ISRAELI WINES

Here's something that we in Singapore don't get to taste everyday, a Cabernet Sauvignon 2004 straight from the land of Israel, thanks to my wonderful brother's recent visit there! Here's something interesting about it too, its a KOSHER wine! Ok, for my own ignorance, "Kosher", in Hebrew, means fit or proper, and is generally used to describe food prepared in accordance with special Jewish dietary laws. Since Kosher law does not prohibit the use of specific wine styles, grape varieties or origin, so any wine, made in accordance with these laws can be Kosher.

Taken from a Website, Kosher law for wine making requires the following points:
1. Equipment used to make the wine is used exceptionally for producing Kosher products.

2. Only Sabbath observing Jews can handle the wine from grape crushing to consumption, unless the wine is pasteurized.

3. Only certified Kosher products (yeast, filtering agents, etc.) can be used.

Here's some interesting historical facts! there is perception(Not that I have any!) that Kosher wines are sweet because of the way Kosher wines are made, but thats not true, it's actually due to historical circumstances. The Concord grape, the only available sort of grape for Jewish immigrants arriving in New York area, is an acid grape which must be balanced with sugar to be enjoyed as sweet wine. With the time, this fact was accepted by Kosher. Today, the range of grape sorts used for producing Kosher supervised wines has greatly expanded. Due to this range, Kosher wines are available in all varieties all over the world.

Here's the tasting notes for this wine as I'm watching an action movie!

APPERANCE

A very young and deep dark ruby color with bright rims and a deep core, looks quite intense.

NOSE

A nice rounded nose, full of plump prune characters. Surprisingly cool climate aromas with grape stalks, wet grass, and mineral mud. There's a nice purple fruit bouquet of plums, blueberries and prunes.

PALATE

The first expression is a real tangy sweetness in the wine, with a lot of lively and nice fruit tannins filling my tongue. Surprisingly medium bodied and subtle in style, but not too balanced a wine, with hints of flabbiness and somewhat overwhelming sugar.

EVOLUTION/CONCLUSION

Honestly a very interesting cabernet sauvignon expression, simple yet different. Not a WOWer in terms of quality, but definitely a nice wine to have with Vietnamese cuisines or simply with herb breads! Some conventional recommendations would be chicken and tomato based pasta dishes.

WINE RECOMMENDATIONS FOR SALE!!

Here's 5 recommmendations great wines for the end of the year celebrations you are planning now! Be it for a nice dinner among loved ones, or as a token of appreciation to your customers, I do believe these wines will do their trick! If you are interested in any of the wines below, do drop me an email and it certainly can be arranged(Sorry valid for Singapore only)! Orders above $200.00 will come with free delivery, if not, a $10.00 delivery charge has to apply (I gotta eat too!) Cheers and happy shopping! Great for dinners and friend's get together!

Cote du Rhone Domaine de la Maurelle Rouge 2005 - $32.50

A lovely multi award winning red wine that comes from a region famous for making great food pairing wines! A blend of Grenache, Syrah and Mourvedre harvested from 50 year old vines, do expect a full-bodied and well balanced wine. It's aroma are full of ripe blueberries and subtle blackcurrant buds, with good roundness and silky and plump tannins. Try pairing it with traditional yuletide dishes like turkeys and roast beef!

Swiss Peak Premium AOC Valais Chardonnay 2005 ~ $38.00

I think its time to try something different this season don't you think? So here's a very unique wine from the land of watches, chocolates and Rich banks, Switzerland! I know most of us don't even know that Switzerland makes wines, thats because most of their wines are made for domestic consumption and definitely too little for the export market! This chardonnay is a lovely semi-sweet wine with aromas of passion fruit, fresh pineapples and lemons, with good complexity of oyster shells & light pine wood. This wine will go well with fresh smoked salmon & cream based dishes!

Haut Espoir Estate Syrah 2004 ~ $44.00


This South African Boutique wine is the reason why I started my wine business in Singapore in the first place. I met up with the owners, Ian & Ann Armstrong during the Wine for Asia 2005 and honestly never looked back. I'm not going tell you its tasting notes because I have already discussed it all in my previous post, but what can i say is that this wine is seriously worth its price! Only 4,500 bottles made in the 2004 vintage and i'm reserving about 120 bottles for myself! Its completely perfect alone OR you can pair it with a steak..beautiful.

Haut Espoir Estate Semillon 2005 ~ $38.00

The sister wine of the above Syrah, also a remarkably complex white wine. Oaked matured for 6 months in new Hungarian and French oak cask, this wine is completely balanced with very lively green apples, guava and grapefruit peels, with a wonderfully oily texture reminding me of olive and nut oils. Only 3380 bottles made, and goes perfect with cold seafood appetizers and salads. I had a good experience with this wine and a caesar salad!

Vacqueryas Vieilles Vignes 2003 ~ $52.00

Now my last recommendation is again from the Rhone Valley from the most recently promoted district of Vacqueryas from a Cote du Rhone Village to an AOC district. Vieilles Vignes means OLD VINES which is a hint of the 50 year old vines that the grapes are harvested from. Already aged for 4 years, this old world wine is made in a new world style, great fruit characters of Grenache, Syrah and Grenache with superb balance of tannin and oak characters. Full bodied and good maturity, this highly complexed wine is good for wine drinkers who likes the Aussies and Californians but desire a tad bit more complexity and terroir. Goes amazingly well with beef stews, red meats and tomato dishes.

Tonight's definitely a night for celebrating! ok, its 12.30am in the night and I've got work tomorrow, but definitely its a worthwhile to open a superb bottle of wine to have a few glasses (Or the whole bottle!) by myself! Tonight's victim is from my favorite Haut Espoir winery, their signature CHARDONNAY Reserve 2005. The 2004 was a beautiful example of a New world Chardonnay; lovely fruits, amazing balance between acids and oak...so this new 2005 vintage has a lot to live up to!

This Chardonnay is very well thought of, the grapes were handpicked early during the harvest to preserve its green fruit characters, oaked 12 months in 2nd fill Fench oak barrels to ensure that it is a balanced wine, not overly oaked and partial malolactic fermentation to give it some mellow characters...ok it sounds real good when i'm describing it, so down the hatch it goes!

APPEARANCE

A vibrant light gold color with clear rims and near transparent clarity.

NOSE

the first impression is fresh green pear with subtle gummy jelly drops followed by preserved pineapple slices. There's a layer of milky mushmellow and a thin layer of fresh macadamia nut oil.

PALATE

Surprisingly medium body for its strong aromas, lively filling grapefruit acids fill the mouth. There' a good balance of light oak and good fruits.

EVOLUTION/CONCLUSION

Drink when its warmer at 12-15 degrees...my god it gets tastier at that temperature..An excellent wine that will go beautifully with cream based sauce fish and pasta dishes. Its still very young for its 2005 vintage which holds promises of great maturity in 1-2 years time. Its quite lucky i got a case for myself, but to those who wants it, i still have some left to sell *Wink*

Cheers and good night!

Its the time once again to be jolly and all the "ho ho hos" in the street. Its also a good excuse to meet up with long lost friends over good wines and popping those champagnes you have been keeping in your cellars! I think I would like to dedicate this new post to describe the perfect wines to drink during this festive mood.
I think as of all nice occasions, the "bubblys" are always a favorite for guest, so it'll be great to stock up some sparkling wines to accomodate for the sudden need to hear the POP. You should be able to find some decent champagnes at reasonable prices between $45 to $60, but if you feel like spurging a little more, there's always the vintage Verve Cliquot and Moet & Chandons, available among everywhere in Singapore.

But if you are on a shoe string budget, there's still good alternatives around! You can try the Italian Proseccos or the South African Cap Classiques; equally good to drink, made in similar methods but at half the price, you can get either at supermarkets under $40.00. HOWEVER, do be slightly wary of sparkling wines which are too cheap, since it does cost more to produce sparkling wines and you never know what short cuts were done to make it so cheap. You might say a buck or so, but in the end, your guest are the ones who will suffer your stinginess!

However, if your taste is more for still white wines, there're some tips to follow :


Firstly, you have to understand, people come together to have wines as an excuse to talk and get together, not to have serious discussions about the wines they are drinking(Unless you're drinking with me, then the whole conversation would be on wines..BORING)

I would recommend the white wines to be nice and light, fruity but not the "too sweet and fruity" type that gives your guest a strong alocohol taste and of course a stronger white wine tends to get your guest drunk a heck lot faster than drinking reds!


I would strongly recommend a lovely white wine from Austria (NOT Australia), New Zealand or any other cool climate wines around, for Aussies wines, do try their marcedon range or Yarra Valley White, lovely stuff. They're generally lighter, taste wonderfully fresh and subtle and of course great tasting when it's chilled to 6-8 degrees. Of course, if you decide to start with a white, then of course i would recommend that you progress to a red since it's quite in our Asian palate to finish up with a bigger bodied red white




Ok, in my opinion, a big no-no when choosing a red wine is choosing based on price. While cheap whites tend to be more forgiving because of its lack of tannins, cheap reds will jump at you like a bad driver during rush hour. The tannins are sharper, the sulphur more pronounced, and the taste is just plain, good old fashioned BAD. Basically, anything sold in retail shops below $18.00 is just way too cheap to be considered reasonable quality...but basically thats MY opinion!


I think my favorite holiday wines are from Cote du Rhone, Beaujolais, South African Franschoek region and last but definitely not least the Austrian region of Neusiedlersee. I guess all have something in common, they're all nice, straight-forward, rounded and low alcohol wines with a very dash of authentic grape characters. So for me simply is to appreciate a lower alcoholic wine with lovely terroir and grapes characters with a bunch of friends after the meal.

What I would recommend at the end of all the mumbo jumbo is that don't get too stingy about wines buying during this festive season! get a lovely bottle of decent wine for a slightly higher price, and what i can say is that at the end of the day, it's definitely more worthwhile! Cheers and have a great X'mas!