Another year of sipping, slurping, tasting and not spitting is done and it’s time for a quick review of my favourite wines of the year gone by...
As ever in Hong Kong the spotlight has been on fine wine throughout 2011 with dozens of fine wine auctions and many visiting wine makers from some of the most esteemed wineries in the world coming to pair their wines with food from some of the finest restaurants on the planet.
The year also saw another successful Restaurant and Bar Exhibition, a fantastic Hong Kong International Wine and Spirits Fair which again saw record numbers of trade and public attendees alike and who can forget the WineFuture Convention where the likes of Robert Parker, Jancis Robinson and Francis Ford Coppola graced Hong Kong with their presence.
Looking back some exceptional wines were tasted from Romanee Conti in Burgundy, to Chateau Lafite and Chateau Margaux in Bordeaux, to Penfolds Grange from Australia and Providence from the North Island of New Zealand.
Of course, who would be able to forget their first taste of Champagne Salon 1999? Other champers tasted included an ’89 Krug and the ’99 Pol Roger Sir Winston Churchill.
Although these are great wines they are not the kind one would drink regularly, if at all, so I want to give you a mix of my top wines by grape variety and country for 2011 so you can go out and find them for yourself and enjoy as we head into another year of oenological carnage and liver crippling masochism.
My favourite Chardonnay was tasted with none other than Bob Campbell MW on his visit here in November. It’s from New Zealand and is a stunner – 2009 Martinborough Vineyards Chardonnay (available from Wine N Things).
Top honours for Sauvignon Blanc of the year go to Ferrari Carano Fume Blanc 2010 (available from Golden Gate Wines) from Sonoma County in California, this is just divine and the light oaking of the wine gives it body that’s well supported by excellent fruit flavours.
Best Riesling has to go to a vineyard from the Alsace and this year’s winner is from the biodynamic Domaine Josmeyer and it’s their Riesling “Les Pierrets” 2007 (available from Cottage Vineyards International) – fantastic is an understatement!
Burgundy has taken centre stage in Hong Kong this year with local wine lovers snapping it up in droves, but my Pinot Noir of the year is not Burgundian, it’s from the United States and again California. It’s the Clos de la Tech Santa Cruz Mountains Pinot Noir 2006 (available from One Red Dot Fine Wines).
Australia and the Barossa Valley in particular have made Syrah (Shiraz) their own in recent years but I find the alcohol levels rather high and the wines a little difficult at times. That’s why my Syrah of the year comes from Thailand and from the GranMonte vineyards north of Bangkok – “The Orient” Reserve Syrah 2009.
My favourite Cabernet Sauvignon is actually a blend with a little bit of Merlot but (also killing two birds with one stone), Bordeaux wines are generally blends and the wine that shone out above all others this year was the Gruaud Larose 2007 (available from ASC Fine Wines).
So many great wines were tried in 2011 and many of them were not made from ‘conventional’ grapes, that is, the ones you would normally expect to find on your local shop shelf, but no account of a years-worth of wine tasting would be complete without mentioning Germany, Spain and Italy – three powerhouses of wine production in the world.
Top Spanish wine is the Clos Mogador 2009 from legendary winemaker Rene Barbier (available from Fine Wine 33 & Gourmet Limited), top Italian wine is the Agriolas Is Agriolas Vermentino di Sardegna 2010 (available from Gin Gallery Limited) and top German wine has to go to Dr. Loosen and the stunningly sweet and fruity Riesling Beerenauslese 2006 (available from Summergate Fine Wines).
Personally, I can’t wait for 2012 to start and to get wine tasting again. The coming year sees the return of HOFEX and Vinexpo, along with the annual Restaurant and Bar Convention so there will be plenty of wines to taste and to tell you all about. Hong Kong truly is the wine centre of Asia and possibly the world and, as far as I’m concerned long may that last!
Cheers!!
Contributed by Alasdair Nicol, TLN Editor – Hong Kong
