A Bubbly Affair
by Tok Yui Shuen
@ 18 Aug 2016
The go-to wines for any celebratory occasion, sparkling wines have a huge presence in sunny Singapore. Perfect for beating the heat in our island nation, join Cuisine & Wine Asia as well as our tasters, Moritz Deyle of the Singapore Straits Wine Company; Cris Lu of Berry Bro & Rudd; Daisuke Kawai of La Terre Wine Bar; and Kyoko Nakayama of J Food & Culture TV, as we bring to you the glittering world of sparkling wines.
Astoria Lounge Rose Fashion Victim (Top Wines)
Rating: 79/100
This wine too caused some consternation between our tasters. On the nose, the tasters do not have much to say, and all agree on the wine’s intense red fruit aromas, as well as some hints of honey and orange blossom. However, the wine’s palate has split our tasters into two camps. On one hand, Lu and Daisuke Kawai enjoy this wine very much. Cris Lu in particular proclaims to wine to be “a lovely display of fresh strawberries, as if I am eating strawberries and cream. Perfect!” On the other hand, both Deyle and Nakayama felt that the wine was too sweet, and lacked sufficient acidity to balance that out.
The bitter notes in the wine help to keep the sweetness in check, and create a wonderful balance. -Daisuke Kawai
Bottega Gold (Giorgio Ferrari)
Rating: 79/100
The standout quality of this wine would definitely be the complexity of the aroma. Moritz Deyle praises the wine’s mouthfeel, which he found to have to be “ripe and creamy, but still with good acidity and a long finish”. Kawai also expresses that he found that the wine’s primarily fruity nose also possessed some smokiness, which evoked a sense of clean minerality. This time, Kyoko Nakayama brings up the issue of a food pairing, explaining that this wine would be suitable for spicy food, due to its strong acidity and firm bubbles. Finally, both Lu does bring up the point that they found the wine’s bubbles to be slightly lacking.
Very appealing perfumed nose. -Cris Lu
Marie Courtin Resonance (Artisan Cellars)
Rating: 88/100
Our tasters were in agreement for this wine, unanimously deciding that the wine was absolutely delicious. Nakayama praises the wine’s nose, which was notably aromatic and intense. Deyle also instantly detected a hint of sherry in the nose, which he found to be very interesting and quite enjoyable. Lu also highlights the wine’s excellent performance on the palate, praising it for its complex flavours of citrus, plums and honeyed spice, complemented by nutty nuances and a slight savouriness.
Full of tropical fruits, with very refreshing bubbles. -Daisuke Kawai
Bellavista Alma Brut (Giorgio Ferrari)
Rating: 84/100
In particular, Kawai had much praise for this wine, complimenting its nose of pineapple and chestnut, which was “a harmony of fruitiness and nuttiness”. He also expresses his enjoyment of the wine on the palate, which he found to be rich and full in flavour, as well as possessed a
delicious umami note. Deyle too expressed his enjoyment of the wine, although he did mention that the wine’s acidity was a bit on the low side.
Well-balanced, smooth and elegant, suitable for fine dining. -Kyoko Nakayama
2012 Sumarroca Cava Brut Reserve (Wines Online)
Rating: 82/100
Right off the bat, Lu professes her enjoyment of this wine. She says: “An appealing nose, with elegant aromas of white peach and pear, along with a very clean and precise mouthfeel makes this wine extremely enjoyable”. Nakayama also mentions noticing green notes in the wine that she finds reminiscent of a field of grass. Furthermore, Kawai adds that he feels a young goat cheese would be an excellent pairing with this wine.
Strikes an excellent balance between acidity and fruit profile.-Cris Lu
Champagne Aubert & Fils Brut NV (1855 The Bottle Shop)
Rating: 85/100
“Excellent nose”, Lu proclaims immediately. She elaborates, explaining that the wine’s obvious minerality, combined with its seductively sweet fragrance of yellow nectarines and yellow peaches, created an aroma that was absolutely beautiful. Deyle also brings up the wine’s refreshing acidity, and flavours of citrus, peaches and flowers, though he does mention that he feels the wine’s flavours could be just a little more intense. Kawai once again brings up food pairing mentioning that he feels a salmon dish with a butter sauce would work wonders with the wine.
Refreshing acidity, with excellent flavour. - Moritz Deyle
Barone Pizzini Animante Franciacorta Brut DOCG NV (Italian Wine Club)
Rating: 79/100
Deyle brings up the wine’s nose, which he found quite enjoyable and fresh, with hints of honey melon, apple, quince and white flowers. However, while the tasters found the wine to be still relatively enjoyable on the palate, both Deyle and Lu detected small that the wine could use a touch more acidity, as well as felt slightly underripe.
Would make an excellent pairing with Japanese food, especially dishes containing vinegar. -Kyoko Nakayama
Antech Maison Cuvée Emotion Rose (Top Wines)
Rating: 82/100
The high point of this wine was definitely its palate. Deyle professed that the wine’s palate was “surprisingly pleasant”, and its delicate floral notes, coupled with the summer red fruit character created an excellent fruit character. The wine’s good acid backbone also complemented and balanced the fruit character well, creating a wine that was refreshing and pleasant. Surprisingly, Kawai also brought up the wine’s colour, which he felt was an exceptionally beautiful pale salmon pink.
Hints of spices, cinnamon and strawberries, with a discernible touch of sunshine! -Kyoko Nakayama
2014 Medici Ermete Lambrusco Reggiano Concerto DOC (The Italian Wine List)
Rating: 79/100
Generally, this wine seems to have performed well with our tasters. Nakayama praises the wine for its jammy, ripe red fruit, raisin and prune nose, while Lu and Deyle both compliment the wine for its excellent acidity and subtle, velvety tannin structure. In particular, Lu looked to have relished this wine, and found it “soft and delicate”. Kawai also brings up the mild bitterness that he detected in the wine, which he felt helped to round out the wine’s impression on the palate.
With its good acidity, off-dry nature and good tannin, this sparkling is most suitable for a barbecue! -Moritz Deyle
Sartori Prosecco Treviso ERFO DOC NV (The Italian Wine List)
Rating: 81/100
Once again, Nakayama brings up the excellent complexity of the nose straightaway. She elaborates that the aromas of sweet yellow peach, complemented by cheesy and yeasty aromas, helped create a nose that was very complex and quite enjoyable. Next, Deyle brings up the topic of the wine’s impression on the palate, which he found to be quite enjoyable, with a good acidity, good sweetness and a nice body.
Quite a green nose, with hints of grass, young melon and green papaya. -Daisuke Kawai
2015 Astoria Casa Vittorino Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore DOCG (Top Wines)
Rating:83/100
Flowers and citrus was the name of the game for this wine. Lu immediately picks up on the wine’s fresh white acacia and honey notes. Contrastingly, Kawai and Deyle instead commented immediately on the wine’s palate. In particular, Deyle mentions the wine’s fresh and clean notes of orange, pink grapefruit and other citrus, as well as the hint of minerality on the after palate.
Refreshing acidity, with a wonderful stone fruit quality on the palate. -Daisuke Kawai
2014 Paltrinieri Radice Sorbara Rose DOC (Italian Wine Club)
Rating: 76/100
This wine’s nose proved to be most interesting and unique to our tasters. “Yeasty, with hazelnut and cherries, but also green strawberries and a slight medicinal aroma,” says Deyle. Nakayama too picks up on these green aromas, elaborating that she detects a herbal aroma similar to chives and leeks, as well as a hint of leather. Lu further adds that she likens the smell to a barnyard, and Kawai also mentions he detects a faint hint of some mineral component that he likens to spring water. On the palate, this wine continues to cause some differing opinions in our tasters. Deyle and Kawai seem to enjoy this wine, and praise it for its great acidity, good body, and layered flavours of fruit and yeast. On the other hand, Lu and Nakayama seem to be disinclined towards this wine, with Lu postulating that this may not have been the best representation of this wine due to bottle variation.
This wine has a most interesting flavour. -Kyoko Nakayama
2011 Cava Augusti Torello Mata (Ewine Asia)
Rating: 88/100
This wine was definitely the star of the show, and shone on both the nose and the palate. On the nose, Deyle mentions that the wine displays a wonderful fresh character, with intense mineral, citrus, dried orange peel, peach, as well as herbal and floral notes. On the palate, Lu compliments the wine profusely, which she found to be “very elegant, yet exotic at the same time. She also brings up other points, such as the wine’s complex flavours or almond, honey, spicies and brioche, full body, exemplary balance, and long, persistent finish.
Excellent nose of ripe melon, yeast, toast and minerals, with an intense floral afternote. -Kyoko Nakayama
Champagne Tarlant Brut Tradition NV (Ewine Asia)
Ratings: 86/100
Once again, this wine shines the brightest on the nose. Nakayama praises the complexity of the aroma, commenting that she detects ripe fruits with nuances of cheese and yoghurt, which are complemented by a final hint of oak at the end of the aroma. The wine also performs well on the palate, and Moritz Deyle commends the wine’s good acidity, richness and lengthy finish.
Great acidity and body, with a long finish. -Moritz Deyle
Sumarroca Cava Rosado NV (Wines Online)
Rating:82/100
After a long, thoughtful pause, Kawai is the first to break the silence. “Its nose is almost like a red wine, full of plum and cassis. Very unique and interesting.” he says. Lu also comments that she also noticed that the nose has hints of grass, flint and minerals. As for the palate, Deyle explains that the wine’s flavour was very reminiscent of mixed berry tea, with big, bold red fruit flavours that were complemented by pleasant, mild tannins.
Bursts of red flower and ripe currant aromas with a lingering finish. -Cris Lu
Veuve du Vernay Brut (1855 The Bottle Shop)
Rating: 82/100
Once again, we have a wine that our taster unanimously found to be excellent. Nakayama marvels at the wine’s complex nose, which, according to her, contains elements of vanilla, lychee, toast and lightly roasted nuts, as well as a mineral aroma reminiscent of German rieslings. On the palate, Deyle also noted that though he found the wine just a touch too sweet, it still had good acidity and balance, and possessed notes of delicious organic pear, apple and white flowers. Lu also brings up the wine’s texture, and she, Kawai and Deyle both agree that the wine had an excellent mouthfeel, though she also noticed a sort of crunchiness to the wine, which she felt added even more to the wine’s already exemplary mouthfeel.
Good balance of acidity and fruit. -Cris Lu
2014 Volpi Moscato Piemonte DOC (The Italian Wine List)
Rating: 79/100
Our tasters found this wine to be adequately enjoyable, though quite simple. On the nose, all our tasters found the wine to be intensely floral and fruity. In fact, Deyle proclaims that he finds the nose to be “super fruity and floral”, though he admits it did not have as much complexity as he hoped. On the palate too, our tasters detected nearly the same flavours. Lu mentions that the wine possesses sweet honeycomb and nectarine, along with delicate floral notes and fresh lychee, as well as some lemon nuaces on the afterpalate. Deyle too brings up the point that the wine’s acidity felt a bit lacking to him, which affected the balance of the wine somewhat.
An intense nose of lychee, honey, sweet nectarines and white acacia. -Cris Lu
Bottega Moscato Manzoni (Giorgio Ferrari)
Rating:83/100
Once again a wine that shines on both the nose and the palate. The tasters praised the wine for its exotic and perfumed nose that offered floral and fruity aromas of rose, sakura syrup, orange blossom, lavender and lychee. As for the palate, tasters were no less impressed. Deyle mentions that while the wine is very sweet, its acidity is still present enough to balance it out, making it a very fun and enjoyable wine. Lu too adds that the fresh exotic fruit flavours, such as lychee and longan, as well as the creamy bubble structure made the wine very delicious. Kawai proclaims the wine to be perfect as an aperitif or as a dessert.”
Sweet and refreshing, this wine is most suitable for local food, like chilli crab! -Kyoko Nakayama
Chartogne Taillet Rose (Artisan Cellars)
Rating: 85/100
Deyle gives the nose some acknowledgement, specifically mentioning the pleasant rose fragrance that intermingles with notes of strawberry and brioche. However, what really had the tasters excited was the wine’s palate. Lu compliments the wine for its complexity on the palate, which contained complex mineral and herbal notes, all framed by the wine’s excellent acidity. Nakayama also professed her enjoyment of this wine, and wishes that she had “a nice roast pigeon with a fruit sauce” to go along with this wine.
Elegant, with hints of cherry blossoms on the nose. -Kyoko Nakayama
Antech Maison Cuvée Brut (Top Wines)
Rating: 82/100
All our tasters found this wine crisp and fruity, with notes of white flowers, pears, nectarines and citrus. Lu also commends the wine’s lingering finish and enjoyable mouthfeel. Furthermore, Kawai brings up the issue of food pairing, mentioning that he would find an octopus carpaccio to be delicious with this wine.
Flavour is very refreshing, and this wine is very suitable as an aperitif. -Kyoko Nakayama
Supplier’s List
Cuisine & Wine Asia would like to thank the following companies for graciously sponsoring wines for our blind tasting:
1855 The Bottle Shop
Tel: (65) 6735 1885|1855thebottleshop.com
Artisan Cellars
Tel: (65) 6838 0373|artisan-cellars.com
Ewine Asia
Tel: (65) 6222 3977|ewineasia.com
Giorgio Ferrari
Tel: (65) 6749 3565|giorgio-ferrari.com
Italian Wine Club
Tel: (65) 6593 3572|itwineclub.com
The Italian Wine List
Tel: (65) 6314 9473|theitalianwinelist.com.sg
Top Wines
Tel: (65) 6468 3866|topwines.com.sg
Wines Online
Tel: (65) 6468 2982|winesonline.com.sg
We would also like to thank Daisuke Kawai and the staff of La Terre Wine Bar for hosting this tasting. La Terre is situated at #01-01, 11 Upper Circular Road, 058409 | Tel: (65) 6532 1031
Erratum
We would like to make the following corrections to this article, published in the Wine+Vine section of the Jul/Aug 2016 edition of Cuisine and Wine Asia:
1) The supplier for the Champagne Aubert & Fils Brut NV and Veuve du Vernay Brut should be “1855 The Bottle Shop”, instead of “1885 The Bottle Shop”.
2) “Berry Bro & Rudd” should be “Berry Bros. & Rudd”.
3) “Italian Wine List” Should be “The Italian Wine List”
