Blind tasting with a twist

Prior to Le Grand Day of Indulgence, we had a fantastic blind tasting dinner at Crown Wine Cellars with Michel Bettane, Thierry Desseauve (two highly respected French wine critics) and Pierre Lurton, director of Chateau Cheval Blanc and d’Yquem. Every guest brought a bottle or two from their own collection and these were split into flights, each of which might or might not contain one or more bottle of Cheval Blanc. The challenge for the Frenchmen and the guests was to decide if there was any Cheval Blanc in each flight and, if so, how many bottles and what vintage. It was the most entertaining blind tasting game I have ever played.

Flight 1: The experts correctly picked one Cheval Blanc but the wrong vintage (1970 instead of 1971), and there was indeed a Cheval Blanc 1970 in the flight that they didn’t pick. The other two were Leoville-Las-Cases 1970 and Latour 1970. Pierre was quite shocked that he couldn’t pick the 1970!

Flight 2: Cheval Blanc 1982 was correctly identified. The others in the line up were Leovile Poyferre 1978, Vega Sicilia 1981, Beychevelle 1989 and Vega Sicilia 1991.

Flight 3: Everyone picked Wine No. 3—wrongly. The flight was Phelps Insignia 1994, Vega Sicilia 1995 and Angelus 1993. No Cheval Blanc.

Flight 4: Cheval Blanc 1996, Gaja Barbaresco 1998, Cheval Blanc 2001 and Angelus 2003 magnum. Again only one of the two Cheval Blancs was correctly identified. Michel cheekily said he preferred the last wine (the Angelus) without asserting that it was a Cheval Blanc.

All wines were of superb quality and I found it really difficult to pick the Cheval Blanc, and impossible to identify the rest. We had to rely on the subtle differences of style, tannin texture, and American/French oak characters. Nevertheless, it was inspiring and we can all use this as a reference for designing our own blind tasting games. How about an international Cabernet line up and pick the Margaret River, or everyone brings a bottle and each has to pick his own? Or, even more creative, pick the odd one out?

Tasting in Guangzhou

I hopped on a Guangzhou bound train for a cool climate wine tasting last week, part of a three-city (Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou) tasting tour organised by the Austrian and German embassies to celebrate the launch of the ‘Cool Climate Wine’ book written by Susie Wu and Michael Thurner. Some 63 wineries from Austria, Germany, Alsace and one from Tokaji were invited to present their wines.

China is supposedly a red wine-loving nation, so, apart from just tasting, I wanted to see how mainland Chinese drinkers responded to these mostly white wines from cool climates. The results were interesting.

I started with whites, tasting the Austrian Grüner Veltliner in the company of a local importer. After two glasses, he was already looking for reds and strayed away.

Only about an hour into the tasting the place got noisier, and merrier, and more alcohol was consumed—no one was spitting apart from me. Broadly speaking, there were two types of conversation among guests: price—how much for a container?—and status—how important the guest was (it seemed most were the biggest importer somewhere). Among the producers several carried the bemused look of someone in China for the first time. I asked a few what they thought. All said they were impressed. Perhaps they still had the illusion that ‘if every Chinese person spends one dollar on my product...’.

An interview with James Halliday

A graceful gentleman, James Halliday was in town recently with an entourage of seven equally outstanding winemakers to promote the 2012 edition of his Australian Wine Companion. The book, 4.5cm thick with over 700 pages and some 3,400 tasting notes, represents only half of what James has tasted during the year. The rest can be found on his website.

James is a prolific taster. He has written over 69,000 tasting notes, spanning some 10 years of tasting—6,900 per year or nearly 600 a month! No wonder he is proud of his iPhone app. The book can only hold 3,400 tasting notes, otherwise it would become impractical to publish and carry around, but with the iPhone app one can carry his entire collection on the move in the nifty device. I admire James not only because he embraces technology but also because, until recently, he wrote all the notes himself. Unlike most wine critics who have a team of reviewers behind them, James tasted and wrote his notes single-handed until three years ago when he engaged a part time reviewer as part of his succession plan. After all, this gentleman is over 70 years old.

While he thinks it is important for Australia's wine industry to defend its UK and US markets, James is truly ‘gung ho’ about China. Although China does not have an established wine culture, its people, especially the young, are learning fast. He reckons China will be the biggest market for all New World wines in less than a generation. So it was no surprise that his entourage’s next stop after Hong Kong was China, fully supported by Wine Australia.

I believe the only way for Australian wines to secure market share in China (and indeed Asia) is to shake off once and for all the ‘cheap and cheerful’ image that still dogs it. Take Hong Kong for example: Australian wine has long been the wine of choice for novice drinkers who do not want to spend too much on a bottle, but as these consumers become more confident many tend to trade up to Old World or even New Zealand wines, leaving the Aussies behind.

Encouragingly, there are more and more quality conscious Australian producers who recognise this. Instead of churning out factory-produced oaked Chardonnay and big fruity Shiraz, they are releasing hand-crafted, small production, terroir-driven wines with individual style. Some of them were showcased at Mr Halliday’s media lunch and the masterclass that followed. Here are my favourites (Available from Maxxium):

By Farr Geelong Chardonnay 2009: creamy, mouth-filling but not fat, with multi-layered flavours.

McHenry Hohnen Rocky Road Vineyard Margaret River Chardonnay 2010: an elegant, barrel fermented Chardonnay; far superior to a lot of Burgundies.

O’Leary Walker Wines Polish Hill Riesling 2010: lime, honey, mineral and smoky; somewhere between a Mosel and a Rheingau.

Saltram No. 1 Barossa Shiraz 2006: High alcohol perfectly balanced by the rich fruit flavours and tannins. Went very well with the equally rich braised pork belly casserole with preserved vegetables.

Tyrell’s Vat 9 Hunter Shiraz 2009: Old World style; elegant with a balance between fruit and a soft tannin from 60-90 years old vines.

Long may this trend continue, because if it does the future for Australian wine in Asia should be bright.

New Kid from the Old World

I suspect many people might not even know where Georgia is, let alone have experience of tasting Georgian wine. Georgia, in the Caucasus between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, was part of the Soviet Union until 1991 when it gained its independence. It claims to be the oldest wine producing region in the world with an 8,000 year winemaking history that is an essential part of the country's cultural heritage. Georgian wine was traditionally made in 'kvevri', ceramic jars containing grape juice, skin and stalks that were buried underground for fermentation. The wine was thick and tannic.

Georgian wines were highly prized in Russia which imported over 90% of the production. A falling out in 2006 saw Russia putting an embargo on Georgian wine (citing counterfeiting), leaving Georgia to look for new export markets. In hindsight, the embargo can be seen as good news for wine lovers in other parts of the world.

The country has a mild climate moderated by the Black Sea to the west. Cool summer nights retain the acidity in the grapes and the mineral-rich waters from the Caucasian mountains provide natural nutrients to the vines. There are over 400 indigenous grapes, of which some 38 are used for winemaking, all unfortunately with pretty much unpronounceable names—another language for the wine lovers!

There are still a lot of small growers making wine using traditional methods while the bigger ones are adopting modern techniques, producing wines that are more accessible when young.

Georgia adopts an appellation system similar to that in Bordeaux or Burgundy where wine can be named after the region, district or village—more confusion for consumers! However, wine lovers should not be deterred by the confusing labelling or alien-sounding grapes. After all, we all learn to, more or less, master the French appellations. I have recently tried a few Georgian wines and found them surprisingly pleasant:

Tbilvino Tsinandali Special Reserve 2007 (white): A blend of Rkatsiteli and Mtsvane grapes, barrel fermented and aged in oak for nine months. Floral and ginger nose with refreshing acidity and appetising palate. At 12.5% alcohol, this is a food friendly wine that goes well with sashimi or steamed pork dumplings.

Tblivino Mukuzani, Special Reserve 2003 (red): 100% Saperavi grapes. Red fruits with prunes, dry leaves and pepper nose. A wide spectrum of aromas supported by fresh acidity and ripe tannin. An elegant wine with 12.5% alcohol.

Available from Georgian Valleys Corporations Ltd