Here is a treat: Debra Meiburg MW is giving Hong Kong wine lovers a 1-hour talk on how to develop your tongue to recognize wine quality, acidity, sweetness, tannis and alcohol as part of this week’s Restaurant & Bar 2010 expo at the HKCEC.

Sign up here and we’ll see you tomorrow.

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At the Wine & Gourmet Fair held last week at The Venetian Macau, we caught up with David Wong, the Founder and Secretary General of the Macau Culinary Association, to ask him to pick his favorite wine bars in Macau.

His top picks of the best places to drink wine in Macau are:

1. Robuchon a Galera at Hotel Lisboa
For one of the best wine list in Asia. The 3 Michelin star restaurant has a collection of over 5,600 labels and is one of the first establishment in China to be awarded the ‘Grand Award” for having the best wine list in the world by Wine Spectator.

• Address:  3/F Lisboa Hotel, 2-4 Avenida de Lisboa, Macau
• Tel: (853) 2888 3888

2. Macau Soul
For their extensive variety, beyond a wide range of quality Portuguese wine at awesome value. Owners David and Jacky Higgins started this wine lounge in Macau to serves great wine and fresh and simple food that compliments the wine.

• Address: 31A Rua de Sao.Paulo, Macau.
• Tel: (853) 2836 5182

3. MGM Macau
For their great variety and impressive wine list. Restaurants at MGM include Aux Beaux Arts, Rossio and Russian Room.

• Address: Avenida Dr.Sun Yat Sen, NAPE, Macau.
• Tel: (853) 8802 3888

David Wong’s credentials and knowledge about wine and food is extensive.

He has worked with David Evans, the Vice-Chairman of the World Master Chef Association, Jean Bordier, Master Chefs of France and the legendary Anton Mosimann at his 2 Michelin star restaurant, “Le Manoir aux Quat Saisons”.  David is presently the head of Food & Beverage department at the Institute of Tourism studies (IFT),  a certified tutor for WSET and the Honorary Advisor for the newly set-up Association of Bartenders & Sommeliers in Macau.  David will be one of the judges at the Hong Kong Wine and Spirits Competition at the Hong Kong Wine and Spirits Fair which starts today.

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A nice bottle of bubbly is the ultimate way to begin Whenever there’s a celebration, we bring out the bubbly and share it with our guests. Champagne has become a favourite  choice when it comes to celebrating. However, it does take some finesse to uncork and pour champagne. Winemaker for Veuve Clicquot, Mr. Francois Hautekeur was here in Hong Kong yesterday. We caught up with him as he, along with celebrity model Ms. Amanda Strang, demonstrated for us the proper way to serve champagne.

First, chill the champagne:  Get an ice bucket and fill  half of the bucket with water and the other half with ice cubes. Let the bottle sit for 20 minutes. The perfect temperature to enjoy champagne is at  7°C.

To uncork: Opposite to what we see on TV, there should not be a “pop” as we uncork the bottle, “we want to do it as elegantly as possible,” explained Mr. Hautekeur – who consider the popping of champagne to be “vulgur”.  You should have your thumb placed on top of the cork while your other hand has its palm stabilizing the bottle at its base. Slightly tilt the bottle until you can feel that there’s enough pressure on the cork for you to gently tear it off at the tip. This way your champagne won’t foam up out of the bottle and all over your floor (or injure your guests).

To pour: Hold the bottle by its base. Pour without making contact with the side of the glasses. Pour only two fingers’ worth and wait for it to settle. When it stops foaming, fill the glass to about two-thirds of the way.

To enjoy: Appreciate the color of the champagne, the smell and taste. Pay particular attention to the smell as it is an important part of enjoying your champagne, it directly related to the taste of of of the champagne.

You’re all set now to show off your champagne pouring skills at your next celebration.

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Gary Vaynerchuk’s Wine Library podcast is a web-only video show that is all about wine. If you are into wine and have a computer, it would be a shame if you aren’t already tuning into the dynamic Mr. Vaynerchuk and marvel at his passion for wine right from the comfort of your desktop.

Click here to see more videos. In the future we’ll be featuring more great online wine resources that you should be following.

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painting by Mark Keller

Pierre Legrandois, Chief Sommelier at the Mandarin Oriental give us some pointers on how to  navigate the wine list at restaurants. When you are taking your clients out for a business dinner and its up to you to order the wine, Pierre suggests the following:

1. Choose a wine according to the food of your guests. It shows you are paying attention, thoughtful and want to ensure an enjoyable experience.
2. When in doubt, 0pt for classic wines like Burgundy white like Montrachet &Meursault or a red Bordeaux.
3. Know the French Vintages: 1982, 1989, 1990, 1995, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2003
4. Ask for a recommendation without mentioning your budget out right.

A good way to handle this is to mention to the sommelier that you like a certain kind of wine. For example, do you have Chateaux “this vintage” for “X price,” if you can you please recommend something similar?  Another way is to mention you would like a wine similar to “X” and point to the price on the wine list to your sommelier.  Its a gesture most sommelier understands.

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Looking to enjoys unparalleled access to advice on all aspects of wine buying, tasting, education, storage and investment? Here is a new service just launched this month to Hong Kong wine drinkers called Sarment.

Sarment offers the knowledge and services of some of the world’s most experienced sommeliers to a select group of wine collectors around the world. By matching the individual members to sommeliers whose personality and approach to wine complements their own tastes, Sarment offers a tailor made wine service available seven days a week from anywhere in the world.

The idea behind Sarment is simple. It is based on the relationship between founder, Bertrand Faure Beaulieu and award winning sommelier, Philippe Messy. Ten years ago, the pair met in Marco Pierre White’s restaurant, where Philippe Messy was the youngest ever head sommelier of a three Michelin-starred restaurant. Philippe invited Bertrand to broaden his tastes in wine and inspired him to explore new vintages outside of his comfort zone. Bertrand explains, “I had found a sommelier who was not only empathetic and exceptionally talented, but was not afraid to challenge me. He was never patronizing; he simply had a passion for sharing great wine.” It was this personal relationship between customer and sommelier that Bertrand and Philippe wanted to make accessible to wine lovers around the world.

Bertrand says, “I knew then what I wanted from a top wine service. I wanted to have the unbiased advice and privileged access to wine and wine makers through the best in the business, the world’s top sommeliers and not bother about anything else. I wanted a truly personal service.”

Sarment has launched with offices in London and Hong Kong. Award winning sommeliers who have come together creating a fresh team and forming Sarment include co-founder Philippe Messy, Sébastien Chevalier, Christopher Delalonde and Gearoid Devaney. Membership to Sarment is by invitation only with no more than 75 memberships to be released globally this year.

Check out the Sarment website here. We’re working on getting interviews with the sommelier’s in the near future.

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Pierre Legrandois, Chief Sommalier at the Mandarin Oriental give us some pointers on how to enjoy wine during lunch. Many people don’t order wine during lunch for fear of the after effects when they still have to be at the office.  Pierre has some tips on how you can enjoy wine during lunch.

The trick is to order lower alcohol content wine from countries like Germany and Eastern Europe where most of the lower alcohol content variety of wine are made. Not all wine have the same alcohol content so choose the variety with less alcohol content if you don’t want to be impaired at your meeting after.   For whites, go for Sauvignon Blanc and Reisling and for red, choose Pinor Noir or Niebbiolo. For example a Reisling normally contain 7-11% alcohol while alcohol level in Chardonay is usually 12-14%.

So now you know, go ahead enjoy some wine during your business lunch, it might make it a little more amicable, just a little.

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Chief Sommelier at the Mandarin Oriental, Pierre Legrandois gives us some tips about appreciating wine at the recent workshop organized by Hong Kong Land’s Boutique Boulevard: So Chic, So Central program.

Pierre’s wine tasting tips;

1. Look at the wine, especially around the edges. Tilt the glass  to see the way the colour changes from the center to the edges. Look for the colour of the wine and clarity. White wines become darker as they age and time causes red wines to lose their colour turning more brownish with small amount of dark red sediment at the bottom of the glass.

2. Swirl the wine in your glass. This allow oxygen into the wine and opens up its aromas.

3. Notice the wine’s viscosity- how slowly it runs back down the side of the glass while swirling. More viscous wines are likely to be more alcoholic and more full bodied.

4. Sniff the wine. Initially you should hold the glass a few inches from your noise. Then let your nose go into the glass, what do you smell?

5. Take a sip of wine, but do not swallow. Roll the iwne around in your mouth for a 3-5 seconds to expose it to all your taste buds.  You will be able to detect sweet, sour, salty, bitter and umami (meaty of savory). Pay attention to the texture and sense of weight or body of the wine.

6. Aspirate through the wine. purse your lips as if you were about to whistle, draw some air into your mouth and exhale through your nose. This liberates the aromas for  the wine and allows them to reach your nose where they can be detected.  The nose is the only place where you can detect a wine’s aroma.

7. Take another sip of the wine. If you are drinking red wine, introduce air with it. Slurp the wine (careful not to be noisy here) and note the subtle differences in flavour and texture.

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At the Everyday Bordeaux Wine Fair held Saturday, April 25, hundreds of food and beverage professionals mixed with wine lovers to sample some of the highest quality mid-priced Bordeaux wine in Hong Kong. In spite of the Amber rain warning outside, there was a real buzz of excitement as people went from table to table to discover the best that Bordeaux has to offer.

Great wines are not necessarily found at exorbitant prices and at prices ranging from HK$70 – HK$350 for red, white & rosé and up to HK$450 for sweet white, it was a delight to find so many great tasting Bordeaux at the fair.

A buyers guide of Bordeaux wine - the Everyday Bordeaux Booklet 2009 was launched at the fair. The buyers guide contain detailed information on the top 100 highest quality Bordeaux wines that are being distributed in Hong Kong. The guide contains tasting notes, grape varieties, appellation and retail price and name of distributor/wine importer.

Organised by the Bordeaux Wine Council, a panel of judges consisting of Hong Kong’s top wine connoisseurs was assembled to blind taste 270 locally available Bordeaux wines to determine the top 100 labels. Members of the judging panels: Cédric Bilien, John Chan, Nelson Chow, Lau Chi Sun, Wilson Kwok, Peter Kwong and Debra Meiburg.

Ask for your copy of the bilingual Everyday Bordeaux booklet from your wine retailer the next time you visit.

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Designed for HOFEX exhibitors, the Hong Kong International Wine Challenge is a 4-day show where wine from exhibitors will be announced. Wine will be judged by a panel of wine connoisseurs put together by The Hong Kong Sommelier Association to determined the Best of Show for each categories below.

Hong Kong Wine Challenge Categories

1. Refreshing Dry Riesling
2. King of Wine- Chardonnay
3. The Most Famous Cabernet Sauvignon
4. The Elegant Merlot
5. Shiraz around the World
6. Ice Wine Award
7. Best Wine Pairing with Chinese Cuisine – Sichuan, Shanghai and Cantonese

Stay tuned for the results, we will be reporting from HOFEX on May 6-9, 2009.

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