A smash HITT

The drinks business Hong Kong’s second Hong Kong International Top Tasters (HITT) event went down a storm with more blind tasting teams putting their skills to the test at the Grand Hyatt.

Deep in thought: teams battled it out to blind taste 12 wines

An ebbing typhoon didn’t stop 55 of Hong Kong’s top wine enthusiasts gathering at the Grand Hyatt for the drinks business Hong Kong’s second Hong Kong International Top Tasters (HITT) event in partnership with auction house, Acker Merrall & Condit (Asia) and in aid of Hong Kong charity, Po Leung Kuk which provides support for orphaned children, education and training programmes and protection of vulnerable women. Founded in 1878 to protect the victims of abduction and trafficking, the charity is also celebrating its 138^th year of community service this year.

The event tested the very wits of the 14 teams who had to undergo a one hour blind tasting competition presided over by judges, Debra Meiburg MW; Eric Desgouttes, general manager of Kerry Wines; Barry Galloway, country manager of Treasury Wine Estates for Hong Kong, Macau and South China and Donny Ho, general manager of Jebsen Fine Wines for Hong Kong and Macau.

The 13 teams of four contestants (and one brave team of only three) battled it out to guess the geographic region of origin, variety or key varieties, vintage and aromas of each wines and hazard a guess at the RRP of a 750ml bottle before the sheets were handed over to the judges for marking. Putting any commercial competitiveness aside, it was great to see several of Hong Kong’s wine merchants making up teams, including Summergate, Berry Bros & Rudd and Madison Wine and an inter-merchant team made up of Kay Park from Wine High Club and Kaori Yamada from Japanese wine specialist, J-Vinifity.

Wines selected for the competition were revealed to be:

• 2015 Old Vine Reserve Chenin Blanc, Ken Forrester Vineyards, from Stellenbosch in South Africa
• 2014 Mâcon-Azé, Domaine de La Garenne, from Mâconnais in Burgundy, France
• 2011 Pinot Gris Calcaire, Domaine Zind-Humbrecht, from Turckheim in Haut-Rhin, Alsace
• 2013 Merlot, Chateau Ste Michelle from Columbia Valley in Washington, USA
• 2012 Marlborough Pinot Noir, Churton, from Marlborough in New Zealand
• 2005 Gran Reserva 904, La Rioja Alta, from Rioja Alta in Rioja, Spain
• 2009 Herencia Carmenère, Santa Carolina, from Peumo and Los Lingues in Chile
• 2012 Old Vine Grenache, Yangarra Estate Vineyard, from McLaren Vale in South Australia
• 2010 Château Pedesclaux, Cru Classé, from Pauillac in Bordeaux, France
• 2013 Cayas, Syrah du Valais AOC “Réserve”, Jean-René Germanier from Valais, Switzerland
• 2014 Gran Reserva Malbec, Finca el Origen from Uco Valley in Mendoza, Argentina
• 2007 Barbaresco DOCG Pajoré, Rizzi from Barbaresco in Piemonte, Italy

Winning smiles: The Madison Rack ‘n’ Rollers team Alex Gonszor, Bernice Chan, Kelvin Tao with Andrew Bigbee and their prize trophy 

The winning team was announced as Team 14: Madison Rack ‘n’ Rollers with Bernice Cheng, Alex Gonszor, Vitor Lima and Kelvin Tao who each won a Coravin Model 2 Elite, a two-bottle case of 2006 Château Sudiraut and 2009 Château Coutet sponsored by Crus Classés de Sauternes et Barsac en 1855 (CCSB). Then for the whole team, Crus Classes de Sauternes et Barsac en 1855 (CCSB) offered a two-day visit to Sauternes and Barsac, and Treasury Wine Estates gave four tickets to its upcoming masterclass and dinner plus four sets of Riedel Vinum glasses. The whole team also shared the prize of a fine wine storage unit at HKQAA certified China Merchants Dionysus Club, sponsored by China Merchants Wine Cellar, for one year.

In second place came Team 8: Three Blind Mice made up of only three contestants: Justin Chen, Stephen Ngan and Jingwei Sun who each won a set of Coravin needles sponsored by Coravin, a two-bottle case of 2006 Château Sudiraut and 2009 Château Coutet sponsored by Crus Classés de Sauternes et Barsac en 1855 (CCSB), four sessions of MW mock tasting exam practice sessions sponsored by Meiburg Wine Media and then jointly shared a 1-year fine wine storage at HKQAA certified China Merchants Dionysus Club, sponsored by China Merchants Wine Cellar.

In third place came Team 4: The Swirling Dervishes with Caroline Que, Sabrina Hosford, Anna Silin and Stephen Gore who each won four sets of Debra Meiburg’s Grand Cue Cards sponsored by Meiburg Wine Media, a two-bottle case of 2010 Château de Myrat and 2010 Château Romer-du-Hayot sponsored by Crus Classés de Sauternes et Barsac en 1855 (CCSB) and 1-year fine wine storage at HKQAA certified China Merchants Dionysus Club, sponsored by China Merchants Wine Cellar.

There was also a prize for the most creative team name, voted by all the dinner guests, which went to the lucky Three Blind Mice team where Justin Chen, Stephen Ngan and Jingwei Sun each received a set of organic olive oil and balsamic vinegar, kindly donated by Mas de Daumas Gassac.

Overall the judges were impressed with the level of knowledge demonstrated by the teams and Debra Meiburg emphasized the key role that formal wine education plays in Hong Kong’s wine industry as the top three teams had a strong presence of MW students and WSET Diploma students and graduates, with Jingwei Sun named as WSET’s global top Diploma student last year.

Competitor and South China Morning Post columnist, Sarah Wong also commented that it was more difficult to do blind tasting as a team than individually as everyone had to have their say and reach a general consensus and in some cases, compromise! Though her team very sensibly promised at the beginning that there would be no falling out if the wrong wine was called…

After the competition, a further 50 guests joined the Champagne reception sponsored by Champagne Ayala and a delicious four-course dinner prepared by Grand Hyatt’s executive sous chef, Markus Zuck.

The emcee for the evening, Sean Cain, a stand-up comedian in his part time, introduced the evening with special thanks going to Abbie Chan, Po Leung Kuk’s vice chairman and Angel Chan Lau, Po Leung Kuk’s advisory board member as well as other sponsors and to the drinks business HK and Acker Asia.

Guests first tucked into poached king prawn and Japanese scallop with avocado cream and paprika aioli which was paired with an array of Sauternes and Barsac wines sponsored by Crus Classés de Sauternes et Barsac en 1855 (CCSB). The wines were: 2009 Château La Tour Blanche, 2013 Château Lafaurie-Peyraguey, 2006 Château Suduiraut, 2009 Château Coutet, 208 Château Climens, 2004 Château Sigalas-Rabaud, 2010 Château de Myrat, 2009 Château Filhot and 2010 Château Romer du Hayot.

While sweet wines are not a traditional pairing with seafood, the general opinion around the room agreed that they did in fact go very well with the prawn and scallop dishes as there was a subtle sweetness to the prawn and scallop which stood up well to the wines’ high acidity and high levels of sugar. The mild spice from the paprika also complemented the Sauternes/Barsac sweetness.

The starter of poached king prawn and Japanese scallop with avocado cream and paprika aioli was a perfect match with CCSB’s selection of sweet wines

The rest of the dinner wines were:

• 2012 Pernand-Vergelesses 1er cru, Les Caradeux by Domaine Chanson, sponsored by Jebsen Fine Wines
• 2013 Tonschiefer Riesling by Dönnhoff, sponsored by Kerry Wines
• 2012 Pinot Noir, Surveyor Thomson from Domaine Thomson
• 1994 Gran Reserva 904 by La Rioja Alta, sponsored by Kerry Wines
• 2009 Cornalin, Cépage Rouge du Valais AOC Réserve by Domaine Jean-René Germanier, sponsored by The Swiss Wine Store
• 2012 St Antoni by Scala Dei from Grupo Codorníu Raventós
• 2012 Twinwoods Margaret River Optivus Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, sponsored by Jebsen Fine Wines
• 2012 Gigondas by Guigal, sponsored by Jebsen Fine Wines
• Taylor’s 20-year-old Tawny Port from Jebsen Fine Wines

Crus Classés de Sauternes et Barsac en 1855 (CCSB) also kindly provided the same selection of Sauternes and Barsac for the cheese course as it did with the starter.

The dinner went down extremely well with guests with two particular dinner and wine pairings highlighted including olive oil poached salmon with wild fennel pollen sauce and the Pernand-Vergelesses and the Australian lamb loin matching with the Gran Reserva 904 and the Cornalin.

There was also a Tasting Corner featuring all the competition wines which proved popular with contestants (who had the chance to retaste some of the wines that foxed them!) and guests alike.

Acker, Merrall and Condit’s auctioneer, Truly Hardy

Between courses, an auction was held in aid of Po Leung Kuk hosted by Acker Merrall & Condit’s auctioneer, Truly Hardy who kindly stepped in fresh from hosting a previous Acker auction in Hong Kong.

The auction items up for grabs were:

Lot 1: A jeroboam of Bollinger special cuvée sponsored by Champagne Bollinger

Lot 2: A magnum of Château La Tour Blanche 2009 and a magnum of Château Suduiraut 2003 sponsored by CCSB

Lot 3: A magnum of the 1986 vintage of Mas de Daumas Gassac including a handwritten note from Basile Guibert sponsored by Mas de Daumas Gassac

Lot 4: Two magnums, one each of Echezeaux 1993 and 1996 sponsored by Domaine Dujac

Lot 5: A very special one-day visit to Tesseron Cognac and Château Pontet-Canet for up to six people sponsored by the estates

Lot 6: Four mixed 6-bottle cases of Crus Classés de Sauternes et Barsac en 1855 (CCSB)

Lot 7: Three magnums of Beaulieu Vineyard Private Reserve Georges de Latour signed by the winemaker and sponsored by Treasury Wine Estates

Lot 8: An imperial (6 litres) of Château Climens 2005 sponsored by Château Climens

Lot 9: A bottle of Château Latour 1990 sponsored by Acker Merrall & Condit (Asia)

Lot 10: A magnum of 1990 Hermitage La Chapelle, Paul Jaboulet Aîné sponsored by Acker Merrall & Condit (Asia)

After the dinner, the raffle raised HK$8,400 with prizes including a bottle of Château Cos d’Estournel 2010 sponsored by Daisy C.F. Ho, Vice Chairman of Po Leung Kuk; 4 ‘Squina’ antioxidant packs sponsored by Abbie Chan and Angel Chan from Po Leung Kuk; two bottles of 2006 Château Suduiraut and two bottles of 2009 Château La Tour Blanche both sponsored by Crus Classés de Sauternes et Barsac en 1855 (CCSB). There was also a lucky draw prize of a mixed wooden case of wines by Château Haut Bailly including three bottles of the 2006 vintage and three bottles of the 2008 vintage of La Parde de Haut Bailly, donated by Kerry Wines.

Altogether, the event raised a fantastic HK$120,874 for Po Leung Kuk which was noted by Eleanor Kwok, Chairman of Po Leung Kuk, who commented:

“Our heartiest congratulations to the drinks business HK for the success of the second Hong Kong International Top Tasters event.

“We would also like to express our most sincere gratitude to the drinks business HK and Acker Merrall & Condit (Asia) for the staunch support so generously rendered to the event with Po Leung Kuk being kindly selected as the beneficiary.

Eleanor Kwok, Chairman of Po Leung Kuk, thanks guests and the drinks business HK team for raising vital funds for Po Leung Kuk’s youth services

“Please rest assured that the funds raised will be fully utilized to provide comprehensive and multi-dimensional counselling and support services to the youth.

“As always, Po Leung Kuk relies heavily on the support of donors and partners from all walks of life to sustain our existing projects and develop new initiatives for the needy. We shall look eagerly forward to working together with the drinks business HK team on other occasions in the future.”

James Owen, sales director of Kerry Wines added: “It was a great night and ran smoothly. There was a great array of wines with dinner all showing well and the Grand Hyatt always puts on a good spread. The auction was fun and auctioneer, Truly Hardy had a good rapport with the crowd.”

PM Chan, co-proprietor of Domaine Thomson also said: “It was a great event and thanks to the drinks business HK team for organising everything so well! Food was really excellent.” PM and David were generous to share with the guests their second label from Central Otago: Explorer Pinot Noir too, which was served on Cathay Pacific First Class until the end of October.

The drinks business HK would like to thank all of the competition and dinner wine and auction sponsors, including Acker Merrall & Condit (Asia), China Merchants Wine Cellar, Crus Classés de Sauternes et Barsac en 1855, Jebsen Fine Wines, Kerry Wines, Mas de Daumas Gassac, Domaine Dujac, Château Pontet-Canet & Tesseron Cognac, and Treasury Wine Estates, as well as all other sponsors already mentioned in this article.

“It was great to have the partnership of Acker Merrall & Condit (Asia) which helped make our second HITT event an amazing success,” said Ivy Ng, publisher of the drinks business Hong Kong.

“We were able to work with excellent wine producers who were confident in their wines to put them forward in our blind tasting as they represented the typicity of each of the wine regions and representative grape varieties. I hope we made it a fun evening for all the teams too!”

A full rundown of HITT will be in the December/January 2017 edition of the drinks business HK.