The Australian Marine Conservation Society www.marineconservation.org.au a non-profit organisation protecting Australia’s oceans since 1965 has just launched an Australia’s Sustainable Seafood Guide iPhone App!
The Australian Marine Conservation Society www.marineconservation.org.au a non-profit organisation protecting Australia’s oceans since 1965 has just launched an Australia’s Sustainable Seafood Guide iPhone App!
Steven Spurrier was in town this week for ongoing Singapore Airlines wine selection tastings (he’s been doing it for 22 years!), along with panel colleagues Michael Hill-Smith MW and Jeannie Cho-Lee MW.
As it turned out, it was the perfect opportunity to raise a glass to Spurrier’s innings, 70 not out. Spurrier was in good form and looks nothing like 70, as he quipped when someone asked if there were going to be more parties, which came out the wrong way, as in meaning other 70th celebrations, he replied, “I’m hoping a least another 10 and 80 is a good number”!
It is the peak of the season for Brown Turkish Figs, having purchased them twice at Jason’s, Tanglin Mall, Singapore at the excellent price, relative to quality and distance they need to travel, of S$4.50 for a packet of 4 large figs.
In case you have not been following the ‘Duck Run’, the Wandering Palates recipe for Thai Duck Curry has been gaining momentum around the world with ducks ‘on the run’ all over the place.
What began as an approbation of Kai Schubert’s www.schubert.co.nz enormous capacity for our Thai duck curry and the subsequently posting of the secret recipe, the story continues as gourmands around the planet share their gluttonous pleasure at the Wandering Palates table or in their own kitchens cooking up the said duck curry.
For some 15 years or more, I have been receiving a magazine from the Economic & Commercial Office at the Embassy of Spain called “Spain Gourmet Tour”. They have diligently ensured that it arrived at my address in Australian and subsequently Hong Kong and then Singapore, as Nomadic as we are.
Must-Have Wines of the Lunar Year 2010 – New Zealand Red Wine of the Year
Vidal Estate Syrah 2007 – Hawkes Bay, New Zealand www.vidal.co.nz
Also Shortlisted for Most Consistent Best Value Wine of the Year
My first encounter with Vidal Syrah was the 2004 vintage, served at a wine fair last year in Singapore. The importer had it in a decanter, which no one seemed interested in. I tried it without asking what it was and was immediately blown away by the wonderfully feral bouquet that was nothing short of good Cote Rotie, the palate equally impressive and wonderfully complex with all the alluring secondary nuances one would expect of a top Northern Rhone.
Australian Red Wine of the Year
Arlewood La Bratta 2007 – Margaret River, Western Australia
When was the last time you had an Australian merlot that pushed your button?
I came across one that not only aroused my merlot curiosity; it triggered just about every pleasure and sensory neuron in my wandering olfactories and aesthetic and had me reaching for my tasting note book.
We see a lot of Michael Hill-Smith MW in Singapore, here regularly for marathon tastings with Singapore Airlines as part of their wine panel. There is also his annual release of Shaw & Smith wines with a tried and tested formula of an informal tasting of the new releases with Dim Sum, religiously attended by trade for both libation and appreciation of his penetrating candidacy on the wines and insightful words on Australian wine industry.
The Wandering Palate is, well, wandering again, having been confined to the compound in Singapore for three weeks now, seriously restless and escaped to Koh Samui, although officially for work.
Rymill is in the heart of the world-renowned Coonawarra appellation in South Australia and the estate produces elegant, classic wines made exclusively from grapes grown in its own terra rossa vineyards.
Visitors to this distinctive, modern winery are welcomed by the two large majestic bronze stallions that stand outside the tasting room.