Finding the right wine for everyday Cantonese meals like dim sum can prove difficult because it has to take on an array of foods like seafood, meats, vegetables, sauces, herbs, spices and starches…often all at the same time!

Based on this, many experts propose white wines but, thanks to my recent experience with Filippo Chia, a second generation winemaker and owner of Tuscan Castello Romitorio who came to HK to host one of the food and wine-paired events organized by m.a.x. concepts, Cottage Vineyards and myself – I would like to propose 3 versatile red wines which, dare I say, may work even better!

reknowned artist and winemaker Sandro Chia (L)  Filippo Chia (R)

Castello Romitorio Morellino di Scansano DOCG 2007 (85%Sangiovese/15%Cab. Sauvignon): Brilliant clear garnet, nose of fresh flowers, earth and plum. On the palate, bitter cherries end in a steady silky finish. This wine pairs well with (1) pea sprouts stir-fried in garlic (2) mushroom, beef or pork rice noodle wraps (Cheung Fun) with a light soya sauce (3) steamed prawns dipped in soy sauce with chilis and (4) fish steamed with ginger and green onion, bathing in hot oil and soya sauce.

Castello Romitorio Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2007 (Sangiovese Grosso): Ruby red, the wine carries a soft richness that balances the bouquet of red berries, tobacco and violets. Its beautiful structure balances with juicy viscosity and persistent finish, pairing well with (1) any of the above while accentuating (2) the juiciness of a clay pot braised duck with mushrooms and (3) fried glutinuous rice with Chinese winter sausages.

Castello Romitorio Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2004 (Sangiovese Grosso): King of the Tuscan reds, this is the epitome of Sangiovese. Boasting 92 points – Robert Parker and 93 points – Wine Spectator, Filippo’s wine has a bouquet of dried flowers and berries, velvety rich with balanced tannins and a long finish. This wine pairs beautifully with (1) slow cooked clay pot lamb and (2) beef dry-fried in a dark soy sauce with green onion, mushrooms and flat noodles (Gan Chow Ngau Ho).

Damon Yuen is a Certified Sommelier and Court of Master Sommeliers. He is a Wine & Spirits Educator, Writer and Consultant with over 27 years of experience in the Hong Kong food and beverage sector. He regularly teaches at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and PEAK VTC and has his own wine blog.

He can be contacted at 9037 9589 or via email: damon_yuentks@yahoo.com.hk

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Described by some as the Nectar of the Gods, Sauternes is a sweet Bordeaux wine made from special grapes affected by the botrytis cinerea (a kind of fungus) arising from the fog of the Ciron River running across the appellation of Sauternes. Its traditional pairings are Foie Gras and Roquefort Cheese, but for many of us with a Chinese palate who prefer something sweet and find it difficult to digest Western cheeses, could there be an alternative marriage for us?

I finally discovered such possibilities in my recent encounter with Catherine Gachet, owner and winemaker of boutique Sauternes producer, Clos Dady. Catherine takes unusual care in the entire wine-making process of her Sauternes involving:

• Picking the freshest botrytised berries 7 times a year
• Employing only women in the harvest who exercise greater patience and delicacy
• Barrel Fermentation; a more labour intensive method used by only 5 out of 150 Sauternes  producers. The result is a much more natural wine with less need for filtration
• Keeping residual sugar by stopping fermentation. This is done through a reduction in temperature rather than using large doses of CO2.

The result is an unusually elegant Sauternes with a breezy freshness evident in Clos Dady Sauternes ‘Château de Bastard’ 2007 (Sémillon/Sauvignon Blanc/Muscadelle). Made from a blend of both golden and fully-botrytised berries, the wine is a brilliant pale gold colour with a complex floral nose of lemon, dried mango and apricots. Aromatic and elegant, it has a well-balanced sugar-acid tone and unusual minerality with a fresh, clean, long finish.

I have paired this wine with “har gow” dim sum (steamed shrimp dumplings), Vietnamese rice paper rolls, Thai crab salad and even raw oysters with a pinch of lime and lemon grass and have noticed a dramatic increase in the freshness and minerality of the seafood, leaving a beautiful savoury feeling in the mouth. The sweetness of Catherine’s Sauternes blends seamlessly with the natural sweetness of these “Fruits of the Sea”. Add a little sweet and sour Thai chili sauce or Chiu Chow chili sauce and the result sings. This is the new marriage made in heaven for the Asian Palate.

Damon Yuen is a Certified Sommelier and Court of Master Sommeliers. He is a Wine & Spirits Educator, Writer and Consultant with over 27 years of experience in the Hong Kong food and beverage sector. He regularly teaches at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and PEAK VTC and has his own wine blog.

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Ice wine isn’t your typical dessert wine. This high-end vintage is made from grapes which became frozen on the vine, creating a more concentrated and much sweeter-tasting wine. It’s believed the tradition of creating wine from frozen grapes dates back to Roman times, a culture which certainly knew something about decadent dining.

Canada and Germany are perhaps the best-known producers of high-end ice wines, with Canada – and in particular Ontario – being the largest ice wine manufacturers internationally. The fruitier, refreshing nature of ice wine makes it a perfect complement for sweet dishes, especially great for pairing with dessert.

Ice wine vintages are usually produced by Riesling grapes in Germany and Vidal and Cabernet Franc grapes in Canada. Many ice wines are pale yellow to amber in color, though some red varieties are produced. The high acidity and slightly lower alcohol content of ice wine keeps the sweet taste from becoming overpowering.

Some of the most delicious ice wines are well balanced in terms of sweetness, and have an intense beautiful aroma that is clean and complex.  If you are looking to try ice wine, we recommend Inniskillin Icewines as they are known to produce excellent quality ice wines and have one of the biggest distributions in the world, making them easy to find even in Hong Kong.

The Inniskillin Gold Oak-Aged Vidal ice wine is a deliciously rich sweet wine with an aromatic bouquet of apple blossom, apricot, fig and honey.  For something fresh and distinctively different, try the Inniskillin Sparkling Vidal ice wine. With a nice golden color and bouquet notes of nectarines, pear and apricot, on the palate it has a delicate and lively effervescence, with a clean and well balanced sweetness. It received a 91 points rating from Wine Spectator in 2008 and has won numerous awards each year.

How much?

• Gold Oak-Aged Vidal Icewine, 2006 – HK$600
• Vidal Sparkling Icewine, 2006 – HK$600
• Jackson-Triggs Reserve Vidal Icewine, 2006 – HK$486

Where to buy?

ASC Fine Wines, call James at 3923 6790

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Choosing the appropriate wine can be a challenge for any host. The task for those who would like to serve traditional Sichuan dishes, however, is made doubly difficult. That’s because the cuisine’s deliciously unique complexity makes it notoriously difficult to pair. As a result, many hosts default to sweet, white wines or fruity light reds – most of which offer a weak complement, at best, to the spicy cuisine.

But serving a great wine with Sichuan food is not impossible. You just need a basic understanding of the flavor profiles. Chinon Wines’ upcoming winemaker dinner entitled The Challenge of Sichuan Hua Jiao (Sichuan Peppercorn), aims to help you do just that – addressing this mightily aromatic and full-flavored cuisine with dry, very tannic reds from their own Great Chinon House of Couly-Dutheil.

Attend the dinner, which is HK$480 per person and is led by Chinon’s own Cristophe Surget, at 7:00pm on Tuesday 22 September at the Mask of Si Chun (KCR East, Tsim Sha Tsui Station, Kowloon).

For more information and to view the menu, please see event details, here. Seats are available on a first come first served basis (only 30 available). You can call 2395-1293 or email here for more details.

The full menu is below:

The Challenge of Sichuan Huajiao, Chinon Wines

Winemaker Dinner featuring the Wines of Great Chinon House Couly-Dutheil

• The Mask of Si Chun (Shop no. 33, KCR East TST Station, Kowloon)
• Tuesday 22nd September, 2009
• 7:00pm: Reception;
• 7:30pm: Dinner
• HK$480.00 NET per person.

Couly-Dutheil ‘Brut de Franc’ Rose NV (Cab. Franc)

迎賓五小碟] Welcoming Selection of Five Appetizers:

• 蒜泥黑豚肉Karobuta Pork with Garlic Chili sauce
• 辣醬大豆芽 Bean Sprouts Salad
• 麻辣鮮花枝片 Spicy Cuttlefish
• 陳皮牛粒 Spicy Beef Shank flavored with Mandarin Peel
• 香辣爆軟殼蟹 Softshell Crabs with Special Spices

***

Couly-Dutheil Chinon Blanc ‘Les Chanteaux’ 2007 (Chenin Blanc)

蝦仁白雪 Shrimps with Egg-white

***

Couly-Dutheil Chinon Rose 2007 (Cab. Franc)

宮保雞丁 Kung Po Chicken

***

Couly-Dutheil Saumur Champigny Rouge ‘Les Moulins de Turquant’ 2006 (Cab. Franc)

黑椒腸粉 Rice Noodle Rolls with Black Pepper Sauce

***

Couly-Dutheil Chinon ‘Domaine Rene Couly’ 2004 (Cab. Franc)

干燒鱔片 Eel with Ginger and Chili sauce

***

Couly-Dutheil Chinon ‘Clos de l’Olive 2002 (Cab. Franc)

茶樹菇爆香鴨 Woh-fried Duck with Yellow Mushrooms

***

Couly-Dutheil Chinon ‘Clos de l’Echo Crescendo’2003 (Cabernet Franc)

水煮牛臉頰 Simmered Beef Cheek with Hot Chili Broth

迷你巨石五豐收(辣) Spicy Great Harvest

***

Interdit de Couly-Dutheil 2008 (Late Harvest and Botrytised Chenin Blanc)

士多啤梨拔絲 Candied Strawberry

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Famous for their white wine – especially Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon Blanc and Fruialano – the Schiopetto family has been in the wine business for three generations.

Join the estate’s Marketing Manager Cristian Maddlena for their most renowned vintages paired with the eclectic New York cuisine of RED SoHo. One night only – don’t miss the chance to toast “La Dolce Vita” with the Schiopettos!

Details:

• When: Tuesday 22 September
• Time: 7pm
• Price: HKD550 + 10% per head
• Reservations: Call 8199 8189 for reservations – spaces are limited.

RED SoHo

• 2/f, Kinwick Centre, 32 Hollywood Road, Central, Hong Kong

Terms & Conditions

• Pure Cardholder discount applies and Pure Card number must be quoted upon reservation

The Schiopetto wine story

Giorgio Schiopetto, who owned Ai Pompieri, a famous old inn in Udine, passed on to his son Mario his love of good wines. Before turning to wine-making, Mario Schiopetto traveled far and wide in Europe in search of quality wines in the famed German and French wine cellars. It was German technology blended with French finesse that enabled him to find his niche in wine-making. Mario launched his wine business in 1965 in Gorizia, today his children Maria Angela, Carlo and Giorgio, carries on his legacy.

Mario Schiopetto excels in his craft in producing outstanding white wines from the northeastern region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia and is considered the founding father of the modern wine-making region of Friuli. He is credited for his contribution to the Italy’s burgeoning wine scene.

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Autumn is upon us and there is no better way to celebrate the harvest then mooncake. Berry Bros & Rudd, Britain’s oldest wine distributor (and one of the few wine merchants who can boast about trading from the same shop in London for over 300 years), has come up with 5 of their wines to pair with your mooncake this fall.

Traditional mooncake is dense and sweet and should be paried with full-bodied, sweet wines such as Sauternes, Sherries, ports and sweeter varieties of Champagne. Try one of the following wines ranging from HK$139-HK$1,368.

1. Berrys’ “Bishop’s Mead”, Oloroso Cream Sherry, Spain, HK$139

Bishop’s Mead is a rich, full and satisfying sherry with an intense, complex, nutty nose followed by raisins and caramel and a delicious sweet finish.

2. Berrys’ Sauternes, Ch. Suduiraut, Bordeaux, France, HK$146

A truly divine pudding wine, wonderfully sweet but never cloying, possessing brilliant freshness derived from crisp balancing acidity.

3. Noble Sauvage, Marlborough, Isabel Estate, Marlborough, New Zealand, HK$299

With intense and alluring aromas, concentrated nectar, pure honeysuckle and notes of truffle, the palate is generous and weighty yet wonderfully soft and rounded. Layers include a mid- palate of tangy citrus and minerality combined with ripe apricots and tropical fruit flavours.

4. Laurent-Perrier Rosé NV, Champagne, France, HK$788

A precise and crisp aroma which hints of soft red fruits, gives way to a palate of intense
flavours including strawberries, raspberries and wild cherries.

5. Laurent-Perrier le Grande Siécle La Cuvée NV, Champagne, France, HK$1,368

Starry bright, with a brilliant yellow hue, this sublime Champagne shows subtle hints of honey, hazelnuts, grilled almonds and fresh pastry which make this a perfect wine to go with the finest delicacies. Powerful yet well rounded, this wine is rich and savory, finishing with a deliciously fresh touch.

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