Wine Entry : R.L. Buller Fine Muscat (Australian)

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Bought this wine at CostCo in USA, very reasonable at US$10, never seen it in Singapore before. Had it in my Chicago hotel room and all I had to do to was to leave it outside at the balcony for about an hour and the wine was nice and chilled. It had a nice dark brown colour, not usual for a sweet dessert wine, I suspect it had been fortified somewhat.

=> See the ice cream together with the wine?!

97 points Robert Parker’s – The Wine Advocate
Smooth, unctuous and brimming with Muscat spiciness, finishing with toffee and prune flavours.
2,000 cases made.

Since 1921, R.L. Buller & Son has been creating some of the finest fortified wines in the Rutherglen region. 80 years later, the original ‘Calliop’ vineyard still produces the fortified wines they refer to as their ‘sleeping giants’ as well as a range of Fine Premium muscats, tokays and tawny ports using the age-old techniques of basket presses, and open fermenters.

Through a solera system of fractional blending in oak barrels, the mature wine is drawn off for bottling, and replaced with wine from the new vintage, ensuring a consistent blend of the older material with the fresh new wine.

Smell : Strong sweet ripen fruity - plummy and cherry scents

Taste : Thick honey cherry peachy flavour

After-taste : Warm & smooth with a medium finish, no lingering bitter taste.

Description at the back :

At Bullers we still use traditional methods to produce our premium Muscats. The grapes are hand picked at our non irrigated vineyards. In the winery the skins are gently pressed to extract flavour without unwanted tannins or bitterness. The wine is aged in old oak, hogsheads and blended in a solera system.

Wine Entry : Bianco Pinot Grigio Franics Coppola 2004 (Californian)

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I’m in Houston! Drinking Californian wine, pretty good compared to the ones that I get in Singapore. Making me rethink if I have been to harsh on the USA wines. Got this one at the supermarket just behind the hotel, at US$8.50 only.

Smell : Warm, fruity, flowery like roses. No grassy smells.


Taste : Light warm slightly buttery. Grapefruit and pear flavours.


After-Taste : Finish of acidity and slight bitterness.


Description at back of bottle : This wine delivers aromas of cool melon, tropical fruit, and a light perfume of flowers. Round in texture, yet light and crisp. This wine offers flavour of ripe pear, white peach and summer citrus. Enjoy this wine on its own, or serve with vegetable ricotta calzones, Ahi tuna burgers or teriyaki chicken.

Me at the Houston Downtown Aquarium...

Enjoying the wine in the hotel room....

Wine Entry : Wolf Blass Gold Label Botrytis Pinot Gris 2004 (Australia)

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We had this wine during the CNY session and found it delightful to drink, a tad expensive at about S$ 28 for a bottle at the newly opened parkway parade bottles-&-bottles.

Quick review : Well-balanced, honey lemon sweet tangerine with no bitter orange peel.

Description at the back of the bottle : This late harvest Pinot Gris is intensely fragrant with developed fruit characters. A long dry summer on the 2004 vintage provided the ideal climatic conditions to produce a Botrytis affected wine. The fruit was left on the vine beyond the usual harvest period to allow a greater concentration of sugar and more complex flavours to develop.Sourced from the Yarra Valley, the 2004 Gold Label Botrytis Pinot Gris from Wolf Blass displays classic varietal honeysuckle dried orange, and toffee and crème brulee characters with generous sweet fruit flavours and a slately mineral finish.

CNY BlackJack/ Mah-jong/ Wine Session

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This was the 3rd day of the new year and we had another round of get together with Guru Teo & Hui2 back from Holland. KT as usual was hysterical after seeing the dogs [soft toy ones] at my house (after all it being the year of the dog now). She proceeded to take photos of her gorilla lamb with them in various funny poses.

My place was of cos impeccably decked up with roses and willows for the CNY. Red being the main theme colour (a-but-than?!), with pink accepted as well. Mahjong started when everyone arrived with KT not being able to recoup back her previous night’s losses. My wife was super ON this afternoon keep on winning on a single card. Blackjack was really fun with me getting a double ace as well when I was the dealer. And J.Lim was quite lucky too keep on getting blackjack...making me bankrupt.



After that was dinner at a Chinese restaurant which was packed to the brim…we only managed to do the “Lo Hei” [see it behind the flask of tea?] and gave up waiting as the electricity kept on tripping. We ended up eating Hawker Food (oyster omelette, satay, Wu Xiang and prawn noodle), but it was quite fun and satisfying as well. A nice finish to a wonderful session of fun and laughter amongst good friends…