Southern Highland Wine Region

This year's Australia day was on Tuesday, as it did not fall on a long weekend, we've decided to visit Bowral with another couple for a one-day trip.  Bowral is a nice historic town locates 1½h south of Sydney, where there are antique, art and craft shops, cafés and most importantly it is the center of the Southern Highland Wine Region.

The Southern Highland wine region is a small wine region in Southern New South Wales that specialises in cool climate wines.  The average temperature in winter is 9°C and it can get to as low as 1-2°C.  Since I was not familiar with the wines from this region, I looked up the James Halliday guide on the wineries.  I found a five-star winery, the Centennial Vineyards, they have a huge list of wines and many different varietals.  Their Savagnin on the list caught my eyes, the Australian Savagnin/Albarino muddle was a heat topic in 2008.  Just a little background; the Australian cuttings of Albarino, a varietal from Spain, was mixed up with Savagnin and was later discovered by the CSIRO.  This caused a huge threat to the wine producers since what they thought was the noble Spanish varietal Albarino, was actually Savagnin.  There was a big drama of what to name it, how to name it, whether to change all the wine labels... ... as they were not allowed to put Albarino on the labels anymore.  I guess at the end of the day, if it is a good wine, wine drinkers will still love them, but it might take some time to recover from the shock!

We arrived in Bowral, visited the local information center and a few local shops, had brunch in a little pastry café, and then we headed to the Centennial Vineyards.  It was a very beautiful vineyard, with a neatly maintained garden in front of an elegant sandstone building.  My original plan was to have high tea at the vineyard, but unfortunately their restaurant does not open on Tuesdays.  After taking a few photos, I was so eager to do some wine tastings.

We first tried the Bong Bong Classic White 2009, it was a blend of Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Gris, Riesling and Chardonnay, a nice refreshing start of the day!  Then we tried their Sauvignon Blanc, first the Woodside and then the Reserve, both wines were nice and crisp, less grassy then the ones from our New Zealand neighbour.  We went on to try the Pinot Gris, a light body wine, not as creamy as the King Valley Pinot Grigio style.  Then followed by the Woodside and the Reserve Chardonnay, the first one was a lighter style and the Reserve has a nice creamy, vanilla mouthfeel, a fuller body wine.  Then, it was the Savagnin that I was waiting for.  I have tried some Savagnin at the Wine Focus Australia Savagnin/Albarino forum, they all have different characteristics, some were crisp and fragrant and some were rich and creamy.  In comparison, this one was a little bit ordinary, not a style that really stands out.  As the lady at the bar was looking a bit impatient while we went down the list, I skipped the Riesling and Verdelho, as I suspected that they will not be as good as the ones from the Canberra District and the Hunter, respectively.

Finishing the white wine list, I turned over the page to try the red wines.  We started with the Pinot Noirs, Woodside and Reserve, they were not as aromatic as I expected.  Then we tried the Sangiovese, it has a very nice aroma, a gentle medium body wine.  The Shiraz Viognier was next on the list, the lady pour some out and I can immediately smell vinegar, she opened a new bottle and it was quite nice.  The spiciness of the Shiraz was balanced out by the Viognier, full of berry flavours, a nice dinner wine.  Then we tried the Barbera, I had a sip and it was oxidized.  I really wanted to try the NSW Barbera and compare it to the King Valley Barbera so I told the lady that it was oxidized, but she disagreed and said the acidity was the characteristic of a Barbera and she didn't open a new bottle for us to taste.  Yes, Barbera has certain acidity and therefore goes well with many tomato-based Italian dishes, but when it is tart and damp, something is wrong!  Anyway, we quickly tried the Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot, brought some wines and left.

After all the tastings, we brought the Woodside Sauvignon Blanc 2008, the Reserve Chardonnay single vineyard 2008, the Reserve Sangiovese single vineyard 2008 unfiltered, the Reserve Shiraz Viognier single vineyard 2006 and the Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot 2004 and were given the Bong Bong classic red as a gift when purchased 6 bottles.  Interestingly, almost all of their wines were made from grapes from the Orange region, and other wine regions in NSW.  I guess you just don't get to taste the "Terroirs" in this region!  A little disappointment especially when you are visiting the wineries or regions for this purpose.

After wine tasting we went to Berrima for the Australia Day celebration and had lunch in a little tea house.  There were many European style boutique shops in this beautiful town, just like a fairyland in cartoons.  The shops were all linked together and they were like little cottages with many rooms displaying the special art and crafts, toys and clothes.

With the disappointment from the first winery, I remembered another outstanding winery from the James Halliday guide, the Cuttaway Hill Estate.  We couldn't find the winery on our map but saw a sign to Cuttaway Creek, we drove along the creek but still couldn't find the winery but we found Tertini Wines, and we later found out that Cuttaway Hill Estate does not have a cellar door!  We stopped at Tertini Wines and were greeted by their German shepherd Bella and Tertini's sales manager Robert Kay.  He was so passionate about the Tertini wines and was telling us all the trophies each wine has got, wine medals from Hong Kong, etc etc... ... 

I have mixed feelings on wine trophies, since almost every bottle you find in a bottle shop will have at least one trophy, some have as many as ten or more, and what does it all mean?  Some of my childhood memories came back when I put some thought into this question.  When I was younger I was a dancer, I started dancing when I entered high school, which was quite late compared to other dancers who started at the age of five.  At the beginning, I never had great confidence in dancing but somehow getting awards from dance competitions made me think that I have gain recognitions in the field, and I started to like dancing more and more.  So I guess wine trophies do mean something about the wine, and when you flip over pages in magazines, you will appreciate this a little more when they tell you the categories such as "Best wine under $20", "Best cool climate Shiraz", etc... ... and you just can't compare across the categories thinking that a trophy means it is a good wine.  Anyway, back to Robert's story on his Hong Kong trip, wine competition and wine dinner.  I was delighted to hear about the battle between the 2 Michelin stars Alvin Leung vs. our famous Sydney Chef Sean Connolly.  At the Hong Kong International Wine and Spirit Fair, tourism NSW and Hong Kong tourism have organised an event to showcase NSW food and wine.  Alvin and Sean need to create a nine courses degustation menu with 18 matching wines using local ingredients from NSW.  He told us that Alvin used vegemite in one of his dish, a very brave attempt but it turned out very well.  I was salivating listening to his story!  Let's do some wine tasting! 

We started with the Rieslings, the Tertini Riesling 2005 and the Eighteen55 Riesling 2006, and I like both of them.  They have a beautiful Riesling kerosene aroma with floral fragrance, you can immediately identify it as a Riesling.  They both have young fruity characters and balanced acidity, very nice.  I saw Arneis on the list, but they were all sold out and the new vintage was not for tasting.  Having engaged in a lovely conversation on the Hong Kong wine fair, food and wine matching, and most importantly knowing that I have the WSET cert, Robert has decided to bring out the 2009 Reserve Arneis for us to try.  I was very happy since I like this varietal as soon as I tried it the first time at King Valley.  It was a very special wine but I can understand the purpose of the winemaker not to release it so soon.  It was quite young and high in acidity, but I was interested to see it mature so I brought one home to cellar!  We finished the whites and tried the Tertini Rosé, it was made from Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, a dry version of Rosé, to enjoy it with a cheese platter would be nice!

Then we tried the reds, we started with the Pinot Noir, the 2006 Tertini Pinot Noir from the Southern Highlands then the 2005 Eighteen55 Pinot Noir from Berrima Valley.  They were both very aromatic, beautiful floral, berries, perfume aromas, my friend sat there with the wine and said she can smell this all day!  They were both beautiful, medium body, cool climate Pinots, definitely worth adding them to my cellar.  After the Pinots, we tried the Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot and the straight Cab Sauv.  The 2005 Eighteen55 Cabernet Sauvignon was the only wine from Tertini that uses 80% Barossa grapes and all the others were grown locally.  Last but not least, we tried their 2008 Reserve Noble Riesling, which was made from natural Botrytis.  It was a lovely wine to finish off, a beautiful Botrytis wine! 

We couldn't leave without buying some beautiful wines, we brought the 2005 Riesling, the 2006 Eighteen55 hand picked Riesling, the 2006 Pinot Noir, 2005 Eighteen55 hand picked Pinot Noirs, 2009 Reserve Arneis Barrel fermented and of cause the 2008 Reserve Noble Riesling.  I was impressed with the small but focus and full of regional characteristic wine list.  Although they are still a very young winery, their first plantings in 2000 and first vintage in 2005, but you can already see the potentials.  I guess after all, being proud of the wine trophies is not a bad thing.  What a surprising discovery from our little detour!

My Japan Drinking Trip (1)

I want to say this is the most memorable wine experience I ever had!  NO, I lied!  My memory was actually very blurry, we had too much fun and too much to drink!

Seriously, "I LOVE JAPAN, I LOVE JAPAN".  This was the most amazing trip I had even though we only stayed in Tokyo for most of our trip, but because we can finally meet up with our wine buddies after they left Sydney, the drinking experience was incredible. 

As soon as we arrived, we went to an izakaya (居酒屋), an old fashioned Japanese drinking establishment, and started drinking sake.  We had the Juyondai (十四代) ginjyo (吟醸) with a sashimi platter, so delicious.  Juyondai is a boutique winery and therefore they only have limited production, their sakes are quite rare and difficult to find.  The sake was served chilled in a small shot glass inside a square wooden box.  The wooden box is for the overflow sake, no wastage, pretty smart uh!  I always like chilled sake, since you know it will be a good sake when it’s served cold.  The Juyondai was so smooth, and fresh, with a hint of sweetness, perfect with the premium sashimi.  Note, this was only our first night, first meal in Japan, what else is waiting for us?

Next, was a night on the cruise having monjayaki and an unlimited supply of Japanese beers!  My friends have organized this event for us even before we arrived in Japan, it was a get together with all their drinking friends.  We have met some of them in Sydney and were so happy to see them again.  Monjayaki (もんじゃ焼き) is a type of teppanyaki (Japanese pan-fried) that you cook for yourselves in a hotplate embedded in a table.  Ingredients usually include meat, seafood, vegetables, noodles and mochi or cheese.  The food was delicious and a totally different experience for us.  Since the meal includes the “all you can drink” beer, we ordered the Asahi, Kirin, Sapporo, back to Asahi… … I was so glad that they have stocked up the boat!  But I guess the highlight of the evening was meeting a group of wine drinkers, with our limited Japanese and their rusty English, plus our friends’ translations, we’ve managed to come up with interesting conversations.  After dinner, we went straight to a wine bar, we ordered the La Chasse du Pape Cotes du Rhone Prestige.  They only have two bottles in stock and we had both of them!  A beautiful Rhone valley red, dark cherry colour, very feminine.  The most constructive thing we did that night was organizing our next gathering.  After talking about all our wine experiences and the wines we like, we have decided that in our next gathering we will all bring a bottle of wine to share.

Since there is no such thing as BYO in Japan, one of our friend has managed to organise with the restaurant she often dine in, who will allow us to bring our own wines but pay for the full dinner menu that includes a “all you can drink wine and cocktails”.  How good was this arrangement?!?  Never mind, we were just happy that we can BYO!

Then the big night came, we all prepared a wine to take to the restaurant.  Before I left Sydney, I’ve chosen four bottles of wine to take with me, two for my friends to keep and two to be enjoyed together.  So we have decided to bring the Willow Creek’s Benedictus 2006 to our BYO dinner.  It was a Pinot Noir from the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria, where they have a cool climate for growing Pinot Noir.  My friends took three bottles of wines from their cellar, a Western Australia Marsanne Roussanne from Lillian Winery, a Francis Ford Coppola’s Diamond Collection Zinfandel 2005 and a Delta Vineyard’s Pinot Noir. 

With our wines in hands we headed off to the Cardenas Chinois in Shibuya-ku.  We were first to arrive, a long table next to the bar was setup for us.  The restaurant has dim lightings, a bar in the middle with wines on display, a very romantic place to enjoy fine wines.  Not long after we arrived, one friend brought 5 bottles of wines with him, three Rioja, a Merlot and a Moet Chandon Champagne; another brought 2 bottles, a Merlot and a Bordeaux Pomerol 2005; another friend brought a Bordeaux Margaux 2005 and our last member brought the Egly-Ouriet Champagne.

We started the evening with our two Champagnes and the white together with our entrée, a king fish sashimi salad and clams and mussel risotto.  The Egly-Ouriet Brut Tradition Grand Cru was so complex and full bodied, very balanced acidity and oakiness, a real Champagne.  Later I found it listed in the “1001 wines: You must try before you die” book, alright, one down and 1000 to go!  Then we moved on to the reds, as I was the guest at the table, we started with my Pinot Noir.  Not many Australian wines are found in the Japanese market, most of their import wines are French.  Since they were not used to Aussie Pinots, I was afraid that they didn’t like it.  It has a light cherry colour, a young fruity flavour and aroma, a new world Pinot.  They said they liked the wine, but you can never tell whether they are just being too polite!  Then we had the Kiwi Pinot Noir from the Delta Vineyard in Marlborough.  It was a fuller body Pinot, with very nice berry aromas, a more earthy wine.
 
Then came our main courses, a rack of lamb and duck with mesh potato.  We then opened the Zinfendal, a full body red, very masculine with soft tannins.  My friend brought this wine to introduce Zinfendal to me, since I have told her that I never tried a Zinfendal but have only heard about the “Two Buck Chuck” reputation, a valued wine!  She tried to convince me that a Zinfendal can be very elegant, I do agree that it was quite enjoyable with the rack of lamb!  As the evening progressed, we enjoyed our wines, conversations and food.  We opened the Bordeaux, Melot, Rioja, at the end of the evening, we had consumed 14 bottles of wine between the 8 of us.  When it was time to go home, we really didn’t want to say goodbye, as we didn’t know when we’ll see each other again.  It was a sad farewell.  Our promise to each other was that we will KEEP DRINKING!

My Japan Drinking Trip (2)

My Japan Drinking Trip (2)

It was Christmas and we were invited to my friend’s parents place for dinner.  It was a sukiyaki dinner (すき焼き), which we started with pan-frying some premium wagyu beef dipped in raw eggs, then we filled the pan with mushrooms, radish and udon and topped it up with stock to make a soup, just like a shabu shabu (しゃぶしゃぶ).  It was so delicious, the beef was so soft and tasty and the udon was specially ordered from one of the best in the country.  We drank the Kagatobi’s (加賀鳶) Gokkan Junmai (極寒純米), it was a limited seasonal edition.  It was a very nice sake with interesting strong rice favour as it was not filtered.  Then we opened the Piccini’s Burnello di Montalcino from Villa Al Cortile, a Tuscany’s Sangiovese, all I can remember is that we enjoyed it so much.  A very lovely evening!

 

Our drinking trip has not finished yet, for the ten days we were in Japan, I couldn’t remember a night without alcohol.  Not to mention the weekend away to Hakone (箱根), we had tried some very good stuff!  The first night at Hakone, we’ve decided to go for a hot spring before dinner, we were a bit worried that our heart will be overloaded with the combination of hot spring and alcohol!  After a nice Japanese style dinner, we went straight back into our room and drank.  My friend, the old world wine expert, has kindly prepared all her favourite wines for us, it was such an honour to try as well as learn about them.  She opened the Chianti Classico, my favourite Sangiovese!!!  It was the Rocca Guicciarda – Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG from the Barone Ricasoli. Oh, I was so happy, and when I was still seduced by the Sangiovese, my friend opened the next wine, the Monsordo Bernardina estate’s Monsordo Langhe Rosso DOC Ceretto, it was a Nebbiolo blend with Cabernet, Merlot and Syrah.  It was the first time I tried a Nebbiolo blend, very nice and complex.  It was from the Piemonte region just next to the famous Barolo. I just could not find words to describe this indulgence in the beautiful, romantic charm of lovely Italian wines.  I had a good explanation of the Italian wine regions by my friend, and trying them in parallel was such a wonderful experience.  I was starting to love old world wines!

The second night, we continued with our wine adventure!  We started with a local sake, the Hakone Yama (箱根山), and then back to our wines.  The first one we drank was the Le Haut Medoc de Giscours 1998, this wine was produced by Chateau Giscours.  It was made from crops just outside their Margaux boundary, a beautiful Bordeaux wine.  I have learnt that the producer of the old world wines is always the most important thing to look at in a wine.  Then we opened the Francois Labet Pinot Noir 2006, Francois Labet is the owner of the Chateau de La Tour in Burgundy.  A real Bourgogne Pinot Noir is always nice in a happy relax evening after a hot spring bath!  Our Hakone weekend away was like a European weekend away, first arriving in Italy from Piemonte to Tuscany then travelled to France from Bordeaux to Burgundy.  Wakey wakey, stop dreaming!

The last evening we spent in Japan was New Years Eve, and of cause it was another big night.  We were so honoured to be invited to my friend’s parents place for a REAL Japanese home style dinner.  Mind you, the luxurious food and wine we had that night didn’t seem to me as an ordinary home style meal!  Our evening started with a crab entrée, my friend ordered the hair crab (毛ガニ) and the red king crab (タラバガニ 鱈場蟹) from Hokkaido for me as I have mentioned to her before that I couldn’t afford the red king crab but kept seeing them on the restaurants display windows when I last visited Japan as a poor student.  I was very happy that she remembered I always wanted to try these meaty long leg crabs!  We had champagne with the crab, the Veuve Clicquot NV Rosé and a special sake that is only available during the New Year, the Kesa shibori (今朝しぼり) Junmai Ginjyo (純米吟醸) from the Marumoto Sake Brewery (丸本酒).  The sake was very interesting, light and fresh but with a good mouthfeel and texture, I really liked it, and was given one to bring home, THANKS!

Next we were served with the delicious tuna toro with fresh wasabi.  There was a standard grade and a premium grade, the standard grade was already so delicious and fresh that I have never tried in Sydney.  The premium grade, a beautiful pale pink colour, was so soft, it just melts in your mouth.  It was so funny to see my friend’s old cat, who don’t usually move a lot, has actually jumped onto the table only for the premium grade toro, what a smart cat with a sensitive nose.  It was the first time I have seen fresh wasabi, it has the shape of a carrot and you just need to peel and grate it finely for use, very interesting.  We then drank another wine that I brought from Australia, the Ten Minutes by Tractor’s Chardonnay 2007 from the Mornington Peninsula, very nice and buttery.  During our wine conversations, I mentioned that I really like Daiginjyo (大吟醸) since it always seems a little bit more premium, but they said it is only the method of making the sake, and some of the Honjozo (本醸造) can be very nice, the most important factor is the winery.  So they quickly got out the rare Hakkaisan (八海山) Honjozo and opened it for me to try.  Hakkaisan is a very famous boutique winery in Japan.  It was very aromatic, stronger fragrance and texture then a Daiginjyo, and more complex then a Daiginjyo.  Then we had the specially ordered soba from a famous soba shop in Japan with freshly grated radish and salmon fish roe, it was amazing, I couldn’t imagine soba can be that delicate and smooth, it just slides in your mouth with a gentle slurp! Yum!!!  Last but not least, we drank a Bordeaux wine, it was the Chateau Dassault’s Saint-Emilion Grand Cru Classé 2001.  We were so happy to be served with a beautiful and exotic dinner and finished with a lovely Bordeaux wine. 

Before we flew back to Sydney in the afternoon, we went to a Japanese Temple, which was a traditional New Year Day event.  The New Year Eve big night gave me a hangover and I couldn’t eat the beautiful New Year bento (Osechi 御節料理) that my friend’s parent ordered.  I was so disappointed since I was told that there were some very special favours in there, and they all tasted delicious!

This was the most amazing trip in my life, so happy and satisfied!

My Japan Drinking Trip (1)

 

My Hong Kong Wine Experience

Why am I writing this blog?  Maybe I am way too bored, or just more about sharing my wine experiences with my friends outside Sydney.

Let's start from the most recent experience, it may sound strange, but yes, it actually happened in Hong Kong.  Due to my recent love in the old world wines, this is my best opportunity to try them in Hong Kong.  Hong Kong is well known for being an active port for wine auctions.  This is not surprising since Honkies like to bid for everything, including the most expensive truffles in the world.  Although my budget didn't go anywhere near the auction bottles, but still, the variety is huge in Hong Kong, swamp with old world Bordeaux, Burgundy, Chianti ... ... - this is my world!  Oh, and the recent government implementation on abolishing wine tax in Hong Kong makes it even better.  Hong Kong here I come.

I have done my research before I arrived in Hong Kong.  One of my friends told me that there is a winery in Hong Kong, I was so surprised by the news, since when did Hong Kong have maritime or continental climates?  Anyway, I went into its website to check it out (http://www.the8estatewinery.com/).  This looks real, and they even have custom wines if you buy a BARREL, interesting.  Unfortunately, I couldn't make it to the wine tasting events, but they welcome visitors during the week, I definitely have to go.

On a nice sunny hot and humid day, My husband and I followed the address and took a bus from Admiralty to Aberdeen, then a cab to Ap Lei Chau.  We arrived in the middle of an industrial harbour at Ap Lei Chau.  The address is third floor of an industrial building, is this right?  We walked through a loading dock and found the lifts, went up to the third floor and found room 306.  A man was packing wines into cardboard boxes, this must be it.  Within 5 minutes, Lysanne, the director of the eight estate came out and gave us a tour of the winery.  They import frozen grapes from Washington, USA, and thaw them to make their wines here.  They have and range of whites and reds, they use Sauvignon Blanc, Gewurztraminer and Chardonnay for their whites and Shiraz and Merlot for their reds.  And most recently they have imported some varietals from Italy, including Sangiovese and Nebbiolo for their next vintage. 
 

We went there on a weekday and they only do tastings on the weekends, but fortunately they have one of their late harvest Shiraz (Passion) opened and we managed to try a little.  It was a murky dark cherry colour, sweet and not peppery.  Since I have not tried sweet Shiraz in the past, I can't really comment on it, but I guess I prefer our Victorian sparkling Shiraz for its sweetness, yes, it's Aussie!  Nevertheless, since I was in the first winery in Hong Kong, I can't leave without buying a few "Product of Hong Kong" wines.  I picked the Fume Blanc (so American), an oaked Sauvignon Blanc which I am not familiar with, most Australian and New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc are not oaked and it has crisp, herbaceous flavour, it will be interesting to try this one.  And I've also picked the Heritage, which is made of a Bordeaux blend, um... can't wait to try them.  Of cause I will post my comments here after I've tried them.  Satisfied!  It's kind of cool to have two "Product of Hong Kong" wines to add to my collection.

The next wine adventure in Hong Kong was the "HK Wine and Dine Festival".  It was one of the celebrations of the Hong Kong Food and Wine Year.  And luckily this happens during my visit in Hong Kong.  I was so excited as I always enjoyed the Sydney Good Food Month in October, an event for real foodies and wine lover.  This was the first wine tasting event I had in Hong Kong, it just feels so strange.  

It was a Friday night, the event starts at 6pm for trades people only and open to the public at 8:45pm.  I went with my husband and my sister, and we followed the instructions from the brochure and arrived at the shuttle bus stop at 8:15, there was already a long queue.  I was so excited and impatience, but while we were waiting at the queue I received a call from a friend who was already at the venue, she told us to catch a cab instead of waiting for the shuttle.  Such a good idea, why can't I thought of it.  As the cab was approaching the West Kowloon Waterfront Promenade, I got so excited seeing a large crowd walking towards the entrance.  I was so glad that we took a cab instead of waiting for the shuttle bus.  When I arrived, people were everywhere, that's right, I'm in Hong Kong!  

We met up with my friend at the entrance, since she was at one of the trades, she gave us 3 wine passes, YEAH, tasting wines for free!!  (If we were to pay, for $150 you’ll get 12 tasting tickets, a Riedel tasting glass and some food coupons, not bad.)  With the tickets, I went straight to the old world wines area.  The first stop was of cause Bordeaux, there were so many Bordeaux wines, at least 20 booths in a small hub.  

 

What do I want? What do I want?  Medoc? St. Emilion? Pomerol?  My faint memory of the left bank, right bank... Oh I don't know, just drink.  Let's try a St. Emilion first then move on to the rest.  So we tried wine after wine, just enjoying the atmosphere and the company, so lovely.  Having some French black pig sausages in between, yum.  The complexity of the old world wines is just amazing, the depth, the favour, I generally enjoy them all.  A general impression was that they will be more enjoyable if they were breathe longer, nevertheless, this may not be possible in a tasting event like this.  The most impressed Bordeaux of the evening was the Chateau Beychevelle Grand Vin 2004 Saint-Julien.  It was served by Concord wines.  They decanted the wine in a decanter, the full flavour was there, the first wine of that evening I could taste the deep tannins and earthy flavour.  The last booth we went to was the Sweet White Bordeaux, you can’t leave Bordeaux without the Sauternes.

We then moved on to the other areas, another wine that is rare in Australia is the “REAL” Ice wine from Canada.  I was so happy to see all these Ice wine on the stand, but they were not chilled!  Due to too many people at the festival, they couldn’t chill their Ice wines in time, I tried a glass, partly chilled.  It was ok, but it would be much better if it’s actually chilled to 8°C.  A little disappointed. 

As we were walking along the new world stands, we met a Honkie winemaker who just came back from New Zealand and opened his shop in Causeway Bay.  He learnt his winemaking skills at Hawke’s Bay.  I was so jealous, this is my dream job!  The evening was fun and enjoyable, with good wines, food and company.  This is such a nice event for the busy, stressed HK people to enjoy an outdoor drinking experience.  A general feeling was that HK people tend to enjoy sweeter wines, such as German Riesling and Gewurztraminer.  Do they like Shiraz? 

The next drinking occasion was at Knutsford Terrace in Tsim Sha Tsui.  It is a hot spot for western food and pubs.  I was walking along the restaurants and pubs with my husband, we were checking out the wine menu and see which one serves more wines by the glass.  A waiter from Il Meglio Ristorante di Venezia told us they have a few wines that come in half bottle.  That’s even better, the last thing you want is a glass of stale wine from a bottle that has been opened for a long period of time.  So we ordered the Nipozzano’s Chianti Classico – Chianti Rufina Riserva, a DOCG wine.  It has a nice ruby red colour, darker then most Sangiovese, later I found out that it was blended with a small amount of Malvasia Nera, Colorino, Merlot and Cabernert Sauvignon.  It has very nice aroma, soft on the palate, a very nice after dinner wine to be drunk on its own.

This summarizes my Hong Kong drinking experience, a few surprises and an overall enjoyable experience!