Thursday, February 4th, 2010
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.
Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009
2005 Barone Ricasoli ‘Castello di Brolio’ Chianti Classico, Tuscany, Italy (508RMB)
Available from Watson’s. Contact: Lily Li. Email: LilyLi@asw.com.hk www.watsonswine.com
The Barone Ricasoli restored his family’s castle and vineyards in the early 1990s and now makes some of the finest Chianti available.
Predominantly Sangiovese, this wine is a gorgeous dark purple-red colour with a lovely nose of red and black cherry fruit, clove spice and subtle, savoury oak aromas. The palate is packed with sour, but ripe black and red cherry fruit, refreshing high acidity and a wonderful tannic structure with excellent length. Very high quality and superb with turkey, duck, goose or other roast birds!
2006 De Bortoli ‘Noble One’ Botrytis Semillon, Riverina, New South Wales, Australia 375 ml (443RMB)
Available from Torres China. Contact: Jenny Zhang. Email: jenny@torres.com.cn www.torreschina.com
Sweet wines are essential at Christmas! May be you have tasted France’s great treasures such as Sauternes from Bordeaux, Coteaux du Layon or Bonnezeaux from the Loire Valley or the wonderful sweet wines of Alsace. But Australia’s Noble One is among the greatest sweet wines available. In its first vintage in 1982 it even beat Chateau d’Yquem in a blind-tasting!
Deep gold in colour, the nose has lovely honey and citrus lemon with the savoury aromas of noble rot (botrytis). A rich, sweet palate with balancing acidity and wonderful length make for a special Christmas treat! Don’t just think to match this wine with fruit or cream desserts. Try with paté, especially foie gras (fatty goose or duck liver). The trick with sweet wines is: never serve a dish that is sweeter than the wine itself (otherwise your delicate ‘dessert’ wine, so-called, will taste unduly sour).
Tuesday, March 10th, 2009
10th March 2009
Importer Watson’s joined by Bernard de Laage de Meux of Chateau Palmer organized a special seminar on the wines of Palmer at Beijing’s China World hotel.
Monsieur de Laage de Meux spoke of Palmer’s unique place within the Margaux appellation, both stylistically and with respect to the property’s soils (he also noted that Petit Verdot has largely replaced Cabernet Franc in the vineyard’s plantings).
Here’s what we tasted (click on links for full tasting notes):
Alter Ego de Palmer, Margaux 2001
Alter Ego De Palmer, Margaux 2004
Alter Ego De Palmer, Margaux 2005
Château Palmer, Margaux 1995
Château Palmer, Margaux 2000
The 2000 will be very good indeed, but is still predictably on the young side (it will likely outclass the 1995 over time). Of the Alter Ego de Palmers, the 2005 was, unsurprisingly, especially good.
Monday, December 8th, 2008
8th December 2008
Top Marlborough producer Spy Valley visited Beijing, hosting, with importer Watson’s, an impressive dinner at the JW Marriott’s Pinot Brasserie.
Winery general manager, Blair Gibbs - a winemaker in his own right - talked of the unique conditions of the estate’s terroir, especially for Spy Valley’s Envoy range for which fruit is sourced exclusively from select plots of the winery’s Johnson Estate.
Pinot Brasserie put together an excellent menu (see below) to match with the following wines (click on links for full tasting notes):
Spy Valley Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough 2006
Spy Valley Envoy Chardonnay, Marlborough 2006
Spy Valley Pinot Noir, Marlborough 2007
Spy Valley Envoy Pinot Noir, Marlborough 2006
Menu:
Canapés: chestnut cappuccino and bruschetta of grilled shrimp with pepper compote
Seared-tuna with exotic fruit dressing
Risotto of black olives and parmesan
Caramelized lamb shank, white bean purée and vegetable confit
Tobacco infused chocolate praline mousse with cherry and capsicum jelly, redcurrants and a pecan cocoa nib crunch
Spy Valley’s wines are immensely pure, exhibiting very clean winemaking, strong varietal character but also more complexity than can be found on regular, albeit already relatively high quality, New Zealand wines.
The difference in styles between the Spy Valley Pinot and Spy Valley Envoy Pinot should please different Pinot Noir lovers from around the world.
Tuesday, October 28th, 2008
28th October 2008
Watson’s Wines of Hong Kong, now thankfully active in the Beijing market, hosted Margaret River producer Clairault for a special lunch at China World’s Aria restaurant with Clairault’s own chef in tow and a specially devised menu.
On tasting at the lunch were (click on links for full tasting notes):
Clairault Semillon Sauvignon Blanc 2007
Served with beetroot-cured salmon with avocado cream, horseradish and a lemon and herb oil
Clairault Cabernet Merlot 2004
Clairault Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2005
Both served with fillet of venison with red wine braised tomato, grilled asparagus, roast leeks and watercress
The Semillon Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Merlot both weigh in at a relatively reasonable 162RMB, well-priced for the Beijing market. The Estate Cabernet is 393RMB, but is clearly a fine wine that, again in terms of the market here, does punch above its weight compared with some of the 400RMB and above offerings we see.
Paul Easden, Clairault Sales Manager, gave a sensibly pitched introduction to the property and Clairault’s philosophy.
These wines are clearly fine additions to Watson’s already impressive list which boasts the likes of Domaine de la Romanee Conti, Jean Grivot, Domaine Leflaive, numerous top Bordeaux properties, Jean Louis Chave and some very good New World producers (e.g. New Zealand’s Palliser and Australia’s Katnook Estate).
NV McGuigan Sparkling Shiraz Black Label, Australia (RMB 128)
