Ningxia beats Bordeaux?
To me, blind tasting competition is always a marketing tool more than anything. This time it is China’s Ningxia beating Bordeaux. Out of the top five winning wines, four come from Ningxia. The top wine is 2009 Chairman’s Reserve from China’s Grace Vineyards. The only wine from Bordeaux that is able to entered into the top five is 2009 Saga Medoc from the Barons de Rothschild Collection. Unfortunately, none of the Bordeaux wines are higher quality grade Classe Growth wines. Is it fair to simply say Ningxia beats Bordeaux? http://t.cn/z0DR24G
Master of Veneto Giuseppe Quintarelli Passed Away
Master of Veneto Giuseppe Quintarelli passed away at the age of 84. While an average Amarone is selling at HK$300 to HK$400 and Allegrini’s Amarone is selling at about HK$600 to HK$700, Quintarelli’s Amarone is selling at HK$2000 to HK$3000 a bottle. Every attention is given in the production of Quintarelli’s Amarone. Yield is very low and the wine will have to undergo long ageing before releasing to market. Quintarelli’s Amarone has a lot of faithful followers. http://bai.lu/y8Afk
Regional Uniqueness of Yeast
Yeast converts sugar in grapes into alcohol. Yeast usually can either be cultured yeast or wild yeast found on grape’s skin or in the winery environment. I always find wines produced using wild yeast has more characters but there is no scientific proof up to now for this. Recently, New Zealand has conducted a research and found that yeast on Chardonnay and Syrah in three different regions in New Zealand are all different. This will induce different flavours in wine produced. http://t.cn/z0DI5lx
2010 Rhone Valley
2010 may be the best vintage for Rhone Valley in the last ten years. Rhone experienced a dry growing season and has a welcome rain between the 20th to 25th of September. The cool August allows the grape to retain its acidity and the warm September allows the grape to ripen fully. Most Rhone producers are very enthusiastic about this vintage. Wine likely will be of well balanced, having high concentration and refreshing. http://t.cn/z0eWDRX