Wine Fair : Jason's International Wine and Beer Fair at Vivocity 29-31 Aug 08

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Wow...what a challenge to get down to Vivocity today, with all the traffic jams near the junction into Sentosa. Went down to visit the Jason's International Wine and Beer Fair. Sightly less than half of the wines were new to Jason's range of products and mostly from new world countries such as South Africa and Australia.

In general, more exhbitors had at least one sweet wine available for sale, though most sample bottles had finished before I arrived.

Some of the exhibitors included :
- Erdinger (Beer)
- Castano
- Giorgio Ferrari
- Winesover land
- Chard farm
- Monkey bay
- Maxxium Singapore
- Leconfield

Worthwhile wines to consider at the fair :

Chateau Pey La Tour 2005 - Bordeaux Superieur at S$32.90
Chateau Reysson 2005 - Cru Bourgeois Superieur at S$34
Chateau Du Trete Marguax $66 - Sold out !

Wine Entry : Brown Brothers 2003 Late Harvest Botrytis Riesling Milawa [Cellar Door Release] (Australian)

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Very nice bottle of sweet wine, bought it for AUD$19.90 at David Jones. Not seen in it Singapore stores as yet. A very rich dark brown honey colour.

Smell : Strong citrus scents. Sticky fig and honey aromas.

Taste : Fine flowing liquid gold honey, well balanced with a mild orange & peach base.

After-taste : Fine lingering taste of honey and apricots. With no bitter lemon peel. Tinge of spicyness hits the back of the palate.

Description at back of bottle : The Riesling grapes used to make this wine were grown at our Milawa vineyard and towards the end of vintage a portion of the Riesling fruit is left to hang on the vines for late harvesting. The grapes attract the mould Botrytis Cinerea which grows on the grape skins resulting in thinning of the skins. This leads to loss of fluid from the berriesm leaving them shrunk, raisined and highly concentrated in flavour. From these shrivelled grapes we produce a Late Harvested Botrytis Riesling - a delicious, rich, sweet dessert wine. This wine makes excellent drinking now or can be cellared for 4 to 6 years.

Wine Entry : Duckhorn Vineyards Estate Grown Napa Valley Merlot 2004

This was an impressive Merlot that was introduced by the sommelier of IndoChine at Empress Place. A rich aroma which was not over-powering, and a balanced palate of firm blackcurrents, plums with a haunting lingering finish that was mild and delightful.

Winemaker's notes : This is a well-balanced wine with medium weight, beautiful texture, bright acid, and integrated, supple tannins. The aroma is elegant, with elements of earth, black cherry, vanilla and clove, accompanied by a slightly meaty character. On the palate, the wine is layered with rich fruit flavors, most notably blueberry, blackberry, and plum, and accented by subtle notes of lavender and sage.