When buying wine in Asia, the first question you should be asking your merchant is: How do you transport and store your wine?

Many consumers are unaware that wine is a perishable product, a ‘living thing’ that undergoes a delicate, continuous transformation of chemistry and integration of organisms. Even those who are acquainted with wine often disregard these facts, believing that it is resilient in its youth and that the glass bottle it lives in provides sufficient robust protection. In actuality, wine is almost as fragile and spoilable as any other fresh produce and it requires specialised handling in every step from production to the point of consumption.

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Curtis Marsh confesses he cannot get enough Nebbiolo, indeed more than just a passing phase, it is becoming an obsession.

It is not often that I have a preoccupation for a single variety; after all, I do purport to have a ‘wandering palate’. I was for a period last year, fixated with Sangiovese or Chianti Classico to be more precise, having been to Tuscany twice in three months and totally besotted in the idyllic countryside and indigenous produce. Although I remain an advocate, this infatuation has diminished somewhat with the passage of time.

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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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Our Cambodian Correspondent, Darren Gall, finds himself in a North Korean Room 39  enclave and partaking  in a little ‘covert activity’ in the Penh!

For most of us, life north of the 38^th parallel is impossible to witness first hand and is only ever glimpsed through the eyes of the, (mostly western) media. Who can ever forget the award winning cover of The Economist: glorious leader, Kim Jong-Il, waving stiffly to the crowd, resplendent in trademark 50’s-jump-suit-cum-grey-safari-suit, under the heading ‘Greetings Earthlings’!

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Melbourne based food writer Rita Erlich, and Australian winemaker, Alex White, are conducting a comprehensive and fully-guided gourmet tour of Portugal. With decades of industry knowledge, expertise and travel experience, and an extraordinary itinerary of which they have gone to exhaustive detail in their brochure, this is unquestionably the best way to see Portugal if you are a gourmet and wise enough to leave all the hard work and research up to the experts – all you have to do is turn up and have a great time and experience of a lifetime.

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The Wandering Palate Cambodia correspondent, Darren Gall, puts out the fire of spice in his mouth with the requisite wines.

“The year was 1968. We were on recon in a steaming Mekong Delta. An overheated private removed his flak jacket, revealing a t-shirt with an iron-on sporting the Mad slogan “Up with miniskirts!” Well, we all had a good laugh, even though I didn’t quite understand it. But our momentary lapse of concentration allowed Charlie to get the drop on us. I spent the next 3 years in a POW camp, forced to subsist on a thin stew made of fish, vegetables, prawns, coconut milk and four kinds of rice. I came close to madness trying to find it here in the States but they just can’t get the spices right.” Seymour Skinner

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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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Reuters Life! – It’s a big call, nailing the single wine of 2009 that was most impressionable amongst so many good bottles and an ever-increasing myriad of quality, relatively more approachable wines produced around the globe.

However, Two Paddocks Pinot Noir 2006 from Central Otago, New Zealand, is the wine that stimulated my sensory core, viscera and thoughts most in terms of complexity, quality and sheer enjoyment.

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Reuters Life! – When it comes to enjoying wine with bold Asian cuisines there really are no rules – and certainly no room for the traditional notion of whites with seafood and reds with meat.

Show me any wine and I will find an element of spice or herb infused within it. That is my unequivocal reply to the incessantly recurring question I am asked, “Does wine go with Asian food?”

Indeed, most grape varieties intrinsically display a multitude of spice nuances in aroma or flavor, some more than others.

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…mintiness with peaches and strawberries …a chocolate smokiness with leathery insinuations …hessian …apes and peacocks …and a faint, elusive yet startling aroma of wine…”
– Michael Leunig, cartoonist

Thus describes the bewilderment, exasperation and downright skepticism expressed by uninitiated imbibers when it comes to decoding wine tasting notes (including my own).

What is the point of all this concocted jargon and these outpourings of adjectives? Does it have any real meaning or purpose? Is it helpful, or merely designed to baffle us?

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