.

Nose: spicy ‘Christmas cake’ nose, i.e. dried cherry and cranberry fruit, cinnamon, clove and other spices, but also a tar or smoky smell reminiscent of Piemontese Nebbiolo. Good oak.

Palate: showed the characteristic high acidity of the grape, lovely fruit, softened spiky tannins and high balanced alcohol. Good length too.

Conclusion: we liked this wine a lot and will drink this bottle over a number of days (in the end, it was over three days and the wine got better each day). Capable of further ageing. Available from Gelipu for RMB 108.

Rating: 18/20 [could be higher]

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