Wineshark weekly - 5 February 2012

This week I spent my whole working week in Philippines. Got a mixed feeling as many people leaving the company this week, some of them very close to me. I wish them all the best in their coming endeavors and hope our path will cross sometime in future. Life is full of surprises...

I had to attend a sales conference organized by our distributor in Philippines, requiring me to travel to Nasugbu in Batangas, about 2.5 hours from Manila. The area is a beach resort and really nice. Though by the time I arrived it was already early evening and I had to mingle with the country heads of other principals. The night was an award party for their sales team, and we were invited to present some prizes to the best performing individuals and teams. I had to give a short speech prior to the toast, really my first time addressing such a big group of external people (except my wedding). Think I did not do too badly and see if I got the photos from the distributor later...

I spent the night in the resort and then went back to Manila the next morning. On the way I stopped at Tagaytay to have lunch. A really nice place, with a much cooler climate than Manila. I had tried some local cuisine with my colleagues. Interesting ones, though not too delicious but still enjoyable. Unfortunately I forgot the names of those dishes but the deep fried small fishes were definitely good for beer!

Returning to HK I had my first wine-tasting party this year. The theme was Australia and we had some interesting wines to compare: Riesling from Clare and Eden Valley, Chardonnay from Margaret River and Eden Valley, Cabernet from Coonawarra and Margaret River, Shiraz from Barossa Valley and McLaren Vale, and finally a Rutherglen Tokay. I for once did not write tasting notes and simply immersed myself totally in the tasting and enjoyed the company of my good wine buddies. Really a fun night and already looking forward to our next party!

The wine I tasted this night is still on sparkling. I had a good Deutscher Sekt from Emrich-Schonleber in Nahe. A bit on the expensive side for a Sekt at $328, got it at Solar in Kowloon City. My tasting note:

Very good quality premium Deutscher Sekt with light lemon colour, medium bubble size and short persistence. Good complex and fairly intense nose, showing developing characters of petrol, lemon, acacia, peach, grapefruit, cream and bits of honey. Off-dry with fairly high acidity, the wine is of medium body and showing reasonably intense flavors of petrol, lime, peach, acacia and mineral. A delicate mousse with reasonable length on the finish, the wine has a good balance on sweetness and acidity, showing ample fruit and typical Riesling features. Ready to drink now and can potential for further ageing of another 1-2 years.

Next week, finally, will be spending my time in HK. Hope to catch up on my study and other personal matters, as well as meeting my mentees in HKUST. Take care my friends, and check my blog often!