Over the years, I must have tasted thousands of wine from all over the world due to my job requirement. There are however, not many wines that I can distinctly recall in terms of their positive attributes . I can remember a wine being good, great or outstanding, but details..I would have to refer to my tasting notes if I had any. I discover wine drinking in Toronto back in the 80's, and today only a handful of wines I tasted stayed in my memory. One of these wines is Hillerbrand Muscat 1986; a quaffing, fruity, aromatic, off dry white wine from the Niagara Region. The wine tasted fantastic, and one of the reasons why I remembered the wine so well was because all my friends liked it and it was part of many of our fond memories . We had it at house parties and camping trips, and it was a hit every time.
Looking back, all of us were novice at the time when it came to wine drinking. A fruity off dry white was the ideal introduction to these new wine drinkers. The best First Growth would have turned us right off. Those of us who liked that wine at the time would probably have a very different opinion today as our palate matured over the years. In many non-traditional wine drinking countries like Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong, red wine is preferred due to influence of media and peers. We have jumped right into drinking red wine because it was more popular than white wine and red wine is perceived as being good for ones health.
To truly appreciate different types of wines is of course to taste as much wine as possible. But if we were to have a structured upbringing for a well rounded wine drinker, styles of wine that we introduce to a wine drinker, and the timing is crucial.The natural progression of wine drinking should be:1-Fruity Off Dry White 2-Dry White 3-Fruity Red 4-Dry Red.
Having tasted these different style of wine, it does not mean that we will then finish and stay at end category - Dry Red. You may find yourself preferring a fruity white or a dry red,we will always have our individual preferences, but what is important is that we get exposed to different types of wine and know our options. To me, choosing the right wine for the right drinking audience, occasion and food is key. If you are organizing wine for a YamSeng Chinese wedding, just bring a cheap quaffer that is off dry, not acidic and high in alcohol. Wine in these occasions will probably be drank mixed with ice, Coke or Sprite, and for obvious reasons we don't need a good wine. Furthermore, it is almost impossible to pair wine with food in a Chinese Banquets scenario, simply because these banquets have just too many courses, and to do so will probably take up too much time. Having said that, Chinese food with a few exceptions, can definitely go well with some great wines.
Try a dry, spicy Shiraz with a braised dried abalone in oyster sauce, and you will see what I mean....ok ok ...something we everyday folks can afford; spend RM35 on a salted roast duck from Petaling Street, get yourself a bottle of dry Chilean Cabernet (RM45), invite 2 deserving friends, make sure you have some decent red wine goblets(Schott Zwiesel-about RM30 each depending on what line you choose / New Convox in TTDI sells them).....you cannot go wrong with this combination !! and so the gastro journey continues !
Almost all food can be paired with wine to enhance your feasting enjoyment if you know how.
Chili heat spiciness kills wine,but Spicy or herby Malaysian food & Thai food can go well with some white wine ......Gewuz what ? talk to you soon !
No comments:
Post a Comment