Wine tasting @ JW Marriott by ASC wine

6:30 - 10:00pm in JW Marriott

Gorgeous ballroom in Marriott, professional serving of wine.

Bisecting the Wine Fair into 16 sessions, by wine region so that we can have a distinct exposure of the characteristics of the wine with various origins.

The entrance laid with very informative reception, once we open the door, it was superb crowded, i almost got bounced back!!!~ The age range and the nationality is so wide that I had a feeling of how wide the coverage of wine world can be, taking even a further step of mind to explore in this wine world.

Looking into every eyes of the sales of each counter, you'll be able to tell who are the enthrusiastic wine sellers. They would be proactively telling you how the winemaker is making the effort in producing the wine. You will be able to tell who is really taking wine into their heart, who is only making money for family.

Surprisingly that night, we could only find 2 tables that has glamourous wine, after trying 40 wines.
One of them we've found a treasure cabernet sauvignon, which I always find it difficult to find an extremely nice bottle without having its price marked up, to be only $78!!!
And the dessert wine is very crispy and transparent as well, nice celery taste, pretty unique dessert wine from california.

You can't imagine. The entry ticket is only $20!!! Unbelieveable~ I would prefer the ballroom to extend the area of wine fair, as they are only making use of 1/3 of the area in which it's totally empty for the rest of the part. If it is more spacious, the waiters would feel a little bit more convenient in changing the wine glasses for us.

Cytise - wine tasting event @ DAP

Invited by my sec skoolmate for a wine tasting event on Thursday, without taking a good look at whether it's a wine lecture, wine tasting dinner or whatsoever...and even bring a colleague along...

DAP is located in Wan Chai, in a brand new shopping chic building opposite to hopewell centre, a 2-lv bar. Any of you who've been to Embargo in Diamond plaza, or Shelter in Henry House, it's what its environment is like. Quite hippy and classy bar.

The wine tasting is a fusion of mingling, canapes party, wine lecture , all you can name it...organized by Cytise

They have 6 wines offered: 2 white, 2 rose & 2 red.

5 are AOC and 1 is VDT. Surprisingly it's the VDT which stands out~ I bought one home, though both my dad and me doubt why VDT worths more than $100.

The canapes are delicious, you have...duck breast x2, mandarin on slice of french bread; parma ham with brie cheese on biscuit; last but not least... SCALLOP SUSHI!!!!

Nobody told us what to match it with, I suppose it should.

Since all guests came in different pace, the organizer tries to entertain everyone of us, so she repeats the same explanation again and again, stop in the middle if interrupted by another table and so on...neverending of explanation really mixed up people's taste buds and connections with the wine's origin + history. It'd be better if guests are set on proper chairs, than mingling on the floor, and some on sofas...

I can tell the organizer, who are french couples are very enthrusiastic and passionate towards the wine business, it shd be the venue layout and the format which makes the event looks a bit awkward. If it's a normal wine tasting event / wine dinner, things would turn out to be much better.

Finally, this gathering ends with another dinner at a vietnamese restaurant, where we are more satisfied with beef pho, prawn toast and bun hoi and ending up $50 each...kekeke

Cool night though, inspire me a lot on how a wine gathering should be held~

DAP would be a nice place to CHILL OUT~~~

Decanter - Bohemia Decanter

Bohemia Decanter , my First Decanter.

Randomly wandering around wine cellars in Olympics, Central, TST, Wanchai, looking for decanters for beginners, i.e. cheap, reasonable price, won't cry even if i break it etc...

SO there it goes, I bought the Bohemia Decanter from Czech, just because it's $280 for 2 wine glasses & a decanter, given that the thickness of the glasses is reasonably thin (not those terrifically thin) and the decanter seems having a huge opening which looks similar to what I've seen in TV (oops/...yea, not professional, but pretends to be :P) , then few hrs later at home, I realize why the shop looks so familiar with the one I saw in Olympics and the price are similar.

INDEED!!! they are the SAME SHOP!!! stupid me~

In fact at home, my dad gave me s. african ($69) wine which was opened few days ago to practice, and it's amazing, even my mom who doesn't know that I was swirling round the wine still be able to sniff it from the kitchen.

And more alcohol and oxidized it is after swirling, the decanted wine has more alcohol content than before and the flavour stands out!~ Amazing~~~

I will practice more with water in bottle so that I can disguise as crappy waiter serving the wine next time, lol

A night with chiu chou cuisine

To put forth, food matching is quite a difficult task for chinese dining, owing to its cultural difference. 正宗潮洲菜 has loads of gorgeous cuisine: fresh fish, sweet sour pork, bayleaf chicken, lo shui goose platter, satay beef & gai laan... all displayed simultaneously on the table. Unlike western cuisine, which you can match 1 dish with 1 wine, in fact it's quite impossible for
us to enjoy 1 wine with all food...


Below are the wines provided by an uncle generously for the meal:


Mount Mary Yarra Valley Pinor Noir 2004
- pinky red colour
- kerosene, plum,blackberries
- quite lengthy, strong tannin but spreads quickly in mouth
- breathe for more than an hour and still feel that it needs further breathing
- looks young and can still age for quite a while



Chateau Beausejour St. Emillion 2000

- Typical St. Emillion merlot flavour
- easy drinking, balance palate, perfect drinking wine
- not french lengthy wine, but thick and dark
- blackberries flavour, plus hint of pencil lead
It's not those very outstanding kinda unique wine, yet from its structure and the complicity of wine, it would definitely be at the high rank, now wondering if it's the 'obvious' intention of the winemaker to achieve higher score in RP rating? (93 points)

Geyser Peak Winery - Sauvignon Blanc 2006

Look: pale yellow, many long tears

Smell: Honey Comb, Pear, Kerosene, Tomato, Crispy

Taste: Tomato, savory, sense of tannin,

2nd taste: steel

Length: medium

3rd taste: can't last long after oxidation, wine deteriorates, acidic and strong tannin, only for quick and chill drinking.

Price: Free - from Uncle...if it's cheap, worth buying for everyday drinking still.

Wine Gathering 1 - S. African Wines @ Lian

My First Wine Gathering ar~~~ So excited.

1. Nelson's Creek Chenin Blanc 2008

- Green, oily in mouth, not dry (dunno why it's in the description)
- Refreshing, crisppy,
- The green is kinda grassy flavour, perhaps I got bias from its green bottle, lol~

2. Groenland Sauvignon Blanc 2008

- Truly jolly green, strong green pepper & asparagus
- harmonious balance or tannin and fruit and easy drinking
- Best pick of the night

Food: Char-grilled Pork Neck
- This is recommended in the booklet, yet we don't seem to find the cohenerence between or where the matching links to...

3. Clos Malvene Devonet Chardonnay 2008

- Strong plastic hint, expecting the plastic cork has been immerged to the wine, affecting the smell.
- Waiter accidently pour the same wine again, while we are ordering another one, that reassure that the plastic taste of wine is not an accident.

Food: Vietnamese shrimp cake
- I'd better enjoy the shrimp cake itself

4. Waverly Hills Semillon - Sauvignon Blanc 2007

- 2nd best white wine
- smell and taste of pear, slight hint of lime
- well-balanced with short dry finish.

Food: Pad Thai

5. Cabiere Pierre Jourdan Brut NV

- rich sparkling wine. Rather complex.
- Surprisingly balance wine.

Food: Fried rice in coconut sauce
- Can't match as the coconut sauce dominates the nosery

6. Bernheim Pinotage Rose 2007

- Cherry and red berry flavour
- has its own unique taste of pinotage

7. Clos Malverne Devonet Merlot Pinotage 2007

- One word: plum plum (oh , that's 2...)
- Mineral stands out after oxidizing
- The best red wines in the night

8. Groenland Shiraz 2004

- Seriously not much impression to the wine, other than spicy...
Food: Chocolate Mousse wif chocolate ice-cream (double dark chocolate)

9.Waverly Hills Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz 2006

- I would put this wine as... Masculine wine.
- Oaky, lead and spicy flavour, so dark and its like smoking...
- In fact I am curious how dark can pair up with charcoal, smoke vs smoke?

10. Meerendal Pinotage 2007

- super strong sense of dark chocolate, even darker than the dessert, ^^
- soft tannin and demonstrate black fruit flavours

11.Nelson's Creek Cabernet Sauvignon 2007

- NO impression at all...I wonder have I tried this...

Nice night everyone~