MOCALI BRUNELLO DI MONTALCINO RESERVA 2001

I've come to realize that wine appreciation is just like playing the piano..you might have the skill & talent for it, but without practice, you'll lose the finese and the subtle touches that makes it an art form. For weeks, I have been drinking quite a bit of great wines, but slowly realized that I'm getting less excitement & insights because in some way, I've forgotten the many subtle characters taste or smell like! Thats sad...so tonight, i'm going to hone this lost skill of mine by tasting a sangiovese I've not tasted for years!

For those unfamiliar with the Brunello di Montalcino, it's a Tuscan wine from the town of Montalcino, using 100% sangiovese grapes. The Brunello (meaning nice dark one) is actually the name for a certain type of Sangiovese grape that was first recognized in the late 1880s. This long lived and rare wine has gained the reputation & prestige which of course drives up the price of this wine. Thats understandable given its historical quality & the fact that the region produces so little of this wine to serve the world's palate (Montacino only produces about 33,000 cases in a year).

The wine making style also kinda justifies the high prices. The wine makers typically age the wines in their cellars for 50 months while the reserva range gets released 1 year after that.

Ok, here's the tasting notes

APPEARANCE

This wine really lives up to its name..the first impression is a rich dark ruby red with fine clarity. Inky black core with a vibrant apple red rim. Honestly, I'm impressed with the color.

NOSE

A really subtle & elegant nose. There's really complexed aromas seeping out of the wine, but there's so much nose structure, its amazing. The base has ripe raspberries & fresh blackberries with a potpourri of garden herbs in the fore nose of dried spearmint, oregano and eucalyptus. There's an underlayer of dark chocolate powder and sweet incense wood but with a HUGE punch of alcohol, which betrays this wine's youth.

PALATE

Medium bodied wine with a very nice soft feel in the mouth. There's some well behaved blackberry tannins in the background and its showing a lot of structure as well. I can actually taste a hint of French oak flavors in this wine, with a hint of smoked wood. The finish is smooth but has a medium length finish leading to a bitter tannin mouth feel.

CONCLUSION/EVOLUTION

A top class wine to be enjoyed with fellow wine connoisseurs. There's sincerely too much going on in the background for this to be an everyday drinking or food wine. I strongly recommend this wine as a stand alone. There's so much to appreciate in this wine, and yet, it is only starting its aging journey.

Venturing to the Unknown : PB Khao yai reserve shiraz 2004

Its always nice to have my family in the same roof (or to be exact, in the SAME COUTRY!) My brother has been going on business trips to interesting countries and as always, he's always nice enough to buy some local wines if its available there, such as Israel & Germany. So it really surprising to receive some wines from Thailand on his return from Bangkok!

Of the 2 bottles he brought, one of them is from the Khao Yai region where vines first grew in 1989 after years of research & planning (since Thailand is technically not in the traditional wine growing regions of the world), PB Khao Yai Reserve Shiraz 2004.

Aged in French Burgundy oak barrels, this wine was patiently aged for 24 months in oak and a further 3 months bottle aging before its 1st release..I must say that the wine makers are a very patient lot and definitely are not in a rush to give the world a very good impression of the wines.

Ok, now for a taste of my first glass of Thai wine.

APPEARANCE
A very deep inky ruby core with a slightly vibrant rim. Decent clarity & prominent purple tears.

NOSE

A very explosive nose, yet somewhat chaotic. I have lovely hints of fresh raspberry & old strawberries(strange for a shiraz), and vanilla scented dried potpourri.

PALATE

Slightly flabby in the first sip, but it does follow through with a nice mouth filling sweet prune juice. You do feel some decent (semi alive) tannins in the finish which run rather short.

CONCLUSION/EVOLUTION

You really can taste the cool climate of Northern Thailand in this wine, it has very good fruit characters but still lacks a lot in fruit maturity & tannin structure. After about 20mins of breathing, the fruit aromas of raspberries are getting more prominent while there's an underlying development of fresh prommegrades. Overall, a very interesting wine to appreciate either on its own or with cold meat appetizers.

A l'Ombre des Fontaine Rouge 2006

Sitting down on this warm Friday afternoon in my shop really gets to you..the laziness, boredom and basking in the heat of the afternoon...luckily for me, I'm completely surrounded by wines and i've given in to my temptation and decided to open a half bottle of a wine that I have not tasted for nearly 1 year since it's landing in my warehouse. Coming from my favorite region of the Rhone valley, this Cote du Rhone wine is a typical blend of Grenache (60%), Syrah (35%) and Mourvedre (5%), and emphasizes more on the freshness of the fruit characters more than expressing the terroir. From the looks of it, it'll be a easy wine to drink and appreciate.

APPEARANCE

A dark ruby core with cherry red transparent rims. Good clarity with surprisingly flowing tears. This should be a very expressive wine but might not have the alcohol backing for aging.

NOSE

Aged Strawberries and fresh figs are the primary impression i get from the nose. If i didn't know better, I could have sworn that I was smelling a Grenache Rose. After some airing, there's still not much other flavors coming out except for a fine backbone of blackberry jam. Overall its a lovely pleasing aroma

PALATE

Medium bodied wine with nice rounded tannins. Lovely balance with some spicy overtones. The finish is superb with fresh redberry skins.

CONCLUSION

A very pleasing uncomplicated and balanced wine. Perfect for a warm afternoon companion or a addition for pizza dinner.

Festive Wines – Choosing the right wines

Its another festive season! I can imagine the combined stress of shopping & entertaining guest is getting to all of us, especially when the newspapers are crying foul on the economy! So what then are the most appropriate wines to accompany those get-togethers on a burning pocket?

Champagne and sparkling wines are usually the safest choice, since it’s associated with the festivities but some satisfying sweet dessert wines may also be suitable in convincing some of your friends and colleagues to gallop with you to your next wine adventure.

For the red wines, I would definitely recommend the lighter and friendly fruit forward ones. My recommendation is to pick up a Pinot Noir, Bordeaux or a nice Cote du Rhone. Lighter wines usually mean lesser drunken guest in your home and more enjoyable times! The best part is that you can get these affordable wines from $18-35/bottle and still have a great wine.

If whites are your choice, stock up on the fresh and zingy Sauvignon Blanc or Riesling , but on a more adventurous side, it may also be timely to impress your partners and in-laws with a dry yet floral and ripe fruit note Gewürztraminer. Although the Gewürztraminer is usually (& generally) a tad bit more expensive, its a great conversation starter. To save on your wine spendings, Australia & NZ do produce very drinkable ones.

If you need any further advice on wine selection, feel free to send me an email at rujin@rooscellarwines.com

More importantly, have wines that you personally preferred, which will makes it easier in the event that the gathering is a tad too hard to get by. Have fun with your wine selection & happy holidays!

Chateau Figeac 2000 St Emilion Grand Cru Classe

There's always a time to open a bottle of great wines and most would say that a wine always taste better with company. Tonight, I'll be completely selfish and have a nice bottle of Chateau Figeac 2000 all by myself! Ok, normally this sort of wines are completely out of my price range, but what the heck, this case of wines has been sitting in my cellar for 5 years and it's time to have a sneak taste of one of them!

Chateau Figeac is one of the great chateaus from the St Emilion district of bordeaux that is categorized as a Premier Grand Cru Classe B (Just below Chateau Ausone & Cheval Blanc). The more prestigious history of the winery started about the 18th century What I do appreciate in this wine making style is the 70% Cabernet dominate blend of Cab Franc & Cab Sauvignon with 30% merlot filling up the rest. Hopefully this means a more straight Cabernet characters expressing more distinct terroirs!

Ok, my hands are shaking, my brow sweaty and my wallet burning, I've opened the bottle for a good 40mins...its time for the tasting.

NOSE

intense perfume of black & red currants with a fresh pine wood smell. The blackberry fruits are really coming forward with an amazing underlayer of fresh mint, grounded oregano & basil stocks aroma.

PALATE

Medium bodied weight with a nice smooth texture, the blackberry & currant tannins are exploding with fresh flavors with still some youthful bite. The finish is average but has a nice bite to it.

EVOLUTION (+30mins from 1st tasting)

The nose develops a cinnemon latte with a very light & dried clove aroma. The palate is starting to develop beautiful sweet berries and develop a very smooth smokey texture.

EVOLUTION (+50 mins from 1st tasting)

strangely, the wine is starting to close up again. strong alcohol smell.

EVOLUTION (+1hr 30mins from 1st tasting)

it's opening up again! beautiful fruits starting to show again! WONDERFUL. ok, no more writing, its drinking time!

Paul Buisse Saumur Champigny Rouge 2007


While travelling through France, one of the biggest task on my mind was to taste some wines that I would normally not have the opportunity to taste back in Singapore. Having a rather tight budget also did allow me to be a litte bit more exploratory and forgiving in my choice, so in a nice little wine shop, I did snag a bargain wine from the Loire Valley for €3.75 for a half bottle of red! While the Loire valley is more famous for their smoky whites from the Chenin & Muscadets, they make very decent red wines from the Cabernet Francs & in some districts blended with its sister Cabernet Sauvignon.



Saumur Champigny is a separate Appellation east of Saumur. Established in the 1950s together with Saumur, this district is known for making drinkable & value reds from the Cabernet Franc & Sauvignon and to a lesser extent Pineau d'Aunis.

TASTING NOTES

APPEARANCE
A dark ruby red with clear rims & a deep core. Tears are surprisingly obvious with a thick syrup texture. Very youthful looking.

NOSE
A strong redcurrant & berry perfume with pretty prominent portpourri of dried thyme, fresh cinnemon & dried wood. Very interesting. There are hints of subtle minerals...wet granite & limestone do start to appear after some swirling.

PALATE
Medium bodied with sweet red berries dominanting the flavor. Surprisingly well behaved tannins for a young wine. Relatively little structure to talk about, but it does finish off nicely with a decent cherry tannin.

CONCLUSION
This wine was made ready to drink and perhaps we should listen to it, the light tannin structure leaves little room for bottle aging and perhaps will lose its bite after 2-3 years. But its a wonderful simple wine to appreciate with chicken or with old cheese.

Thoughts about Europe: German Wine & Cuisines.

I've been really absent from writing for some time. Well, not that I've been busy, but recently, I just concluded an annual pilgrim trip to Europe...YES FRANCE, GERMANY & THE SCANDINAVIAS! Every year, I do try to make it a point to head down there to have a taste of the new vintages and reacquaint myself with my suppliers there. This trip was no difference.

This year, I did stop by at Frankfurt and had such a wonderful time tasting delicious wines from the Rhine region & of course, having jugs & jugs of their famous "apfelwein", which is a refreshing apple cider either taken by itself or mixed with soda or lemon juice. The fact that it was way cheaper than water did persuade me to have a few more with every meal. (Thats me right there after a few glasses, notice the starry glaze!)

The fact about Germans is that yes, they do drink a lot and definitely they do EAT a lot and enjoy their foods. Unlike those portions served in Singapore, I could barely finish up most of my entrees of Sauerkrauts, Pork Knuckles & an array of wurst I can now only imagine in my gourmet wet dreams. Particularly interesting & tasty were the blood & liver wurst, which went beautifully with the apfelweins.


Not totally distracted by the cuisines, I did have the privilege of tasting of the family estate wineries such as Weingut Walter Metzler & Rollanderhof, both introducing their 2007 vintages.
I must say that I was very impressed with the beautiful acidity & varietal characters of the whites such as the Silvaner, Pinot Blanc, Riesling & some muller Thurgau's. The Rieslings especially were very fresh with grapefruit & green citrus flavors and their Ausleses honey dripped.
However, I was rather disappointed with the red wines like the Merlots, Cabernets , Portugiesers & Dornfelders which most of them unfortunately were flabby & hollow with some grassy feel, not unlike some of the cheaper Swiss wines I've tried. However, a saving grace was their dry Pinot Noirs (04's & 05's) which showed youthful vibrancy that will do justice to the winery perhaps 3-5 years down the road.
Thus, a simple advice for those planning to go to this beautiful country. Forget the water & diet. Beers, Food, Wines & Ciders are the way to live. Cheers.

Dezzani Barbera d'Asti DOC 2000

Tonight's dinner is a fairly decent take out Italian pizza called Diavola, made of fresh tomato paste, Mozarella cheese & an assortment of 3 types of meat cuts! I've finished about half the pizza and feel like rampaging my fridge for a suitable wine, and subsequently decided on an Italian wine (Italian food with italian wine?) to go with it. The selection is a Barbera from the Piedmont region, which I won't cover as I have gone through some history of the region in my previous entry! But I would like to add that I did not see or eat any pizzas when I was in Piedmont..rather the cuisine there are more towards aromatic wild game & meats, boiled, stewed or roasted, with cheese(amazing...) and wild figs. But I'm sure their wines can adapt to pizzas as well, since the wines are mostly meant to pair with food.

APPEARANCE

Deep & dark ruby core but with poor clarity but a very shiny transparent rim. Surprisingly given that the 8 years bottle aging.

NOSE

Very aged dark fruits of old blackberries, fresh dates and dry figs. There's a underlying note of musky pine wood with dried herb aromas like thyme & basil.

PALATE

very lovely aged tannins with a blackberry jam texture. Medium bodied with a zesty twang in the back. The finish is VERY long and delicious.

CONCLUSION/EVOLUTION

The fruit characters are really beginning to show after about 40mins of breathing. Overall, a very lovely wine to pair with food but a very decent stand alone wine.