TN: HK Trip (Various Wines)

[jrufusj]

HONG KONG TRAVELS - Around HK (1/9/2006-1/19/2006)

Had to make a rather extended trip to HK for business. I love all varieties of Chinese food, but don't find wine to be my favorite accompaniment, so it was mostly beer and tea. However, Cathryn and the kids came in for the weekend adn we saw old friends. Additionally, one dinner was Italian so there was a drop of wine then.

Cathryn Arrives

Cathryn and the kids came in late on Friday night, so I had a bottle of Champagne ready. I ran straight back to the room from a meeting, so was limited to whatever was cold at Watson's in Pacific Place. Picked up this wine and two for the next afternoon. Consumed with random snacks and a relaxing pleasure of being off the plane, finished with meetings, and together again.

• N.V. Gosset Champagne Brut Excellence - France, Champagne (1/13/2006)
  Slightly deeper than normal goldish-yellow with a larger bead and lower volume of mousse than expected. For a moment I worried about storage, but the nose was fresh with very light berryish and citrus fruit and a strong yeasty character. Palate was perhaps a bit heavy (not oxydised, just heavy) with the same fruit and more yeast. Perhaps the heaviness came from the fact that the mousse was not very lively. Good concentration, appealing flavors, broad shoulders, but somehow just lacked any excitement.
  

Seeing Jonathan and Samantha the Next Day

Went to wander through HK Park and have dim sum with Jonathan, Samantha and kids. Then, after the girls shopped, we gathered in the hotel for more random snacks and some wine. Sam is a sucker for Champagne and I'm drawing Jonathan to the dark side (i.e., Bourgogne).

• N.V. Billecart-Salmon Champagne Brut Rosé - France, Champagne (1/14/2006)
  The lightest and loveliest salmon-pink with a vigorous and enticing mousse of minute bubbles. When first opened, the nose is more about the white tree fruit and light citrus elements. With a little time, clear strawberry and light raspberry come out in a puff of fruit and floral sweetness. The sweet floral element settles down, but the berry fruit persists nicely. On the palate, a tremendous balanced tension is the main impression (fine pointal bubbles but still a creaminess; sweet red fruit but still a brightness and deftness that makes it seem almost weightless). Finishing with good concentration, this is a real pleasure. Revisited two days later (largely flat), the wine displays a greater degree of real sweetness than expected, but is still balanced by very nice acidity and has a terrific purity of fruit.
  
• 2000 Michel Lafarge Volnay Clos des Chênes 1er Cru - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Volnay (1/14/2006)
  Bright Burgundy color, not really thinning. When first opened, shows typical tart cherry and hints of berry, along with some wet earth and leaves. Other than that, shut up very tight. On the palate, a lot of concentration and depth from the beginning. Good acid and red fruit flavors with perhaps a tad of overripe darker fruit. Nice balance and structure but, again, very much closed. The long and nicely expanding finish shows there’s a lot hiding, especially for the vintage. Revisited several times over the next three days, the wine loses freshness (as expected) but holds together and develops tremendously well. Over time, it adds deep and ripe plum fruit, meat extract, soy, sizzled pork fat, and a deep dark floral scent that is captivating. Unlike most ‘00s, this is not even close to ready. Keep your hands off, because there is a lot to come in another five or more years. Only criticism is perhaps a slightly atypical note from the meatiness. Still, this is a stellar effort.
  

A Drink Before Dinner

Donald and I shared a house in university. He and Kelly had their first date the same night and to the same event as Cathryn and I did (all the way back in Feb '87). Their son Peyton is our godchild. We're fortunate that they live in HK so they're fairly close. Excited to see them, we gathered for a drink at a new wine bar opened by their friends. An all Aussie list full of names unknown to me, so I was at a bit of a loss but chose...

• 2004 Willow Bridge Estate Firefly - Australia, Western Australia, Geographe (1/14/2006)
  Single glass in a wine bar before dinner at M on the Fringe. Softish white-yellow typical of sem-sauv blends. Nose has a slight bit of waxiness to it, but seems mostly to favor the ripe sauvignon blanc. Somewhat tart green berries, very ripe citrus, just a little grassiness. Palate is rich and maybe just a tad hot, but is kept just on the right side of the line by decent minerality and the slightly herbaceous edge to the ripe finish. Falls right between the styles I’d choose (either full on grassy/pissy sauv blanc or a softer/riper wine that features more of the semillon texture), but pleasant enough for a glass or two. Given that the publicly stated goals of the young winery are to be easy and forward (and easy to market) and to achieve large production in a short timeframe, this is a pretty good effort. This is one of those wines that I’d be happy to run into at a cocktail party or similar, but wouldn’t buy for home.
  

Regrouping for Dinner

Jonathan and Sam, Don and Kelly, Cathryn and I, and another couple went to M@ the Fringe for dinner. A mix of foods that are impossible to match perfectly, but we wound up doing pretty well with...

• 2003 Carpineto Vernaccia di San Gimignano - Italy, Tuscany, San Gimignano, Vernaccia di San Gimignano (1/14/2006)
  Light white-gold color with appealing flashes of yellow. Looked clean and refreshing. On the nose, primarily floral with a little cool mineral character. Nicely subdued and sandwiched in was simple and fresh apple fruit. On the palate, incredibly fresh and pleasantly bracing, but with only a little acid. Freshness came from clean and crisp fruit plus an incredible dose of minerality. With every sip, there was growing sensation of clean and cold water that had been burbling for years through a column of fine granite. If I taught wine tasting, I would use this wine to demonstrate minerality. A little more sweet flower perfume lightens up the finish. My second experience with Carpineto and my second good one (first was with the ’90 CCR).
  
• 2002 Palliser Estate Pinot Noir - New Zealand, North Island, Wairarapa, Martinborough (1/14/2006)
  Clear cherry color. Nose gives an immediate whiff of sweet spicy oak. Underneath is bright cherry and berry fruit along with some earthy/mushroomy funkiness. On the palate, the fruit provides a nice combination of sappiness/richness/ripeness with a level of deftness and freshness that is very pleasing, especially combined with a bit of mineral. Too bad that it feels like one has to chew a tree to get to it. Maybe this will integrate with time, but somehow I doubt it. That’s a shame, because the underlying material seems to be good stuff. Damn busybody winemakers!
  
• 2001 Château du Cros - France, Bordeaux, Entre-Deux-Mers, Loupiac (1/14/2006)
  Gold not yellow, but still relatively bright for a botrytised sweetie. And, with the first whiff, it does prove to have a very nice dose of botrytis. Under that bracing initial zing is pretty rich peach/apricot fruit and some creamy orange. This wine doesn’t have tremendous size or complexity, as the palate pretty much follows the nose, but it does have good concentrated fruit, a nice creamy texture, and that great botrytis-honey prickle on the finish. This could easily be mistaken for a good second-tier Barsac. Don’t know how it will age, but I’ll buy some to sock away (and more to drink now) if I see it at retail. 2001 vintage in the region does seem to be the rising tide that lifts all ships.
  

Farewell to My Team

Several members of my team had also been in town from other locations in Asia, so I took them to dinner before they left. They chose Italian. Food was pretty good, but list was limited and we wound up with...

• 2000 Cantina di Soave Valpolicella Superiore Rocca Sveva Ripasso - Italy, Veneto, Valpolicella, Valpolicella Superiore (1/17/2006)
  Middle red color. Typical, middle-sized nose of cherries, a little licorice, and some fresh tanned leather. On the palate, middle-weight with good balance of a bit of brightness, some cherry and slightly deeper berry, and a hint of nuts on the middle-length finish. Lot’s of “middle” here, no? Well, that’s what this is – a correct, standard cantina sociale wine that does its job well, but nothing more. Simple Valpo flavors intensified a little by the ripasso treatment. Not exciting, but a good safe order in a restaurant with a very limited wine list. I’m always happy to find a wine that I wouldn’t buy for home, but that can be a way out when the list gets difficult.
  

Lafarge shines as always. The Loupiac and the Carpineto Vernaccia were great surprises (and made me look smarter than I really am). The Billecart was on form. Other than that, the highlight of the week was Tiucheow, Hunan, Szechuan, Cantonese, Shanghainese food and seeing old friends.

Posted from CellarTracker

[SBonner]

Nice selection of wines. I was pleasantly suprised at the wine selection that is offered at the City Super in the IFC Mall. Did you buy all these wines at Watson's....when I visted one of their shops I was somewhat disappointed by the depth of seelctions (plenty of Bordeaux) but not alot of Italian or Spanish. Nice post and descriptions by the way.

Cheers,

Stephen

Vancouver

[jrufusj]

Nice selection of wines. I was pleasantly suprised at the wine selection that is offered at the City Super in the IFC Mall. Did you buy all these wines at Watson's....when I visted one of their shops I was somewhat disappointed by the depth of seelctions (plenty of Bordeaux) but not alot of Italian or Spanish. Nice post and descriptions by the way.

Cheers,

Stephen

Vancouver

←

Thanks for the kind words.

I was in the IFC Mall at one point, but didn't get to City Super.

Only the 2 Champers and the Lafarge came from Watsons. Everything else was off a restaurant or wine bar list.

My very few wine shop visits in HK indicated pricing that is higher than Tokyo and a strong brand name and Bordeaux focus. Anything off the beaten path does not seem to appear at retail. I was drinking with a fellow from HK here in Tokyo last night and he confirmed that impression. Said I was lucky to find the Lafarge, as Burg there is more oriented toward negoc and super-domain wines.

I go to HK frequently, but almost never buy wine at retail there so don't really know how representative my sampling was.

Jim