Shalom Chin – Salomon Vintage Blog Day 7 in Krems

A day off from the vintage gives Shalom a chance to expore Krems area and the village of Dürnstein… although his palate still gets a good workout with visiting sommeliers from Hong Kong.

Day 7 – 02/10/2011

A quiet Sunday for us. The crew decided to go for a walk to the town of Dürnstein. It was a lovely view from the terraced vineyards. It was fascinating to see the vines planted so close to the stone walls. My colleague told me that vines planted next to the walls tend to produce riper grapes due to the heat coming off from the wall at night. It was all sunny and not a cloud in sight.

View from the top of the hill above Durnstein

We climbed to the top of the hill full of vines. Many others did the same. My Swiss colleague remarked that in if we were to walk into like that in the vineyards of Switzerland, we would probably be chased out with a gun-totting man. As we walked down the hill over the other side, a sign in German mentioned that in the past, if a person was caught eating the grapes here and could not pay for what he has eaten, his ear would be cut off. Thank God we don’t have that today.

Hills surrounding Durnstein

At Dürnstein, we took a train to the town of Spitz to catch a ferry ride back to Stein. On the train, we were greeted by a lady who gave us free schnapps to drink. A train ticket for a shot of schnapps sounded like a great deal to us.

Back at the winery, we had a visit from HK Association of Sommeliers. Some amazing vintages were tasted.

Salomon Undhof Steiner Kögl2009, Erste Lager Kremstal DAC, 13.5%abv

A pale yellow tinge. Light fusel aromas and lifted menthol, a flintiness to it with white peach and lemon peel. On the palate is littered with hints of fusel flavours, flint and lemon peel too.

Von Stein 2005 Grüner Veltliner, 14%abv

Pale yellow. A toasty, honeyed botrytis nose in there with hints of confectionary. Quite concentrated. On the palate, the acid is still present and flavours of dried apricots and toast. My most complex Gruner yet. This can lay down another 5-7 years.

Kögl Reserve 1999 Riesling, 13%abv

Pale yellow. Concentrated nose of apricots, petrol, honey and lightly minted. On the palate, acid is still present, beautiful sweet confectionary notes with cold tea. A very long length.

Kögl Reserve 1981 Riesling, ?%abv

Gold colour. Lifted notes of limestone, flint, and petrol. A mintiness to it like 99. Beautifully balanced between acid and flavor. Off dry sweetness that comes from age. Amazingly complex with flavours of honey, cold tea and dried apricots. Beautifully aged with hints of menthol. A treat!

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Salomon Vintage Blog with Shalom Chin Continues… Day 6 from Krems, Austria

Shalom is in good form, surprisingly not showing signs of fatigue, yet, although it does look like they had a relatively slack day. No doubt some readers will be bewildered at the colour of white wine in tank, before it becomes what we know as wine… Also some good notes on the Salomon current range, both their Austrian and Australian wines… and that leads to an amzing story in itself http://salomonwines.com/estate/index.php?lang=en

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Salomon Undhof – Follow the Blog on Dr Bert

Dr Bertold Salomon, otherwise known as Bert, one of the coolest Austrian winemakers you will come across. Follow our Singapore Sommelier, Shalom Chin, vintage blog, as he does vintage with Bert in Krems.

http://www.thewanderingpalate.com/profiled-wineries/vintage-blog-from-singapore-sommelier-shalom-chin-at-undhof-salomon-krems-austria/

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Sommelier, Shalom Chin – vintage blog from Salomon winery, Krems, Austria – Day 5

Day 5 30/10/2011

The Zweigelt juice tasted so juicy and the flavours were rimeniscent of raspberry. In Austria and Switzerland, I was told that Strüm or fermenting grape juice is very popular here in. The Zweigelt we had in the tank was probably the best grape juice I have tasted in my entire life.

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Vintage blog from Singapore Sommelier, Shalom Chin – at Undhof Salomon, Krems, Austria

Our indefatigable and studious sommelier, Shalom, is deep amongst the vines and rolled up his sleeves to do vintage at Undhof Salomon, in Krems, Austria, under the tutelage of the legendary Dr Bertold Salomon. Shalom is a dedicated student of wine nearly completed his WSET exams and taking on a Wine MBA next year, and in my estimation, a future Master of Wine in the making.

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Must-Have Wines Best of the Lunar Year – 2010 – Australian Red Wine of the Year

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.

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New Zealand’s Quiet Achiever: Rudi Bauer, Quartz Reef

Walter Bourke Homage – Pinot Noir Producer of the Year

Must-Have Wines Best of the Lunar Year – 2010 – Year of the Tiger – Best Wine of the Year from the Cellar
Quartz Reef Pinot Noir 2002 and 2003 – Central Otago, New Zealand

New Zealand’s Quiet Achiever: Rudi Bauer, Quartz Reef

www.quartzreef.co.nz

Having long realised the most modest vignerons invariably make the best wines, I have always greatly admired Rudi Bauer, both as a person and his Quartz Reef wines. You will not find a more humble winemaker than Bauer, although he does remind me a lot of Ian Marks at Gembrook Hill, in the Yarra Valley, Australia, both hypercritical of their wines, continually censuring themselves.

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Legendary Australian Winemaker Trevor Mast

Trevor Mast is one of the great names of Australian wine. Quiet but forthright, with a trademark tangle of curly hair and an expert palate, he was renowned as both winemaker and judge.

He pioneered the Grampians as a winemaking area; was among the first to plant Italian varieties and to resurrect shiraz at a time when the fruit was more often going into muffins than bottles.

By the early 1990s his vibrant purple, peppery Mount LangiGhiran cool-climate shiraz was lauded, here and overseas, as the archetypal, essential Australian shiraz. Now he doesn’t even drink the stuff.

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Sam Neill on the “Unparalled Passion for Pinot Noir & Chardonnay”

Well, as the numbness of our body and brain subsides, it is now feasible to reflect on the Burghound in Asia events.

There were many highlights, although perhaps the star event of the whole program was the Antipodean Grands Crus, and that is saying something when you take in to account the incredible experiences we had,including the Datai resort, Langkawi Island (which you can read about on Sam Neill’s blog, 5 April 2011 Travelling Paddocks Proprietor into the Heart of Darkness).

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Biodynamic Wines & Wine Feng Shui 酒之风水

Caroline Frey, winemaker at Chateau La Lagune –A leading Biodynamic Vigneron

Universally desired, there is a burgeoning thirst for wine knowledge and enjoyment. There is also a growing appreciation for artisan wines and viticulture using sustainable practices, organic and biodynamic principals.

Global carbon footprint

The global average carbon footprint per capitais presently 20 tons

The general scientific consensus is that global per capita emission levels must drop to just 1 tonne per person by 2050 to limit global warming to 2 degrees C

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