I was excited to re-try the Tasmanian wines I had lugged back. DGS was a cozy affair – about a dozen people, just enough to squeeze around the dining table. For food, we prepared cheese and chocolate fondue, along with chicken and steak, tons of fruits, bread, and mum-made walnut brownies. Very nice (and affordable) spread, if I say so myself.

We kicked off the evening with the bright and refreshing Riesling from Stefano Lubiana, the Stefano Lubiana Alfresco Riesling 2008. Everyone really enjoyed the slight tinge of sweetness and the fizz on their tongues. Wonderful way to get the taste buds alive.

We opened the Bay of Fires Chardonnay 2008 next. In comparison to the Riesling, this was heavy, but with enough acidity to make it lively and not dumb. Now this is a nicely balanced Chardonnay – just a touch of butter and lemon.

We moved on to the Moorilla Estate Praxis Pinot Noir 2008 from Hobart next. Now this one had a lovely nose – fruity, with some earth, just the way I like my Pinots. It had a nice solid body too, though still smooth.

Our next wine, the Pipers Brook Tamar 2004, elicited mixed responses. Everyone fervently agreed that it did smell like ketchup, but some, like RX, was not a fan. Where’s the fries, she asked.

We then went back to Stefano Lubiana, for the Stefano Lubiana Merlot 2006. Now, I remember that it wasn’t my favorite wine from the trip; we just felt like we had to buy at least two bottles from that winery, since we were getting Lubiana to help us ship a case of wine back to Singapore. Nonetheless, it was a solid wine, and RX expressed her enthusiasm for it.

At this point, people were starting to flag a little from the hearty food and wine. So I broke out the Delamere Blanc de Blanc 2004, a beautifully made sparkling that had just the right touch of yeast, bubbles, and sweetness. Loved it!

We sat around chatting and laughing for a while more, about all things irreverent, and then I decided to open another bottle, the Frogmore Creek Ruby Pinot Noir Port NV. I loved this port. The Frogmore Creek tasting was our last winery tasting, and I had resolved not to buy any more. However, the port was so delicious I couldn’t help it. So it was a delight to drink it again, and a bonus when RX decided she had had enough and gave me the rest of her glass.

Fun times, great wines. I didn’t check, but I do hope that everyone went away with similarly favorable impressions of Tasmanian wines.

Palex and Tanya organized an M-themed DGS at my place last night. We didn’t quite get the theme, given that one of the hosts, Tanya, forgot to wear a themed shirt. Haha. But we did have quite a few M-named bottles of wine, Marinated chicken wings, Melon, pasta Marina, and we played the Moon game.

The wine list for the evening were, in order:
(1) 2007 Brown Brothers Moscato: simple, sweet – maybe a little too sweet

(2) 2005 Mischief & Mayhem Chablis: think would be better as a food drink. Perhaps something creamy. Wasn’t a huge fan; found the finish a little too minerally, slightly bitter? Janice and Paul said it reminded them of sparkling water, tonic.

(3) 2007 Lawson’s Dry Hill Malborough Gewürztraminer: It was on sale at Denise for $30. What a steal; need to lay my hands on it. Paul loved it too; in fact everyone loved it. How can one not like the incredible nose of lychee and rose petals. I wish I could wear it as a perfume.

(4) 2002 Meursault Vieilles Vignes: Second favorite white of the evening. Beautiful citrus, bright and lively to drink. Some nuttiness in the back.

(5) 2004 Bourgogne Hautes Cotes de Nuits: I didn’t finish my glass. Wasn’t impressed by the nose, which was metallic. And the body was weak. Kind of a lame wine. I totally miss that De Bortoli Pinot Noir 2007 from Yarra Valley I had last week. Now, that was good pinot.

(6) 2006 Two Hands Gnarly Dudes Shiraz: I’ve had this one before, a couple times. Two Hands makes fun wines (and after last night, somehow associated with sea cucumbers). This one was good. Nice and deep color, lots of fruit. Also makes a good standalone drink.

(7) 2006 Two-Hands Lily’s Garden Shiraz: beautiful – intense color, nose, amazing fruit, concentrated raisins, and super smooth. Favorite wine of the evening. Excellent to drink alone.

(8) 2008 Villa M D’uva Rosso: Fun to cap off the selection of wines with two fun and light dessert wines. The Villa M series.

(9) 2008 Villa M D’uva Blanco

The 51 items that we said we’ll bring to the Moon were: Hot Dog, Refrigerator, Magnet, Moscato, Glass, Trap, Compass, Camera, Iguana, Slippers, Pontianak, Garlic, Whip, Orchid, Aircon Remote Controller, Chandelier, Handcuffs, French Maid Costume, Duckling, Staircase, Bunny Ears , Disposible Underwear, Charcoal Pills, Bunny Tail, Nose Ring, Mushroom, Koi, Luohan Fish, Tau Sar Pau, Harns Handphone, Headless Chicken, Cryogenic Chamber, Chaw Siew Pau, Diamond Ring, Microwave Oven, Avocado Pill, Blindfold, Kinky Batteries, Wasabi, Macho Man, Chao Ah Lian, Viagra, Solar Cell, Brownies, Candle, Chao Ah Beng, Monsoon, Screams of Joy, Handpump, Massage Chair, and Painted Toenails

DGS Singapore held another tasting this past Sunday. Fabian and Zhongxi hosted the event at my place, and they had a spread of beef stew, pasta, BBQ ribs, roast chicken etc.

All but one of the seven wines they had sourced from their separate trips to Margaret River and Yarra Valley in Australia. Their aim of the tasting was to try wines from the lesser known regions of Australia, since most of the Australian wines that I’ve seen in Chicago and Singapore are sourced from Barossa Valley (or at least, the ones on my radar screen).

For more information on the various wine regions of Australia, Australia Wine Region Map is a pretty nifty site that even maps out the various vineyards in the different regions – super useful for planning a road trip to Australia (yes, there could be one in the works)!

By an odd coincidence, we ended up with 5 whites and only 2 reds. Not that anyone was really complaining; it was still a very fun evening of easy conversation and laughter (not bad for a group of random folks most of whom met one another for the first time).

The wines we had (in sequence) were:

Pitchfork Sémillion Sauvignon Blanc 08 (Margaret River) – We didn’t have this chilled enough, but the wine was still nice and refreshing, with the grassy notes of the SB, softened by the Semillion
De Beaurepaire Captain Starlight Sémillion Sauvignon Blanc 06 (Mudgee) – With a 90% Semillion blend, you could definitely taste the sweetness; the crispness of the SB doesn’t quite cut through. Personally, I would rather the Pitchfork
Domain Chandon Barrel Selection Chardonnay 06 (Yarra Valley)
Green Point Cellar Door Viognier 07 (Yarra Valley) – Not my favorite example of the viognier. The nose was muted, and it wasn’t lively enough. The Viognier from Virginia that I had at last weekend’s DGS Chicago was much, much tastier.
Leeuwin Estate Prelude Vineyards Chardonnay 07 (Margaret River) – Nice and bright, with notes of pineapples and pears
Rochford Reserve Shiraz (Yarra Valley) – My favorite wine of the evening, this Shiraz is blended with a touch of viognier. Loved the nose.
Clairault Cabernet Sauvignon 05 (Margaret River)

I’ve really missed American wines, as well as my all-time favorite Sam’s Wines. Consequently, I was like a kid in a candy shop when Jeff and I went back to Sam’s last Friday to shop for a case of wines for our American Winolympics Tasting.

And it’s super gratifying too, when the wine store clerk is even more enthusiastic than you in recommending wines for your tasting. I love this guy – I always go look for him whenever I go into the store because I know he’ll have some fun stuff lined up. It’s not to say that every one of the wines he recommends is a winner – because we’ve had some where we were like, hmmmm – but his excitement is quite contagious.

Early bird special: Chloe Jeremy Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, 2006 – found this to be super concentrated and dark, with seemingly many layers that has yet to be revealed; would probably be good for a few more years yet. Velvety and spicy on the tongue.

From Chicago Spring 2009
Whites

#1 Gruet Blanc de Noirs Brut, New Mexico, NV
This was Aaron’s favorite white; who knew New Mexico makes such excellent sparkling wines???

#2 Pacific Rim Chenin Blanc, Columbia Valley, 2007
Bonny Doon of Santa Cruz makes some decent cheap Chenin Blanc!

#3 Hickory Creek Chardonnay Unoaked, Michigan, 2007
This was an excellent example of an unoaked Chardonnay. Most people correctly guessed that it was an unoaked Chardonnay, but everyone was surprised that it was from Michigan!

#4 Barboursville Vineyards Viognier, Virginia, 2007
I couldn’t for the life of me guess that this was a Viognier; I thought it was either a chardonnay (at first, for the heaviness) or a sauvignon blanc (for the grassy notes). Another wonderful surprise, from Virginia!

#5 River’s Edge Pinot Gris, Umpqua Valley, 2007

Reds
#1 Donata Family Sorelle Per Sempre, Central Coast, 2005

#2 Chateau Montalena Zinfandel, Napa Valley, 2005
Montalena is famous for its Cabernets (thanks to 1976), but this Zin showed quite well too

#3 Benessere “Costa del Sol”, Napa Valley, 2005
Napa gone wrong; this was acidic, tannic, and closed. Everyone guessed that it was either a Michigan or Illinois wine

#4 Lieb Family Cabernet Franc Bridge Lane, Long Island, NV

#5 Owl Creek Owl’s Leap, Illinois, NV
This was from Southern Illinois, and honestly quite tasty!

Live blogging from our DGS sparkling wine tasting [hehe, the couple in the background is our first Singapore DGS couple. Woot woot!]. First up: Dog Leg from South Australia. Small bubbles, nice fizz on tongue, but a little too sweet for my liking. Yujuan is giving us the lowdown of the four different methods to make sparklig wines.

We move to Spain next, and our bottle of the night is the popular Freixenet Brut Cava. Cava, by the way, is Spanish for caves. The wine is made the French method, though the bubbles are bigger than the Aussie. Very different nose. More rounded and nutty? I prefer this I think.

Third bottle: Adriano Adami dei Casel Prosecco. Fav so far!!! Nice and citrusy, bright green apples. Mmmm.

The fourth bottle is also from the same Adriano Adami vineyard, another prosecco but this is a 2007 vintage. Notes of sour apples, but it’s more restrained.

We move on to champagne: Le Drappier. People ate commenting that it is a much more complex wine. Not as fruit forward; very yeasty!!!! Interesting weight.

Last white wine of the evening: Pol Roger Champagne. Some of that yeasty nose, but much lighter and more floral on the finish. I think I would prefer the Drappier as it seems more exciting.

Last unique wine of the evening (we had a few repeat bottles) was a sparkling shiraz.

Hey Winos,

For those that missed last night’s “Wines from Asia” event, the final opinions on Asia’s wines were very mixed, to say the least! The one thing we had consensus on is that we wouldn’t mind waiting a while for the next time we feature Asian wines.

Looking forward, let’s keep the theme of new themes. I threw out a couple new ideas below. Please share yours!

1. Classic Cocktails – Steve will take us on this interesting tangent sometime in March or April. More details to come from Steve…

2. Viognier – I don’t think we’ve explored this unique white varietal in depth and I think it’s among the most interesting yet least-hyped whites. I recently had a French Condrieu and a Napa Viongier and, as expected, they were vastly different. Let’s check out how they differ around the globe and hopefully convert some into Viongnier freaks like me.

3. Wino-lympics – Let’s have wines from around the world represent their home countries and compete in brackets based on our collective ratings on areas like taste, nose, structure and complexity. We’ll do a few things to keep the playing field level: keep it under $15/bottle, seperate out red from white and keep the judging blind (good idea, Zhen).

As a side idea to (3), Peishan’s back in the States in March/April and wants to enjoy a DGS while in town. She’s missed the variety of great American wines we take for granted here. In major league baseball form, we could have a “World Series” of American wines in the same format as the Wino-lympics.

Cheers,
Aaron

So Janice and I might not have been the smartest when it came to picking a theme for the DGS – we could have made our lives a lot easier had we stuck with say, Shiraz, instead of Zinfandel. But on the whole, I have to say I was pretty pleased with our selection. And everyone definitely had enough to drink, for we had hot buttered rum to kick the evening off and capped it with some spiced wine. Ah, the hot buttered rum was nice and buttery in its sinful goodness, and made me all nostalgic for the Duke of Perth. It was only this time last year that I was sitting in there with Peiyun, downing such a mug and trying to keep warm. Good times… Aye.

But I think the Zinfandel Christmas theme went really well, no thanks to Janice and her delicious roast potatoes and carrots, and the turkey, stuffing, ham, and crispy pork that we ordered from Cold Storage. We also made some tiramisu to round off the evening with; mmm. If I say so myself.

Wine-wise, the Beringer turned out to be a hit! I quite liked it myself, for the subtle sweetness and delightfully light and playful bouquet it gave off. The Marr, a $74 bottle of Old Vine Zinfandel from Mendocino County, was a bit of a disappointment though. But the favorites of the night was the Irvine from Barossa Valley, The Curse which really softened out after a while but remained nice and spicy, and The Outpost from Howell Mountain.

Having grown used to the bountiful selection of Zinfandels in the US, Janice and I were disappointed to find the striking scarcity of Zinfandel here in Singapore. A search of SEVEN, and I repeat, SEVEN wine stores turned up just six bottles of Zin. Most of the stores had just one label in stock, while a couple had two, and on average, the bottles cost around $70. Not cheap.

Perplexed at the paucity, I asked a sales clerk in one of the stores, who explained that Zinfandel hasn’t quite caught on with the local palate. To top it off, most stores stock very few labels from the US anyway, and the if they do, these are invariably the Cabernet Sauvignons. Which is a pity, because I’ve grown to become quite fond of Zinfandel over the years. When I started out drinking, I hated the metallic tinge that seemed to be associated with it, but then that was because I was mainly swilling down the likes of Yellow Tail, Beringer, and Sutter Homes. I think Mike first opened my eyes to good Zinfandel, when he brought a bottle of Burford and Brown Zinfandel 2003 to Wendy and my new year’s party three years ago (wow).

In the end, we did manage to scrounge up the number of bottles we needed, though we quite extended our budget in the process. Oh well. These wines better be exciting! We did include a bottle of Beringer White Zinfandel, which Janice thought might be fun to try, and hey, it was the cheapest bottle we got!

The wines:
1. Beringer White Zinfandel 2007
2. Collage (a Kendall-Jackson brand) Zinfandel-Shiraz 2004
3. Marr Old Vine Zinfandel Mendocino County 2005 (I’m keeping my fingers crossed on this one; it was one of the few old vines we could find. We found the other, a St. Francis Zin selling for $70 after a 30% discount, only after we’d already bought the Mendocino one)
4. Outpost Howell Mountain Zinfandel 2004 (I’ve read good things about Outpost, and Wine Spectator has pretty rave reviews of this wine, so I’m quite excited about this)
5. The Curse, Tscharke, Zinfandel, Barossa 2006 (Which seems to have garnered strong reviews from RP as well… neat)
6. Irvine Zinfandel, Barossa 2005

Heh, someone (too lazy to hunt down the source) offered a rather brilliant piece investment advice for these trying times:

If you had purchased $1,000 of Delta Air Lines stock one year ago, you
would have $49 left.

With Fannie Mae, you would have $2.50 left of the original $1,000.

With AIG, you would have less than $15 left.

But, if you had purchased $1,000 worth of beer one year ago, drunk all
of the beer, then turned in the cans for the aluminum recycling REFUND,
you would have $214 cash.

Based on the above, the best current investment advice is to drink
heavily and recycle

DGS Singapore Italian Wines

From DGS

It was a good strong event, with over twenty people in attendance, and 11 bottles of wine, as well as a whole array of food. Looking forward to the next DGS event, at Andy’s!

1. Ruffino Orvieto Classico 2007 (S$30)

Eh, this turned out to be the best amongst all the whites… I didn’t taste the honey notes in the finish, but I did sort of taste some pineapple when I paired it with a slice of fried fish cake. Everyone else was convinced I was making things up in my head as usual though. Hehe.

Orvieto is named after one of the Umbrian cities in Italy, which used to be an important medieval hill city during the late Middle Ages and Renaissance. It is a lightly sweet wine, often concentrated by some noble rot. It’s a blend of various different grapes, with a main base of Trebbiano Toascano.

I first came across this grape by accident in an Italian pizza place in Chicago, in May 2008, and was very taken with the burst of flavors in the mouth near the finish.

2. Fronde Moscato d’Asti Fontanafredda 2007 (S$30)

We actually started off the event with this bottle. It was a little too sweet for my – well, quite a few of our liking, but perhaps it wasn’t cold enough like Andy suggested…

Tanya specifically requested some Moscato d’Asti in her RSVP, and I’d already thought to pick up a couple bottles when I headed to the wine store. I was surprised though, that the first two wine places I went to didn’t carry it at all, and I only managed to pick up a lone bottle today. I still remember my first taste of this – in a sunny piazza in Turino, the capital city of Piedmont, the region where the Moscato d’Asti hails from (Asti being the name of the town where the Moscato is made). That was the single bottle that I carted back to Chicago with me, and which I subsequently shared with friends back there. It’s a hugely popular wine at parties, being fizzy, sweet, and light in alcohol; a perfect starter wine for beginning wine lovers too.

3. Villa Girardi Soave Classico 20055 (S$40)

I first tasted Soave in Venice, Italy, the region where the wine can be found. But I mostly forgot about this wine, until last December, when Peiyun came to visit. I brought her to the Italian restaurant below my apartment, and complemented our tasty pasta dishes with a bottle of Soave. She raved about it so much that we opened up another bottle later on in her stay.

Eh, I was quite disappointed with this actually – found the wine a little too harsh, and hot, even though it was only 12%. Where was that gentleness that the wine promised???

4. Leonardo da Vinci Chianti 2005 (S$35)

Andy’s a little, well actually, very, biased against non-French wines, and wines with cutesy labels on them. So he predictably turned up his nose at this one. Hehe, to be honest, I was a little inclined to agree with him. Good wines tend to take themselves a tad more seriously. However, once it had a chance to air out a bit more, the wine softened a little more. I’d be tempted to buy this one as a day-to-day wine, for its price.

5. Poggio alle Sughere Morellino di Scansano 2005 (S$40)

It seemed, in this tasting, that the quality was proportional to the price. Most people liked this one a lot better than the previous one, for they found it heavier, and more fuller bodied. A couple though, begged to differ, for they didn’t quite like the pungent aroma of the wine.

Found in Tuscany, this wine is a blend of Sangiovese (90%) and Cabernet Sauvignon (10%).

6. Villa Girardi Bure Alto Ripasso Valpolicella Classico Superiore 2001 (S$53)

I liked this one. It was a lot smoother than the previous wines, though it still didn’t taste as full bodied as I liked. Is it a sign that I like the fruitier wines??!

Also from the Veneto region of Italy, the name Valpolicella is derived from Greek and Latin and means “the valley of many cellars.” What an awesome name.

7. La Matta Barbera d’Alba Giommi Gagliardo 2004 (S$56)

Aaah, Barbera, this was a good wine.

On that same trip to Turino, I fell in love with wine. The lover, a bottle of Barbera d’Alba we had over dinner – of fish, if I recall correctly. I was so infatuated that my glass of water sat completely untouched throughout the meal. Of course, since then, that’s been mostly the case, but that bottle convinced me to make a pilgrimage to Alba (which I did, and the truffle festival blew me away, but that’s another story).

8. Serre Barolo Giamni Gagliardo 2003 (S$93)

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, I’m not sure if I would pay $93 to drink it on its own. To be sure, this was a better wine than the rest – softer and smoother, but it wasn’t that memorable. Nonetheless, it was a good wine to cap the evening with.

Hands down, Piedmont is my favorite wine region in Italy, and it’s not difficult to see why from this wine list. Barolo is also found in the Piedmont area, but it’s a rare treat because it’s so much more expensive. Made of the Niebbolo, this is a wine that is not meant to be drank young. Also, Janice’s wine request for the evening.

*Source: Jancis Robinson’s The Oxford Companion to Wine

All in all, I think a good selection of wine, although I was a little disappointed we couldn’t explore the Sicilian region a little more. It would have also been fun if I could find a bottle of kerner, and amarone to round off the evening… Any one knows of a bigger wine retailer in the city?al