Wineshark weekly - 10 July 2011

3 July (Sun) - After going out for lunch and bought a set of knives for my cooking (yes, I am also serious on cooking!) I continued drinking the 1996 Condado de Haza opened the day before. The wine is relatively complex and interesting. Spanish wine is such value for money and I think the general public did not put enough attention on this wonderful country. But maybe also because of that we can still buy at such a good price...

My tasting note on this bottle, also under the family of Alejandro Fernandez, producer of the famous Janus (refer to my Best Producer series).

Region / Country: Ribera del Duero Spain

Vintage: 1996

Grape: 100% Tempranillo

ABV: 13%            

Price: HK$495

Tasting Date: 2 July 2011

Wineshark Score: 91

Deep garnet Tempranillo with an intense nose of black cherry, baked plum, earth, cedar, black pepper, wet leaves, leather and savory characters. Relatively high in acidity, with a medium level, ripe and fine-grained tannin showing well-integrated structure. Medium body with a reasonably intense palate of black cherry, dark plum, oak, sweet spice, leather, savory and wet leaves. Overall a good quality red from Ribera del Duero with a fairly long length and a complex nose and palate. Despite its age the fruit characters are still outstanding. This wine is ready to drink now but can be further developed for another 3-4 years.

I went to Spring Deer restaurant for dinner with my wife's family. The food is good as always, at reasonable price. We ordered the Peking duck, hot and sour soup, and other traditional dishes. Before arriving at the restaurant I actually bumped into the TV actor Cheng Ka Wing. Don't understand why he was wearing a 'working class' outfit and dining at a nondescript HK cafe (even dining outside without air-con). Maybe he was on a TV show. But that would mean I am  on the show as well..... :)

4 July (Mon) - Received the wines I purchased from Altaya and Vinfolio. A total of 7 bottles, 3 from Vincent Girardin, 2 from Dugat-Py, 1 Leroy and 1 St-Emilion GCC. Really looking forward to trying them all! But did not open any wine tonight as I will be traveling tomorrow to Singapore...

5 July (Tue) - Today I checked my Biondi-Santi bought last month and found that it is an Annata instead of the Riserva which I have ordered. I immediately called Vinfolio to check and taken some photos to send to them. Hope they still have the Riserva and able to replace one for me. I really have been searching this for a while and don't want to lose it...

I arrived Singapore close to 9pm, and stayed in Grand Hyatt in Scotts Road. Got upgraded to a junior suite, and the overall decor is nice. Then went to Chatterbox for Chicken Rice (I know I am boring...). Just like fast food to me though very expensive (SGD43 for the chicken rice plus fresh coconut juice).

6 July (Wed) - Crazy long day for me. Worked till close to 2am... I went to a local hawker centre for chicken rice, heard that it is a famous one - Tian Tian. Really quite nice and cheap (1/8 of the price compared with Chatterbox). Today after my meeting I went to a couple of wine shops here in Singapore. Really don't have much surprise.Wine Culture got a fairly good selection of Burgundy and also some good ones. I did not look at the price as I believe it will be much more expensive than HK. Dinner was at a Thai restaurant and food was quite ok, though expensive... I needed to pay SGD63 just for one person.

7 July (Thu) - My colleagues in Singapore brought me to a good Indian restaurant today for lunch (though a bit far walking from the office). It is located in Little India, called Banana Leaf Apolo. Their curry fish head is tasty (though hot!!) and I enjoyed it very much.

8 July (Fri) - I am flying back home. Need to plan about my tasting party for July/August.

9 July (Sat) - Cooking Class again! Today we made 3 dishes: Avocados with Prawn Salad, Curried Pork with Pineapple, and Fruit Scones. Very delicious. The teacher also said my Curried Pork is very good. In fact, I have to say, really very good!!

I also bought a few bottles at Ponti and CitySuper on the day, targeting to start my Albarino and then Santenay tasting and study soon... 

At night we went to Koh-i-Noor for Indian food in TST. Located at a rather old building, the food is quite good. We ordered Lassi, Chicken Tikka, Gosht Masala, some Naan and Paratha. HK$290 for two person.