Hong Kong: City of Wine

11 Nov 2011: 3 days of 'wining' at the HK Wine and Spirits Fair and 3 days at the Winefuture Conference in HK added up to be quite a heavy toll on my system, not least my teeth, which bore the brunt of the pigment and acidity attack from the seriously staining young reds. However, in the name of wine, it was all very worthwhile. Apart from attending some very well-organised and educational tastings including the well-publicised 2009 Bordeaux Magical 20 Tasting conducted by Robert Parker, I focused my tasting on the lesser known regions and grape varieties....and in most cases, was rather encouraged by what I saw and tasted.

Robert Parker conducted the Magical 20 Tasting of 2009 Bordeaux

I did not exactly take notes during my booth-hopping, but the following made a distinct impression on me: the Tannat from Uruguay, the Blaufränkisch, pinot-noiresque Saint Laurent and fruity and vigorous Zweigelt from Austria (the grassy and minerally Grüner Veltliner relegated to yesterday's story!), the Nero d'Avola and Frappato contributing to Cerasuolo di Vittorio DOCG from Sicily, the waxy Grecanico with a slight pungent nose of herbal and citrus, with bitter almond aftertaste from Sicily (another alternative to Sauvignon Blanc), the blend of Negroamaro and Malvasia Nera making juicy and well-structured Salice Salentino DOC from Puglia,  the Öküzgözü and Boğazkere (both black grapes) and Narince (white grape) from Turkey, the Cabernet Franc from the Maule Valley in Argentina (yes - old story, but exciting new expression), the Hungarian Furmint and Hárslevelű both made in a dry style and a medium sweet version made from Zéta, and also Icewine from China. 

Chester d'Arenberg Osborn demonstrating new marketing ideas - a world without boundaries

The future of wine is without borders and boundaries.....it will be fascinating to watch how some of these regions rise to realise their full potential in the years to come, and to see how the birthplace of viticulture, the countries around the Black Sea, would once again be resurrected to its former glory!  The future of wine is very exciting and HK managed to attract vinous people from all over the world to be cocooned in these concrete monstrosities of exhibition centres, complete with the standard issue of terrible coffee and buffet lunches!  HK is now truly the epicentre of wine - at least for now, with at least a wine-related auction taking place almost every other week.....and a formal wine dinner taking place somewhere in HK every other day.  There has never been so much interest in wine  here, thanks in one part to the elimination of duty, a bold decision taken 6 years ago but in another perhaps bigger part, the attraction of the massive hinterland of China! 

I may be wrong with my statistics but I thought there were as many people making a beeline for the better known regions of Bordeaux and Burgundy as there were people experimenting with new regions and varieties at the Wine and Spirits Fair.  Bordeaux will always be there - as Robert Parker said, it represents the pinnacle of winemaking and has a very unique wine style and ageing profile, not quite equalled by another wine region at the moment.  A lot of Bordeaux-inspired regions and wineries aspire to become the next cult wine, gaining overnight fame and status with a high rating from a worthy critic.  I rather admire individual personality in a wine, a wine that speaks of its origin and DNA, a wine that has a personna, a character that puts it in its own class and category, not Bordeaux-inspired, not Burgundy-wannabe and not chasing a certain style to ensure a high rating.  These are the wines that deserve our support so that they continue to improve and evolve.  I shall always remember how Randall Grahm profoundly talked about the 'chi' of wine - wine as a living organism, the 'chi' giving it energy, the 'chi' connecting it to mother earth!  When the wine is harmonious and at peace, we will enjoy it better........

If you haven't yet, I urge you to try Randall Grahm's wines - the reds are Grenache-based, harmoniously structured, very expressive and very elegant, and all within 14.5% alcohol.  I particularly liked his new experimentation with maturation in bon-bons.  I also liked the Roussanne and Grenache Blanc  white blend, refreshing, zingy, great food wine - Randall recommended sushi with fresh wasabi.  The vin gris is very interesting as well, with a creamy texture from the malolactic fermentation.....not sure how it got there but it did a great job giving the wine a new level of sophistication, uncommonly found in pink wines!

Randall Grahm on the 'chi' of wine

The Winefuture Conference was enlightening in many ways and I felt that there were many points one could take home to ponder over......the Chinese market remained a magnet to some and an enigma to others. Sparkling wine still struggles to to find a way to woo the Chinese palate (the racy acidity and sometimes too aggressive bubbles don't help - perhaps the much longer-aged prestige cuvée champagnes with more delicate mousse and intensified complexity would find their way to the Chinese hearts??).  We are seeing more consumption of white wine in China....hurrah!  Finally, the awakening of the Chinese palate.....I find that in general white wine demonstrates more versatility in the matching with a variety of flavours in Chinese cuisine.  Red wine still remains the wine of choice but pinot noir is the flavour of the moment and long may this last!  This 'deviation' from Bordeaux, however minor, may encourage an accelerated 'normalisation' of crazy Bordeaux prices, which is long overdue so that the playing ground can once more be better levelled for those of us without those thick wallets who have felt much sidelined.   



The Promising Wines from Spain

 But hey, look what we've found: impressive Argentinian Cabernet Franc, promising Turkish reds and Hungarian dry whites, silky and perfumed well-crafted Austrian pinot noir and plenty of delicious, food-friendly and ageworthy wines from Spain and Italy (if only the alcohol level could be slighty better managed - 14% or below would be ideal!).....we're not without choices!  In fact, as the Chinese market opens up, this has just propelled the development of wine in more directions than one and this development has offered all of us better quality wine (at a range of price points) and more diversity, and we the consumers now  more so than ever have the opportuity to identify our own style, much less influenced by critics and others.......Like the wine we drink, we too are evolving! 

Borrowing the words of Forrest Gump, the world of wine 'is like a box of chocolates'.......how exhilarating!  Gan Bei!  Yum Sing!  Santé! Salute! Cheers!!!