Kurniawan is back ‘at it’ my friends and colleagues in Singapore tell me.
No more pretence. The deal is that you go to a tasting dinner with him (for which you pay, and handsomely), tell him which celebrated wine/vintage you are going to bring, and he will then ‘make one’ and then on the night everyone tastes both and sees which is ‘best’.
He’s doing this, so I expect/suspect that the Asian wine auction market is awash with fakes of various ‘vintages’ (in both senses of the word).
Worth watching “Sour Grapes” (link) for the full story - it really is a bumpy ride.
Went into Safeways and selected what I thought could be good Canadian wines. The first one, a Chardonnay from the Okanagan Valley, ticks all the boxes.
Haven’t had a wine in weeks but recently got some encouraging health results that made me open this. A Tasmanian Ninth 9 Island sparkling to share with friends.
Aged for one year in French oak with further ageing in bottle stored in Debs cellar, the style here is quite classic having excellent ripe blackcurrant flavours with a good backbone. Good length too…
As a wine drinker myself I’m curious to know how many bottles per week do other wine lovers regularly drink? I ask this beacause government guidelines seem to suggest that anything more than around one bottle per wek can/will have potentially serious long-term damaging effects on your health.
I’ve drunk around 4 bottles per week for decades, which is clearly way in excess of recommendations. Maybe I should be cutting down though. Is two bottles per week OK I wonder? One bottle a week seems rather mingy for something that one enjoys so much.
And with dinner we have this. A lovely organic Sancerre; I’ve a soft spot for Sancerre, which is a lovely village but it’s a steep climb to the centre on a bike.
Wine dinner with around 30 friends and acquaintances tonight. Incredible lineup of wines, including a 1989 Chateau Lafite Rothschild Carruades de Lafite, a 2010 Chateau L Dominique, a NV Maurice Vessell Brut Les Hauts Chemin Champagne Grand Cru, a 1996 Araujo Estate Eisele Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, and a 1979 Chateau Fonbadet.
I’m slumming it with these. The Burgundy is a little young but very drinkable:
A bit tongue in cheek but think it depends where you live. I had 3 stents put in in December. I was very fortunate. An annual physical picked up something that the nurse was concerned about. Referred me onto a cardiologist who said all looks fine but since you are here, let’s organise a few tests. Bing, bang, boom, angio, stents, and drugs. If I was in Canada, prescription would be cut alcohol to zero units. In the UK, dietician said 14 units a week (which I wasn’t drinking before the heart stuff). Obviously, I’m never moving to Canada as I will live longer, but the cardio guy said life is for living. Be smart, balanced and make your choices. I’ve cut red meat down by 90%, eat loads more fish (discovered I like it) and stay dry 3-4 days out of 7. My current approach is quality over quantity and prioritize other actions to offset the vino (down 20 lbs in 7 months). Will see if it’s the right decision but life is for living.
