Organic wines in spotlight at Taste of Hong Kong 2017

The upcoming Taste of Hong Kong 2017 will shine a spotlight on organic wines as La Cabane a Vin, the city’s pioneering natural wine bar, will host tastings and pairings to showcase the complexity and versatility of natural wines at the four-day dining extravaganza.

Some of the rare bottles on pour will include a Pinot Gris by Sato from Otago in New Zealand which is made by a Burgundy-trained Japanese couple, as well as an “unorthodox” Chardonnay by Chateau Hansen from Ningxia, China.

La Cabane is credited for kickstarting the natural and organic wine trend in Hong Kong when it first opened its door in 2010. Consumer interest in natural wines, also described sometimes as “living wines”, has grown in recent years as more wine importers have diversified their portfolios to include organic, biodynamic and natural wines.

“I think the wine landscape has been broadened immensely since we opened and has possibly opened the way to smaller, independent, knowledgeable and curious wine cellars and wine bars (natural wine or not),” commented Cristobal Hunees, co-founder of La Cabane, when asked by dbHK about the city’s changing wine scene.  

Because of the wines’ “living” nature, food pairing can be a somewhat daunting task. The staunch advocate, however, argued that natural wines can be both serious and fun, and complement foods very well as they convey, “pure expression of terroir, of soil and grape variety,” he said. 

Well aware of natural wines’ occasional unpredictability, that in some of the worst cases means wines can’t even survive shipping outside of the estate, the wine merchant noted that with more fine-tuned techniques and years of experiences, it has become easier for winemakers to obtain precision in the winemaking process. 

“While we agree that some wine are and have been very funky and sometime unreliable, more and more winemakers and a new generation of winemakers want and can obtain precision,” he explained despite the absence of what he called “security net”, referring to the use of chemicals, industrial yeast and high levels of sulphur.

Food pairing with the wines will also be demonstrated at La Cabane booth during the Taste of Hong Kong event from 16 to 19 March.