An unexpected pleasure!

Last week I enjoyed an wonderful meal that was most unexpected. See if you can work out where I was.

I started with a glass of Champagne to settle in. I then enjoyed nice citrus flavours in a white Bordeaux with a tasty and light prawn salad. Main course was a superb 2" cut of Australian Eye Fillet cooked medium rare with a red wine sauce and lightly steamed vegetables so they were still crunchy. To accompany this I chose a glass of RockBare McLaren Vale Shiraz that went down a treat.

I must admit that I was feeling a little full at this stage so I skipped the chocolate desert and decided to finish on a selection of French cheese, including blues and bries, and washed this all down with an Australian aged Port.

After such a meal I did the only thing a decent man would do! I reclined and took a nap.

So did you work out where I was for this little feast?

I was actually enjoying the hospitality of Cathay Pacific at 40,000 feet on my way to Melbourne.

They are making it very hard to complain about airline food.

Dean

facebook fans and likes explained

There have been some changes made to facebook fan pages and they seem to have caused some confusion so I thought I would take a moment to explain them.


FANS are now LIKES so all PEOPLE THAT LIKE but are no longer FANS are PEOPLE THAT LIKE and your FRIENDS that were FANS but are now LIKES are FRIENDS THAT LIKE. FRIENDS THAT LIKE can be PEOPLE THAT LIKE but PEOPLE THAT LIKE are not always FRIENDS THAT LIKE. 
The FRIENDS THAT LIKE are your FRIENDS THAT LIKE and not like other PEOPLES FRIENDS THAT LIKE as they have their own FRIENDS THAT LIKE that may only be your PEOPLE THAT LIKE. 


There - I think that clears it all up!


Dean

Kaneda Opens in Wan Chai

On Tuesday, March 30th, The Kaneda Group held a star studded opening for their new Wan Chai outlet on Johnston Road. This is the 4th outlet for the group and I went along to have a look for myself.

Back in January Saveurs Assistant Sales Manager, Kiki Bhutia, came together with Kaneda Group General Manager, Frankie Leung, to design a Sake and Wine list that would be fitting of a exciting Wan Chai Japanese restaurant. Over the next couple of months they worked hard to fine tune an exciting menu that will compliment all the great Japanese food and the Crepe kitchen. When it was all complete our graphic artist designed the menu layout and it was ready to go.

When I arrived at the Fraser Suite Building I must admit feeling a bit like a rock star with all the people lining the streets hoping to catch a glimpse of the real stars. My name was on the door (phew) and so I made my way up the stair case that was adorned with flowers and well wishes. The entrance area is inviting with a  very attractive bar area and I grabbed a Champagne to keep me company as I walked through.

Again I disappointed the media that had gathered around the stage but I didn't let their moans stop me. The open Sushi kitchen on the left was in full action and it didn't take me long to find the food buffet. After a brief stop to enjoy the delightful selection I decided I should let some of the other guests have some as well (begrudgingly)  and I started my quest to find the Crepes kitchen I had heard about.

Stopping briefly at the bar to grab a Mojo Sauvignon Blanc I braved on through the crowd and found the  Crepes kitchen waiting along with private rooms and a second dining room. Taste test and exploration complete I made my way back to the bar where the endless parade of Hong Kong beauties had begun.

Director of the Kaneda Group, Mr Alan Ho, made me quite jealous as he made the official opening with his close friends Angela Baby, Rosemary and Lynn Xiong (see photos below). Within an hour all the festivities were over and the Models had all gone back to that wonderful place were all beautiful things come from and the rest of us mere mortals are forbidden to tread.

It was time for me to return to the office and get back to work. I departed via the buffet again and left thinking that I will definitely return again soon.

I am sure the Kaneda Group will have another successful venture and we wish them well.
I would also like to apologise to the poor person that took my photo as I left thinking I was someone important!

Dean.

Save Our Industry

Everyone is complaining about oversupply in Australia, the lowest sales in years for Champagne and changing import patterns in the UK. They are holding forums, amassing the greatest minds in the wine industry, paying millions in market analysis and buying weekly flights to China all in a vane attempt to rectify the problem or hopefully find the miracle solution.

Well put away the podium and stick your wallet back in your pocket, I have the solution!!!

Abolish working on weekends!

I KNOW! Brilliant isn't it?

It came to me last night as I declined the offer of a second bottle of wine because "I have to work tomorrow". There must be Billions of people all over the world saying that exact same phrase every Friday night. Now, lets presume that they didn't have to go to work on that Saturday!          WALA!

We could even market it and have special events to celebrate together just like 'Earth Hour'. We could call it "Happy Hour"! (this just keeps getting better)

In a couple of months the over supply problem would be fixed, people would drink Champagne to celebrate and even the English would start drinking French wine again.

I have scheduled a meeting to discuss this with my boss and can't imagine how he could not agree with me. I suggest you should speak to yours about it as well.

Let me know how you get on.

Burgundy, Part 1c: Cote de Nuits

The 3rd installment of Lee Watson's look at Burgundy.

(The rest of Cote de Nuits)

• Nuits-Saint George:

The second largest commune in Cote de Nuits after Gevrey-Chambertin, this commune is large and like Clos de Vougeot in the fact that sometimes people will over charge for wine because the name is famous. There are no Grand Crus now until the Cote de Beaune. The wines here have good depth and finesse with good structure and richness for 1er Cru level. Some of the best 1er Cru’s are on the border with Vosne-Romanee. Half way through the commune is the town Nuits-Saint-George and it splits the vineyards in half the southern vineyards 1er Cru’s all on the slopes. This Commune can produce some good 1er Crus, but as said before get to know the grower as this 1er Cru and villages status can be abused with lazy wine making.

• Premeaux:

This commune is next as you drive down the N74 and leave the last 1er Cru on your right hand side up the slope, all the 1er Cru and villages appellations will be labelled as Nuits-Saint-George and the 1er Cru can be more like the 1er Crus of the north Nuits-Saint-George that borders Vosne-Romanee and they produce a good sturdy and masculine wine. Both these communes produce awesome wines, but you must be aware of the name being taken advantage of.

• Comblanchien / Corgoloin:

From the last 1er Cru of Nuits-Saint-George in Premeaux called Clos de la Marechale you are now entering in to 3km of Village status communes before you go into Cote de Beaune. Like in the north of Cote de Nuits you have Brochon and Fixin; these will all be labelled as Cote de Nuits Villages. Out of the whole Cote de Nuits there are some great Cote de Nuits Village wines which I recommend to only buy depending on the grower you know or have been recommended. Cote de Nuits Village wines are not expensive and deserve a try to introduce your self to Cote de Nuits wines; it will be a simple trial and error situation.

General notes for Cote de Nuits

Each wine will be labelled as either:

• Hautes-Cote-de-Nuits (from all the vineyards outside the commune appellations)
• Cote de Nuits Village (either from Comblanchien, Corgoloin in the south or Brochon and Fixin in the north)
• Under just the name of the commune (i.e. Gevrey-Chambertin)
• 1er Cru, naming the vineyard & Commune(i.e. Gevrey-Chambertin, 1er Cru Clos Saint-Jacques)
• Grand Cru, naming the vineyard & Commune(i.e. Chambertin, Grand Cru)

There is one more appellation its time to mention and that’s Hautes-Cote-de-Nuits, wines with this on the label are from the vineyards all over the cote de Nuits, all around the village vineyards and the 1er Cru vineyards. Land that isn’t considered to be good enough for village level will be under this appellation. There are now over 1,400 Hectares under vine, which 85% is red. Be careful when you buy a white under this appellation, in my mind you’re probably better to buy a white from Cote Chalonnaise or buy a Chardonnay Bourgogne. You can get good reds, but buy from a hot year like 2003, 2005 or even maybe 2009 (yet to be tasted). The white should be ok for a 2007, choose only good vintages for Hautes-Cote-de-Nuits.

Our recommendations:

  Domaine des Perdrix, Nuits-Saint-George, 1er Cru Aux Perdrix,         2005 $660

If you have any comments let us know here.

Next week: Cote de Beaune

Oremus Furmint - Hungary's not so little secret

For those of you that are not in the industry the idea of going to work and tasting wines for an hour seems like the dream job (and it is) but it also performs a couple of very important tasks.

The tastings gives us a chance to check how the wine is performing and to see if it's improving or maybe hitting the end of its life and they also gives us the opportunity to reacquaint ourselves with some of the wines we take for granted. In the tasting we held the other day it was actually the first time I had tried one of our unique Hungarian fine wines.

Ok, granted, Hungary is not the first country that comes to mind when you mention fine wine. The wines they are most renown for are their delightful Tokaji desert wines and it's likely that you have never heard of the Furmint grape.

The wine we were tasting was the 2004 Oremus Furmint Dry Mandolas a variety pioneered by Oremus. Now the first thing that you will notice is a very dark and rich colour that you would normally associate with a desert wine. Don't let this put you off as nothing could be further from the truth.

The nose is full of tropical fruit and rich lychee with a touch of honey hidden at the end. The tropical fruits greet the palate again but this time I found passionfruit, complete with seeds, showing through and the fresh acidity left my mouth clean and refreshed. Being aged in Oak I expected this wine to be a bit heavier but it is definitely a medium weight wine.

I found it very interesting that everyone at the tasting immediately thought of food and in particular Asian food. Don't get me wrong, the wine would be great by itself but we realised how well it would complement the food.

For me I wished for a Thai Papaya Salad with the tang of lime juice and the heat of the chilies and that's exactly what I'll be pairing it with this weekend.

SALES PITCH WARNING: this wine is available in 2003, 2004 and 2005 for only $140. If you are interested in trying it let me know.

Dean

Burgundy, Part 1b: Cote de Nuits (The Grand Cru legends and hangers on)

Here is Part 2 of Lee Watsons look at Burgundy.

  

This is in the heartland of Grand Cru red wine, the heart land of the Cote de Nuits and the heart land of the history of the Cote de Nuits with the Cistercian Monks building the huge wall around the now biggest Grand Cru appellation called Clos de Vougeot. I personally love Clos de Vougeot, as you can pick up some great wines at an affordable price. The Echezeaux also you can pick up some great wines at an affordable price, but some Vosne-Romanee’s can demand a very high price. Let me tell you a little bit about these next 3 appellations that could all fit in the whole of Gevrey-Chambertin together, they are the most famous and some of the most expensive Pinot Noir wines in the world.

  Vougeot:

The famous and controversial Grand Cru in Burgundy ‘Clos de Vougeot’. Its controversial because of the Grand Cru Status, the soil here has a sandy structure and produces a ripe wine that’s plump and lush, but can lack the depth of a Grand Cru at the level of Richbourg, Romanee St. Vivant or Musigny. Traditionally the area was graded on location, lower slopes the poorest quality were Cuvees des Moines (wine for Monks), the middle slopes were Cuvee des Rois (wine for Kings), the top of the slopes produced the best quality and were called Cuvee des Papes (wine for Popes). Choose your wine now though on the grower not the location. Just because it says Clos de Vougeot on the label it cannot always guarantee a Grand Cru fine wine. There are 1er Cru and village wines under Vougeot, but I feel it might be worth sourcing and spending your money on a 1er Cru from either Gevrey-Chambertin or maybe Nuits St George just to name an example.

 Flagey-Echezeaux: (pronounced “ E-shoe-zoo”)

This commune is normally mentioned together with Vosne-Romanee unless it’s under Grand Cru. Flagey has two Grand Crus; Grand Echezeaux (9,ha) and Echezeaux (37,ha) and in size they are similar to Clos de Vougeot (50,ha) and carry the similar status to connoisseurs as a second division Grand Cru. To put the size in to perspective, the top Grand Cru Romanee-Conti is only 1.8 ha. The 1er Cru in Flagey is all labelled as Vosne-Romanee. You can find some great Echezeaux at good value and the Grand Echezeaux will generally be a little higher in price as the wine is generally richer with more intensity of black fruits and some gamey flavours.

  Vosne-Romanee:

When you say the words Romanee-Conti it creates an image of the greatest Pinot Noir in Burgundy, but to some like me, Romanee-Conti means in English “an unobtainable wine”. This whole region can be unobtainable to some even the 1er Crus demand a high price. The region holds 6 of the 24 Grand Crus of Cote de Nuits (Romanee-Conti, La Romanee, La Tache, Richbourg, Romanee-Saint-Vivant, La Grand Rue). Echezeaux Grand Cru still produces more wine than all these Grand Crus together, that’s how small they are from 0.85 ha of La Romanee the smallest appellation Controlee in France to 9.4 ha of Romanee-Saint-Romanee. Vosne-Romanee and Flagey-Echezeaux are a good place to look out for 1er Crus, there are 14 and start on the slope about 500 meters from the main road (RN74). Between the 1er Crus and the main road are all labelled under Vosne-Romanee, which any in my mind are worth looking for.

Our recommendations:

            Jacques Prieur, Clos de Vougeot, Grand Cru,             2004 $1,105

            Jacques Prieur, Clos de Vougeot, Grand Cru,             2006 $1,115

            Jacques Prieur, Echezeaux, Grand Cru,                    2004 $1,785

Jacques Prieur, Echezeaux, Grand Cru,                    2006 $1,820