Argentine wines are like yin and yang. "Full of contradictions," says Mario Giordano, General Manager of Wines of Argentina, "like black and white." Yet all encompassing.

 

And not surprisingly so, due to latitude and altitude! From 22º S and 9600 feet in Salta to 42º S and 1000 feet in Patagonia – holy moly, that's from Singapore to Hanoi, and from the village at the foot to almost the top of Mount Kinabalu! No wonder the variety of grapes and wines is so vast!

 

We know Argentina well because of its Malbec variety, and very deservingly so, delicious that the wines are. But that is truly just the tip of the iceberg. They also grow all the other grape varieties we know – the Cab Savs, Syrahs, Pinots, Chardonnays, Sauvignon Blancs, AND their own indigenous grape the Torrontes.

 

Would you think of Argentina when you fancy a refreshing glass of white? No. But you really should.

 

The Dominio del Plata Crios Susanna Torrontes exploded in the nose with jasmine and frangipani, and mouthfeel of white peaches, conjuring the most exotic feminine image of a long haired lady with a flower behind her ear. And it will go with spicy Asian foods. If we take it to a zhi char, what would we order? "Almost everything can!" says Tommy Lam, President of the Sommelier Association of Singapore. Mapo tofu can, cereal prawn can, prawn paste fried chicken also can!

 

But Argentina does uphold its reputation for excellent reds. Familia Schroeder's Saurus Barrel Fermented Pinot Noir not only looks beautiful with a happy purple hue, it also smells beautifully of cherries and currants, and tastes deliciously peppery. Tommy would have it with ngoh hiang.

 

Then comes Finca Las Moras Gran Shiraz with its deep aubergine robe, black pepper nose and long, broody luscious mouthfeel. And the Kaiken Ultra Cabernet Sauvignon with its brighter hues, spicy chocolatey cherry nose, and classic cassis palate. And the Massi Tupungato Corbec, packed full of spice and jam. Corbec – what is that? A blend between Corvina and Malbec, of course! Who would make this but the Argentines? Genius!

 

But my favourite must still lie with the Malbec – indeed theirs is second to none, especially the Trivento Golden Reserve Malbec. For such a deep and complex wine, it bears brightness in appearance – just like a lady who dances the tango – with fruits and violets in the nose, and full of berries in the mouth, melanged with oak and tannins.

 

The ultimate question is, what should Singaporeans eat with a Malbec? A rendang with not too much chili, suggests Tommy - creamy, coconutty, complex, robust. And/or lamb satay.

 

For years and years, Argentina did not manage to export their wine. They drank it themselves very well, thank you very much – averaging at 100 litres per person annually. In the 1990s, they started to export, luckily for us, and since 2000 the volume has grown immensely. However, only 70 Argentine wineries export, and only 35 are available in Singapore. And there are... wait for it... 1300 wineries in Argentina. Talk about the tip of the iceberg!

 

The message is clear: beautiful wines that match perfectly with Singapore foods, very much unexplored territory. Explore, taste... truly die die must try.

 

Wines of Argentina is the Argentine trade body promoting its national wine brand and image worldwide, spreading knowledge of the winemaking regions of Argentina.

 

The "Celebrate Argentine Wines in Singapore" event was organized by the Sommelier Association of Singapore (pictured below).

 

 

Special thanks to Indra Kumar of Buyan and Gerald Lu of Praelum who put their blood, sweat and tears into this event celebrating the Wines of Argentina. Photos courtesy of Gerald Zhang.

 

I know nothing about Austrian wine. I didn’t even know they produced wine until now. Thanks to the Austrian Wine Experience I am finally immersed into a new realm of wine fun and I’m loving it!

 

There is something interesting in the history of Austrian wine. Evidences of grape cultivation existed since 4000 years ago. However, due to the Austrian Wine Scandal where enormous amount of Austrian wines suspected of being tampered with diethlyene glycol which make the wine taste sweeter, it shook the world and many of the wines were banned in other countries too.

 

What was viewed as a setback has only made the Austrian wine industry came back stronger. They have implemented stricter laws and are more experimental in producing better quality wines. The results have been impressive. They have managed to restore their glory and come back better than before.

 

TLN’s own expert Nose, Ying Hsien Tan – a.k.a Raptor Nose, who is the founder of Taberna Wine Academy conducted 3 exclusive courses to shine some lights on Austrian wines and I had the privileged to be one of the participant. In total, we tasted 6 whites and 3 reds.

 

The wine regions in Austria are heavily concentrated in the Eastern region because believe it or not, it has the same latitude as Burgundy in France. Due to its ideal cool climate, the wines produced are both fresh and complex for the whites. For the reds, they tend to be more spicy and elegant. We had the opportunity to taste the following wines that afternoon.

 

1. 2010 Roter Veltliner Klassik by Leth

2. 2011 Rogipfler by JR Reinisch

3. 2012 Grüner Veltliner Obere Steige by Huber

4. 2011 Riesling Steinühel by Malat

5. 2010 Sauvignon Blanc Zieregg by Tement

6. 2009 St. Laurent Frauenfeld by JR Reinisch

7. 2011 Pinot Noir by Markowitsch

8. 2008 Blaufränkisch Hochäcker by Weininger, and

9. 2010 Beerenauslese Seewinkel by Tschida

 

 

The most memorable indigenous grape varietals are Grüner Veltliner, Rogipfler, and Roter Veltliner plus the native reds such as St. Laurent and Blaufränkisch. They are truly uniquely Austrian which reveals a very outstanding and authentic cool climate character. Words would not do any justice to the tasting experience.

 

However, expert Nose Ying was sharing it so vividly that he gave us a very good overview towards Austrian wines. Ultimately we learned that Austria has the capability to produce international style wine with their indigenous grape varietals, because personally, I love the Pinot Noir.

 

Though the participants agreed that the Sauvignon Blanc has left a very deep impact as it has the nose of cat’s pee but on the palate it tastes like a less zesty French counterpart. The majority agreed that the Beerenauslese Seewinkel by Tschida simply ended the afternoon on a sweet note.

 

I am looking forward to Ying’s more in-depth sharing on Austrian wine. There’s so much to learn and so many more varietals to taste. Don't miss it!  I hope to see you at Taberna Wine Academy so we can be smarter about Austrian wines!

 

Contributed by Donna Daritan, TLN Blogger

Austrian wine was out in full force last Friday at Yantra along with a very lucky crowd of guests partying with 20+ Austrian wines and Yantra's fantastic Indian food.

 

OMG it was good!!

 

The menu expanded from what was publicized.  In a somewhat predictable gesture, Austria's main wine-man Michael Thurner of Unique Food and Wines, was so excited at the prospect of sharing the magic of cool climate wines with Local Noses, that he  couldn't help himself but to bring more wines for everyone to try!

 

His impulsive generosity made what was already the best Friday night "wine-n-dine" deal in Singapore an even more insanely delicious and fun deal. 

 

All dressed up in his traditional Austrian lederhosen like an Alpine gladiator, Michael was completely unafraid of trying to pair food-friendly Austrian wines with notoriously difficult to match Indian dishes. 

 

How did the food matching turn out? 

Short answer: Awesome.

Long answer: When you start with top quality wine and top quality food, the odds of success increase.  Some of the dishes were quite spicy and rich, but the wines stood up an danced with the flavours quite deftly.

 

Food-wise, the cross-cultural star of the evening was Austrian white asparagus (a seasonal delicacy) dressed up in Indian spices.  Sommelier Dharmendra Singh made a point to only lightly dress up these special asparagus so as not to overpower their natural flavour, but to accent with an Indian flair. 

 

These asparagus were made with a light, cumin-based spice blend that did did not overpower, but that ended up giving a very juicy, exotic burst of flavour with each bite.  It was absolutely perfect with the Rotgipfler white!

 

 

WHAT WORKED BEST

 

Quite predictably, the Malat GRUNER VELTLINER worked extremely well with most everything but the Lamb - and only because that lamb absolutely demanded a red wine. 

 

The JR Rienisch ST. LAURENT and the Markowitsch PINOT NOIR also worked with just about everything though the asparagus, like the lamb, demanded a white, so red wasn't the ticket.

 

The fleshy Zwiegelt from Gebeshuber was also an all-arounder mainly becasue the fruitiness works well with spicy food.

 

Oh, and did I mention the DJ?  I have to give a shout-out to the music as it was actually quite good.  I'm always disappointed with this aspect of parties in Singapore, but it was quite good!

 

The opening party bodes well for the closing party at Movenpick on May 16 because it will also feature loads of wine and food, and I'm going to hope, that same DJ!

 

 Meanwhile - there are some great dinners and tasting opportunities for Local Noses during this Austrian Wine Experience.  I hope everyone will take the opportunity to try these wines as they are genuinely very good.

 

 

Hope to see you all at the next one!

 

Driving in Marlborough is a breath taking sight. Naked cows grazing grasses, and as we pass by them, I swear, they stared right into my eyes, as how one does when he sees a foreigner for the first time. As we drive further up, we were passing by a herd of sheep. Three of them lost their mind, as they started to run up ahead right in front of our vehicle, probably fearing that we were going to kidnap them. It took them a long while to realize that it was a bad idea to run just right in front of the vehicle, so they decided to move to the side, hugging each other while shivering with fear.

We drove around the sub-regions; Wairau Valley, Awatere Valley, Brancott Valley, Omaka Valley, Waihopai and Kekerengu Coast. These regions have been famous for consistently producing the best Pinot Noirs in New Zealand. I have always been in the impression that, vineyards in Marlborough are on flat grounds in the plain. As we drove up hills, I realized that there are many vineyards as high as more than 300m above sea level.

Every sub-region has its own micro climate. This made me start to ponder on the thought that Marlborough could show to the world, it’s regional characteristics and not just a ‘MarlboroughPinot Noir’. It will be a great adventure for consumers to look for specific Pinot Noirs from the individual sub-regions.

I have to admit that, after tasting wines from the various wineries such as Terravin, Villa Maria, Ballochdale, Auntsfield, Greywacke, Fromm, Spy Valley, Nautilus, Dog Point, Churton, Astrolabe and Hans Herzog, I realized that, Marlborough winemakers are serious about producing the world’s best Pinot Noir, second only to Burgundy, a region that they respect very much. This respect for Burgundy is obvious as many New Zealand wine makers appreciate Burgundy wines with reverence.

 

What fascinated me further was the fact that, many vineyards are being converted to organic farming, although most growers are not enthusiastic in applying for an organic certification. One such winery is Hans Herzog, which actually has man-made bee hives, grows fruits and vegetables which they use in their restaurant for cooking and including other crops, so as to encourage sustainable viticulture.

 

 

Clive Jones of Nautilus Estate Winery

 

Astrolabe

 

Although Pinot Noir is the single most important variety that every wine maker in Marlborough is focusing on, they are also producing delicious refreshing Sauvignon Blancs and high quality Chardonnay. They are also enjoying great success with Riesling and Gewurztraminer.

 

Hans Herzog Winery (Organic Vineyard)

 

Hans Herzog Winery (Bee Hive)

I believe that Marlborough should start to officially grade the vineyards that are more likely suitable for certain varieties and superior vineyards. This will assist wine consumers all over the world to be able to pick a bottle of wine knowing the quality range, just as how it is done in Burgundy.

New Zealand Wine Growers, an organization that promotes New Zealand wine, are doing many activities to bring awareness towards high quality wine production in New Zealand, to wine consumers world-wide.

For any enquiries on New Zealand wines or the regions, visit their website at http://www.nzwine.com

Contributed by Indra Kumar, Sommelier at Buyan. 

 

 

What would you do when the week is ending and Monday is coming? You created the sweetest party ever so you will begin the week on a sweet note. A few of us decided to have a dessert party where everything on the table was sweet to the max (except for the lovely quiche made by Yvonne Ho, who had the foresight to create a little bit of contrast in case everyone had sugar overdose). Thanks to TheLocalNose for sponsoring 3 bottles of dessert wines, adding the sweetness to the max! However as there were 10 of us, 3 bottles didn’t sound close to being enough.

 

Though we never planned the pairings with the desserts provided, it turned out, as usual, awesome. We paced ourselves well. The 3 TLN recommended wines were:

Small Gully Mr Blacks Concoction, a Moscato from Barossa valley (South Australia)

Seifried ‘Sweet Agnes’ Riesling from New Zealand

Miguel Torres late harvest Riesling from Chile

Majority of us loved Concoction for being so easy-going and refreshing to the palette. Seifried has been voted by half of us for being the Cheesecake wine. The heavenly cheesecake baked by our cute baker, Melvyn Ho really went very well with this Riesling. The last Riesling from Chile helped us to end the evening on a much sweeter note. Though some found it too sweet but 50% of us thought it was quite pleasant. So, overall we had a great tasting session!

Thank you, Louise for hosting all of us and every single beings who was present for the lovely company. Thank you TheLocalNose for allowing us to be part of this private tasting session and to conclude, I have the best quote uttered by one of the participant. All of us agreed unanimously.

"This is the sweetest gathering in my whole life."

– Chef Lun

Contributed by Donna Daritan, TLN blogger

What do you get when you have a winery, a museum and a foundation all in one place at the amazing territory of Rioja (Spain) under the passion of 4 generations of Vivanco Family? The birth to wines with devotion, of course, respect to its origin and a chance to give back to the society. Dinastía Vivanco has definitely achieved all of that. Their philosophy is to give back to wine what wine has given to us. Every wine they made is the reflection of their utmost dedication.

Le Fournisseur proudly represents Dinastía Vivanco because this winery has fulfilled their most important criteria for being the “top-notch” level in terms of quality. In order to make sure the wines from Dinastía Vivanco were paired to perfection, the wine tasting event was held at Viet Lang that serves authentic Vietnamese cuisine. It was indeed a very interesting pairing – Spanish wines with Vietnamese food, I was a little bit skeptical but totally converted and convinced by the end of the event. It worked!

The tasting was divided into 3 categories and we tasted them in the order suggested by Dinastía Vivanco to ensure everyone enjoy the process to the max.

The young wines – Vivanco

The classics - Dinastía Vivanco

The premiums - Colección Vivanco

 

Under the label of Vivanco, a white and a rosé were introduced to our palette. The first one, a white wine, was a mixture of 60% Viura, 20% Malvasia and 20% Tempranillo blanco. Tempranillo blanco is a minority white grape variety from a natural mutation of the red Tempranillo tinto. Bodegas Dinastía Vivanco is the pioneer in using this grape to produce a wine with unique personality which goes really well with Viet Lang’s Tomato and Orange on Toast. The second selection, the rosé is a mixture of 80% Tempranillo and 20% Garnacha which has a very interesting taste that won a silver medal and voted as Best Spanish Rosé Wine for the Peñín Guide, Tapa Competition, Iberwine, and Valladolid.

 

Moving on to the classics, Crianza (100% Tempranillo) and Reserva (90% Tempranillo, 10% Graciano) were the only 2 choices. Majority of the guests enjoyed the easy-going Crianza which has an intense cherry red flavour that finishes elegantly. However, both of the wines have won at least 3 awards for their exquisiteness.

Ending the tasting on a high note, 4 wines from Colección Vivanco were chosen:

4 Varietales: Tempranillo, Graciano, Garnacha, Mazuelo

Parcelas de Garnacha

Parcelas de Mazuelo

Parcelas de Graciano

“Music is the wine which inspires one to new generative processes, and I am Bacchus who presses out this glorious wine for mankind and makes them spiritually drunken.” – Ludwig van Beethoven

What I love the most from this collection are the labels where each wine was represented by one image from the mythology which ultimately relates them to Bacchus, Roman god of wine. (Dionysus is the Greek name which I personally pay respects a lot in order to have more wine tasting events to go to.) The images were taken from real artefacts which are now being displayed in the Dinastía Vivanco Museum of the Culture of Wine which is located next to the winery.

Starting with the 4 Varietals, which was another favourite of the afternoon. The label was represented by the image of one of the Bacchant girls who were the female followers of Bacchus. Why a lady? Because this wine represents complexity and elegance as it’s the only one with 4 different grape varietals among all the collections. It was no wonder many fell for her charm.

Next, we had the Garnacha which label is represented by part of sarcophagus that shows Bacchus in a festival or party, totally having fun. It’s a wine with finesse and intensity of the fruit that may just turn you into a party machine. The third and a personal favourite from Colección Vivanco was Parcelas de Mazuelo. It is symbolized by Faun, the rustic forest god who’s half human-half goat. Faun was a secretive figure which often hid in the woods amongst the herbs or berries. Hence, it is a perfect symbol for this Mazuelo which has an intense aroma of berries with hints of herbs and a little of earthiness of the mineral. I was totally enchanted by it.

The most interesting story is the last bottle, Colección Vivanco Graciano, which is represented by a mosaic image of angry god Bacchus, which artifact was found in an old house in Rome. An angry Bacchus is a powerful and intense god hence this is transmuted to the wine with intense aroma of berries and hints of chocolate. It is well balanced with impactful finish.

Dinastía Vivanco is really serious in creating the best quality for every category of their wines. Every single bottle speaks for itself. From the creation of the label, to the classiness of the bottle and ultimately it’s the taste that lingers in your mind as you associate each story of the wine, you will understand the passion and dedication this family has towards their wine. Thank you Le Fournisseur and again TheLocalNose once again for this remarkable experience.

Contributed by Donna Daritan, TLN blogger

I waited, in the typical heat and humidity of Singapore, just outside of Magma (German Wine Bistro). Suddenly, a tall lady with stunning golden hair smiled at me as she walked past. I smiled back. I didn’t realize it was Julia Bertram, Germany’s 64th Wine Queen, who’s Master Class on German Wines I would be attending shortly.

Each year Germany holds a pageant-like competition to find the German Wine Queen, the ambassador of Germany’s wines. The Wine Queen beats out hundreds of contenders from the wine regions of Germany in series of local, regional, and finally national competitions. The competitions include blind tasting, difficult quizzes and tests, becoming the fan favourite, and much more. Ultimately, the winner’s knowledge of wine making and German wine is akin to a wine god’s. I must say the concept of the Wine Queen, representing her country around the world, is pretty brilliant. I felt honoured to be in the presence such a beautiful, intelligent, and passionate person who loves sharing her passion with as many souls as possible. Oh! I’m so living my dream like Oprah without the audience.

Now, let’s look into the wines.

Over the course of the afternoon, Julia would introduce us to 15 wines (full list below). Much to my surprise we kicked things off with the six red wines! Interesting, I thought, starting with the pinot noir instead of the usual white or sparkling; I enjoyed it tremendously. We were transported to Baden, Ahr, Pfalz and Wuerttemberg in the world of German reds. The whites sent us to Rheinhessen, Pfalz, Franken, Mosel and Rheingau. Even the grape varietals showed me something new: Spaetburgunder (Pinot Noir), Dornfelder, and others. Truly, an eye-opening afternoon!

I have chosen to highlight three wines for your kind perusal:

Friedrich Becker’s Spaetburgunder ‘09

Voted best Pinot Noir in 2010 by American Express. It was fermented for 12-16 days in huge oak barrels before being aged for 14 months. Becker has been known to produce some of Germany’s best Pinot Noir. This particular red has great perfume and a delicious taste.

Juliusspital’s Scheurebe ‘12

Green notes with a hint of tropical fruit. Juliusspital is one of the biggest privately owned wine estates in Germany. This winery’s history goes back to 1576 when it was used as a hospital for the poor founded by Bishop Würzburg. The winery estate’s profits support the poor. How lovely!

Johanninger’s Huxelrebe Beerenauslese ‘99

This precious noble-sweet is beautifully contained in a small bottle which went through the slow fermentation process in barrel. This amazingly exquisite wine has also being selected by Chef Damien Le Bihan, formerly of Guy Savoy and now Group Executive Chef for Deliciae Hospitality Management Group, to be paired with his white asparagus dessert in his fully booked dinner for the World Gourmet Summit 2013. I savoured every last drop of this delightful wine.

 

After the tasting I had an opportunity to have a chat with Julia:

Julia comes from Ahr, one of the smaller wine-growing regions in Germany which is growing red wine paradise – especially for Pinot Noir. She grew up in a winery. When she was around 15 years old, she tasted wine for the very first time. That experience propelled her to know more about this amazing substance and she took it to the next level by diving into th international wine business world. That was not enough for her so she decided to learn the practical side of wine making too. No big deal.

Equipped with knowledge and love for wine, it was only natural for her to put what she learned to the test. She was the queen of the Ahr Valley region for one year, being the queen of the region was not enough for her. Her desire to reach out to the greater world and raise awareness of German wines set her on the path to become The Wine Queen. The rest is history.

When asked what her purpose in life is, she answered, in no particular order: Family – Friends – Wine – Enjoy! She summed up her journey to become the 64th German Wine Queen beautifully: born in the family of wine makers, fell in love and forged a great friendship with the world of wine, made friends with people from all around the world. She chooses to enjoy the entire journey.

We tasted the following wines which are all available from Magma German Wine Bistro.

 

Red Wine:

Bercher ‘Burkheimer Feuerberg’ Spaetburgunder ‘10

Jean Stodden ‘JS’ Spaetburgunder ‘09

Friedrich Becker ‘B’ Spaetburgunder ‘09

Drautz-Able Dornfelder ‘09

Drautzable Lemberger ‘11

Friedrich Becker ‘Guillaume’ ‘08

White Wine:

Johanninger ‘Dreimaenner’Riesling ‘10

Bassermann-Jordan ‘Deidesheimer Kieselberg’ Riesling ‘11

August Ziegler ‘Gimmeldinger Biengarten’ Riesling ‘11

Johanninger ‘Reserve’ Chardonnay + Pinot Blanc ‘09

Juliusspital Scheurebe ‘12

Markus Molitor ‘Haus Klosterberg’ Riesling ‘11

Fritz Allendorf ‘Illusion’ Gewurztraminer ‘12

Markus Molitor ‘Zeltinger Sonnenuhr’ Riesling ‘11

Johanninger ‘J’ Beerenauslese Huxelrebe ‘99

 

Contributed by Donna Daritan, TLN Blogger

The Local Nose  was back with a twist on its recent event. Though this was not the first time a blind tasting event was being held, but it was the first time a spinning game was involved. All the wines were served in black glasses and all the wines were lined up in black bottles. This is literally drinking in the dark, without any usage of blindfolds though. (Idea for next time? :p)

A line-up of Local Nose recommended wines were poured:

Lion's Lair Chenin Blanc (South African)
Domaine Gobelsburg Grüner Veltliner (Austrian) 
Neudorf Chardonnay (NZ)
Tasca D'Almerita Cygnus (Sicily, Italy)
Red X (California, USA)
Los Boldos Malbec (Argentina)

But wait - the pouring order was totally unknown. And more, the Schott Zwiesel tasting glasses were so black that we couldn't really tell if it was red or white! We only had our palette as our inner guidance, or so I thought.

Thirty people were present that night to participate in this unique event. As usual, I was super ecstatic to be one of them. What’s not to love about drinking wine, getting to know people and being introduced to a recently opened cool hangout place!

Intrepid Gastrobar whipped the following lovely menu for the pair-up:

Soup of chilled peas and fresh mint, lemon zest, almonds
Poached potato pearls with fresh chives, smoked oysters, baby capers
Risotto of grilled prawns and spicy chorizo, lemon thyme, burn butter
Roasted tomato salad, carrots, shaved fennel, beets, asparagus, parmesan chips 
Tortellini of Australian lamb, burned butter, lemon zest, truffle foam
Crispy pork belly and mushy peas, poached quail egg, basil oil

May I say the last dish was really oh-to-die-for that I ignored the invisible warning where I might need to watch out for some buttons popping out of my jeans. I couldn’t help it, it was divine.

Before the fun really started, guests were welcomed with a refreshing and easygoing Sauvignon Blanc from Mount Brown (New Zealand). When most of the guests have arrived, the blind tasting began. I too opted for this experience because what’s the fun in knowing everything, right?

As the guests were busy sipping blindly, I noticed the two schools of thoughts, when asked what they thought the wine they were holding was. Some of them formed an opinion pretty quickly, giving me the answer when I asked them to guess. The others said they would love to wait until they tasted everything before making any decisions. How interesting. I really wondered if that’s how they too make decisions on their daily matters. I started to self-reflect for a while … until my glass was empty.

Then there was another group who simply knew what they wanted to do that evening – to win the guessing game and bring the prize back home. From the moment they stepped into Intrepid, they had their strategies in place. Sun Tzu would have been really proud to witness them in action. They have taught me even our fingers can replace our palette during blind tasting to determine if the wine is red or white.

There was also a quiz component to this evening. People who answered the most numbers of correct answers would get the chance to spin the bottle, guess the wines and win prizes. I learned quite a few facts from this quiz such as:

“Grüner Veltliner is an indigeneous grape of Austria.” (not a Swiss German aviator or Slovakian sausage!)

“The Zinfandel grape is called Primitivo in Italy.” (definitely not Primrose, and note people, not Pipparedello, either)

“Chenin Blanc has another name in South Africa - that is Steen.” 

As for the star of the night, it definitely was wine #5 - Red X Blend (Syrah, Petit Syrah, Malbec and Dolcetto) which was a full bodied red with a lovely nose and attached with interesting tagline on its label – “Bad at rules. Good at wine.” Some of the rules are really worth remembering. 

However, the most important fact I’ve learned (which was part of the quiz too) is that I think Local Nose wine events are really fun, of great value, super creative and educational! Not to mention, one may just win exciting prizes, like my friends Yvonne and Louise, through the mastery of art of wine war, they won themselves a bottle of wine. 

Some of us continued this celebratory moment by ordering more food from Intrepid and discovered they have so much more tasty food in-store! I am definitely going back there again! As usual, I am looking forward to the next event. For those of you, who missed it this time, hope you will be able to join the fun at the next one. I love Local Nose events and I simply cannot lie.

 

 

Contributed by: Donna Daritan, TLN Blogger

I’m visiting a wine shop in Phnom Penh, which has an excellent selection of German and Austrian Rieslings and Gruner Veltliners, at prices that would make most Singaporeans blush. I blush, looking at the fantastic selection.

 

And then I begin talking to the owner of the store, complimenting him on his range. “They’re beautiful wines, but I can’t sell them,” he responds. Alas, wine is the subject of fashion. In Cambodia, Bordeaux sells, Australian Shiraz sells, France sells, Randonal Bordeaux (fake Cambodian wine) sells. Austria and Germany do not sell, despite matching local cuisine quite well, and being perfect in the lusty hot weather of the dry season.

 

Everyone knows Bordeaux, of course, even people that don’t drink wine know Bordeaux. With the Chinese behind Burgundy, it’s moving rapidly into the wine spotlight of outrageous prices and prodigious fakes (Dr. Conti, I’m looking at you). To the benefit of very few and to the malign of most, prices follow. That name brand recognition is going to carry a 15% surplus, or more as the case may be.

 

Which is all to say, experiment. Don't be afraid.

 

New regions and unexpected grape varietals can offer exceptional value for money, and possibly better. A good deal of the pleasure in drinking wine comes from the unexpected discovery, and how are we to suss out these undiscovered treasures without a bit of risk? You’ll have the occasional unpalatable wine, but it’s worth it when you find a hidden gem.

Despite a hot Sunday afternoon, the Wine Whisperers gathered to do what they do best – sniff and taste some wine, purely for pleasure of finding out what Singapore has to offer.

 

The Wine Whisperers, as we call ourselves, represent a diverse group of five noses from around Singapore. We each favoured the four lovely wines differently that afternoon. Unanimously, however, we agreed that the wines ranged from good to excellent buys.

 

We kicked off with Ruedesheimerberg Roseneck Riesling EG 2010. We chatted a bit about the vibrant and rich nose. Tropical fruit sprung into the air – pineapple, honey mango, and even juicy longan. This wine was not as intense as the 2009 I had tasted before, but displayed greater complexity. Some detected a faint hint of petrol, typical of a good Riesling. We experimented with some curry puffs and they married perfectly. Later, I took the liberty of pairing the wine with dinner, my Eurasian Devil's curry. The verdict? Match made in heaven!

 

Next, the Lemberger 2008 by Drautz Able from Wurttermburg, Germany. Lovely bright colour and a savoury cherry nose! The wine surprised us by being delicate yet quite fruity. This proved to be an easy drinking red on a hot afternoon! If Pinot is a serious adult, this Lemberger is definitely his easy-going, free-spirited younger brother. This wine will please any Pinot fan!

 

Two of our five favoured the Errazuriz Carmemère 2008. This wine was muscular and packed with rich, dense and expressive black and red fruits. The smokiness of the oak seemed well integrated, making the wine smooth and softening the tannins. We cheekily paired a curry puff with this wine and the result seemed to make the wine sweeter! Want to know why? Try it yourself!

 

With spirits high, we moved on to Domaine de Coussergues Baronnie Rouge 2011. With an attractive price of $25, this wine was another hit! This wine awed The Wine Whisperers with the quality and price. The wine finished lovely and long.

 

Check out these wines, The Wine Whisperers never lie!

 

 

Featured Wines:

 

1) Ruedesheimerberg Roseneck Riesling EG 2010

2) Drautz Able's Lemberger 2008

3) Errazuriz Carmemère 2008

4) Domaine de Coussergues Baronnie Rouge 2011

 

 

Written by Stephanie Lim