Posted in Italian Red, tagged barolo, red italian on December 3, 2011| Leave a Comment »
As the weather turns cooler, the festivity spirits fill the air and remind us Christmas is just around the corner. We began celebration last night, not for the holiday though, but for the birthdays of two good friends.
We met at the Piemonte trip, the land of Barolo. So the best gift to bring along is a vintage Barolo – 1961! The wine was shipped from Italy and sat in my cellar for more than 2 months, so it should pass the bottle shock stage. (more…)
Posted in Italian Red, Wine Makers, tagged Amarone, decanters, Italian, Quintarelli, red, Riedel, Valpolicella, Veneto, wine on November 25, 2011| Leave a Comment »
Decanters.. we all know about them. They come in different shapes and sizes. Some are round, some shaped like funnels, others like swans, ducks, musical instruments, and even elongated poisonous snakes.
Yes, I’m talking about the range of decanters from Riedel, the company famous for making different shaped and sized glasses for different wine varietals. But while Riedel has certainly made its point with its wine glasses, it doesn’t feel the same way with decanters. In fact, Riedel doesn’t feel anything of the sort when it comes to decanters except that it has to look good on the table, hence its emphasis on design and style. (more…)
Posted in Italian Red, Wine Tastings, tagged red italian, Wine appreciation on August 22, 2010| Leave a Comment »
IWM @ Manhattan
New York City, that’s a place I use to spend a lot of time in. The museums, the shows, the yellow cabs, the bagels ….. visiting the Big Apple again brought back many fond memories of the good old days. But then there was one thing I didn’t get to do back then – wine tasting!
So when the invitation came for wine tasting at Italian Wine Merchant in the heart of Manhattan, there could be only one response – SURE! (more…)
Posted in Italian Red, Sweet Wine, tagged Recioto on April 18, 2010| 1 Comment »
What is the one thing in common for the following wines – Ice Wine, Late Harvest Riesling and Sauternes? They are all sweet wines made from white grapes.
For my debut in teaching wine tasting later this month, I was trying to find a sweet red wine for one of the classes. Then I realized the ones I know and tasted are all made from white grapes. So is there such a wine? (more…)
Posted in Italian Red, Italian White, Restaurants, Sweet Wine, tagged Amarone, Hong Kong Restaurants, Soave, Super Tuscan on February 15, 2010| Leave a Comment »
Domani Ristorante, with its green house façade situated between the two office towers of Pacific Place, brought the award winning Chef and menu to the gourmet scene of Hong Kong. Fine dining takes on a different tone these days, the Chef is as important as the cuisine, it’s all part of the dining experience. (more…)
Posted in Italian Red, Italian White, Wine Tastings, tagged Amarone, Pinot Grigio, red wine, White Wine, wine on November 8, 2009| Leave a Comment »
From left : Mr. Federico Cerretto of Cerretto (Piemonte), Mr. Nicolas Belfrage (Master of Wine)
My palate is more acquainted with Old World wine, Italian wine being one of my favorites, especially Barolo. When I received the email from Watson’s Wine for the many tastings and dinners they were hosting this week, my first choice was the Italian Wine tastings.
The tastings was led by Nicolas Belfrage, Master of Wine along with three vineyard owners. (more…)
Posted in Bordeaux, French White, Italian Red, tagged vertical tasting, wine, Wine appreciation on October 11, 2009| 2 Comments »
I always love wine, and if you ask me how long I’ve been enjoying the fermented grape juice? Well, I had enjoyed it for more than 20 years!
Amongst my friends and the people that I work with, I am quite well known to be a wine lover. So I do get quite a number of invitations to wine-tasting dinner or events.
About 3 years ago, a very good friend of mine asked me to join a Vertical Wine Tasting at his friend’s place. My husband and I, along with 10 people, attended the event. There was a Bordeaux wine, and we tasted probably 5 vintages. Most of the time, people will find it quite hard to stop me talking, but on that night….. I was unusually quiet. They were all sharing their comments on the nose and palate of the wine, but I wasn’t able to smell or taste a single damn thing they described. (more…)
Posted in Italian Red, tagged barolo, Monprivato Barolo 1998, Nebbiolo, Piedmont, red italian, wine on October 3, 2009| Leave a Comment »
In April 2007, I walked into a Wine Appreciation class, and that opened my heart to the world of WINE and started my journey in understanding wine. I was known as the Madam in class. Somehow the instructor and the people that attended the class thought I was a police officer, which is also known as Madam in Hong Kong. I loved the name because it sounded very authoritative!
I always enjoy wine but understanding the old world wine is always difficult. When I walked into a wine shop and stood in front of the France session, there are the different regions – Bordeaux, Burgundy, Rhone and so on. And then there are various towns within the region, but I still couldn’t figure out the grape varieties or if the price tag is reasonable. And then there is Italy, Spain… forget it! (more…)
Grape Wine Journey 