Hermitage Wines and The Wandering Palate have brought together over 100 of the finest wine producers in the world, including those from the exclusive Burgundy area. In a special celebration of this region, wine writer and expert Allen Meadows was on hand to teach a master class on Burgundy wines, host an exceptional dinner that offered high-quality vintages, and present his first book entitled The Pearl of the Côte- the Great Wines of Vosne-Romanée [Burghound Books, 2010].
Wines From Around the World
The weekend concentrated on Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from all over the world, including Burgundy, New Zealand (NZ), Germany, and the United States. However, Pinot Noir vintages received the most attention. The Burgundy region in France and the Central Otago area of NZ share something in common that helps to produce some of the most fabulous Pinot Noir around: the 45th parallel, the approximate half-way point between the equator and the south (& north) poles.
Oregon is also on this parallel. According to Mike Mulvey, Managing Director and owner of the Prophet's Rock vineyard in NZ, vineyards on the 45th parallel are provided very long, warm days as the sun slides culminating in cool nights, controlling acidity levels. It also slows ripening. Prophet's Rock owns the Pisa Vineyard, with a productive rocky soil, and the Bendigo Vineyard, where the Pinot Noir is produced, on the slopes of Chinaman's Terrace with clay and limestone soil containing schist and quartz. "We want to make the message clear that we are serious about Pinot Noir," stated Mulvey during the event on April 9th, 2011. "It's a natural wine. . . . we add nothing and take nothing away," he continued.
Another Central Otago, NZ wine company, Two Paddocks, is owned by actor Sam Neill, who did present his wine at the event. The flavorful Pinot Noir, Neill admits, should age for a few years before being enjoyed, preferring that people purchase cases of his wine then "put them in the cellar and just forget about them for awhile," stated Neill at the event.The original small vineyard of the family business was planted at Gibbston in 1993. They now have an additional two vineyards: one at Earnscleugh Valley; and, one at Redbank, which is considered their main vineyard.
Vineyards in Burgundy, on the other hand, use very specific soil, with clay and limestone not too unlike the Central Otago region of NZ. "Burgundy is very tiny in the world of wine, but everyone knows about Burgundy," stated Mr. François Labet, from Domaine Château De La Tour, at the event. Selling wines in over 80 countries around the world, Labet uses no insecticides or pesticides in his vineyards and has every single grape inspected before use. His wine has a "wonderful intensity on the nose," stated Arnaud Compas, of Hermitage Wines, regarding a recent vintage sampled at Labet's booth. At his booth, an interesting point was made regarding global warming. Labet admits that global warming has increased the harvest period for his vineyards. It has been beneficial to his region, while other areas like Australia have been hurt by it, he stated.
The World Blind Tasting
A two-hour wine tasting entitled Domaine de la Romanée Conti vs. the World Blind Tasting, was held on April 8th, 2011 for over 100 participants. Each table included eight ticket holders and one wine professional. Wines from America, Australia, Austria and New Zealand were tasted alongside wines from a distinctive estate in Burgundy. This blind-tasting is considered one of the "first ever structured comparative consumer-driven tasting of this genre to be held in Asia, and perhaps the world," according to a Hermitage Wines press release dated April 14, 2011.
According to this same press release, the outcome of the wine-tasting was a bit controversial but was also intended to be fun. The five wineries chosen for the tasting were: Felton Road (NZ), Bass Phillip (Australia), Domaine Serene (Oregon), Markowitsch (Austria), and Domaine de la Romanée Conti (Burgundy). Three tasting brackets of the five Pinot Noir wines were created, with the results as follows: Bass Phillip Reserve 2003 was overall considered the most preferred wine, with Markowitsch voted the most preferred winery.
This was the fourth wine appreciation event organized by Hermitage Wines. Last year, they organized the highly popular Ultimate Parker in Asia event at the Fullerton Hotel Singapore.
Julie Maggiacomo Carrera - Julie's writing career began back in college in the 1990s. However, she considers herself a new writer since she has put this profession ...
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