Jin's Wine & Food Experience

2009-03-06T22:54:00.002+08:00

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.

2009-01-17T02:11:00.003+08:00

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.

2009-01-09T17:30:00.003+08:00

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.

2008-12-24T01:07:00.003+08:00

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!

2008-12-05T01:38:00.005+08:00

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!

2008-10-21T01:45:00.004+08:00

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.

2008-10-21T01:14:00.007+08:00

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.

2008-08-27T00:06:00.002+08:00

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.

2008-07-26T17:23:00.004+08:00

WINE BY THE SEA : TATACHILLA SEMILLON SAUVIGNON BLANC 2005
So far, this weekend has been a wonderful getaway from work, but thankfully,i'm still very close to my wines. Here I am, at Raffles Marina Singapore, with my trusty laptop and a bottle of Tatachilla Semillon Sauvignon Blanc 2005. Honestly, it's not really my first choice since I don't really appreciate a SSB blend, but its the only white they have so I'll leave my judgements at the door and have a glass by the sea! Tatachilla is a very established Australian winery from Mclaren Vale that has vineyards in Mclaren and Clarendon Hills, so the wine has to be very decent!
TASTING NOTE

APPEARANCE : vibrant and shiny gold, beautiful clarity with small tear trails.

NOSE : A good mixture of ripe lime & old lemons with a dash of red grapefruit aromas. There's a hint of passionfruit in the background. Very fresh fruits aromas.

PALATE : Good acidity with white fruit freshness. I like the drinkability with well tamed acids with still enough bite to it. There's a lovely finish of passionfruit flavors.

EVOLUTION/CONCLUSION : A very decent drinkable wine that really has good fruit flavors. Not as complicated as I prefer it to, but its a good wine for its class! But after about 30mins after opening the bottle, I am very sorry to admit, the wine does become a tad bit flabby. It was so fresh when it was first opened. Lesson learnt : Drink faster!

2008-06-24T21:24:00.003+08:00

Good Italian Wines : Dezzani Dolcetto d'Alba 2002

The weather in Singapore has been terrible, and I've been a victim of the terrible flu for about 2 weeks. Not that I'm whiney, but can you imagine not being able to taste or smell any foods, drinks or wines?? It was expecially torturing to lay off the wines since they're considered alcohol and every doctor always advises against drinking when you're sick. So anyway, long story short, I've finally recovered and celebrating my health with a lovely glass(bottle maybe) of wine!!

So tonight is something I brought across from Malaysia, its an Italian wine from the Piedmonte region, Dezzani Dolcetto d'Alba 2002.Dolcetto is a black grape varietal widely grown in the Piedmont and the "d'Alba" in this wine means that this wine is produced in the village of Alba. According to an Italian wine website, the name means "little sweet one," though it is nearly always a dry wine. Dolcetto wines can be tannic and fruit driven with moderate levels of acidity. They are typically meant to be consumed one to two years after release, but some of the more premium producers do make lovely ones that do well with some aging!

APPEARANCE

A dull and dark ruby with hints of rust brown. Very thick core with rather poor clarity, you can see it's lost a lot of its youth and definitely looks aged.

NOSE

A real bouquet of garden spices & herbs with a dominant preserved cherry jam. Leafy grasses and dried tobaccos undertones. After a little more breathing, there's more fruits coming out with fresh plums leading the way.

PALATE

Very nice smooth texture with a velvet finish. The tannins are aged and well behaved with a spicey feel. Good balance and excellent finish of plummy tannins.

EVOLUTION/CONCLUSION

A very good wine indeed...good age to drink and its a great wine to appreciate with authentic Italian foods & Hokkien cuisines! I can imagine myself having an oyster omelette with this wine. After about 30mins of breathing, the fruit characters are really coming out, surprisingly, its getting fresher and fresher!

2008-05-18T02:46:00.006+08:00

Bang & Charlie's Wine Shop & Cafe

Dear all! I have opened up a small lil wine shop & cafe in Singapore! Its located at Turf City (the previous Turf Club) and it's a quiet little corner of Singapore where you can avoid big crowds and city life and enjoy a quiet, unpretentious drink with friends!

I've with me one of the best service teams I can possibly imagine and I'm very very sure that you will agree when you wine & dine there!

ALAN is my right hand man in B&C, he's the operational manager there but he can certainly whip up a mean cuisine in the kitchen so do go over and say hi to him if you have the chance!

I do try to make life easier for our wine drinkers, both with a good choice of wines & very value for money wines! Ranging from $22 to $480 for a bottle, we have about 180 different labels of wines currently, but we do wanna expand our selection to about 300+ good value wines that are pleasing and ready to drink.

We also hold regular wine tastings for our customers to try the wines so do come over and have a bottle with me!

Before we took over the outlet, I had the pleasure of trying Alan's cooking and was thoroughly impressed with his love and dedication for the kitchen cuisine, so I gave him absolute control over our kitchen and he came up with BEAUTIFUL western style dishes that has been very popular with our customers so far! The Fish & Chips as shown in the picture is our signature dish and is only priced at $9!! We have about 8 great tasting dishes so far and will be expanding our menu to include more recipes!

Just for your information, we are located at Turf City #01-57 and is open from 2pm onwards. But all drunken souls must rest and so Tuesday is our recuperation day! Hope to see you soon!

2008-04-09T01:47:00.005+08:00

Jean Baronnat Morgon 2006

Since I fell in love with wines some time ago, I've always loved tasting new and exciting regions that are relatively uncommon/unpopular in Singapore. Its always a joy to experience a new wine and have that gleaming look of "I've never tasted or nosed anything like this before" that I so enjoy.

Since then, I've always been a fan of Beaujolais wines, from their village appellations to their famous ambassador, Beaujolais noveaus. But I must admit that I've rarely heard of their better district AOCs such as Moulin a Vent or Morgon, let alone taste it. Well, tonight i'm gonna break this dry spell by opening a bottle of Jean Baronnat Morgon 2006.

Here's some basic background about Beaujolais. Firstly, the wines are from the gamay grape and tend to be for everyday drinking pleasures (Great!). They generally have an attractive, cherry-colour with bouquets of strawberries and currants depending on the district. Morgon, being one of the districts in Beaujolais, is one of the larger disticts encompassing about 1100 Hectares of vineyards. Morgon is produced from a unique terrain consisting of rotten stone and crumbling schist.It's wines are usually fleshy and appealing with a more succulent palate than the Villages. Wine experts do recommend that this wine should be aged for a few years before it reaches maturity.

APPEARANCE

A vibrant deep ruby & hints of purple hue. A clear transparent rim with excellent clarity.

NOSE

An amazing nose after 20mins of breathing! Peanut butter with fresh bananas hits you first with another wave of sweet strawberry jam & cherry drops. I do detect a hint of green pears underlying but unfortunately its not really a bouquet yet, as the youthful aromas come bursting in and not much synergy among them.

PALATE
Light to medium body, has a good balance and easy to enjoy tannins, but still has a slight bite from its youth. Has a very good finish of red berries and pear skins.

CONCLUSION
A wonderful wine to appreciate anyday and everyday. it's low levels of alcohol makes it so easy to drink down and it has a good balance of being a pleasurable & easy wine combined with the element of surprise complexity in both the aroma and finish. Highly recommended.

2008-03-05T01:08:00.003+08:00

K1 by Geoff Hardy Cabernet Sauvignon 2002

I bought this wine off the shelf in a nice retail place and decided to have it opened tonight when no one is disturbing me! I guess the wine is really nice because nearly 3/4 bottle is now gone and I have not even started to properly analyse the wine yet. Some background information first, this wine hails from the cool climate Kuitpo plot in Adelaide Hills and is the premium wine from the Hardy's family. From the bottle, I'm having bottle no.2930 of the 5000 bottles made in this 2002 vintage.

TASTING NOTES

APPEARANCE
A dark ruby rim & an inky black core. Average clarity but looks very potent and matured from the 6 years it spent in the bottle.

NOSE

Rich blackberry jam hits the nose with a lovely underlayer of mild aged plums, fresh oak shavings & young liquorice. The nose has a really lovely balance of bouquets, nothing really stands apart and is presented in a lovely matured bundle.

PALATE

Good weight on the tongue and very intense tannin structure. I must say i'm impressive with the very rounded and lively tannins in this wine! Good balance and really nice and long grape skin finish.

EVOLUTION/CONCLUSION

Some developments of mixed aged herbs(not dried), some cinnemon & thyme in the nose after 1 hour of breathing. Overall a lovely wine to have with some food, i think this is a superb food pairing wine, especially with heavy meat and sauces.But I must admit that as a stand alone wine, I would be bored with it after 2 glasses, because there's not really much going on after the first sip is tasted. Its still a very good wine for its price range!

2008-02-06T11:46:00.000+08:00

GONG XI FA CAI! CNY WINE TIPS

Chinese New Year is coming and not a moment too soon. There’s always a festive mood in the air when you’re pushing and shoving with the crowd trying to buy the New year sweets and goodies from the hordes of vendors and hawkers between the tiny streets of Chinatown. A sweaty annual affair but fun nonetheless!
With many occasions to invite friends & family for house visits, many have asked me about what sort of fashionable wines would be the best choice for entertainment this year, and what sort of food should they serve to pair with the wines.

I think I’ll touch on a much simpler but very useful wine-food pairing for this Chinese New Year Season. How about :

”How to pair Chinese New Year Delicacies & tidbits with wine”
Some of you might be wondering, “Why on earth do I want to pair my good bottle of wine with Chinese New Year tidbits?” Well, one reason is simply that it’s a lovely combination to do so! Of course a more practical reason is that you can impress your guest with the subtle touches of entertainment, and thus ensuring that your family and you do not have to spend the next 3 months finishing up the remainder of those goodies.

Red dates or hong zao means "prosperity comes early" - Sweet and Fleshy, this is definitely a challenge to pair with wines as the date’s sweetness would tend to overwhelm a wine’s fruit characters, making it seem sharper and bland.
I recommend that you should pair this with a wine that is comparable with the date’s sweetness and texture such as a dessert wine, or you can go for the opposite and open a nice bottle of dry sparkling wine to ease the sweetness into your mouth.
YES : Dessert wines or dry sparkling wines
ADVENTUROUS : Greek Retsina wines or a White Port might be interesting to try, but perhaps only with more adventurous wine drinkers!

Tray of LuckThe "octagonal tray", or the pa kuo ho, is the traditional eight-sided container used for a variety of sweetmeats, cakes and seeds served to visitors. Each tidbit has a symbolic meaning ; the sweetmeats are a symbol of the sweetness of life while "cakes" or gao suggest a higher level of lifestyle. With the different types of makan makan around, its better to have a more generic wine so that it won’t clash too much with the different characters. I recommend the all time famous GSM Blends of Grenache, Syrah and Mourvedre/Mataro. This blend of 3 grapes gives the wine a more balanced nature and definitely very pleasing to drink for all.
YES : Rhone Valley & Australian GSMs
ADVENTUROUS : Chateauneuf du Pape is the oldest GSM region and their wines would be an amazing experience to all, but might be an overkill for CNY tidbits.

Chinese oranges, or tangerines, symbolise gold, which is why they are the most popular gift and most over-stocked in all Chinese homes during this period. I would definitely have a glass of dry qewuztraminer or a new world chardonnay with fresh oranges, a wine from a warmer climate and showing off its signature fruit characters.
YES : fruity new world white wines like gewuztraminer, chardonnay or Semillon
ADVENTUROUS : A nice bottle of Italian Gavi or an Argentinean Torrentes would bring out the sweetness of the orange, but could taste overwhelmingly dry.

2008-01-02T00:01:00.000+08:00

Deen de Bortoli Vat 8 Shiraz 2006
Tonight I'm going to try a wine given as a corporate gift this christmas season! Its an Australian wine, very highly rated by many wine critics and magazines as a value for money wine. Its labeled as a Southeastern Aussie wine as it's grapes hail from the Riverina, New South Wales and Victoria regions. This usually means a varied fruit and terroir flavors(Hopefully!) from 3 regions and usually a more balanced wine. I think this is a good time to explain what is a WINE VAT and why do some wines have them on their label such as this one.

In its simplest form, a vat is a traditional term for a large wooden cask used to age the wines after they've finished with their fermentation process, so different vats usually have some signature characters and so were labelled to diferentiate its quality.

Ok, so lets go with the tasting notes before I finish up the whole bottle!

APPEARANCE
A very deep & lively purple hue showing its youthful vibrance with bold tears, but with surprisingly poor clarity, you can barely see through its core. I would usually guess that it went through minimal fining with the purpose of giving it more natural fruit characters, but for a winery like de Bortoli, I do believe that the fining was done, so i'll still be guessing the reason for its clarity after this.

NOSE
Bold vanilla flavors with old liquorice fill the nose with fresh plums domainating. There're hints of smoky bacon and spicy tones, but I think that it's still a tad under-develop and will definitely be better after a few years.

PALATE
Lively tannins with fresh blackberry flavors fill the mouth, A good weight on the tongue and a decent smooth texture from the oak. Rather short finish though.

CONCLUSION
A nice wine to drink with food, definitely too young and has maybe 1-2 years of growing up to do. Currently, I find it rather unbalanced between the fruit tannins and oak, but has decent fruit characters to continue drink.

2007-12-28T00:59:00.000+08:00

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.

2007-12-13T01:36:00.000+08:00

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.

2007-12-12T00:02:00.000+08:00

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!

2007-12-08T00:31:00.000+08:00

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!

2007-11-11T01:52:00.000+08:00

Les Amadous Chateauneuf du Pape Blanc 2005

Its a Saturday night treat as I'm opening a rather unusual bottle of wine, a rhone valley white wine from the Chateauneuf du Pape AOC. Its an unusual wine since Chateauneuf du Pape is infamous for its wonderful and full bodied reds, and about 95% of its production is focusing on making such lovely wines.

Chateauneuf du Pape is also one of the oldest wine region in France, ever since wine making techniques made its way from Persia and Egypt crossing Greece(Romans) to Italy and finally to the Southern tip of France in modern day Rhone Valley! Meaning "the new house of the Pope", the name derives from Geoffrey, the Bishop of Avignon,who in 1157 planted vines and personally managed his own estate in Châteauneuf du Pape.

This wine is made from a blend of Grenache Blanc, Picardan and Clairette. The Granache Blance provides the fragrance, Picardan the smooth body and the Clairette the finesse and brilliance. Ok, here's the tasting note!

APPEARANCE
A vibrant light gold hue with an amazing color and oily appearance. Superb clarity and good tears showing its body.

NOSE

Peppermint and grape drops really dominate the initial nose.Some white stone fruits, wild flowers and some subtle hints of green peppers..its surprising that I get some wild roots aromas such as ginseng roots and dried shitake mushrooms! There's a base fruit character of grapefruits and pears.

PALATE

A lovely level of white fruit acids with a surprising medium body, unexpected from the rounded stones of Chateauneuf du Pape. A lip smacking and lengthy fruit finish. Overall, a wonderful white wine to be appreciated with chinese food.

2007-10-14T00:18:00.000+08:00

GIGONDAS NECTAR DU TERROIR 2003

Saturday night and i'm all alone again, I think to some, perhaps you might be thinking "Does this guy ever have a life?". Well, I fortunately do have a life, but also unfortunately, tonight's not gonna be the night. I'm pretty much stuck at home doing some ridiculous paper work and waiting for something to happen. In the meantime though, lets have a bottle of Nectar du Terroir from the Gigondas region of the Rhone Valley to cheer things up!

There's something which I've learnt is that Wine is a very emotional drink, meaning this : You can never feel unhappy or think unhappy thoughts while drinking wine! I don't know if this is true for you, but its definitely true for me! I doubt you can be thinking "Oh crap, tomorrow i have to endure another lousy day at work", instead perhaps your mind will switch to more enjoyable thoughts like "What do I feel like eating now?" or "So and So will love to have a taste ot this!"

Ok, back to the wine! This wine is a GIGONDAS NECTAR DU TERROIR 2003, so it has about 4 years of aging in the bottle, and coming from the Gigondas region, I think thats a pretty decent age from the 2003 year. This wine is a GSM and oaked with new French oak for 12 months, so I would expect some mellow oak flavors with good aged fruit characters.

APPEARANCE

Vibrant dark ruby with semi clear rims. Colour looks mature and tempting, good clarity.

NOSE

WOW. The first impression is its very meaty character, I get lovely bacon fat&raw meats. There is some lovely fruit characters with dominant grenache strawberries & liquor cherry, the mild spicy mid palate, liquorice & wild blackberries from syrah and some aged plummy fruits from the mourvedre.

PALATE

The aging has done it a lot of good. The fruits have mellowed down well and there is still a good level of acidity in the wine. Medium bodied and mouth feeling. A very subtle and decent finish, atypical of Aussie's tannic finish.

CONCLUSION

A premium wine that is SO damn good to taste now, and it is the right moment to drink!

2007-10-10T23:11:00.000+08:00

BEING PENNY WISE POUND FOOLISH (WINE STYLE)

This is definitely not an ode to wines, as today I had a rather bad experience with restaurant house wines. The past trends in the Singapore F&B scene in these 5 years has shown that wines are experiencing an explosive & exponential popularity to the mass market (even Petrol stations are retailing wines!), and this has spilled over to the F&B scene where you are literally spoilt for choice in some restaurants, and even in the entry level cafes, you do get a choice of their house red & white wines. Now the question to all restaurant owners : "If you are committed to selling and providing wines to your customers in your fine restaurant, why settle for the cheapest, knowing fully well that 20% of your customers might leave with a bad taste in their mouth??"

Here's an industry secret i would like to expose :: for every housepour you buy in a restaurant, say $9.00/glass, the restaurant is unlikely to pay more than $16.00 per bottle. While $16.00 sounds like a decent wholesale price to pay, lets break it down from a wholesaler point of view:

Wine Cost : $3.00
Cork Cost : $0.20
Bottle Cost : $0.70
Labelling : $0.10
Alcohol tax : $7.20
GST : $0.70
Transport : $0.50
Storage : $0.10
Profit : $4.00
PRICE TAG : $16.00

EXPERIENCE : WORTHLESS...

So technically, for consumers, we are paying $9.00 for a glass of wine that is actually worth only $3.00 FOR A WHOLE BOTTLE! To cut the long story short, if we were to increase the cost of the wine itself by 100%($3 - $6), the price tag barely reaches $24.00 and we get double the quality!

Not that I'm discriminating against cheap wines, i've tried some REALLY decent & affordable wines (Tried an impressive Spanish wine that cost only 1.45€!!! but thats for another time to tell!).

But among the sea of wines out there, it really would be advisable to buy a slightly more expensive bottle of wine to get a far better wine experience & impression on your restaurant don't you think? I mean thats simply "Penny wise, pound foolish"!

I would like to leave you with a quote I found a long time ago which has shaped my wine buying ideals...

"Never buy the cheapest wine in any category, as its taste may discourage you from going on. The glass, corks, cartons, and labor are about the same for any wine, as are the ocean freight and taxes for imported wines. Consequently, if you spend a little more, you are likely to get a better wine, because the other costs remain fixed. Cheap wine will always be too expensive." --- Alex Bespaloff, New Signet Book of Wine, 1986

2007-10-06T22:49:00.000+08:00

JACQUART CHAMPAGNE NV

Having a nice bottle of champagne alone in my room on a saturday evening, and tonight's victim is a bottle of Jacquart champagne from JUST WINE & SPIRITS. Its a decent bottle with a very attractive price tag for true champagnes, under S$60! With the pleasure of drinking most sparkling wines, the experience starts with the opening "pop" of the bottle and this bottle really gave a HUGE explosion, which i'm guessing has betrayed her youth..

Before i continue my drink, here's some information about sparkling wines in general. The question i've been asked many times..."HOW IS CHAMPAGNE MADE". Ok, there's quite a bit of confusion between "Champagne" and "Sparkling wine"...so what's the difference?

Technically, Champagne IS sparkling wines..but the only difference is that champagnes come from the AOC region of "Champagne" and they are the only legal region to officially call sparkling wines "Champagne. There's was this big issue some time back about poor "New World" sparkling wines destroying the branding of the "Champagne" so it became a rule that all others can only be called Sparkling wines.

Champagne consist of 3 varietals of grapes ; Chardonnay,Pinot Noir & the easier, fruitier and earliy marturing Pinot Meuneir, which is a relative of the famous Pinot Noir. Champagnes are in general made using a VERY traditional method which involves 4-5 pain staking methods instead of the cheaper "Carbonic" method and "Tank method", which brings the sparkles to the wines but provides none of the interest and characters from extended lees contact and from maturation.

ok, some short analysis before i go back and continue "Drinking stars".

APPEARANCE

A huge explosion of bubbles during the first 10mins of opening, but died off REALLY fast..right now its the occasional bubbles popping out. I believe this displays its youth age and somewhat betrays its average quality..

NOSE

A tangy citric nose with fresh lemon aromas, some petroleum & young olive oil hints but i believe that the champagne is too young and underdeveloped to fully express the subtle aromas. This is going to sound a little weird but i do get some fresh dates and tropical fruits...i'm guessing this is because of a majority blend from the Chardonnay. Sadly, its too fresh for my liking.

PALATE

A nice sparkle and some decent fruit characters...but hey! there's a LOT of sweetness in this..which is very disappointing...because it taste a little like cheap chardonnay when its warmer...but still its a pretty decent champagne.i've tasted worst for a lot more cash.

EVOLUTION/CONCLUSION

Not a bad champagne for a quiet drink, not a big dent on my pockets, so the experience is pretty good. but not a champagne for appreciation honestly, just a nice forgettable drink. Sorry to say...

ok thats all folks! take care.

2007-09-26T01:20:00.000+08:00

Vacqueryas Seigneur de Fontimple Rose 2004

For the rest of the world out there, Singapore is a land of perpetual summer. Hot and humid nights are definitely not a surprise for us Singaporeans, and tonight is not an exception. So instead of turning on that trusty air-conditioner, I've decided against my better judgement to open a nice cold ROSE WINE to cool off! Tonight's treat is, as usual, from my favorite region, the "Vacqueryas Seigneur de Fontimple Rose 2004".

For those who are not familiar with Rose wines or "Blush wines", they are simply wines that have enough of a reddish tinge to make them assuredly not white. Rose wines may be produced in a number of different ways, usually leaving the red grape juices not long enough to impart their color and eventually producing a wine that is white in character and flavor, with only the tinge of red and some subtle tastes(Some do mix red wine with white but that certainly is not my interest to taste!)

This wine is a very powerful rose wine, quite unlike those fresh ones that I usually taste. Lovely bouquet dominated by notes of raspberries and little red cherries. The palate is once again surprisingly generous with ample body and wonderful spicy fresh strawberry fruits with a hint of whole white peppers at the finish.

Seriously, this is THE type of wine to drink in Singapore with its lower alcohol content and refreshing palate, which then again leaves me wondering...why the heck do I drink reds anyway!

Cheerio!

2007-08-09T01:37:00.000+08:00

TEMPUS TWO MELANGE 2004 WHITE

This was a wine that I bought off the shelf at a supermarket sometime ago, and never got around to having a taste of it, but the nicely labelled Pewter label was something that really caught my eye and hence it has been in my fridge ever since!

It's a generic Australian wine which means that the grapes are sourced from all over Australia (like a cheap table wine), but I'm hoping that means the grapes are of the best quality sourced! Speaking of which, the grapes are the Viognier and Marsanne, which means that wine is meant to impersonate the Rhone white style of wines (my favorite!), something like a Vacqueryas or a Chateauneuf du Pape Blanc, hopefully.

Ok, now the tasting :

APPERANCE : A medium straw gold color in the core with a clear transparent rim. Good Clarity with some vibrancy in color.

NOSE : A lovely citrus fruits of lemons and line the nose with fatty meat depth. There are some hints of orange & lemon skins at the back, with some very subtle flowery background.

PALATE : Nice body & good smooth texture, nice weight and all rounded citric feel. A very nice finish of grapefruit skins and citrus taste.

EVOLUTION/CONCLUSION : A very decent wine that showcases a lot of the fatty Marsanne and very citric & aromatic Voignier character. not much development given the lack of oak structure, but its a very decent wine for its value.

2007-07-26T23:54:00.000+08:00

NEW VINTAGE : HAUT ESPOIR ESTATE SYRAH 2005

I'm terribly excited to taste this wine from South Africa's Franschoek region! since the '04 vintage to date is still my favorite and staple wine since it first touched my lips back in 2005, I'm eager to see how is the vintage 2005 year. With only 4720 bottles produced, this wine underwent malolactic, unfined and barrel aged for 9 months followed by a further tank maturation for another 4 months. unfortunately this time it is not new French oak, so I do expect it to be a bit more earthly & "Bordeaux Oak" flavors. To me, this is rather unusual and meticulous wine making by the exciting Nikey van Zyl and before I taste the wine, I sincerely hope that it will blow me away as his 2004 creation did!

COLOUR : amazingly thick and inky deep violet and purple, with rather poor clarity. VERY prominent tears and some evidence of sediments and particles. It looks very youthful and deadly.

NOSE : Overwhelming burst of RIPE blackberries and dark cherries. A very clean aroma of garden herbs with some coarse peppers, with very earthly tones. Very rounded nose but slight alcohol burn due to age.

PALATE : AMAZING! not as rounded and balanced oak compared to the 2004, but this is a beautiful elegant wine! The palate is light on the tongue, a lovely silky texture and well structured tannins greet your mouth as soon as you taste it. It has a blackberry skin finish with an amazing lip smacking length.

EVOLUTION / CONCLUSION
After waiting for 30mins, the fruits are beginning to take a back seat to the spices and earthly characters in the nose, with very nice subtle white chocolate. The aromas are starting to remind me of Beaujolais wines.
This is a TRULY excellent wine, with a very unique version of the Syrah grape. I'm so happy that I'm distributing this wine man.....but sorry to say, it does not replace the 2004 as my favorite, but definitely among my "Wines to remember"!!

2007-05-09T12:46:00.000+08:00

HAUT ESPOIR ESTATE SYRAH 2004

I think its time to review a "love at first taste" wine that really sets the standard of cool climate reds to me. This would be the Estate Syrah 2004 from the Haut Espoir Wine Farm in South Africa, Franschoek wine district.

This wine comes from a historically rich region where the French Hugenots after facing persecution in France, arrived in South Africa in 1892 and were allowed to settle in a little district, later to be called "Franschoek" or French Corner.

Franschoek produces noble cultivars grapes and are more known for their fruit-forward whites & Cap Classique styles, but they also do produce a good variety of rich red wines made from Cabernet, Merlot and even Pinot Noir.

But the wines produced in Haut Espoir Wine Farm,given its high altitude, lower temperatures and sun facing vineyards, has different terroir characters from its valley floor neighbours. than those of the valley floor.

Haut Espoir wine farm is a relatively young winery with its first vintage in 2004, but its accolades are impressive enough to draw the attention of the global market. Its 2004 Chardonnay Reserve was awarded DOUBLE-GOLD Medals in the Michelangelo Wine Awards and Veritas Wine Awards in 2004, and its current vintage is awarded the "Diner's Club top 10" Chardonnays in South Africa! Not bad at all for a new winery!

Now here are the tasting notes!

APPEARANCE

A vibrant dark ruby coat with a clear core. The rim is still transparent with clear clarity in apperance.

NOSE

Well balanced aromas of elegant dark berries, coarse peppers and garden spices integrated with hints of Vanilla in the foreground, with a spicy oak in the back.

PALATE

Wonderfully balanced with elegant blackberries & ripe cherries supported by round oak and leading to a subtle tannin finish.

EVOLUTION

Given that I have been drinking this wine since 2005, I really have seen a wonderful development of integration between the fruits and the oak especially in the end of 2006. The oak is beginning to develop some nuts and forest overtones, while the fruits are starting to settle down from its youth and show its herbaclious sides. I really cannot wait for its future evolutions! This wine should be at its peak in 1-2 years time..if there is ANY left!

2007-04-14T02:42:00.000+08:00

ADOBE CARMENERE 2005

Its one of those nights where all you wanna do is lie down, relax and have a good bottle of wine. But ok, I'm accommplishing the first 2...but i'm not really enjoying the wine as much as i want to, not that the wine is not of quality, but its just i'm not really a fan of the grape Carmenere.

this one i'm having the privilege of tasting tonight is from REV DISTRINET SINGAPORE, a sample bottle that will be featured in Roo's Cellar Penang soon, its an organic Chilean wine from the Emiliana Family from the valleys of Colchagua.

I think that its time for me to really understand what truly are organic wines, since I'm beginning to see quite a LOT of wines with the organic label on. From my research, the basic organic wine definition are wines that are made from grapes that have been grown without the use of artificial fertilizers, chemicals, herbicides and pesticides. Truly the pure stuff. But the actual system used for organic wines vary from country to country, similar to the quality systems used in different countries, e.g. in the US, organic wines do not allow ANY use of Sulphites in the wines, while limited quantities are allowed in other countries. In this bottle tasting example, I'm pretty sure that sulpfites was used since the wine is labeled "MADE FROM ORGANICALLY GROWN GRAPES".

Ok, Tasting notes time :

APPEARANCE

A deep inky purple and blooming violet core with a misty rim and clarity, I guess it shows that it is not filtered and perhaps would have a more garrigue taste (i hope).

NOSE

An intense fresh blackberry fruits with a strong youthful alcohol burn at the back of the nose. Plummy in the middle nose, with a hint of weak vanilla oak.

PALATE

A medium bodied wine, but a tad bit flabby. A decent dark fruit characters with a tad shallow finish, but i guess it's expected given its age.

CONCLUSION/EVOLUTION

Its definitely a wine to appreciate within the next 2 years, since the lack of acid structure does not allow much maturation. but its a very decent wine, value for money. The more i look at it, the more inky black it seems, like a primitivo! The American oak in the nose is becoming more prominent,but still very.....separated from the rest.

2007-03-06T01:48:00.000+08:00

Swiss Peak Premium AOC Merlot 2005

its always a pleasure to try new "cutting edge" wines (if there is such a term for it), especially wines not from the usual popular wine producing countries. Today's wine flavor of the day is a Swiss wine from the Valais region.

The Valais is the valley of the Rhone river. Protected by the Alps it borders West Switzerland in the North, Italy and France in the South. With an average of 2,100 hours of sunshine per year it reaches the maximum in Switzerland.
Typical of the Valais are the many different micro-climates, due to the complex soil structure and the local winds. The right bank of the river Rhone is directed south and profits from optimal sunshine. The constant winds can be quite strong, the influence of the southerly wind is favourable to the vines.
Chasselas (also called Fendant) provides with 45% the largest amount of the production of white wines; Sylvaner, which is sold as Johannisberg, taking second position.The other types of vines count as specialities of the Valais: Amigné, Arvine, Humagne Blanc, Rèze, Marsanne Blanche, Muscat and Savagnin Blanc (Heida). There are also Chardonnay, Riesling, Riesling-Sylvaner, Gewürztraminer, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris (also called Malvoisie). In the Upper Valais old genuine types may be found, such as Gwäss, Himbertscha and Lafnetscha. The red types are Pinot Noir, Gamay, Humagne Rouge, Cornalin, Syrah, Diolinoir (a cross between Diolly and Pinot Noir) and Durize. However, from a conversation with some Swiss wine merchants, wine-makers and of course local wine expatriates, more and more local varietals are being replaced by international grapes such as Cabernet and Merlots.

Appearance

This is a dark ruby wine, with a overlying violet colour. A nice young transparent rim with dull clarity with bits and pieces of sediments. I guess it actually shows a wine-making flaw.

Aroma

Pure elegant red berry fruits with hints of pencil wood shavings. The youth really shows with its strong alcohol base.

Palate

Blackberry fruits and elegant tannins dominate the palate, with a tad bit too much tannin structure for comfort. A long but rather harsh tannic finish because of its age i guess.

Conclusion / Evolution

ok, the wine tastes fantastic when it is chilled at 12 degrees, but as it gets warmer, it gets harsher and more tannic, i guess due to its cooler climate origins. Unfortunate to note that sulphur is pretty high for this wine, but still a decent drink!

2007-02-12T00:54:00.000+08:00

Chateau Neurin 1998 AOC Bordeaux

Ok, its another Bordeaux wine for tonight's dinner, which I must say, was not very well paired with the dishes, as this bordeaux clashes quite strongly with the seafood such as the fish, cuttlefish as well as the vegetables. But of course, red wine : white meat is always a risk, so this one was a failure.

This bordeaux is from the Haut Medoc Appellation, which is basically more generic Bordeaux wine and is really quite light (12%). Coming from the district of Medoc, it is more southwardly, right below Margaux and is relatively known for producing value for money quality Bordeaux wines. From the Jancis Robinson journal, she states that 1998 was a very hot August followed by rain during the harvest, so there are riper grapes and more fruit characters.

APPEARANCE

It has a light dull ruby color with an attractive translucent core and clear rim. The color really shows its age and quite a dull clarity with evident sediments in the bottle.

NOSE

A very prominent dark fruit characters of violet, blackcurrants and berries, with interesting oak characters of dark moth balls, musty cupboard and forest woods. A very round nose of fruits & oak but has an interesting scent of metallic iron rust.

PALATE
The very light body, of course, gives really subtle tannin structure but has a good balance of aged acidity and fruit characters. The oak takes a background in the palate with just hints of rounded oak in the back palate. It has a surprisingly "hot" alcohol taste though.

CONCLUSION / EVOLUTION

A decent bordeaux, but not really much to talk about. Decent and pleasant to drink, with more prominent fruit characters of wild berries.

2007-02-05T22:39:00.000+08:00

Gigondas Eloquence 2004 Tasting

I have found a new favorite wine tonight, and what's even better, its one that Roo's Cellar is the official distributor for! ok, before you shout, "Kelong!", its really a far judgement, because I REALLY love this style of wine and how it is presented.

And introducing the wine....GIGONDAS ELOQUENCE 2004!!! This wine is a blend of grenache (60%), Syrah (30%) and Mourvedre (10%), and was aged in French oak barrels for 12 months.

This wine is from the Southern Rhone Appellation of Gigondas, where the region was promoted in 1971 from a Cote du Rhone Village to Full region by itself, showing its own terroir characters and personality. Grenache is the basic plant of Gigondas, aided by mourvedre and syrah, and this fortunate combination ensures its panache and its life. Its strength and character, its ability to age allied to the invariable quality of its production has made Gigondas the pride of the Rhone Valley, and one of the great wines of France.

Ok, Tasting notes :

Appearance

Strangely matured dark ruby colour for its vintage, with a deep core and clear rims. Some tears are evident.

Nose

A prominent french oak nose of green moss and wet clay soil characters. Strangely light and elegant, coming from a region known for its full bodied reds.

Palate

A truly elegant blend of beautiful grenache grape characters of raspberries and ripe dark berries, however, it has a rather disappointing short finish, with subtle tannin structure. Truly balanced and wonderful fruit characters I must say.

Evolutions/ conclusion

Somewhat interesting wine with surprisingly elegant characters with beautiful fruits. Tannins get more subtle as the wine breathes, and I begin to see some spicy herby finish.

2007-01-06T04:04:00.000+08:00

Barrel Tasting of an Italian blend of Primitivo & Negroamaro IGT 2006
I had the opportunity to have a barrel tasting of an Italian Primitivo Negroamaro 2006, brought in by a wine merchant friend of mine, but unforunately, other than knowing its grape varietal, he didn't know which region it came from, or what was the estate name, so this entry really is a hit or miss, venture guessing.
Ok, once again from my research, Primitivo & Negroamaro blends are dominated and grown extensively in the Italian region of Apulia, under the IGT district of Salento, which is west of the Italian heel. In the past, Apulia was called "the cellar of Europe", producing very fine quality wines comparable to Veneto & Sicily.

Although Salento is more popular with its local varietals especially the early ripening & highly exported Primitivo grape, some websites have indicated a shift of production to Rose wines and even full fruity white wines.

This particular wine i'm tasting has a majority of Primitivo, an early ripening grape which is a relative to the US Zinfandel & the Croatian Plavac Mali grape. This wine tends to be more alcoholic & deep in colour. This wine's color is further deepen by the addition of Negroamaro, which means "Black and Bitter" in Italian, and when produced in DOC regions,is heady and ageworthy wines.

APPEARANCE

A vibrant deep dark ruby color with a slightly transparent rim, a very deep core and has a rather mulky clarity. Definitely unfiltered wine, but of course, it is from the barrel.

NOSE

It has a very prominent liquor sponge cake aroma, with some hints of coffee oak. It was a very fine ripe plum texture with a strong alcoholic finish

PALATE

A lovely dense texture with middle body, with distinct plum and black berries. Very velvety tannin which hits you from the beginning leading to a medium finish.

COMMENTS / EVOLUTION

Surprisingly delicious for its youth, with very well behaved tannins throughout the tasting. Very straight forward and easy to appreciate. The aroma has evolved slightly from liquor sponge cake to a very fine tiramisu and hints of candied bananas(ok, it sounds stupid i know!)

2007-01-04T21:04:00.000+08:00

Chateau Moulin de Curat 1998
Puisseguin Saint-Emilion

Ah...another evening of wine & dine in its most basic form, an interesting bottle of wine, a simple chinese dinner and of course, wonderful conversations. Today, I had the pleasure of opening a bottle of Chateau Moulin de Curat 1998, a wine from the Puisseguin Saint Emilion AC.

From my basic research, this appellation comes under the "Saint Emilion Satellites", North of Saint Emilion. With a soil content of Limestone, Gravel & Cobble, I would guess that drainage is a concern as the calcium Calcareous clay has the ability to retain water. This might be good for water scarce, non-irrigation regions like Puisseguin Saint-Emilion whose moderately warm maritime climate (caused by the river Gironde), and its lower rain fall in summer. Apparently, the only time it rains in Puisseguin Saint-Emilion is during the harvest season in Autumn.

Ok, this wine supposedly comes from a relatively good year for Bordeaux right bank wines, according to Jancis Robinson (Jancis Robinson, Wine Course), with a very hot summer and rain during the harvest, so now here comes the fun part. TASTING!

APPEARANCE
the wine shows a dull dark ruby with a hint of brown, possibly because of its age, with a semi-transparent rim & light core. this wine has pratically no tears, letting off its lower alcohol content (12.5%)

NOSE
A nose exhibiting some dry earth notes with hints of fresh leather & mothballs. There are some hints of dried preserved berries but it fades in and out.

PALETTE
A light bodied wine with smooth ripe blackcurrants. I would say a good structure, with a surprisingly lively & long tannic finish.

EVOLUTION / THOUGHTS
After about 30mins of airing, the nose begins to show some meaty backbone and the Palatte begins to show more fruit characters with fresher blackcurrants. The finish for this wine is really really good and remains long!

2006-12-28T01:02:00.000+08:00

Beaujolais Nouveau
I think one of the greatest pleasures of being in the wine business is simply that you will never know it all. No matter how experienced or how widely travelled you are, you will always be learning something about wine every time you open a bottle.
Tonight, I had the pleasure of opening a bottle of George Dubaeuf Beaujolais Nouveau 2006, a wine of the festivities in the town of Beaujolais, Burgundy.

Beaujolais nouveau is a wine made from the Gamay grape and is the most popular vin de primeur, a wine harvested in fall and sold before spring.
Beaujolais nouveau is produced by carbonic maceration followed by Pasteurization, a process which bypasses malolactic fermentation. The wine is ready to be drunk a scant six weeks after the harvest. Each year the new Beaujolais is officially released on the 3rd Thursday of November and no time earlier, which has been mandated by French Law. Just after midnight, a race begins to ship the wine out all around the world as quickly as possible.
Beaujolais nouveau is not a wine to keep; it must be rapidly consumed within a few months of its production, so for those who have it with them now ought to enjoy it quickly!
Ok, now for the fun part, how did I feel about it?
I opened it at about 10 degrees, and it had a surprisingly dark colour for a wine this young, a dense violet purple core with a clear rim and low clarity, I'm assuming from this that it is not filtered or fined.
The nose is very interesting, with a blend of berries & ripe bananas with a touch of fresh raspberries at the end. Simply really fruity and fresh!
The palate upholds the berries with a hint of Banana milkshake (ok, its an interesting comparison i know). A wonderful light to medium bodied wine with an easy mild tannin finish.

Evolutions
ok, after the wine heated up to 27 degrees, the nose started to show its youth with rather raw alcohol, and the banana is REALLY starting to overpower. strange, I do wonder why is it banana? Another evolution is an interesting spicy & herby notes in the nose.

Ok, i'm done for tonight, looking forward to the next festival in 2007!
PS : Roo's Cellar does not have any Beaujolais Nouveau as yet, but stay tuned to next year!

Salut & Good night.

2006-12-22T22:06:00.000+08:00

Greetings from all of us here in Roo's Cellar Penang! This blog is a new addition to Roo's Cellar 2007 "out-reach to you" campaign, where we not only showcase our current events and happenings, but also providing tips and some interesting wine facts & history to help you get a better understanding of wines, especially the wines available in Roo's Cellar.

I guess that Roo's Cellar wines are rather pricy and on the high side, but here in Roo's Cellar, we can assure you of our quality of wines, and make sure that our wines are in the best drinking condition for your enjoyment. you wouldn't see "underaged" or"Common" wines here!

I would like to leave you with this quote from a gentleman called Mr Alex Bespaloff

"Never go for the cheapest wines, as it might leave you with a bitter impression of wines. The cost of producing the wines, the cost of the cork, bottling, shipping and taxes are all common and constant in any bottle. Thus, by parting your money a little more for wines, you can be assured of a far better quality wine. Wines can never be too expensive for enjoyment, but cheap wines will always be too expensive"