....live from Hong Kong

Just arrived in Hong Kong with R., here to spend a week catching up with lots of old friends. It's in the upper 80's now (now after 1AM), and the humidity has barely receded, so it may be a tough week, but we'll soldier on. By the time we arrived, R. and S. were already at K. & S.'s apartment, with food and wine ready to go.

N.V. Varichon & Clerc "vin mousseux": A chardonnay based blanc de blancs from the Savoie. Simple, light, crisp, easy drinking, light notes of apple, and medium weight. Pleasant, and a fine match to some onion pakora.

N.V. Champagne André Clouet Brut Rosé: One of the rare "blanc de noirs" from Bouzy, we are huge fans of this wine, and moreso of the winemaker. Beautiful salmon colour, fine bead, not too heavy for a 100% PN. A restrained effervescence makes this a fine accompaniment to tonight's Punjabi dinner. Summer berries, sexy, almost creamy on the mid-palate, but with a very clean finish. A wonderful, wonderful wine. Needs no accompaniment.

2003 E. Guigal Chateauneuf du Pape: Decanted for a couple of hours. Strong barnyard notes, garrigue, bramble, but pleasant blackberry, moderate acidity and tannins. Earthy, forest floor. Not terribly complex, but all in all, a reasonable match with some stuffed okra sauteed with onions and mixed lentils.

2005 Sutherlands Creek Pinot Noir: From Geelong (Victoria), made by a friend of R. and S., who we'll be meeting at the HK Vienna Opera Ball next week. Didn't even realise they do PN in OZ. Actually reminds me more of St. Laurent - a bit edgier, more forest floor and pine/menthol going on. Cherry and spice on the nose, pleasant herbal/savouriness on the palate, medium finish. Simple but delicious.

2006 Sutherlands Creek Primitivo: Now this is good... strong blueberry/vanilla milkshake on the nose, but very restrained and elegant on the palate. Fine acidity. Not over-oaked. Brambly with restrained fruit. I really like this.

2006 Te Whare Ra "Noble Riesling": A rarity, apparently only 200 bottles of this made (picked up on R. and S.'s honeymoon). Beautiful nose of apricots, citrus and white flowers. On the palate, more of the same. Very good acidity. Not the heft and weight that I'd expect from the great dessert wines, but this is a nice alternative, in a lighter style. My first NZ sweet wine, and I'm rather impressed. This was had, by the way, with an incredible dessert, a date and toffee cake, with toffee-vanilla ice cream... I can't wait for breakfast... it will be decadent.


Us, take it easy? Never!

So, we've been in Hong Kong for about 6 hours now... this is an excellent start, and I expect lots of good work to be accomplished in the next week.