From Burps to Hics: Learn Them Early Their Xs and Os
They might yet lack a taste for Henessey or Remy Martin, but it’s never too soon for kids to learn their Xs and Os. It’s handy early on for Tic-Tac-Toe, and later in adulthood when they’re blazingly drunk, sweaty-faced and fumbling through the liquor cabinet looking for something their last two functioning brain cells can recognize. A shout to M-Dawg for the reference.
Say Grace: The Search for Seven Good Chinese Wines (Part 1)
Action scene from my at-home blind tasting of Chinese wines (more pics below)
I’ve received numerous emails from people who are either: 1) curious about Chinese wine but unsure where to start, or 2) cynical about Chinese wine after a bad experience or two with some nasty Dynasty or Great Wall. My mission: find seven decent wines made with Chinese grapes that anyone in Beijing can easily buy for less than 700 kuai for their own DIY tasting with friends. As fireworks exploded (Chinese New Year!) outside my apartment on February 22, I began that mission by trying 11 wines with seven tasters:
- Frank Siegel, who opened Beijing’s first non-hotel bar (Frank’s Place) in 1990 and runs the popular Friday night wine sessions at Sequoia Cafe in Sanlitun
- Campbell Thompson, who recently left ASC Fine Wines to pursue a Master’s in Wine Marketing
- Fongyee Walker and Edward Ragg, who have held and judged many blind tastings and just moved to Beijing
- Mike Wester, GM of that’s Beijing, who says, “All wine tastes the same to me!”
- Maggie Huang, my co-worker, who fancies single malt but is open to wine
- Me
, a novice at wine, and participating in my first blind wine tasting in China or this size
These are my notes from the tasting of 10 Chinese wines (and one Australian) by seven people in my home on February 22 (CS = Cabernet Sauvignon).
Flight 1: Grace Chardonnay 2005, Catai Chardonnay 2005
Grace: Its creamy nose, with apple and vanilla scents, matched nicely to its equally creamy and refreshing body; hints of citrus; sour apple at the finish.
Catai: A nose described as “medicinal,” “locker room” and “disappointing”; a bit harsh going down, with a chemical taste; making out flavors was difficult.
Verdict: Everyone concurred with Maggie H that Grace (Torres: 60 kuai) beat Catai (Summergate: 44 kuai). “Grace blew the other one out of the water,” said Fongyee.
Flight 2 (Blind Tasting): Catai CS 2005, Grace CS 2005, Catai Merlot 2003
Catai CS: The nose went from syrupy with dark fruit to peppery / dusty to “dead”; too tannic and not enough finish.
Catai Merlot: The nose was first dusty and “polluted” (”this one was evidently made near a highway,” said Mike), then more complex and spicy, though musky. “More structured,” said Edward; “Number two is good,” said Fongyee, although we agreed it didn’t hold up well.
Grace CS: Nose was light, fruity, with sugary apple hints, and a slight plastic-y smell; fruity body, though a bit stringent. Fongyee said it was, “fairly clean, but lacking in the middle.”
Verdict: Catai Merlot (Summergate: 44 kuai) won, followed by the Grace (Torres: 60 kuai) and Catai Cabernet Sauvignons (Summergate: 44 kuai). I agreed, though my notes suggested a different order. (I’ll get into the psychology of blind tasting in a minute).
Flight 3 (Blind Tasting): Catai CS 2003 Superior, Grace CS 2003 Tasya’s Reserve, Bodega Langes CS 2003 Reserve; Penfolds Bin 128 Shiraz 2003 (We added Australian Shiraz as a measuring stick.)
Grace: Steady, fruity, pleasant nose, somewhat dusty at the end; a bit stringent, but with nice lingering fruit flavors. “This is the most well-rounded and likable. Definitely being made in the Bordeaux style,” said Campbell.
Catai: Spicy, syrupy nose with hints of toast; fruity body; nicely drinkable.
Bodega Langes: Nose described as “bog rot,” “musty,” “tar,” “burnt Starbuck’s coffee” (the label called it “casky”); oak flavors overwhelmed the wine’s fruitiness (wood from the China-North Korea border is used). “This is a real stinker, with aggressive, spiky tannins,” said Edward.
Penfolds: Pleasant nose; “Wow! Black currant,” said Fongyee; “This has a lot more punch than the others,” I wrote.
The Verdict: Grace (Torres: 188 kuai). I picked it, then Catai (Summergate: 236 kuai), while Frank picked the reverse. Campbell noted the Grace “could be passed off as an entry level Bordeaux.” Mike said, “I had too much to drink already.” Again, my written notes suggested I liked the Penfold’s better than I verbally ranked it (see below). The Bodega Langes (588 kuai) was the most expensive and the worst wine of the night.
Flight 4: Grace Cabernet Franc 2003 Tasya’s Reserve, Changyu Sparkling Cider
I kept no notes, but the Cabernet Franc (Torres: 198 kuai) was one of, if not the, most enjoyable wines tasted. As for the Changyu sparkling cider, this 5-percent, apple- and peach-scented fun is a great value (26 kuai, and that’s for a magnum - 1.5 liters!).
Overall, I would say all four Grace wines, the Catai Merlot, the Catai CS 2003 and the Changyu sparkling cider should pass into the second round of tasting, which I hope will include some select Dragon Seal, Huadong and Suntime wines.
Thanks to Campbell for helping to prepare and bringing the Shiraz, Frank for moderating, Fongyee and Ed for providing rating sheets, bottle covers and cider, Maggie for bringing fruit, and Mike for dragging over 8 liters of water. By the way, all of the wines were paid for and provided by the tasters (I ordered a case each from Summergate and Torres, both of which provided a discount).
Addendum: The psychology of blind tasting
The next day, I noticed my wine tasting notes didn’t match my votes, Penfolds Shiraz 2003 and Grace Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 being the biggest victims. I emailed Edward and he said such discrepancies are common. I had some of each wine left and decided to do a “solo” blind tasting. How is that possible? I took identical coffee cups, wrote a number on the bottom of each and poured in some wine – one shot of each wine per cup. I closed my eyes, shuffled the cups until I lost track of which cup held which wine, then paired each cup with a wine glass. I poured the wine from the cups into the glasses, then began tasting, taking notes and, eventually, voting. When I finished, I checked the bottom of each cup to see what wine each glass held. The results? Interestingly, my notes from both tastings were similar.
Flight 1: Grace CS 2005, with Catai Merlot 2005 a very close second and Catai CS 2005 a distant third. Strangely, I again described the Merlot as smelling a bit “polluted” at first (maybe dusty is a better word), but ranked it high.
Flight 2: Grace CS 2003 and Penfolds Shiraz first, with Catai CS close behind, and that Bodega Langes CS eighth.
Finally, Fongyee posted her notes to eGullet. Here are her scores, out of 20, in order of best to worst: Grace Cabernet Franc 2003 Tasya’s Reserve (16), Catai Merlot 2004 (15), Grace Chardonnay 2005 (15), Grace CS 2003 Tasya’s Reserve (15), Penfolds Bin 128 Coonawarra Shiraz 2003 (15), Changyu Sparkling Cider (14), Catai CS 2005 (13), Grace CS 2005 (13), Catai CS 2003 Superior (13), Catai Chardonnay 2005 (10) and Bodega Langes CS 2003 Reserve (9). (See http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=99661 for tasting notes.)
More pictures below (click to enlarge):
From left: click to enlarge Men at Work: Campbell, Frank and Edward; The Wine: We work our ways through the red; Taking Note: The ever-diligent Thompson (nice slippers)
(This story, sans photos, first appeared in issue 32 of the Beijing Boyce e-newsletter, mailed on March 1, 2007.)
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