Wine Fair (2): CARREFOUR INTERNATIONAL WINE FAIR (23 May - 1 Jun 2008)

Went down on Monday to view the selections available at the Carrefour Wine Fair at Suntec City.
Similar to previous setups with the French wines to the left and the other countries' wines to the right. Several nice selections of wines, of which to my interest were 2005s.

Chateau la tour Carnet 2005 $69.90
L'esprite de chevalier 2005 $48
Chateau Carbonnieux 2005 $89
Chateau Talbot 2005 $158
Connetable Talbot (2nd wine of Chateau Talbot) 2005 $98

Number of reasonable 750ml Sauternes too.

Chateau Guiraud 1998 $99
Chateau le Dauphin de Guiraud (2nd wine of Chateau Guiraud) 2004 $39.90
Chateau Solon Sauternes 1999 $35

They even had these in the store itself.

Ch Brillette Magnum 2005 $97
Ch L'enclos 2005 $88
Ch D'yquem 1997 $299 (350 ml bottle)
Surprise! Surprise! I did not buy any bottles during this visit, though I was tempted to. With the increasing costs of petrol, ERP and even rice, wine has become somewhat of a luxury in my budget. Therefore till the inflation starts to moderate, my wine purchasing habits will moderate too.

Wine Fair : CARREFOUR INTERNATIONAL WINE FAIR (23 May - 1 Jun 2008)

Unfortunately I will not be able to attend this VIP evening.... sigh, but may pop over after that to check out the goodies...

CARREFOUR INTERNATIONAL WINE FAIR VIP EVENING
22 May, From 6.30pm, Carrefour Suntec City Atrium

You're warmly invited to a most enjoyable evening arranged especially for people like you, who appreciate fine wine and fine company! Our highly anticipated International Wine Fair this year will be graced by our Special Guest Mr Olivier Bernard, owner of the superb Domaine de Chevalier. Of course, the most renowned wines from Domaine de Chevalier will be available, including Domaine de Chevalier 2000 and Rose de la Solitude 2006.

There will be special offers of the night, a prize of vintage wine worth $3,000 for the evening's Top Spender, and a Lucky Draw to win a stunning wine hamper. Please come along for a wonderful night of wine and conversation!

Wine Book : Tale of two wine books

-
An interesting post here about the two books written by women wine authorities.
In the left corner is Jancis Robinson's book "Tasting Pleasure - Confessions of a Wine Lover" (purchased at Borders S$33.95) and in the other corner is Natalie MacLean's book " Red, White and Drunk all over" (purchased at Kinokuniya S$26.45).

The bottomline - I did not finish Jancis Robinson's book

And here is why, both books were similar prima facie in that they both chronicle the wine experiences of these two ladies-in-wine as they prance around the world meeting winemakers and visiting vineyards.
However, Jancis's book was just like young bordeaux, it was terribly tannic and dry in the mouth, the prose was complicated and a torture to go through. It did not help that the fonts were small and nothing is explained in a simple way. The story on a page jumps for one point to another, uses a lot of name dropping and frequently incoherent. Perhaps it is like a good bordeaux that needs to be left on the shelf and for me to age, before I can appreciate the book. The peculiar thing is that in her web postings and her wine course DVD, she did not seem so long-windy to me.

On the other hand, Natalie MacLean's book is reminiscence of a straight fruity Aussie, light and refreshing especially in this hot weather we are getting in Singapore. The prose is forthright, big names are only used to inform on the location or wine. It is more personal and humorous as well, including her own experience as an undercover sommelier and how she spilled wine on the table in front of a guest. She also talks about her experience with Riedel and their passion in making glasses to unlock the unknown aspects of the wine. Though it still took me a few days to finish it after all, I was not dragged to the end by an iron chain.

So my recommendation is to buy Natalie MacLean's book to read, and buy Jancis's DVD to watch. And the twain shall never be happier.

Wine Entry : Jacob's Creek Limited Release Cabernet Sauvignon Barossa Valley 1998 (Australia)

-

I suspect that this bottle was purchased from DFS, it is a limited release with a bottle number 47076 (quick go and buy 4-D with it!). In all honesty, I am not the biggest fan of Jacob's Creek after tasting their wine at a local restaurant many years ago. It definitely did not give me further confidence after the cork broke while using the corkscrew. I had to tediously filter all the wine into a decanter. But objectively, despite being a wine that lasted 10 years, and a reddish brown tinge, it still had fair amount of fruit and firm tannins to last it five years more or so. But not really to my taste, would probably continue avoiding Jacob's Creek. Besides, isn't Barossa more reknowned for their Shiraz?

Smell : Ribena like, oaky with pepperish spice.

Taste : Blend of oak and blackcurrents eventually overwhelming the initial herbal tea taste. Touch of bitter dark chocolate and aniseed.

After-taste : Firm, astringent tannins, of good length that need a few more years of maturity.

Description at back of bottle : 2001 marks the 25th anniversary of Jacob's Creek and to commemorate this milestone, this exceptional Barossa Cab Sav from the outstanding 1998 vintage has been released. Premium fruit was hand picked from selected Cabernet blocks adjacent to the Orlando winery. The resultant wine displays regional Barossa Cabernet flavours with a richness of fruit and depth of flavour that can only ben achieved during exceptional vintage conditions. Matured in new French hogsheads for 20 months, the wine enjoys the added complexity of cedary oak and has fine structured tannins. This bottle can be enjoyed for up to 20 years given careful cellaring.