Three years ago, I had tried the wines of Guigal. The minute I tasted them, an immediate reaction was: “OMG, this wine is way funky”.
Of course, back then, my palette was craving for straight forward flavours, big fruit, with fresh acidity, and alcohol. The wines of Guigal had the full package, but somehow along the way, I got a hold of rancid, awkward preserved veggie flavours that just would not go away.
Four years ago, Bill and I embarked on a journey to Bozcaada, a little island off the beaten tracks in the north Aegean sea. As promised by Lonely Planet, this was a paradise filled with beaches, seafood AND vineyards. We were enticed.
After an overnight journey from Istanbul to Geyikli, we hopped onto a ferry to the magical island. It was everything as hoped, plus a hardcore bike ride, for me at least. Without a single clue about the world of wine appreciation, we went searching for rustic vineyards and free flow fermented grape juice on our rental bikes. After what seems like an eternity, struggling with my bike over the rolling hills, I was swearing at full force. My bike nugded uncooperatively.
Rue de Margaux, a street in the Bordeaux suburbia of my imagination, is a great place to be.
I visited 2 chateau’s, #1985 of La Gurgue, and # 1993 of Dauzac, and I must say, they were pretty decent. Referencing to vintage charts, the numbers are quite disheartening, a 86 pt for 1985 and a 77 pt for 1993 in Margaux . But numbers don’t mean anything, and everyone should drink with an open mind/ mouth.
Had to pull out some wine for dinner last week from my cellar (closet) and quickly chilled a bottle of Drappier, excellent champagne, and a pretty good valued wine. I have no idea why people like Bordeaux wine with abalone, it’s much better with champagne. The delicate bubbly is a great match with the mineral and umami packed mollusk. I found it quite a miniature revelation.
If Barolo smells like roses, does it smell like red roses? White roses? Or yellow roses?
We carried out a blind sniffing-session to test whether the fragrances of colours in roses can be distinguishable.
Red roses - Due to the species of rose, the red one didn’t smell like anything.
Yellow roses - reminiscent of a jumbled up box of le nez du vin. Most peculiar and plastic-ky like lipstick.
White roses - like a fresh crunchy apple.
Pink roses - Spicy with a hint of red cherry.
Purple roses - Similar to pink roses, with red fruit character, and a livelier acidic note.
What did we learn? Barolos are definitely not white roses, and yellow roses have an intensity greater than the others. Roses smell differently depending on its species. And we had too much time on our hands, sniffing roses.
Not wine related. But did you know that it makes of huge difference how you cook your ramen/ instant noodles? Yes, it only takes 3 minutes in boiling water. But put it greasy face down (the more toasted and shiny side of the noodle). Trust me.
After a very thorough experiment during our last vino session (now developed as a hotpot aka bino session), the ramen cooked greasy face down is far more supreme, absorbing all the flavours of the bino broth. The ramen cooked non-greasy face down was bland and rubbery in comparison.
A bottle of Merlot from Barossa Valley/ Eden Valley, Australia.
- HIGH alcohol
- Deep purple
- Sweet
- Tastes like cooked vegetables and canned bamboos.
This might go well with thai yellow curry. Not a great drink, but it won’t kill you.
Irvine Estate Merlot 2007, Merlot, Barossa/ Eden Valley, 14.5% alc. by vol.
Wine-searcher price ~$160 hkd
Bill and I signed up for a whisky tasting of The Macallan, a Scottish house from Speyside. Some things I learnt about scotch I would like to take note of:
1. Drink scotch at Scotland Temperature: ie. 12-14 degrees Celsius
2. When tasting whisky, pour a bit onto your hands, rub the alcohol off and smell your palms. They probably would smell like oak, alcohol and a lot of orange zest. Add a bit of water to the whisky to release its flavours. It’s the equivalence of letting your wine breathe.
3. Whisky is mortal and should be finished at 16-18 months after opening. Need to keep that in mind.
4. Colour of whisky comes from aging in oak casks. Some whisky houses add caramel as colouring to make the whisky look aged.
5. Most whisky is made from barley, water, yeast.
6. The Scottish usually take their whisky after meals. They drink beer with meals.
7. Whisky gives me a headache.
Sometimes it’s so stuffy to pair food with wines, especially when it comes down to the textbook pairings. Steak with Bordeaux, oysters with Chablis, foie gras with Sauternes. I just don’t get the hype with half of these pairings, . For example, the classic wine pairing of spicy food is with “aromatic and sweet” wines such as gerwuztraminer or an off-dry riesling. I can’t speak for anyone else, but that combination never worked for me. There are so many variations in spicy foods, from refreshing Thai to savoury Cajun, pungent Korean to gut-clenching Indian. If I am looking for a sweet and light drink to wash away the spice, I’d prefer a diet coke with my Tom Yam soup, s’il vous plaît. There is definitely plenty of room to explore my wine pairing options.
Instead of doing what I’ve been told is best, last week I’ve decided to pair Szechuan food with a bottle of Bordeaux. Sounds cringe worthy, does it not? Oily, firey Szechuan food to be paired with classic Bordeaux. It’s like having to cut a three-tiered cake with a chainsaw. Totally lacking in grace and out of place. But why not? Not many people have tried it, I think.
