rendez-vous du jeudi

apologies are in order for the lack of updates recently. it's been an intense few weeks, jam packed full of media attention for the Wine Gallery, tastings, interviews etc.

last Thursday also saw the first in our series of "rendez-vous du jeudi". once a month, our most loyal supporters are invited to a special evening tasting with a winemaker/owner of a prestigious chateau. places are strictly limited to preserve the intimacy of the evening and give our guests the rare opportunity to get to know the winemakers, ask questions and taste their magical wines.

Fabien Teitgen, directeur technique at Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte was the first to step into the limelight and treated us to a delicious tasting, including the unquestionnable hightlight of the evening - the Smith Haut Lafitte Rouge 2000 that had been decanted for two hours prior to serving (http://www.smith-haut-lafitte.com/docs/fr/fiches/Smith-Haut-Lafitte_Fiche-Technique-Rouge-2000.pdf)

Fabien was a great hit - so much so, that the evening ended much later than planned !

http://www.smith-haut-lafitte.com/

the woman had style ...

there's a great new article on www.decanter.com about Josephine's love affair with Bordeaux. http://www.decanter.com/news/292017.html

a unique tasting in Bordeaux

Last week, I received a hugely enthusiastic message from Stanislas and Lorraine who had just completely the "tasting of a lifetime" in our Bordeaux Wine Gallery, however, it was only after reading Jane Anson's blog update that I fully realised just what fun they'd had. http://www.newbordeaux.com/documents/137.html

The aim of the tasting was to check that the Enomatic machines really do conserve the wines for a full three weeks as they claim to, so it was officially "real work". However, their experience just goes to show that no matter how long you've been in the wine trade, there are still magical moments that quite simply take your breath away.

Thank you for your extensive feedback and tasting notes, Jane. It sounds as though this was a hugely useful exercise. It is absolutely vital for us to keep on top of all of the wines to ensure that all 48 wines are presented in absolute tip top condition.

Thanks guys for your hard work !

last day in Hong Kong

So as my gastronomic tour of Asia continues (and my waistline expands), I thought I’d check out another famous French chef who’s set up a second home in HK – Pierre Gagnaire. His restaurant “Pierre” has been poetically described as a combination of “Parisian emotion with Eastern energy”. By happy coincidence, it is also located in the Mandarin Oriental Hotel which is where I had to go anyway for the Zachy’s auction later today. When I got there, the auction was already in full swing, but I had to eat frist as its been at least 12 hours since my last epicurean adventure !!

Gagnaire is a wizard of innovative French gastronomy. His astonishingly intricate and elaborate dishes are often described as “Modern French”, yet his style seems firmly rooted in traditional French cuisine - the result is exquisitely presented, totally original dishes. As I sat flicking through the auction catalogue, I noticed that Zachy’s were offering some “ex chateau” lots of Palmer, so to get myself in the mood, I ordered a bottle of Alter Ego 2004 to go with my “Express Lunch” of Spinach salad with Parma Ham and then some delicious Sea Bass. I love the lunch menus in these great restaurants, as they’re very often fantastic value for money, just like the Pressoir d’Argent in Bordeaux that people presume will be astronomically expensive, but is actually only 34€ ! Anyway, I digress, back to HK. The wine was fanatastic, fresh, well-stored and just how it should be ... I’m now all fired up for the auction !

Serena Sutcliffe MW, the “grande dame” of the wine auction world, said earlier this month that HK has become Sotheby’s most important wine centre, ahead of New York and London. As there were no Sotheby’s or Christies’ auctions on this weekend, I went to see what the Amercian auction house, Zachy’s, had on offer. The majority was, predictably, focused on American wines, however, they did have some rare lots of Chateau Palmer sourced from both the cellars of Mähler-Besse (co-owners of Chateau Palmer with the Sichel family) and from the Chateau itself. This has been the 10th or 12th wine auction over the last twelve months, and I was pleased to see the Palmer being sold at, or just above the high estimate. Interestingly, the bidding on the other wines was a little more inconsistent and funnily enough, one of the lots with the highest number of bidders was for a Haut Brion Blanc from an American collector. A white first growth – there aren’t many of those around.

After all of the excitement, it was time for a little retail therapy - a) to help the soul, but also b) to check out what's going on in the world of retail and work out how to expand the Wine Gallery concept.

The day ended with .. yep, more food ... this time, a fabulous Peking Duck with two very dear friends – Brenda and Weber. The happy ‘husband and wife to be’ actually came to visit me in Bordeaux earlier this year on their pre-honeymoon (see the photo of them hugging a bottle). How cool is it to have a pre and a post honeymoon ? We went to the Chinese restaurant in the American Club and Weber, like a true wine lover, brought along two magical bottles : Haut Brion 1994 and L’Evangile 1993 which were both truly, truly stunning. I wonder if he brought them all the way back from Bordeaux ?

I already can’t wait to come back and I haven’t left yet !

www.mandarinoriental.com/hongkong/dining/restaurants/pierre/
www.zachys.com/auctions/Default.aspx

Hong Kong is seriously wine crazy

Holy cow, this city has become totally wine crazy over the last few years! Wine auctions, wine festivals, winefairs, food & wine festivals, wine promotions on every corner!

Hong Kong has recently become the second Asian city (after Tokyo) to have its own Michelin guide. They've even decalred 2009 to be “The Hong Kong Food and Wine Year”! (www.discoverhongkong.com/hkfoodandwineyear/eng/index.jsp)

Check this out (its insane) ...
Total number of restaurants : 169
One star(14)
Two stars(7)
Three stars(1)

On my quest to find exciting wine retailers, I stopped off at Watson’s Wine Cellar & Wine Bar in Central (the heart of the financial district) who offer 12 wines by the glass from the same sexy Enomatic machines that we have in our Bordeaux Wine Gallery (but we have 48 wines !!).

Watson’s, which is probably the largest wine importer in Hong Kong , has 15 outlets + a successful online shop. Their Wine Bar concept is new and out of the twelve wines, three were from Bordeaux: Chateau Montrose (St. Estephe) 1996, Chateau Prieure Lichine (Margaux) 2003 and Chateau Canon la Gaffeliere (St. Emilon) 2002

The rest of the wines cames from the « rest of the world », which means a pretty tight selection, so this immediately got my head spinning about what would happen if we offered 48 top Bordeaux by the glass as we do at home.

Standing by the machines, armed with her notebook at tasting card, is Lillian Chan – a young and inquisitive banker who had actually just come from the gym and was stopping in to Watson’s on the way home to practice wine tasting. That’s what I call a means to an end !

Anyway, Lillian and I got chatting and I asked if she’d tasted the Montrose 1996 (another favourite of mine). It turned into a really fun evening as we offered each other wines from our cards and talked about how amazing it is to be able to taste wines by the glass and learn about them before paying the big bucks for a whole bottle. Like so many people in HK now, Lillian is totally hooked on wine and even wants to start a tasting club with her colleagues. I love this dynamism.

After a long day trawling the streets of HK (it’s a hard job, I know), I finally found what I was looking for - the “Tastings Wine Bar” – which was, quite frankly, a bit of a miracle. Who says that location is everything – this is literally heaven at the end of a dodgy, dark alley ! "Tastings" has 160 wines from around the world, 40 of which are served by the glass using Enomatic machines. Suddenly I realised that there are even more wine freak visionaries out there than I originally thought.

Five of the wines by the glass were Bordeaux : Chateau Haut Brion (Pessac Leognan) 1999, Chateau Cos d’Estournel (St. Estephe) 1999, Chateau Lascombes (Margaux) 2004, Chateau Lafon Rochet (St. Estephe) 1994 and Chateau Potensac (Haut-Medoc) 1996.

We started chatting with a group of twentysomethings who regularly meet up for a girl’s night out that starts with a glass of Champagne and a food platter and the finishes with fabulous Bordeaux. Its all very “Sex in the City” and I’m even more convinced than ever that we could be successful out here.
http://www.tastings.hk/

back in Hong Kong ...

It’s so good to be “home”!

From the moment you land and see the gigantic apartment buildings surrounding the airport there is no doubt as to where you are. This city just never stops surprising me, but besides gorging myself on Dim Sum and catching up with friends and my mother’s family, I’m also here to see what’s happened to the wine scene since the tax changes.

Wine is booming here since the government abolished tax on alcohol early last year which has brought prices down by a massive 20%. Imports of wine into this wealthy city of 6.9 million people have soared by 78 per cent! Can you imagine ?

I’ve heard that as many as 300 new wine companies have been set up over the last year and I’m here to see whether a small Max Wine Gallery could work in such an overcrowded market.

But there’s another thing that’s amazing in Hong Kong and that’s the food ! The IFC shopping and financial complex (movie lovers will have seen Batman jumping out of this building in The Dark Knight) houses two of Hong Kongs swankiest restaurants : Caprice (**) and Lung King Heen (Hong Kong’s only *** restaurant). You’ll have worked out by now that I’m a bit of a foodie, but I’ve still got a fair way to go before dining in these temples. But I can look at the wine lists and menus for free !

Instead, I went to the slightly more reasonable L’Atelier de Robuchon at the Landmark. I love to sit in these fantastic places and sample all the tasty stuff that great chefs have created. Sadly, I just missed being cooked for by the master himself - Joel Robuchon - who was here last week training staff.

My old friend Liza was in charge of dinner tonight and treated me to a Chateau Leoville Lascases 1996 – one of my all time favourite wines. Sadly, it was an unbelievably huge disappointment – flat, dead, more like a 1988 than a vibrant 1996. It is so disappointing when this happens. The sommelier shyly admitted that the wine had actually been bought in the States so they weren’t really sure of its past life !! Incredibly annoying.

We ended the evening slightly disappointed but happy all the same with our amazing meal (and scrummy 1999 Bruno Paillard champagne). After talking to Liza, I’m sure that there is space for a Wine Gallery here, but can afford Hong Kong rent !? Time to dream ...

http://www.fourseasons.com/hongkong/dining.html
http://www.fourseasons.com/hongkong/dining/lung_king_heen.html
http://www.robuchon.hk/

great wine capitals

http://www.greatwinecapitals.com/?1&it=blog&LG=1 we're looking forward to seeing you at Max ...

second weekend at the Wine Gallery

Meanwhile "back at the ranch" ... it looks as though news has spread quickly, as we had a very busy second saturday, including a private tasting. Its also really interesting to see which wines people go for - but more on that much later when we have enough data to go through.

We're convinced that the Wine Gallery is going to be a very popular hiding place during the cold, overcrowded weekends of Christmas shopping. Don't get angry and frustrated, gentlemen, come and see us for a deliciously calming glass of wine (or two) !

It also looks as though our timing is pretty spot on. Wine educator, blogger and overall fantastic person, Wendy Narby, has just come back from a trip to India where Enomatic machines are fast becoming "de rigeur" in all of the best hotels, bars and restaurants. And guess what she found out when she got home, that Bordeaux now has six Enomatic machines under the same roof !

We couldn't have timed it better if we'd tried ... http://www.insidertasting.com/blog/

goodbye Taipei

It’s been a busy few days filled with late nights, early mornings and little time for updates !

I met up with Bryan again on Friday evening, but this time with all of his banking colleagues ! We shared another two great wines - Bahans Haut Brion 2000 and Pavillon Rouge du Chateau Margaux 2003.

Grace (see picture) and Bryan’s other colleagues really enjoyed these wines – luckily I’d brought two bottles of each. We also had a really interesting discussion on wine storage/transportation and how they are offer disappointed by some of the wines that they taste. When you think about all the variables involved with wine tasting/drinking, I really do think that it’s inexcusable for the quality to be affected due to careless shipping. This makes me realise how lucky we are to have the Bordeaux Winebank behind us – they’re one of the biggest ex chateau suppliers and store all their wines in Bordeaux until needed. Yet another reason why a Wine Gallery could work here, as all of our wines would be in tip top condition.

Anyway, back to dinner. Both wines were stunning and we enjoyed them over dinner at a small “Parisien Bistro” called LE BISTRO DE L’OLIVIER (www.maggie.com.tw). People are just crazy for classical French food and wines out here. It was a great meal and a good change for me, as I know that there’ll be plenty of yummy Chinese food in the days to come!

Yesterday (Saturday) was my last day in Taipei and it started out with an incredible tasting experience of coffee, rather than wine. Seriously, I tasted “First Growth” coffee presented by international coffee judge Mr. Izuru Mikami, who is married to Sherry - one of Bryan’s colleagues – which just goes to show how far a network can take you :)

Haaya Gourmet Coffee (www.haaya.com.tw) is the coffee shop owned by Mikami and Sherry, and the menu doesn’t just give information on the country and region, it even gives the name of the coffee farm and the variety of the Arabica beans!

Mikami showed us in detail how selective he is when choosing coffees (see photo) which shows coffees being handpicked and sorted just like in Bordeaux ! He let us taste five outstanding examples - the last two even come from special coffee auctions where only the best beans can be found. Its a whole new world !

· Guatemala - Genuine Antigua "Finca Santa Catalina" Bourbon 0809
· Indonesia Sumatra Lington "LCF Platinum Mandheling" 0809
· Ethiopia - Wild Yirgacheffe Natural Beloya 0708 Wild Species
· Panama - Horqueta "Don Julian" Pacamala Auction Lot 0809
· Panama - Volca "Carmen Estate" Caturra Auction Lot 0809

I want to say a huge thank you to Bryan and his fun banker friends (I wish bankers in France were as cool as this) and also to Mikami and Sherry for giving us such an incredible coffee tasting experience!

I’m heading for Hong Kong now and will report back in a few days!