A beer-drinking undergrad showed up at a class because she wanted to learn how to drink wine.

Sounds like her family open some exceptional bottles and she was somewhat scorned when at one dinner she rated a German sweet wine (the name of which escaped her) as her favourite from the flight. This was somewhat unfair, as top Mosel wines can be among the most complex wines in the world, with their low-ish alcohol and extraordinary balance. So often, the residual sugar levels sounds impossibly high but is so integrated with acids that we don’t notice it.

There is no question, in any event, that most people prefer off-dry wines as they start out, and then as our palates evolve, we learn to eventually appreciate the most tannic of red wines. So it is with food: there are many things we might have hated as a child, or as a teenager, which we now love. One gourmet friend, observing the French obsession with cheese, concluded there must be something great about it, and set about teaching himself to appreciate the most ripe, the most stinky.

(That same friend completed a course in olive oil in Italy, and was the first Chinese to have received such a certificate. “Now I really am one in a billion,” he said).

At the aforementioned class, the whites were an Australian Riesling and a Chablis. The young woman way preferred the first as, even though it finished dry, had a hint of natural sweetness, and lots of fruit. (And not a touch of kerosene – a note which some find off-putting). On the other hand, the Chablis, true to form, was lean and mineral, with a touch of citrus; and the acidity, while being balanced, was obvious, as it should be.

At classes attended by Hospitality Management undergrads, it is always the same story. The Moscatel – residual sugar, low alcohol – from Italy’s Piedmont region is always the star of the semester (though faculty love it, too!). Nothing wrong with this, at all. But later on we might try something like a Valpolicella with soft tannins, soft body, and nice cherry fruit, and we discover that we can begin to enjoy red wine, too.

I think it is such a waste to begin one’s wine drinking life with top Bordeaux (adding sweetness and carbonation to make it palatable). Our palate would be so much more grateful if we learned first to appreciate the pretty characteristics of a light-bodied white, and didn’t besiege it with power and tannins in a manner which means it may never be able to appreciate delicacy.

Blank looks. Apparent frustration. Even a resigned sigh.

The problem?

A HKU student in the back row is struggling with his nose. He cannot smell any of the aromas I am mentioning, he says. Not the minerals, not the flowers, nor even a single one of the myriad fruits I am suggesting. A conversation ensues.

Is it really necessary to be able to distinguish between, say, the aroma of a red apple and that of an apricot? It is pointed out that each of the faculties in which they are studying has its own vernacular as well as its own tranch of technical terms, all absolutely necessary for the education process, for communication, and for developing thought. On the other hand, might it be true that this same vocabulary alienates and prevents appropriation of knowledge.

Join the Club – or get barred.

A deeper problem seems to be that we are simply lazy. Apparently, the homo sapien once had the sniffing capacity of a dog – and we all know how dogs are entirely driven by their sense of smell (cats, too, come to that). To mix our metaphors, some wine lovers do have a blind spot – an inability to detect mild corkiness, for example, a smell which would shockingly leap out of the glass for others. But surely our noses can improve with simple practice. Smell your fabric conditioner, your body lotion, your hair (or someone else’s) and ponder what it resembles. Roses? Lemon grass? Chemical? Take in obvious smells at the market – meat under the sun, a blocked drain, the flower stall; but also the more subtle ones: a bunch of fresh coriander, a freshly cleavered young coconut, a fish being gutted.

And the sense of smell is so powerfully suggestive. A waft of cologne on the street can cause us to powerfully recall a long-exited boyfriend. One experiment had a bunch of people blindfolded, and sitting at a table, drinking coffee. Only what they were drinking was not coffee. The smell of coffee was being pumped across the room, but they were drinking water. Not one picked that up.

Yet the greater wine beings seem to go beyond the aroma discipline that others of us take so seriously. Take the late Barry Burton, chairman of Hong Kong Wine Society for more than a quarter century, and one of the city’s best palates who could take on any of the greats. Mention that a wine’s nose was intensely full of ripe plums lightly stewed with cinnamon, and his response was something along the lines of: “I gave all that up a long time ago. I just know from the smell whether or not the wine is good.” And know, he did.

Annabel Jackson is a wine educator, consultant and writer. She has been involved in the wine industry for more than 20 years.

Why does the wine community always talk about palate, as in, “she’s got a good palate” – when we only taste with our tongue?

It is a fair question, particularly coming from a dentistry student from Hong Kong University who surely knows a thing or two about the palate! He was attending a class put on by the university’s department of personal development, and subtitled, “Wine as a Life Skill.” It certainly is that, these days.

Because wine is not only about taste, I offer, it is also about sensation.

We have long had our tongues mapped out, with diagrams in text books illustrating where we variously taste saltiness, sweetness, bitterness and sourness. Sweetness, for example, is famously tasted at the tip of the tongue – which is presumeably why kids love licking lolly pops, because this maximises their sugar hit.

This tongue-mapping approach has now been somewhat discredited, and at a tasting conducted by Debra Meiburg MW she had participants dipping cotton tips in lemon juice and running them down the sides of their tongue but, she added, you may taste acid somewhere else so try other bits of your tongue. Not all tongues are created equal?

Further, we have more recently added the fifth taste to our classic four, that being umami. In fact umami is more a sensation than a taste. Eggs, scallops and asparagus are just a few examples of foods rich in umami – they have a certain richness in mouth feel which goes beyond simple flavour. Marketers of junk food also talk of mouth feel as being a critical component in the pleasure of, say, a hamburger.

In the same way, we don’t only taste wine, we experience it. Astringency, a by-product of tannin, is a drying sensation rather than a flavour, and alcohol rendered out-of-balance can burn the back of the throat in a similar way to accidentally eating a piece of raw chilli. Neither are “spicy” – which is a flavour – but rather both a sensation of heat. In wine we talk experientally of intensity, structure, length, texture and body, with length being the only one which has much at all to do with taste.

Annabel Jackson is a wine educator, consultant and writer. She has been involved in the wine industry for more than 20 years.

When it comes to new world Shiraz few have the reputation that Australia’s Barossa Valley does but recently its southern neighbour has been grabbing the attention and deservedly so.

McLaren Vale lies to the South East of South Australia’s capital city, Adelaide, and it is a much cooler climate than the Barossa with sea breezes on most afternoons. Whilst there has never been any doubt about the high standard of wines coming from the region it is now getting a lot of attention because of the awards and accolades it is receiving for their exceptional Shiraz.

I asked RockBare Winemakers’, Marty O’Flaherty, about this surge in popularity:

Marty believes it is the diversity of the McLaren Vale that makes it possible to produce wines with more finesse and elegance than it is out of the Barossa. “Such styles tend to be more favored in recent times by wine show judges and writers” noted Marty.

Marty is responsible for making wine from both regions and his 2009 RockBare McLaren Vale Shiraz was recently awarded 5 Stars and “Top of Class” by Winestate magazine. So which region does Marty prefer when making Shiraz?

“I find McLaren Vale to be much more diverse yet I love the consistency of Barossa” Marty offered as he went on to explain the differing characters. “Barossa Shiraz tends to reveal plum like fruit and earthy Barossa floor characters, whilst McLaren Vale has more blackberry/ mulberry fruit character, black olive/ tapenade savouriness and distinctive licorice tannin.”

From my own experience I have been very excited about the Shiraz that I have tried from the region of late with some showing obvious aging potential of 20+ years.

So is McLaren Vale the next Barossa I pondered?

“I don’t think McLaren Vale will ever supersede Barossa in regards to Barossa Shiraz but certainly it is capable of making wines just as good.”

If Marty’s wines are anything to go by, I completely agree.

2009 RockBare McLaren Vale Shiraz HK$150 from Global Wine Cellar.

Dean Aslin is an Australian living in Hong Kong and is the Marketing Manager for Global Wine Cellar. Dean is passionate about wine, Asia, food, travel and social media. Follow him on Twitter at @GWC_Dean

What’s the wine or grape that first springs to mind when someone mentions France, Spain, Argentina or New Zealand? Bordeaux, Tempranillo, Malbec, Sauvignon Blanc? These are considered the “flagship wines” of those specific countries – their ambassadors as such. But do they really bring value to their motherland’s wine industry, or do they shine so bright that they stultify it?

You can argue it either way.

Start with Italy. It has over 350 indigenous grapes, but the one variety that is its claim to fame is Sangiovese, used in so many great wines from Chianti and Brunello di Montalcino to the Super Tuscans. Sangiovese brought the world’s drinkers to Italy and introduced them to its many siblings – Nebbiolo, Aglianico, Pinot Grigio and more. Today, consumers everywhere appreciate the diversity of Italian wines, but they still pay respect to Sangiovese.

Like Italy, Portugal has over 300 native grapes, but it does not promote any particular variety in the international arena. The fact that one grape often has different names depending on where it is grown (north, centre or south) doesn’t help. As a result perhaps, Portuguese wine has little recognition outside Portugal even today (except Port and Mateus Rosé.) A few years ago, ViniPortugal decided to start marketing Touriga Nacional as the national grape, hoping it would achieve similar status to Sangiovese and bring the world to its many other wines. We are still waiting to see the results.

Most will agree that Tempranillo is Spain’s flagship grape. But what about Grenache (Garnacha)? It is an important variety in Rioja where Tempranillo gained its fame, and produces the expressive and concentrated wines of Priorat and the south. In fact, Grenache has more characters than Tempranillo as a varietal, yet it always seems a few steps behind.

Sauvignon Blanc, specifically from Marlborough, put New Zealand on the world wine map. Now every wine region outside New Zealand wants to produce a similar style of Sauvignon Blanc. However, this flagship grape has been so successful that all other great New Zealand wines are living under its shadow. The average consumer (and I am referring to the average, not those in the wine circle) is not even aware of Otago Pinot Noir, let alone the wines of other regions.

We’d love to hear your thoughts on this – get in touch!

By Tersina Shieh, marketer turned winemaker.

To read more, visit Tersina’s blog at Tersinawinejournal

Debra Meiburg, arguably Hong Kong’s most famous Master of Wine; with wine classes, TV shows, YouTube channels, wine competition judging – she can now add “book author” to her amazing list of acheivements!

We posted about Debra Meiburg’s Guide to the Hong Kong Wine Trade here before, and we attended the launch event at the Hong Kong International Wine and Spirits Fair last month where the book was finally available for ordering.

We are currently reviewing our copy and will bring you a full review soon – but her presentation at the HKIWSF peaked every attendee’s interest so much that there was an overwhelming stampede to get a copy (or 2) of the book.

So we asked Ms. Meiburg, if we could post the slides here so that we can show off more about the contents of the book – and she agreed. So below you will see some of the top line information that is presented in her book – myths about the Hong Kong wine industry:

You can buy the print version online here; a must have for anyone in or wanting to get into the Hong Kong wine industry.

We’re trying to convince her to publish one for iPad and Kindle in 2012!

Since more and more people start their adventures in wine, wine equipment becomes more essential in everyone’s apartment.

For candlelight dinners, wine tasting events, birthday parties, or even a causal gathering of friends; a decent and appropriate glass can definitely make that night more unforgettable. Can you imagine a beautiful girl drinking champagne with a huge red wine glass or a stylish man having red wine in a champagne flute? That’s really horrible.

Then what is a decent & appropriate glass?

My answer is: a glass can match your wine.

There are many different shapes of the wine glass, and they also make your wines taste differently and on your nose different too. In the market, we can always find many kinds of glasses for Burgundy, Bordeaux, Champagne etc. However are there any rules that can help us choose the right glass?

When you are having a young Bordeaux wine; a huge Bordeaux glass should be selected. Since it has a straight body glass allowing the wine to pour into the back part of your tongue aiming to reduce the harsh tannin feeling and big body of Bordeaux glass enhances the power of wine. But for older Bordeaux, we can use a smaller glass to reduce the aeration and make the mild elegant nose easier to sense.

A Burgundy glass is a magic rod to make pinot noir and oaked Chardonnay more delicious. With a good width of glass body, it makes the aroma and taste of the wine more fruity. It also directs the wine pouring to the 2 sides of the tongue letting us appreciate the wonderful acidity of the wines.

Slim shaped Champagne flutes shows off the beautiful bubbles of sparkling wine, and at the same time keeping the wine cold effectively. However aged champagne, with its intensity of aroma and taste will be upgraded by a bigger body champagne glass with a wider mouth.

There is a dilemma for choosing appearance or taste; for me, taste is always top priority. Keep this in mind when pairing your next wine with glassware.

Jordi Chan is currently working as Wine Gallery Manager at ASC Fine Wines and was Sommelier of The Peninsula’s legendary restaurant “Gaddis” and Head Sommelier at The Mira Hong Kong . He has won awards including the Grand Prize of Hong Kong Best Sommelier Competition 2010 and “Best Performance in Blind Tasting” in Hong Kong Best Sommelier Competition 2009. He also serves as contributing journalist for magazines in Hong Kong, Macau and PRC. Find him on Facebook here.

As an Oenologist for Conseil Interprofesionnel des Vins d’Alsace (CIVA), Mr. Thierry Fritch has been lecturing in Asia about Alsace wine (France) since 1997.

Based in Alsace himself for most of the year, Mr. Fritch spends two months of the year in Asia and another 3-4 months travelling the world talking about the beauty and elegance of his local wine.

We had a chance to sit down with the connoisseur when he was attending the big Alsace promotional push at a grand dinner at Tsui Hang Village and at the Alsace Wine Fair in Causeway Bay.

Besides handling the promotion in Asia from Japan to China to Singapore and Hong Kong, Mr. Fritsch spends most of his time training with the Alsace wine producers about how to talk about their wines. In turn, he teaches what he learns and, most importantly, brings back information from Asia to Alsace.

One of the funny stories he shared when he first stepped into Hong Kong in 1997. He was holding a seminar on Alsace wine at the old Furama hotel in Central, explaining about the grape varietals, when someone stood up and unapologetically announced to the room that they had no interest in hearing about the wine-making process and to just wanted to know the most expensive and famous wine so they would buy it immediately…with the entire room nodding in agreement.

That gentleman came up afterwards and explained it was a joke, but Mr. Fritsch learned a lot from that seminar fourteen years ago – namely, Hong Kong wine drinkers only wanted red wine and labels as white wine represented lychee wine.

In the almost decade and a half since, Hong Kong wine drinkers have changed so much – he notes that Hong Kong people have learned very quickly and are thirsty about information from Alsace.

Some other points we discussed:

The wine consumers are quite young in Asia, while in France they are much older.

CIVA builds the maturity and the image of Alsace in new markets: their first aim being to find potential, then to start the communication process with wine dinners – when the market is ready then the wine makers will come over to promote directly.

In Mr. Fritsch’s mind, Alsace ranks as number 6 in terms of visibility in the world market:

• Bordeaux
• Champagne
• Burgundy
• Loire Valley
• Rhone
• Alsace
• Provence

75% of Alsace wine sales are in France, with the first 4 markets outside of France are Germany, Belgium, Denmark and the Netherlands.

When people think white wine or “Grand Blanc” they think Alsace where 90% of the wine produced is white and only 10% red.

Trends he see’s happening in the next year in Hong Kong include education levels continuing to grow until the Hong Kong market has nearly completely matured.

Three points about Alsace wine to remember: 1. freshness and elegance 2. the majority of whites go well with spicy foods and 3. best news yet, they’re great value for money!

Finally, Mr. Fritsch reminds you that while it’s hot outside would you really prefer a deep red with lots of tannin, or a nice white Riesling?

Visit the CIVA site here for more on Alsace wine.

Recently, I had an excellent experience with Matsutake mushrooms from Japan (松茸) with some vintage Champagne and a Burgundy red.

A wonderful dinner was hosted at Amuse Bouche, which is located in Wan Chai. The most impressive dish served that night was the Roasted Seasonal Matsutake Mushroom. Matsutake mushroom is a very rare and seasonal ingredient, which is extremely popular in Japan. With it’s heavy unique aroma and very smooth texture, the taste is reminiscent of cooked scallop. Definitely, a magical dish, and paired with the right wines only ignites the taste buds even further.

However, the best was yet to come: the wines served on that night were amazing and took enjoyment of food pairing to a whole new level. The wines were Mumm Cordon Rouge Vintage 1969 Champagne Brut and Hospic de Beaune, J. Calvet, Beaune 1929.

The aged Champagne performed with a high intensity nose of floral, honey, ripe quince, smoke and mushroom – which combined to create a very complex and rich aroma. On the palate, the taste of ripe apple, earth and minerals came with a nice mushroom aftertaste too. When Matsutake collides with the Mumm 1969, a mushroom taste explosion will happen in your mouth.

The 1929 Bourgogne was also wonderful – the ruby color and aroma were lively with fresh red fruit, strawberry, cherry and dried rose. A surprising lively acidity with a very smooth palate, pleasant mouth feel and very rounded taste of red fruit . The length of truffle and mineral was also nice. When it pairs with the dish, the mushroom creates a better body for the delicate wine, similarly, the wine gives more depth and length to the dish as well. A prefect matching!

Many wine drinkers are very eager to drink rare old vintage wine, although the quality is sometimes very unreliable when compared to young wine. But then again if you’re lucky to open a nice bottle of old wine; the surprising enjoyment is incomparable too.

So think about mushrooms, specifically the Matsutake, for pairing when you are opening a vintage bottle of wine at your next gathering.

Jordi Chan is currently working as Wine Gallery Manager at ASC Fine Wines and was Sommelier of The Peninsula’s legendary restaurant “Gaddis” and Head Sommelier at The Mira Hong Kong . He has won awards including the Grand Prize of Hong Kong Best Sommelier Competition 2010 and “Best Performance in Blind Tasting” in Hong Kong Best Sommelier Competition 2009. He also serves as contributing journalist for magazines in Hong Kong, Macau and PRC. Find him on Facebook here.

During the summer, enjoying a glass of white wine with fresh oysters on the beach with a cool sea breeze coming in off the ocean is a dream only some Hong Kongers will get to enjoy as they sit moping in their air-conditioned offices!

Chablis is on most wine connoisseurs minds when talking about pairing with oysters, but it’s not unusual to choose a crisp Chardonnay in every oyster gathering. However, Jordi recommends Muscadet from the Loire Valley and Entre-deux-Mers from Bordeaux which are two great alternative offerings that will give you a new experience in your oyster and wine pairing adventure.

Muscadet wine from the western Loire Valley is the only grape variety permitted in the AOC Muscadet Melon de Bourgogne which was widely grown in Burgundy a long time ago, but is now prohibited there. Muscadet is light bodied and always dry with moderated alcohol levels that can easily pair with food without overwhelming the flavour. The light, crisp acidity can enhance oyster richness & creaminess with a fresh aftertaste.

Sur lie on the wine label: The wine spends full winters in contact with the lees and aims to enhance body and complexity of the wine.

Entre-deux-mers (in English: between two seas which represents the location inbetween 2 famous rivers: the Garonne and Dordogne) is a dry white wine made in a very famous wine region that every fan of Winebuzz.hk knows: Bordeaux. However, Entre-deux-mers is much less well known than Bordeaux red wine and is mainly produced as Sauvignon Blanc, and can be blended with Semillon and Muscadelle. Entre-deux-mers is a high mineral, medium bodied wine with good citrus fruit notes that pairs well with the oysters’ mineral character and makes their freshness stand out even more.

Both wines are perfectly matched for oysters and both represent great value. So, when you’re hosting an oyster dinner later on this summer, all your friends will be very pleasantly surprised by your pairing completely different white wines than what most people are used to. And, trust me, your friends will ask you for their names before the night is over!

Happy Pairing!!

Jordi Chan is currently working as Wine Gallery Manager at ASC Fine Wines and was Sommelier of The Peninsula’s legendary restaurant “Gaddis” and Head Sommelier at The Mira Hong Kong . He has won awards including the Grand Prize of Hong Kong Best Sommelier Competition 2010 and “Best Performance in Blind Tasting” in Hong Kong Best Sommelier Competition 2009. He also serves as contributing journalist for magazines in Hong Kong, Macau and PRC. Find him on Facebook here.