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The few people who have read my blog since I started may remember this entry. Well...I took the same pair of shoes and got them shined again by the same man. He hasn't been around much lately, since he doesn't come out when the weather turns cold. I'm glad to have another chance to get my shoes shined by him.
Once again he takes his time to shine the shoes with care, talking to me again about the clients who come back despite his higher price (he's now raised it to $30 instead of $25). As I sat there during the 10 minutes or so while he was working on them, I started to take out my Blackberry to check my email, and checked my phone for messages. After a while, I realized I was fidgeting, and that I couldn't just sit still for the few minutes that this took.
I was surprised at myself. Have I got so accustomed to this fast-paced environment, that I am just running on autopilot? I used to be able to sit at a sidewalk cafe for hours and watch the people passing by. Now I can't even do this for a few minutes?
I think I need to take things a little easier...slow things down a bit.
March 4, 2008
March 3, 2008
The Perfect Sunset
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I was alone and strolling along the Tsim Sha Tsui harbor front this afternoon, after watching the performance of Vollmond. As I came out of Harbour City, the brightness in the west caught my attention, and I turned to take a look.
I was awestruck. The waters of the harbor reflected brightly the pale blue sky, with a touch of pink. As I turned my gaze upward, I see that the sun is about to set, so I stopped in my tracks and decided to lean on a railing to watch this particular sunset.
Earlier in the day a cruise ship had been docked at Harbor City, but she has since departed - leaving the space wide open with nothing but water in front of me. The vast body of water was reflecting a color of baby blue (a la Tiffany?) highlighted by the orange red of the setting sun. This all felt very alien to me...when did the water of Victoria Harbour turn so beautiful? I have lived in Hong Kong for many years, and have walked past this area countless times. But I have never been struck by the beauty of this place until today. This must have been the most beautiful sunset I have ever seen.
The sun hung low in the sky, a giant red dot like the one on the flag of Japan. During the short span of a few minutes, the color darkened from the bright fiery red to a deeper crimson, and then faded as the sun hid behind low level clouds. It was but a few minutes, yet it touched me profoundly.
If I had not been strolling alone, and if I did not have free time before dinner, then I would most certainly have missed the most beautiful sunset I have ever seen. How long would it have taken for me to have another chance to see something so beautiful again?
In life, sometimes you just have to take a deep breath, slow down a bit in order to notice the beauty that is all around you...
I was alone and strolling along the Tsim Sha Tsui harbor front this afternoon, after watching the performance of Vollmond. As I came out of Harbour City, the brightness in the west caught my attention, and I turned to take a look.
I was awestruck. The waters of the harbor reflected brightly the pale blue sky, with a touch of pink. As I turned my gaze upward, I see that the sun is about to set, so I stopped in my tracks and decided to lean on a railing to watch this particular sunset.
Earlier in the day a cruise ship had been docked at Harbor City, but she has since departed - leaving the space wide open with nothing but water in front of me. The vast body of water was reflecting a color of baby blue (a la Tiffany?) highlighted by the orange red of the setting sun. This all felt very alien to me...when did the water of Victoria Harbour turn so beautiful? I have lived in Hong Kong for many years, and have walked past this area countless times. But I have never been struck by the beauty of this place until today. This must have been the most beautiful sunset I have ever seen.
The sun hung low in the sky, a giant red dot like the one on the flag of Japan. During the short span of a few minutes, the color darkened from the bright fiery red to a deeper crimson, and then faded as the sun hid behind low level clouds. It was but a few minutes, yet it touched me profoundly.
If I had not been strolling alone, and if I did not have free time before dinner, then I would most certainly have missed the most beautiful sunset I have ever seen. How long would it have taken for me to have another chance to see something so beautiful again?
In life, sometimes you just have to take a deep breath, slow down a bit in order to notice the beauty that is all around you...
Vollmond
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Today I finally attended the highly anticipated performance of Vollmond, the production from Tanztheater Wuppertal choreographed by Pina Bausch. The production is part of the Hong Kong Arts Festival and tickets were extremely hard to come by (I have a few very jealous colleagues...), so I am especially glad that Quintessentially came through for me.
I am a novice when it comes to dance or dance theater - I can count with one hand the performances I've seen. But I really liked what I saw today.
The running theme (no pun intended) throughout the performance was water. It was everywhere - raining down from the ceiling, being poured from bottles, spat from the dancers' mouths, gathered in the stream on stage, and being splashed about by the bucketful... It was like no other performance I have ever seen.
The whole piece talks about the relationship between the sexes. The title says "full moon", so what exactly happens during a full moon? A bit of madness perhaps? Things get out of control? There was certainly a bit of that on stage.
Something struck me about the different moves of the male and female dancers. For a large number of the male solos, the accompanying music was edgy, quick-paced, with lots of distortions. Corresponding to the music, the male dancers' movements seemed to consist of lots of frantic twitches (as if in epileptic fits), self-scratching, neurotic repetition...etc. Not exactly beautiful and elegant, or even dignified. The mood was one of confusion, frustration, angst...
For the women, most work through the production in beautiful evening dresses. Quite a few have long, flowing hair which add a lot to the movements. Naturally their movements are less frantic but much more elegant in their fluidity. The smooth, flowing movement of the hands of some of the dancers were quite pleasing. And the long hair...ah! the hair! How the hair swings through the air with a sharp flick of the neck! And in the latter part of the production, when one of the dancers purposely dips her long, flowing locks into the stream, and flips them about, what beautiful splashes are made when the water droplets sped away from her hair...
Of course, the women aren't without their neurotic moments: the girl who keeps planting kisses in quick succession on the lips of her male counterpart, driving him backwards across the stage; the woman bathing her arms and neck in lemon juice, holding a knife in her hand while recounting her agony in waiting for, and later crying about, her man...
And then there was the part when the dancers "swam" along the stream on stage. A female dancer is doing her solo, and out of the corner of our eyes, we notice that a male dancer, dressed in his dark costume, appears face down in the stream. We barely make out his silhouette in the dim rear portion of the stage. He slowly makes his move to the right end of the stage. Another male dancer appears, swimming behind the first one. And another, until we have four swimmers in the stream. Later it would be the female dancers' turn. But interestingly, the stage is well-lit by now, hence the women in the stream are clearly visible to the audience. Why the different treatment?
Clearly there are many elements in the production that are used to represent the agony and suffering we experience in a romantic relationship. At one point, a female dancer races quickly across the stage, only to be repeatedly dragged back by her male counterpart. She cannot seem to escape from him. Each time, just as she seems to have broken free and reached the edge of the stage, he gets the better of her. The process is repeated and ends in tragedy - eventually she is dragged into the water and pushed down, kickin and screaming as she splashes water about, helpless about the fact that she is going nowhere. Finally she gives up - all movements cease, and she lies, face down, silently in the stream.
Am I painting too grim a picture of the production? There are light-hearted moments, for sure, and happy music to lift up the mood. But over all the tone is dark. And the finale is an orgy of frantic, erratic deterioration into a giant confusion - all 12 dancers are on stage, running around and splashing water about like a school of mental patients - while the music enhances the mood. Quite a scene to behold.
I must say that this production is very thought-provoking. I can see why Pina Bausch is seen as such a pioneer and visionary, and why people clamor for tickets whenever one of her production is staged. Time for me to do a bit more homework, and reflect on this performance...
Today I finally attended the highly anticipated performance of Vollmond, the production from Tanztheater Wuppertal choreographed by Pina Bausch. The production is part of the Hong Kong Arts Festival and tickets were extremely hard to come by (I have a few very jealous colleagues...), so I am especially glad that Quintessentially came through for me.
I am a novice when it comes to dance or dance theater - I can count with one hand the performances I've seen. But I really liked what I saw today.
The running theme (no pun intended) throughout the performance was water. It was everywhere - raining down from the ceiling, being poured from bottles, spat from the dancers' mouths, gathered in the stream on stage, and being splashed about by the bucketful... It was like no other performance I have ever seen.
The whole piece talks about the relationship between the sexes. The title says "full moon", so what exactly happens during a full moon? A bit of madness perhaps? Things get out of control? There was certainly a bit of that on stage.
Something struck me about the different moves of the male and female dancers. For a large number of the male solos, the accompanying music was edgy, quick-paced, with lots of distortions. Corresponding to the music, the male dancers' movements seemed to consist of lots of frantic twitches (as if in epileptic fits), self-scratching, neurotic repetition...etc. Not exactly beautiful and elegant, or even dignified. The mood was one of confusion, frustration, angst...
For the women, most work through the production in beautiful evening dresses. Quite a few have long, flowing hair which add a lot to the movements. Naturally their movements are less frantic but much more elegant in their fluidity. The smooth, flowing movement of the hands of some of the dancers were quite pleasing. And the long hair...ah! the hair! How the hair swings through the air with a sharp flick of the neck! And in the latter part of the production, when one of the dancers purposely dips her long, flowing locks into the stream, and flips them about, what beautiful splashes are made when the water droplets sped away from her hair...
Of course, the women aren't without their neurotic moments: the girl who keeps planting kisses in quick succession on the lips of her male counterpart, driving him backwards across the stage; the woman bathing her arms and neck in lemon juice, holding a knife in her hand while recounting her agony in waiting for, and later crying about, her man...
And then there was the part when the dancers "swam" along the stream on stage. A female dancer is doing her solo, and out of the corner of our eyes, we notice that a male dancer, dressed in his dark costume, appears face down in the stream. We barely make out his silhouette in the dim rear portion of the stage. He slowly makes his move to the right end of the stage. Another male dancer appears, swimming behind the first one. And another, until we have four swimmers in the stream. Later it would be the female dancers' turn. But interestingly, the stage is well-lit by now, hence the women in the stream are clearly visible to the audience. Why the different treatment?
Clearly there are many elements in the production that are used to represent the agony and suffering we experience in a romantic relationship. At one point, a female dancer races quickly across the stage, only to be repeatedly dragged back by her male counterpart. She cannot seem to escape from him. Each time, just as she seems to have broken free and reached the edge of the stage, he gets the better of her. The process is repeated and ends in tragedy - eventually she is dragged into the water and pushed down, kickin and screaming as she splashes water about, helpless about the fact that she is going nowhere. Finally she gives up - all movements cease, and she lies, face down, silently in the stream.
Am I painting too grim a picture of the production? There are light-hearted moments, for sure, and happy music to lift up the mood. But over all the tone is dark. And the finale is an orgy of frantic, erratic deterioration into a giant confusion - all 12 dancers are on stage, running around and splashing water about like a school of mental patients - while the music enhances the mood. Quite a scene to behold.
I must say that this production is very thought-provoking. I can see why Pina Bausch is seen as such a pioneer and visionary, and why people clamor for tickets whenever one of her production is staged. Time for me to do a bit more homework, and reflect on this performance...
March 1, 2008
Newton Vineyards Tasting - An Evening with Dr. Su Hua Newton
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Last night I was invited by a wine merchant to attend a tasting of the wines from California's Newton Vineyard, hosted by the local supplier in a function room at the Conrad Hotel. I was honored to have been seated next to Dr. Su Hua Newton, co-founder and winemaker, and it turned out to be a real interesting evening.
I had been aware of the reputation of Newton Vineyard, although I had never actually tasted any of the wines prior to this evening. I remember driving past Sterling Vineyard in Calistoga - also founded by co-founder Peter Newton but was sold to a major corporation - with its trademark Greek architecture and the aerial trams leading up to the hilltop. And I did remember reading about Peter Newton's passing earlier this month on the Wine Spectator website. So I was quite eager to see what the wines were like.
We were served the 2004 Newton Red Label Chardonnay before dinner. This was easy to drink and nothing to write home about, but who's complaining given the price tag?
We were then seated at our tables, and Dr. Newton began to tell us about her wines as well as her winemaking philosophy.
The first wine served during dinner was the 2005 Newton Unfiltered Chardonnay. This wine was much more complex than the Red Label.
It was at this point that Dr. Newton explained that the winery is bio-dynamic, meaning that there is no use of chemicals and only natural ingredients. They clean the winery with more frequency and without the use of chemicals, use only wild yeasts, and no SO2 is used in bottling. I asked her whether she practices bio-dynamic farming the way some others - such as Mme Leroy in Burgundy - where harvests are done according to the lunar cycle. Her reply was "no" and again made a comment about this notion of bio-dynamic farming being another one of "I think, you think, I think, you think, I think"... more about this later.
To combat diseases such as phylloxera and Pierce's, young wines are planted between rows of old vines so that the young vines can lend a hand. Again, no sulfur is used in the vineyards to combat mildew. The solution is to blow-dry the clusters - an expensive and laborious process.
Being the marketer for the winery (she was a professor of marketing at USF), she naturally wastes no time at putting up credentials for her wines. The 2004 Newton Unfiltered Chardonnay was served by George Dubya at a White House state dinner in honor of the Queen last year. And supposedly it was the first time that the Queen has been seen (or caught on camera at least) to be toasting with a glass of wine instead of a glass of water.
Dr. Newton eagerly passed her Blackberry around the table, showing us the picture of the toast - along with the Queen's signature attached a the bottom. She is understandably proud of this distinction, and cracked one of her many jokes of the evening.
The Chardonnay was served to accompany the first course - warm tiger prawn salad on avocado mousse. The prawns were reasonably yummy, and the avocado was very well received.
We were next poured the 2005 Newton Red Label Claret, made in classic claret style from a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Petit Verdot. The Red Label wines are the only wines which are filtered. I found this wine easy to drink, but uninteresting as filtration essentially rids the wine of character, a fact Dr. Newton readily acknowledges.
The claret accompanied the second course - porcini mushroom risotto. There was a tad more cheese in the risotto than I would have liked, and the risotto was not al dente enough for my taste. But this was probably done to better suit the Chinese palate, in all honestly.
With the third course - roasted venison loin with red currant sauce and quark spaetzli - we were poured both the 1999 and 2002 Newton Unfiltered Merlot. The venison was interestingly tasty, but not as gamey as I preferred. The spaetzle was so-so, not the best that I've had.
Now the wines...the 1999 was clearly drinking very well this evening, having 3 more years of bottle age than the 2002. Tannins were softer. The 2002 comes from a stellar vintage in California, and it has a lot more aging potential. However, it is still too young and at 15% alcohol, packs a big wallop. Too bad the 1999 isn't on sale here...
The last wine of the evening was the winery's top effort - 2002 Newton The Puzzle. This is a wine made in only great vintages, and as such it wasn't made in 2003 but re-appeared in 2004. This is made from the winery's top parcels, and the blend changes each time to create the optimal wine - hence the name. While I thought this was a good effort - big nose of sweet, wild strawberries emerged after rigorous swirling of the glass - it was still a bit too young. Needs another few years of bottle age.
The wine was accompanied by oven roasted stuffed lamb saddle "Pauillac" served with Provencale vegetables. Normally I am a big fan of lamb, and although the lamb was pink and juicy, saddle is just a bit too chewy for my taste. Dr. Newton commented on the "saturated fat" around the outside.
We ended the dinner with warm chocolate pudding with seasonal mixed berries. Boring...
My observations about Dr. Newton... She is definitely an interesting woman with a bit of a checkered background. Apparently born in pre-communist China (some references to Manchuria and no, she is no spring chicken) but fled to the UK where she was educated and earned a doctorate. She divides her time between winemaking and her charity work with medicine (she keeps saying that she is a pediatrician...)
She is clearly a very outspoken woman, not afraid to offer her opinion and knocking down anything she believes to be BS. She recounted lots of stories the whole night: telling Hugh Johnson he's full of crap when talking about the wine's "legs"; how she used to work for the house of Chanel (as a model?); how naive Coca Cola was when they bought Sterling and only made Peter Newton sign a non-compete agreement, even though she - a woman - was actually the winemaker...
One can't help but notice the chip on her shoulder. Here was a Chinese woman making wine in the US, who had to put up with racism growing up in England and dealt with snobbery in the world of wine. She was proud of what she had achieved, and wasn't afraid to stick her thumb at the world. She kept referring to certain things about the wine world as being "I think, you think, I think, you think, I think" - meaning it was all nonsense. And she is here to tell it like it is.
Something I found interesting: she kept talking about herself being a pediatrician and therefore certain things were against her principles. She also scoffed at the "saturated fat" in the lamb saddle. But a quick search on the internet showed that she spent some time on the board of Krispy Kreme Doughnuts. What the *&^$?! KKD sells doughnuts deep-fried in oil. You wanna talk about fat? A bit hypocritical, non?
Well, it certainly was an entertaining evening, to say the least. I did enjoy the wines, and it was interesting to meet Dr. Newton.
Last night I was invited by a wine merchant to attend a tasting of the wines from California's Newton Vineyard, hosted by the local supplier in a function room at the Conrad Hotel. I was honored to have been seated next to Dr. Su Hua Newton, co-founder and winemaker, and it turned out to be a real interesting evening.
I had been aware of the reputation of Newton Vineyard, although I had never actually tasted any of the wines prior to this evening. I remember driving past Sterling Vineyard in Calistoga - also founded by co-founder Peter Newton but was sold to a major corporation - with its trademark Greek architecture and the aerial trams leading up to the hilltop. And I did remember reading about Peter Newton's passing earlier this month on the Wine Spectator website. So I was quite eager to see what the wines were like.
We were served the 2004 Newton Red Label Chardonnay before dinner. This was easy to drink and nothing to write home about, but who's complaining given the price tag?
We were then seated at our tables, and Dr. Newton began to tell us about her wines as well as her winemaking philosophy.
The first wine served during dinner was the 2005 Newton Unfiltered Chardonnay. This wine was much more complex than the Red Label.
It was at this point that Dr. Newton explained that the winery is bio-dynamic, meaning that there is no use of chemicals and only natural ingredients. They clean the winery with more frequency and without the use of chemicals, use only wild yeasts, and no SO2 is used in bottling. I asked her whether she practices bio-dynamic farming the way some others - such as Mme Leroy in Burgundy - where harvests are done according to the lunar cycle. Her reply was "no" and again made a comment about this notion of bio-dynamic farming being another one of "I think, you think, I think, you think, I think"... more about this later.
To combat diseases such as phylloxera and Pierce's, young wines are planted between rows of old vines so that the young vines can lend a hand. Again, no sulfur is used in the vineyards to combat mildew. The solution is to blow-dry the clusters - an expensive and laborious process.
Being the marketer for the winery (she was a professor of marketing at USF), she naturally wastes no time at putting up credentials for her wines. The 2004 Newton Unfiltered Chardonnay was served by George Dubya at a White House state dinner in honor of the Queen last year. And supposedly it was the first time that the Queen has been seen (or caught on camera at least) to be toasting with a glass of wine instead of a glass of water.
Dr. Newton eagerly passed her Blackberry around the table, showing us the picture of the toast - along with the Queen's signature attached a the bottom. She is understandably proud of this distinction, and cracked one of her many jokes of the evening.
The Chardonnay was served to accompany the first course - warm tiger prawn salad on avocado mousse. The prawns were reasonably yummy, and the avocado was very well received.
We were next poured the 2005 Newton Red Label Claret, made in classic claret style from a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Petit Verdot. The Red Label wines are the only wines which are filtered. I found this wine easy to drink, but uninteresting as filtration essentially rids the wine of character, a fact Dr. Newton readily acknowledges.
The claret accompanied the second course - porcini mushroom risotto. There was a tad more cheese in the risotto than I would have liked, and the risotto was not al dente enough for my taste. But this was probably done to better suit the Chinese palate, in all honestly.
With the third course - roasted venison loin with red currant sauce and quark spaetzli - we were poured both the 1999 and 2002 Newton Unfiltered Merlot. The venison was interestingly tasty, but not as gamey as I preferred. The spaetzle was so-so, not the best that I've had.
Now the wines...the 1999 was clearly drinking very well this evening, having 3 more years of bottle age than the 2002. Tannins were softer. The 2002 comes from a stellar vintage in California, and it has a lot more aging potential. However, it is still too young and at 15% alcohol, packs a big wallop. Too bad the 1999 isn't on sale here...
The last wine of the evening was the winery's top effort - 2002 Newton The Puzzle. This is a wine made in only great vintages, and as such it wasn't made in 2003 but re-appeared in 2004. This is made from the winery's top parcels, and the blend changes each time to create the optimal wine - hence the name. While I thought this was a good effort - big nose of sweet, wild strawberries emerged after rigorous swirling of the glass - it was still a bit too young. Needs another few years of bottle age.
The wine was accompanied by oven roasted stuffed lamb saddle "Pauillac" served with Provencale vegetables. Normally I am a big fan of lamb, and although the lamb was pink and juicy, saddle is just a bit too chewy for my taste. Dr. Newton commented on the "saturated fat" around the outside.
We ended the dinner with warm chocolate pudding with seasonal mixed berries. Boring...
My observations about Dr. Newton... She is definitely an interesting woman with a bit of a checkered background. Apparently born in pre-communist China (some references to Manchuria and no, she is no spring chicken) but fled to the UK where she was educated and earned a doctorate. She divides her time between winemaking and her charity work with medicine (she keeps saying that she is a pediatrician...)
She is clearly a very outspoken woman, not afraid to offer her opinion and knocking down anything she believes to be BS. She recounted lots of stories the whole night: telling Hugh Johnson he's full of crap when talking about the wine's "legs"; how she used to work for the house of Chanel (as a model?); how naive Coca Cola was when they bought Sterling and only made Peter Newton sign a non-compete agreement, even though she - a woman - was actually the winemaker...
One can't help but notice the chip on her shoulder. Here was a Chinese woman making wine in the US, who had to put up with racism growing up in England and dealt with snobbery in the world of wine. She was proud of what she had achieved, and wasn't afraid to stick her thumb at the world. She kept referring to certain things about the wine world as being "I think, you think, I think, you think, I think" - meaning it was all nonsense. And she is here to tell it like it is.
Something I found interesting: she kept talking about herself being a pediatrician and therefore certain things were against her principles. She also scoffed at the "saturated fat" in the lamb saddle. But a quick search on the internet showed that she spent some time on the board of Krispy Kreme Doughnuts. What the *&^$?! KKD sells doughnuts deep-fried in oil. You wanna talk about fat? A bit hypocritical, non?
Well, it certainly was an entertaining evening, to say the least. I did enjoy the wines, and it was interesting to meet Dr. Newton.
February 28, 2008
Domaine Ponsot 2005 Tasting
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Last night I went to the eagerly anticipated tasting of the 2005 vintage from Burgundy’s Domaine Ponsot. The tasting was organized by the HK supplier Altaya Wines, run by my friend Paulo, and was held at the China Club.
2005 has been touted as a sort of “vintage of the century”, and the Domaine’s top wine – Clos de la Roche Vielles Vignes – earned a score of 99 points from critic Allen Meadows. Many of us present had purchased our allocation of these wines, but since we would likely not open them until the wines have reached maturity 10-20 years later, it was a rare chance to get a feel for the wines across the range.
We started with the 2005 Morey-St-Denis 1er Cru Clos des Monts Luisants. This is a monopole white made from old vines Aligoté, planted in 1911. Laurent Ponsot explained that many people do not know that in the old days, Aligoté made up a significant portion of the white wine production in Burgundy. The nose was a little "hot", with notes of pear and minerals. Acidity was on the high side, with a slightly bitter after palate. While Laurent is obviously very proud about this special wine, I think I would stay with Chardonnays in Burgundy...
Next up was a trio of village wines. The 2005 Chambolle-Musigny Cuvée des Cigales had a sweet grassy nose, with notes of strawberries. In fact it smelled a little like a new world pinot...The tannins were evident, while there was a lot of acidity. This combination should actually make for a good one in the long run.
The 2005 Gevrey-Chambertin Cuvée de L'Abeille was my favorite of the three, an opinion shared by others at the table. The nose was very sweet, fruity and forward, much more fragrant than the Chambolle. Compared to the Chambolle, the tannins here were much lighter. Overall this wine drinks much better now in its youth.
The 2005 Morey-St-Denis Cuvée des Grives - situated between Gevrey-Chambertin and Chambolle-Musigny - was not very attractive. The nose smelled a bit "medicinal" and the fruit only showed up much later in the tasting. Tannin levels were between those of the Gevrey and the Chambolle, and I could taste the significant acidity. On the palate it probably was the middle ground between Gevrey and Chambolle.
We then moved to the pair of 1er Crus. The 2005 Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Charmes was a significant improvement over the village wine. The nose was very intense, sweet with a hint of grass and a strong dose of iron and minerals. Here we have again a wine that reminds me of blood. Tannins were soft and the acidity was well-balanced. Very nice.
The 2005 Morey-St-Denis 1er Cru Cuvée des Alouettes was a very ripe and forward wine with an even sweeter nose. I tasted a bit of tannin but the wine was pretty well-balanced. Very enjoyable and significantly higher on the quality scale than the village wine.
The two grand crus from Chambertin were served next. The 2005 Chapelle-Chambertin again showed a sweet, grassy nose with black cherries. The wine very very smooth, ripe but not "hot". There was a bit of acidity on the palate. Very, very enjoyable and again a notch above the 1er Crus.
The 2005 Griotte-Chambertin, which Laurent Ponsot described as the "lolita" readily displaying her charmes, was for me the wine of the tasting. It was a ripe and powerful wine, with an explosively sweet nose that blew me away. Drinking today, it showed a bit better than the Chapelle-Chambertin - the "lady" as Laurent would describe it.
Views were divided across the table as to which one performed better. The vines were planted with the same clone, and the harvest dates were almost identical. But the terroir of the wine showed through...
The last wine of the tasting was of course the 2005 Clos de la Roche Vielles Vignes. Everyone had high expectations, and I dare say that most were at least somewhat disappointed. The acidity was quite high, and the nose was very muted - I didn't get any fruit out of it. As Laurent said, this wine would probably reach maturity only in 20 years, so I guess we will wait and see.
Conclusion?
1. Don't buy the village wines (which I did not).
2. 1er Cru is worth buying (bought the Chambolle-Musigny).
3. The two Grand Crus from Chambertin are better value than the Clos de la Roche VV (bought all of them, but my allocation on Griotte and Chapelle was smaller than the Clos de la Roche!)
Post Script: After the tasting, a few of us got together for dinner at Bonheur. Michelle brought a bottle of 1985 Guigal Cote-Rotie Brune et Blonde, which we drank happily. I have served the three single-vineyard Cote-Rotie LaLaLa's in an MNSC tasting 3 years ago, and was looking forward to tasting their cousin. It drank beautifully - especially for the price paid. It was a classic Cote-Rotie with the telltale perfumed nose from the viognier. Very smooth after more than 20 years' of aging, the tannins were soft and yummy.
I brought along a bottle of 2002 Pax Syrah Walker Vine Hill. This is from one of my favorite Californian Syrah producers, and it's basically a fruit bomb weighing in at 15.2% alcohol. We decanted the bottle, each had a couple of sips, and poured the wine back into the bottle. I will be having it tonight after 24 hours...
The food at Bonheur was good as usual. My starter of jamon iberico with raclette cheese was a good way to begin the meal. The main course of roast pigeon on asparagus risotto was excellent. The pigeon was yummy and the risotto was al dente - a very pleasant surprise. Finally, the croissant and bread pudding was a good way to end the meal.
The restaurant was packed as usual. I should make a point of going to Bonheur a bit more. Needless to say, I was very well toasted by the time dinner was done...
Last night I went to the eagerly anticipated tasting of the 2005 vintage from Burgundy’s Domaine Ponsot. The tasting was organized by the HK supplier Altaya Wines, run by my friend Paulo, and was held at the China Club.
2005 has been touted as a sort of “vintage of the century”, and the Domaine’s top wine – Clos de la Roche Vielles Vignes – earned a score of 99 points from critic Allen Meadows. Many of us present had purchased our allocation of these wines, but since we would likely not open them until the wines have reached maturity 10-20 years later, it was a rare chance to get a feel for the wines across the range.
We started with the 2005 Morey-St-Denis 1er Cru Clos des Monts Luisants. This is a monopole white made from old vines Aligoté, planted in 1911. Laurent Ponsot explained that many people do not know that in the old days, Aligoté made up a significant portion of the white wine production in Burgundy. The nose was a little "hot", with notes of pear and minerals. Acidity was on the high side, with a slightly bitter after palate. While Laurent is obviously very proud about this special wine, I think I would stay with Chardonnays in Burgundy...
Next up was a trio of village wines. The 2005 Chambolle-Musigny Cuvée des Cigales had a sweet grassy nose, with notes of strawberries. In fact it smelled a little like a new world pinot...The tannins were evident, while there was a lot of acidity. This combination should actually make for a good one in the long run.
The 2005 Gevrey-Chambertin Cuvée de L'Abeille was my favorite of the three, an opinion shared by others at the table. The nose was very sweet, fruity and forward, much more fragrant than the Chambolle. Compared to the Chambolle, the tannins here were much lighter. Overall this wine drinks much better now in its youth.
The 2005 Morey-St-Denis Cuvée des Grives - situated between Gevrey-Chambertin and Chambolle-Musigny - was not very attractive. The nose smelled a bit "medicinal" and the fruit only showed up much later in the tasting. Tannin levels were between those of the Gevrey and the Chambolle, and I could taste the significant acidity. On the palate it probably was the middle ground between Gevrey and Chambolle.
We then moved to the pair of 1er Crus. The 2005 Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Charmes was a significant improvement over the village wine. The nose was very intense, sweet with a hint of grass and a strong dose of iron and minerals. Here we have again a wine that reminds me of blood. Tannins were soft and the acidity was well-balanced. Very nice.
The 2005 Morey-St-Denis 1er Cru Cuvée des Alouettes was a very ripe and forward wine with an even sweeter nose. I tasted a bit of tannin but the wine was pretty well-balanced. Very enjoyable and significantly higher on the quality scale than the village wine.
The two grand crus from Chambertin were served next. The 2005 Chapelle-Chambertin again showed a sweet, grassy nose with black cherries. The wine very very smooth, ripe but not "hot". There was a bit of acidity on the palate. Very, very enjoyable and again a notch above the 1er Crus.
The 2005 Griotte-Chambertin, which Laurent Ponsot described as the "lolita" readily displaying her charmes, was for me the wine of the tasting. It was a ripe and powerful wine, with an explosively sweet nose that blew me away. Drinking today, it showed a bit better than the Chapelle-Chambertin - the "lady" as Laurent would describe it.
Views were divided across the table as to which one performed better. The vines were planted with the same clone, and the harvest dates were almost identical. But the terroir of the wine showed through...
The last wine of the tasting was of course the 2005 Clos de la Roche Vielles Vignes. Everyone had high expectations, and I dare say that most were at least somewhat disappointed. The acidity was quite high, and the nose was very muted - I didn't get any fruit out of it. As Laurent said, this wine would probably reach maturity only in 20 years, so I guess we will wait and see.
Conclusion?
1. Don't buy the village wines (which I did not).
2. 1er Cru is worth buying (bought the Chambolle-Musigny).
3. The two Grand Crus from Chambertin are better value than the Clos de la Roche VV (bought all of them, but my allocation on Griotte and Chapelle was smaller than the Clos de la Roche!)
Post Script: After the tasting, a few of us got together for dinner at Bonheur. Michelle brought a bottle of 1985 Guigal Cote-Rotie Brune et Blonde, which we drank happily. I have served the three single-vineyard Cote-Rotie LaLaLa's in an MNSC tasting 3 years ago, and was looking forward to tasting their cousin. It drank beautifully - especially for the price paid. It was a classic Cote-Rotie with the telltale perfumed nose from the viognier. Very smooth after more than 20 years' of aging, the tannins were soft and yummy.
I brought along a bottle of 2002 Pax Syrah Walker Vine Hill. This is from one of my favorite Californian Syrah producers, and it's basically a fruit bomb weighing in at 15.2% alcohol. We decanted the bottle, each had a couple of sips, and poured the wine back into the bottle. I will be having it tonight after 24 hours...
The food at Bonheur was good as usual. My starter of jamon iberico with raclette cheese was a good way to begin the meal. The main course of roast pigeon on asparagus risotto was excellent. The pigeon was yummy and the risotto was al dente - a very pleasant surprise. Finally, the croissant and bread pudding was a good way to end the meal.
The restaurant was packed as usual. I should make a point of going to Bonheur a bit more. Needless to say, I was very well toasted by the time dinner was done...
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