Hermitage La Chapelle Rouge – Part 1
Hermitage La Chapelle Rouge

Is there another 1961 equivalent in the offering? Cuisine & Wine Asia’s Contributing Wine Editor Curtis Marsh ponders the latest staggering auction result at Christie’s.

In conversation with an enthusiast at a recent wine dinner, the subject turned to the staggering price that a case of 1961 Paul Jaboulet La Chapelle (rouge) fetched in the latest Christie’s Fine and Rare Wine Auction in London, a whopping GBP123,750 (S$342,000) inclusive of taxes and premiums, setting a new European record for the amount paid for a single case of wine.

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Beaujolais Nouveau 2009 – The Sunshine Vintage
Beaujolais 2009 Peace and Love label, France

Georges Duboeuf sends over 10 different cuvees of Beaujolais Nouveau to Asia brand ambassador Nicolas Olivry at Red and White, who treats us to a sneak preview over lunch on the Eve of the release.

Georges Duboeuf describes the 2009 vintage in the Beaujolais region as “Very good, perhaps too good!” He opines, “It is more of a generous wine in which the grapes have been picked at outstanding level of ripeness producing some hearty, superbly well-balanced wines full of rich, smooth flavours. They have charm and class, smooth and succulent in dark berry flavours; blackcurrants, bilberries and black cherries.”

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Domaine Grand Cros L’Esprit de Provence 2007, France
Domaine Grand Cros L’Esprit de Provence 2007

Rosé of the Year

Rosé skeptics must surely be convinced by now that this is more than a passing fad, with the bourgeoning popularity of rosé and increasingly diverse range of styles with winemakers from divergent regions pursuing worldwide consumer demand.

However, the rose euphoria is being exploited by opportunist (parasitical) wine marketers with a flood of rosé coming on to the market, a large percentage of these wines are made as an afterthought and do the rose movement an injustice. Alas, my choice of “rosé of the year” is intentionally from a region and producer that grows grapes specifically for rose and has been perpetually dedicated to, if not synonymous of this dry style of wine – Provence.

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A World Of Sauvignon Blanc
OTU in World of Sauvignon Blanc

No longer delimited to the Loire Valley, France or Marlborough, New Zealand, almost the entire wine-world is now producing Sauvignon Blanc and the whole world is willingly drinking it. Curtis Marsh comes out of the closet in defence of this greatly maligned variety.

Since early Roman times, the wider popularity of grape varieties has been largely determined by its ability to travel or adapt to new environments and, above all, fashion. Achieving global massconsumer appeal for any grape variety in this day and age has long been a very tight clique, namely Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon.

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Bordeaux En Primeur
The Chateau La Lagune, France

Red Bordeaux en primeur 2007, an underappreciated, early drinking, mid-term cellaring vintage for devotees, not investors.

En Primeur or wine futures has its logic, after all we are dealing with the most collectable wine in the world, the consumer pays upfront, supposedly at a discount to the projected market price, taking title of an unfinished wine that they will receive in two or three year’s time, the Bordelaise château proprietors achieve a contingent source of finance in an industry that is inordinately capital intensive.

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Blanc check

Within the steep slopes and valleys of Sancerre, Sauvignon Blanc reflects the individual soils and microclimates of its terroirs, and is a world apart from the popular New Zealand wines of the Marlborough region.

The entire world seems to be producing Sauvignon Blanc and the whole world willingly drink it. But wine consumers tend to identify Sauvignon Blanc with the New World rather than the time-honored names of Sancerre or Pouilly Fume in France.

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Sweet, but not just, Dessert Wine

The noble sweet wines from Sauternes and Barsac in Bordeaux, France are not only underappreciated for their extraordinary complexity but are also misunderstood as being less than versatile!

One of nature’s miracles and an aberration in viticulture is a peculiar mould that transforms the otherwise tart and shy white grape, Semillon, to nectar of unparalleled concentration of exotic fruits, honeyed sweetness, sumptuous richness and a creamy viscous texture, yet with a harmonious marmalade-like piquancy, pleasant bitterness and powerful natural acidity that imparts a perceived dryness.

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Can David slay Goliath in the world’s vineyards?

Reuters Life! – The analogy of David and Goliath seemed fitting for this vinous account as many are familiar with the legend and the substance of message in the outcome.

Metaphorically speaking, The Valley of Elah is Singapore.

The Israelites David is represented by modest wine producers at relatively user-friendly prices (sub S$100 per bottle) facing the Philistines mighty Goliath, personified by the most exalted and expensive realms of France.

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