Here we are at Imperial Treasure Super Peking Duck, yes for the second time this week, but it was imperative that I take Duncan Forsyth from Mount Edwards vineyard here, pictured with our Wudang Swordsman Chef.

And you too can experience this ambrosial Mallard experience in the exclusive company of the Wandering Palate and 12 top New Zealand winemakers, namely the Family of Twelve familyofXII@xtra.co.nz at an outrageously lavish Chinese Banquet at Imperial Treasure Super Peking Duck on Friday Nov 2^nd, full details at http://www.thewanderingpalate.com/?p=7309

And further mandatory reading:

New Zealand Red Wine of the Year – Mount Edward Pinot Noir – Central Otago http://www.thewanderingpalate.com/?p=5978

Reflecting on Best Meals and Restaurant in the Year of the Rabbit – Part 2 – Imperial Treasure Super Peking Duck – Surely the best Peking duck to be had in all Singapore – perhaps the world!

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I received this definitive photo from Stephanie Toole at Mount Horrocks taken this week in the Cordon Cut Vineyard with the message “Pray we don’t get any frosts!”, illustrating how vignerons are at the constant mercy of the weather and like any agriculture, there are crucial, nail biting moments or stages throughout the year than determine success or failure that they have absolutely no control over. Commercial madness really, but your sort of need to be a bit ‘mad’ to be in the wine growing business, and you have to be downright crazy to do what Toole does, growing riesling for a late harvest wine by means of ‘Cordon Cut’ with the grapes hanging there for weeks at the mercy of the weather.

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Out of all the meals throughout the lunar year, and there are many around the world, there are four occasions or meals that were the ultimate standouts; consummate in both a culinary sense and sheer dining pleasure. Read More >

On a recent sunny winter’s day in Melbourne, curiosity got the better of us and we had to find out what is was that Melbournian’s find so irresistible about Golden Fields, one of a ever-growing number of eateries spawned by the unpretentiously talented chef, Andrew McConnell. Read More >

The subject of semillon came up the other day, fresh in my mind having just posted a piece on Mount Horrocks Semillon and notes on a vertical tasting from 2001 to 2010. We, that is Master of Wine Peter Scudamore-Smith and I, were reminiscing on our formative wine days in Australia and some of our mutual mentors with the conversation leading to the Hunter Valley and the legendary semillons from Lindemans, Maurice O’Shea—McWilliams and interestingly, a shared enthusiasm for the barrel-fermented Rothbury Estate Black Label Semillons that Len Evans championed, wines of extraordinary richness and complexity in the vein of opulent Montrachet.

We both agreed it’s a curious thing that few vignerons pursued this style, in the Hunter Valley or any other Australian wine region for that matter, which prompted me to re-read an article I wrote a while back on the subject, “Australia’s best kept secret” http://www.thewanderingpalate.com/?p=2126 and featuring the touchstone wine of this style in Margaret River, Western Australia – Arlewood

It’s time for semillon to step out of the shadows and into the limelight for some much-deserved recognition.

Should you ask me what is the most unfashionable or under-rated white grape variety in terms of quality, in Australia or the world for that matter, my answer would be semillon.

While semillon is acknowledged as one of the noblest of all grape varieties, it has not gained this in a global sense or as a stand-alone variety, rather it is invariably blended with its time-honored partner sauvignon blanc.

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Alistair Scott endures excellence at Gidleigh Park Manor in the middle of rural Dartmoor, but wonders if international standards are always the right yardstick in the hospitality industry.

Dartmoor has a schizophrenic history. A patch of stunning moorland perched in the bottom left-hand corner of England with little topsoil, for many years it was a gulag for tin miners, prisoners of war, masochistic farmers and stubborn ponies. Read More >

I waste an inordinate amount of time coaching people on wine. Most of it falls on deaf ears, which irritates me. What’s most annoying is I did not initiate it; people come to me asking for advice – what should I drink? Where do I get it? How much will it cost? Read More >

Sifting through photos I took on my recent trip to New Zealand and visit to Ruth and Paul Pretty’s marvellous property on the Kapiti Coast just north of Wellington, www.ruthpretty.co.nz I came across a couple of pictures of Paul cooking a remarkable breakfast. I say remarkable not just to compliment the cook – although he could do with a bit of praise as the concomitant to his celebrity chef wife – but more so because I discovered and savoured so many exceptional ingredients in one modest yet totally enlightening breakfast. Read More >

Churton Estate is one of the Wandering Palate’s favourite New Zealand wineries and represents a more holistic, artisan side of Marlborough amongst the hordes… I wanted to share their current newsletter which has an excellent article from Bob Campbell MW and some wholesome observations from proprietor and vigneron, Sam Weaver    http://www.churtonwines.co.nz/news/spring-newsletter-2012/ Read More >

It is the change in the climate, characterized by long-lasting summer heat and lack of rainfall, which has caused the significant drop in the production of grapes in Italy’s 2012 vintage; for the same reason, 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2011 were low-production years as well. To this must now be also added the limited inventory of wine from previous vintage currently in the cellars of the wineries. In a short space of time, Italian wine has passed from a situation of perennial over-production to one of under-production. Read More >