Friday. 29 January. 2010. 9:45 am
Welcome to the Wonderland of Wine.
For neophytes just starting out on their initiation journey into the world of wine, it’s exciting to discover that, like life, there are many different stages to explore from youth to adolescence to maturity.
Seasoned wine lovers of course will know from experience that real wine appreciation takes patience, an education of mind and, of course, the senses. The one downside to this growth can be that the more you to learn to appreciate wine, the more appealing older and more mature wines become…and the younger wines considerably less so. However, the journey itself is a path to discovery, so learn to savour every moment.
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Monday. 11 January. 2010. 10:08 am
The wine world is no longer a boys-only club, especially in Asia.
As you might know but will be loathe to admit, the wine world the world over is dominated by men and, unfortunately, Asia is no exception.
From experience, wine buyers are mostly of the male variety and I find it outrageous when the service women receive is automatically far inferior to that of men. There are many occasions where I have witnessed a salesperson passing off the shop’s latest promotion in an attempt to hurry a female customer or rudely eluding her questions, just to spend more time with male customers.
Furthermore, there is almost no chance of being taken seriously if a woman is to complain about a wine in a top restaurant. Even for Jeannie Cho Lee, Master of Wine, it was not a pleasant experience when she was dismissed by the sommelier of a Michelin-starred establishment as a ‘typical ignorant Asian woman’ and her request to have a bottle of corked wine be replaced, ignored. Instead of checking to see if the bottle of wine was corked, he declared that it was just the wine’s style, without even smelling the wine for cork taint.
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Monday. 4 January. 2010. 10:00 am
Rene Wong, Wine Advisor at Bacchus & Century, talks about the perils of buying vintage wines in his Monday commentary for Winebuzz.hk.
Ever asked yourself why there is so much choice in recent vintages (like 2006, 2007 or 2008) as opposed to older vintages (like before 2000), when most of the recent vintages are not yet mature and older vintages are probably more at their peak?
Well, the naked truth is that wine merchants have a strong interest in moving their new releases in order to make way for next year’s stock. The more wine they sell this year, the bigger the discount wine producers offer for the following year’s wine. The second reason has to with conservation risk; because wine runs a greater risk of being exposed to non-optimal conditions (ie humidity, temperature, human manipulation) over time, the simple fact is the older they get the higher the risk.
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Monday. 28 December. 2009. 10:14 am
Celebrate New Year’s in Hong Kong with a vintage wine.
With New Year’s Eve just around the corner, picking a good bottle of wine is always a good idea, provided you know what to pick.
Celebration usually marks an event that is dear to us and to our host. Choosing a bottle of vintage wine from the year that is most important to you or the recipient – ie the year that marked the beginning of something special, a new venture, an anniversary etc – is the perfect gift. Bacchus & Century, a new boutique wine shop that’s just opened its doors recently, has 101 consecutive years of French vintage wines from 1900 up to 2000.
These vintage wines will be a time machine to take you and your host back to a certain year to relive those fond memories once again. The ‘Shop’s Guardian’ Eric, my partner with an extensive knowledge of French vintage wine, will guide you in your selection.
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Monday. 21 December. 2009. 3:00 pm
Mr. Rene Wong talks about first and second growth Bordeaux wines.
As a French expatriate in Hong Kong for 5 years now, I have observed the beginning of the wine business from back in 2004 when interest for wine was still in embryonic stages, and wine tax was astronomical compared to today. Since then, thankfully this tax has been abolished and wine is now a popular subject of discussion and, of course, consumption. However, some things have not changed and I would like to highlight some common pitfalls I have come across for your benefit.
In my early days in Hong Kong, I was amazed by the plethora of choices available for second wines or second labels in the market. For neophytes, these wines are made from lower quality grape that famous Bordeaux Chateau cannot take the risk to use for their flagship first label or Grand vin.
Knowing this economical reality, in theory it should be obvious to everyone that there is a world of difference between the quality of the first and the second wines, but here in Hong Kong many are still unaware of the quality difference and buy blindly based on the prestige of the house’s name.
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Monday. 14 December. 2009. 11:50 am
A rare gift for Christmas.
This Christmas, if you’re looking for special gift to someone important in your life, consider a bottle of Bordeaux vintage wine in the year he or she was born. Each bottle is a piece of history and just gets rarer with each passing day, as it is impossible to go back in time to recreate the same bottle of wine.
Weather you love French vintage wines and would like to discover a wine that suites your taste or find that special bottle to mark an important occasion, or you don’t know the first thing about vintage wine, we have the solution for you. Bacchus & Century is Hong Kong’s first luxury wine boutique with a collection of over 3,000 bottles of wine in their cellar. Eric Liu, the shop’s “guardian,” is an expert in French vintage wine specifically from 1900 to 2000 (yes a whole century, hence the name). A consultation with Bacchus & Century will ensure you find the perfect bottle of wine, whether it’s an iconic bottle from the most prestigious ‘maisons,’ or a vintage bottle that suits the occasion and recipient’s taste.
To mark the occasion of their opening, Bacchus & Century would like to invite you to visit their store and take them up their complimentary bottle of 1975 French vintage Bordeaux (*Conditions apply) for any purchase of 2 bottles of wine.
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