LIQUID ASSETS
Something for the Summer
Forget those heavy reds, this is what we should drinking over the next few months, says Robin Lynam
H
ong Kong’s devotion to heavy Bordeaux reds tends to puzzle wine industry professionals who visit during the summer months. Surely, they argue, this is an impossible climate for something so tannic and heavy in alcohol? At this point in the conversation somebody usually mentions that most of us spend much of the summer in meatlocker-level air conditioning, so the weather makes less difference than you might think, but the visitors have a point. Thanks to the smoking ban and a huge increase in the number of restaurants offering outdoor areas, more of us now drink and dine al fresco, and at this time of year wines a bit better matched to warm weather seem called for. That need not mean switching from red to white, but might entail gravitating from Bordeaux to Burgundy. At May’s Vinexpo Asia-Pacific wine fair I caught up with Michel Rolland, the original flying winemaker, and asked him what he would recommend for summer sipping. “Strange for a Bordelaise to recommend Pinot Noir, but I like it and now I’m making it,” says Rolland, who not surprisingly recommends the Mariflor Pinot Noir from his own estate in Argentina, available in Hong Kong from Amorosso F i n e W i n e s (w w w. amorosso.com). “For summer Cabernet Sauvignon is maybe too tannic, but Pinot Noir has the complexity without the heaviness,” he adds, suggesting that those who prefer to stick to Bordeaux drink merlot during the stickier weather. Pinot Noir is of course the signature red grape of Burgundy, and good Burgundian red might be a pricy choice for summer quaff ing, but excellent value Pinot is available now from several New World The greatest rosé? Chateau d'Esclans Garrus Rosé regions, particularly – and notably – New Zealand and Tasmania. Try the organic Isabel Estate Pinot Noir from New Zealand’s Marlborough region, available from Berry Brothers (www.bbr.com) and currently priced at HK$332. One useful guide to what to drink during a sweltering summer is to consider the wines of choice in other hot regions, and in southern France, Spain and Portugal the choice has long been rosé. Pink wines are gaining ground rapidly in France, which now sells more rosé wines than white in its domestic market. Most wine merchants and supermarkets have a fair selection of cheap and cheerful rosés from both old and New World producers. At the HK$50-$70 per bottle level you get, most decidedly, what you pay for, but just a few dollars more will take you into the area of still very reasonably priced but much better made easy drinking wines. 22
HK Golfer・Jun/Jul 2010
Try Turkey Flat Rosé from the Barossa Valley, currently available from Watson’s Wine Cellar (www.watsonswine.com) for HK$128, discounted from HK$158. It is full of summer fruit character, and robust enough to work with food as well as being an easy drinking aperitif. Portugal’s rosés are still to some extent tarred with the Mateus Rosé/Lancers brush, but the country now makes some serious pink wines. One of the most impressive of many on display at Vinexpo was the CAR M rosé from the Douro region, an area traditionally associated with port but increasingly also with fine wine production. By the time you read this that should be available in Hong Kong from Force 8 Cellars (www.force8wines.com). For those who don’t mind pushing the boat out a bit for a good rosé perhaps the world’s best – and certainly the world’s most expensive – is made by Sacha Lichine at Chateau d’Esclans in Côtes de Provence, and he also was present at Vinexpo to promote the wines. Lichine bought t he chateau, in the heart of French pink wine country, in 2006 with the stated intention of making the world’s g reate st rosé , and most critics think he has done it. The only problem is that Chateau d’Esclans Garrus Rosé, available in Hong Kong from Altaya wines (www. altayawines.com), costs an eye watering HK$980 per bottle. The chateau’s “entry level” Whispering Angel on the other hand costs a mere HK$150 per bottle, has more than a hint of Garrus’s class, and can be quaffed more casually on a hot day. Other good white summer choices include Portuguese Vinho Verde and German Riesling – both thirst quenching and low in alcohol Loire Valley whites or New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. Heavily oaked New World chardonnays are perhaps best avoided. Here’s to a long hot summer. HKGOLFER.COM