The week in pictures: Hong Kong

A tasting of iconic Aussie wine, McWilliams, an Old Fashioned at classy NoHo hangout Cocotte and journeying underground for scallop carpaccio. It’s been a busy week for the db HK team.

Always on the lookout for a decent Old Fashioned, team db HK stumbled across French bistro, Cocotte on former red light district hub and site of Sun Yat-Sen’s revolutionary meetings, Shin Hing Street. Superbly mixed by Cocotte’s bartender, Daniel, the Old Fashioned was preceded by the cilantro-and-Tequila-infused Ace of Clubs – a perfect antidote for a humid evening.

Chosen by Matthew Jukes in his 100 Best Australian Wines of 2015-2016, the McWilliam’s 2013 Tumbarumba Chardonnay and Canberra Syrah, came to Hong Kong in a tasting hosted by brand ambassador Garrick Harvison. 

Winning formula: The Tumbarumba Chardonnay grown on an alpine plateau in McWilliam’s vineyards in Tumbaruma in New South Wales displayed white flowers, stone fruits, citrus and cashew nuts with racy acidity.

As a response to China’s burgeoning interest in Chilean wines, Wines of Chile (WoC) launched its first Asia Academy in conjunction with AWSEC. Julio Alonso, WoC’s Asia director said to db: “We are keen to develop people’s knowledge. There’s a lack of education worldwide on Chile but we’ve seen in previous visits that the Chinese are keen to become ambassadors.”

Accessed via a button concealed outside an innocuous corrugated iron frontage, Bibo is a stylish French joint coupled with surreal art on Hollywood Road. The food was so stylish it could also have been on the walls, as demonstrated by this carpaccio of scallop, washed down with a 2006 Riesling.

Keen to get ahead of HK’s frenzy around the mid-Autumn festival, newly opened Chinese eatery, Tycoon Tann on Wellington Street has launched its own giftset of egg custard mooncakes, complete with a lucky charm in homage to the traditional harvest season. A recommended cocktail pairing would be upstairs Mod Bar’s Yum Cha, a subtle blend of fruit tea, mango, orange and passion fruit with cinnamon-infused gin.

Feeling in need of greenery, team db HK walked through Hong Kong Park as a rather convoluted way home. Home to waterfalls, botanical gardens and the famous red-eared turtles, Hong Kong Park provided some tranquility from Hong Kong’s humid downtown.