Vine cuttings can be matched to various soils and regional characteristics of other countries, enhancing the complexity and finish of a wine.
With practically every significant pinot noir producer in New Zealand available in Hong Kong, my advice is to be adventurous in your selection, as you will not come across a bad wine, with quality high across the board. Rather, it is a question of budget or regional style and above all, what appeals to your taste.
It’s a big call, nailing the single wine of the year that was most impressionable amongst so many good bottles moreover, an ever-increasing myriad of high quality, relatively more approachable wines produced around the globe. However, this is wine that stimulated my sensory core, viscera and thoughts most in terms of complexity, compelling quality and sheer enjoyment.
It was my house red for a period; I simply could not get enough of it, drinking the supplier in Singapore dry. I then resorted to hording bottles on my travels to Malaysia, where it is on the wine list at the inimitable Datai resort on Langkawi Island www.ghmhotels.com
Unparalleled, sensuous Pinot Noir perfectly matched to Peking Duck at Imperial Treasure on October 20th 2010
Acclaimed actor, Sam Neill, is equally known for his fervent passion for pinot noir, his Central Otago vineyard Two Paddocks the most sort after pinot on the planet impossibly scarce yet now available, albeit miniscule quantities, in Singapore, exclusively through Hermitage Wines.
Curtis Marsh shares why it’s impossible to make up his mind when it comes to a favourite wine.
Whenever I’m asked, “What is your favourite wine?” I reply, “The wine I haven’t tried yet”, emphasising that I gain the most pleasure in discovering new taste sensations.
The fact is: I have a wandering palate for food and wine, greatly influenced by my mood and by different cuisines, although inevitably, there are certain flavours, varieties and regions I enjoy more than others.
Martinborough Pinot Noir scoops top prize from 10,983 entries in world’s biggest wine show
A small winery from Wairarapa which only planted its 12 hectares of vines in 1999 has triumphed over Pinot Noirs from 19 other countries including France, Italy, Australia, the USA, Chile and Germany to win the International Pinot Noir Trophy at the world’s biggest and most prestigious wine show, The Decanter World Wine Awards. London’s Royal Opera House was the venue for last night’s unveiling of the 28 ultimate world beating wines from the 10,983 entries in the 2010 Decanter World Wine Awards.
Directly following the New Zealand Pinot Noir Celebration 2010 in February this year, I attended the Nelson Aromatics Symposium, staying with the Finns at Neudorf Vineyard.
I was met at the airport by Richard Flatman, who had just left Two Paddocks in Central Otago to join the Neudorf team. Flatman is one of the most passionate organic and biodynamic viticulture practitioners in the country and clearly the Finns are not resting on their laurels in bringing him onboard, forever striving to improve in the vineyards with a no compromise approach to every facet of making wine.
Savouring my glass of 2007 Seresin Sauvignon Blanc, actually I am guzzling and already on to my third glass, so good is this wine; concentrated, complex, invigorating and comparable to any top Sancerre or Pouilly Fume. It is the quintessential New Zealand wine, an exemplar and nexus to the geography and fast-evolving wine culture of New Zealand.
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.
A conversation centred on the rapidly evolving Asia wine market with wine writing colleagues the other day brought to light the growing divergence in preference for wine styles or grape varieties between countries and metropolis’s around the region.
All of us are resigned to the fact red bordeaux or anything with “Chateau” on the label presently rules in mainland China and to a large extent Hong Kong, the umbilical supply chain of this commodity.
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.
