Top wines in the Asian media

2011 Schloss Johannisberger – Riesling Auslese

Jeannie Cho Lee MW recommends this wine on asianpalate.com, she wrote: “Ripe, sweet honeysuckle and dried apricot flavoured Riesling. Balanced sweetness, typical late harvest style with focused acidity and layers of flavours. Wonderful balance between sweetness and acidity with fairly long length.”

2007 Harlan Estate

Cho Lee, also recommends this wine, writing; “An explosion of mocha, chocolate and ripe blackberries with roasted nuts on the finish. The surprising element is the grace with which this amazing power and punch is expressed, there is a gentleness unexpected in a big wine like this. Stunning.”

Greywacke Wild Sauvignon 2010

On winexin.sg, Wai Xin picked out this wine during a recent tasting, writing: “After Cloudy Bay became part of the luxury brand, LVMH, Kevin Judd dived into another wine venture. As a Marlborough white, his Greywacke Wild Sauvignon 2010 was atypical with scent of leafy blackcurrant, like a blackcurrant flavoured Ricola. It took a considerable amount of time before the signature style of Marlborough showed through. By then the unusual note would have captivated most to its speciality.”

Errazuriz La Cumbre Shiraz 2006

This wine was recommended by Chek Wong on Singaporean wine blog, The Local Nose. He wrote: “Part of the Icons range, the fruit for this wine was sourced from three vineyards in the Aconcagua Valley. Deep ruby robe. Youthful nose of rich, ripe fruit, with an aromatic lift that I would guess comes from the 3% Petit Verdot blended into this wine. Very plush tannins, with ripe forest fruits and great concentration. Well defined and structured.”

Castello Romitorio Morellino di Scansano DOCG 2007

This wine was picked out by Damon Yuen, on the Wine Buzz Hong Kong. He wrote: “Brilliant clear garnet, nose of fresh flowers, earth and plum. On the palate, bitter cherries end in a steady silky finish. This wine pairs well with (1) pea sprouts stir-fried in garlic (2) mushroom, beef or pork rice noodle wraps (Cheung Fun) with a light soya sauce (3) steamed prawns dipped in soy sauce with chillies and (4) fish steamed with ginger and green onion, bathing in hot oil and soya sauce.

Louis Roederer Brut Rosé 2008

This is the Champagne recommended by Sarah Wong in the South China Morning Post. She wrote: “The most common method to make rosé Champagne is to blend red wine with white wine. Higher quality wines will use the saignée (bleeding) method. This involves red grapes and brief skin contact with the juice to add colour.

“The Roederer Rosé is made from a selection of Pinot Noir harvested at higher ripeness levels, and 30% of the blend is made from Chardonnay to add structure and acidity of the wine.”

In describing the wine, she added: “A beautiful, translucent, pale salmon colour. Delicate strawberry fruit. Medium body, elegant and well-balanced.”

Château Pierre Bise Lune d’Anjou 2008

In the Wine Times of Hong Kong, the team was introduced to this wine as one to complement Chinese food. The website said: “Firstly, the Anjou itself is beautiful golden colour with a lovely floral nose with plenty of complex fruit bombarding your senses as you sniff in that first waft of aromatic sweetness. On the palate it has lovely summer flavours and is fresh with great balance between the sweetness and the subtly disguised acidity.

“This wine is a really excellent pairing for Chinese food overall. It’s only a matter of time before white wine consumption here in Hong Kong expands further and we see more people drinking whites with their food.”

McGuigan Bin 9000 Semillon 2006

And finally this wine is recommended by Pamela Tan in the Bangkok Post. She wrote: “A light pale yellow with a green hue, this exhibited an aromatic ripe style with lychees and gooseberries being the highlights. A flinty character along with yeasty notes lingered in the background. On the palate, this Semillon was medium-bodied with a fine line of gooseberry and lime, its round, soft structure being complemented by fresh acidity and a long finish.”