Everything is coming up Rosés
I’m calling it; Rosé wines are now officially trendy in Phnom Penh, the drink de rigueur for fashionistas, theatre goers and pretty young things.
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Moscato Magic
Light, playful, soft and all tingly on your tongue, moscato wine is like a refreshing, delightful little spa for your palate and a sure way to inject in the fun.
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Wine into Water
Ronald Brown is the owner of the remarkably overachieving Barossa Valley winery Maverick, in South Australia. The winery is aptly named, Brown is every bit the Maverick.
Described by eminent Australian wine writer James Halliday as a ‘Wily Old Fox’, James then promptly awarded Maverick with the highest possible rating of five stars in his annual Australian Wine Companion. Halliday scored an incredible eight Maverick wines at 90/100 points or higher, four of them at over 95/100, Brown’s Maverick genie is definitely out of the bottle!
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Everything is coming up Roses
I’m calling it...
Rosé wines are now officially trendy in Phnom Penh, the drink de rigueur for fashionistas, theatre goers and pretty young things.
I know this, because rosé here is no longer merely a single entry on a handful of wine lists, it is on virtually every wine list in town, many are listing several and more than a few are offering it by the glass. Early in the New Year, more than one restaurant informed me that they were out of rosé because their supplier had run out, conversely, right now the city seems awash in new brands from obviously rushed in new shipments. It seems Phnom Penh’s imbibers want to look at life through the bottom of Rosé coloured wine glasses.
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Review: Villa Antinori Toscana
Antinori has produced Chianti Classico, one of the most widely known wines in the world, for centuries. This particular wine was introduced in 1928 by Niccolo, Piero Antinori's father, as the first Chianti produced specifically to improve with age. Villa Antinori Riserva, which has become the bench-mark for Chianti Classico Riserva, is only produced in good vintage years. The wine's label, which had remained unchanged since 1928, was slightly restyled with the 1990 vintage.
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Phnom Penh by the Glass
I tend to navigate my way around Phnom Penh by my favourite glasses of wine -not a simple matter of where I can get a decent glass at a reasonable price mind you- but places where I can take refuge from the chaos .
These establishments have to be places that have a certain atmosphere, an ambiance that I warm to, places that make me thank the gods that I am alive and well and living in Cambodia, where the food is as good as the food choices and the wines are plentiful and generally inexpensive.
2009 A Year in Wine
As the year draws to a close and we look to the promise and uncertainty of the new we celebrate, and we celebrate and then we celebrate some more. We celebrate many things at this time of year but I tend to think that, for most of us, it is life itself we are celebrating. On the cusp of the span between one year and another, for a few short weeks, we can live in the moment, pausing to rejoice in the simple yet miraculous fact that we are alive.
Wine & Cheese the Key to a Happy Life
Wine & Cheese the key to a happy life?
The Greek philosopher Epicurus (341 BCE–270 BCE) lived by his own code, being that the main purpose of philosophy was to help attain a tranquil and happy life. His school of hedonism was more rational and less indulgent than the name implies and whilst the inscription on the front gate was said to read “Stranger, here you will do well to tarry; here our highest good is pleasure”, the school dealt with the simple and some would say minimal things one required in life to find happiness. Indeed, in his excellent book ‘The Consolations of Philosophy’ Alain de Botton concludes the Epicurian wish list for happiness as: A home, Friends, Freedom from superiors/infighting/competition, and finally Thought.
AB FAB CAB
AB FAB CAB
Cabernet Sauvignon is arguably the most famous and widely planted red wine grape variety in the world, bringing prominence to regions from Bordeaux in France to the Napa Valley in California, Coonawarra and Margaret River in Australia, Chile, South Africa even Tuscany Italy, where it helped establish the ‘Super Tuscans’ when blended with the local Sangiovese.
Its Only (Wine) Words
Wine Speak -Its Only Words
”. . .mintiness with peaches and strawberries. . .a chocolate smokiness with leathery insinuations. . . hessian. . .apes and peacocks. . .and a faint, elusive yet startling aroma of wine . . .”
-Michael Leunig, cartoonist
Thus describes the bewilderment, exasperation and downright skepticism expressed by uninitiated imbibers when it comes to decoding wine tasting notes (including my own).