I haven't been drinking

Well, that is not strictly true. I have been drinking, just not wine. Or at least not in any great quantity, nor of any great quality and certainly not with any great clarity. Since returning from England I have written a feeble two tasting notes, both Pinot Noirs, one from Burgundy one from New Zealand. An interesting comparison that I will write up. Other than that I have abstained from my duties. A hangover from the holiday? A rebellion with the new working year? The laziness that has followed me through life kicking in? I suspect the latter.

Fear not! I have some major work to do on the Diploma over the coming months and so I will have to get my arse back into gear. Also I can feel the weather, miserable as it persists to be here, leading me to desire nice big red wines. Something to knock you off kilter mid-conversation. Also, I am once again getting bored to death of the lagers and so I think it is about time I started investigating some of the more unfathomable Korean and Asian drinks.

With a complete absence of Peter O'Toole as Jeffrey Bernard video clips on the internet, have this instead.

Notes On Smell

I had inaccurately diagnosed myself with a cold. The blocked and runny nose had been sufficient for me to make the assumption. No headache, no sore throat. And no smell.
When you realise your illness is not what you thought and start researching symptoms on the internet it gets quite depressing. I got quite depressed. I can pinpoint the moment when I lost hope. I had just attempted to sniff a packet of kimchi that had been open for too long in the fridge. I stuck my not insignificant snout in the foil bag and whiffed it up. Nothing. The air seemed to pass up my nose and into my lungs but with not even a hint of scent registered. I got as far as the bedroom door with the packet for the SO to confirm that it did indeed smell. With added swearing.
Losing your sense of smell is not taken as seriously by the medical profession as losing one of your other senses would be. Rightly so. In a deli in Southampton a woman at the cheese counter said she would rather be blind than lose her sense of smell. It is a ludicrous thing to say. For sure, an odourless world is a less colourful one but I never sniff the road before crossing it(except perhaps in Sheffield where one has to be sure you aren't getting too close to Bramall Lane).
All those wines waiting for me at home and me without the apparatus to taste. Most upsetting. Doxycycline did the trick. Prescribed on the Tuesday by Thursday I had my hallelujah moment. I had, somewhat autistically, taken upon it myself to sniff everything I came into contact with at my parents. My theory was it is like a type of nose training. Trying to spark my nasal memory. Also my parents house is one of the nicer smelling places in the world. Coffee was the first smell, ground coffee is a fairly strong and distinctive smell though and I suspected I was fantasising and so I turned to the Jasmine Tea. I think I whooped. Then to cloves, to marmite, bananas and peaches. Man the world is a good smelling place. It should be said though that the world also stinks and being acutely aware of smell all the time is not such a great thing. I am starting now to try and not smell everything. To turn off my peripheral odour detection so to speak.

My first drink was a glass of champagne in the massively over-priced Roast. It tasted almost exactly like apple crumble and was delicious for that. I enjoyed the taste of a variety of beers especially Greene King IPA which I have to thank for being low in alcohol and so allowing me to drink far more than I should have.
To write up is a Grand Crus Chablis which went from meh to excellent and back to meh again in one tasting note. I am not sure where I stand on it still. Also two classed growth Bordeaux significant for being rubbish, a 1980 Port significant for making my mam wonder if it was responsible for an upset stomach, a NZ Pinot significant for being Cloudy Bay and a NZ Pinot Gris significant for being surprisingly refreshing and good.

Pieroth Warehouse Sale

This weekend saw the Pieroth Warehouse sale at Ncheese in Apkujeong go ahead as blogged below. It wasn't the easiest of places to find, our taxi driver asked several people before giving up and dumping us next to a garage. Fortunately Ncheese, or Pieroth themselves, seemed to have had the foresight to employ some old dude on a bike to ride around pointing likely looking candidates in the right direction. As he immediately assisted us we must look exactly like the sort of people who would be in the market for wine and cheese. I am not sure if this is good news or not.

The sale was held in a small basement in Ncheese, we didn't really get a chance to scope the whole place but it has a good cellar like feel to it. It felt quite European and so we felt quite at home. The tables were laid out by country with white wines separated from reds and chilled in ice buckets. This meant that some of the wines that had been sitting for some time would have been far too cold to taste. I say 'would have' because I didn't taste anything. I could detect sweet, sour, bitter and tannins but not a sausage else. My long running battle with a summer cold had reduced my palate to that of cotton wool. Very disappointing. To be fair the situation wasn't ideal for a good tasting anyway, small plastic cups and the aforementioned temperature issues would have limited it but it would have been nice to taste something. The SO was my official taster and we put together a reasonable case of 12 without breaking the bank. Needless to say, all the wines she really liked were the expensive ones. A woman after my own heart.

The event itself had issues too. It was a very small room and so finding somewhere to stand and assess was a problem. I like to lean myself and the cellar like walls left a cellar like residue on my shirt. Also, we had the "beautiful people" to contend with. The "beautiful people" wore sunglasses. Inside. In a cellar. The "beautiful people" had their own, impressively large, tasting glasses. The "beautiful people" seemed to studiously ignore white wine. The "beautiful people" seemed intent on keeping me away from the Amarone, the one wine open that I may have had a chance to actually taste(I could, kind of, pretty powerful stuff that elicited an "UFF" of pleasure from SO).

The only other issue really was the salesman we had to deal with. I don't really get on with sales people. I like information not bluster. I like someone who actually listens to my responses. To be fair to him, the minute he described the wines as his and how he would be unable to get anymore in if we didn't buy today he was on a losing streak. Self-aggrandising behaviour is not a method I would use to sell wine. He was clearly on a commission, he insisted we use his name on our order sheet to gain a 5% discount. I am pretty sure we didn't get that. He annoyed both of us on separate occasions through his inability to actually listen to responses to his questions as well. Still, sales people are sales people the world over.

We took delivery this afternoon after a failed delivery yesterday. My request to have a delivery after 1 o'clock was met with no problems. We were 1 bottle down on delivery, I called Pieroth and they were extremely helpful and are sending the missing bottle separately. All in all it was a worthwhile event for us, despite my negativity above. I have a nice varied selection of bottles to write up once I shake this cold once and for all.

Winding Down

Things will be winding down on the blog for the next two weeks. I can't afford wine at the minute as I will be no doubt spending a fortune in England. Not least on wine.

I have some great bottles waiting for me, a Corton Charlemagne, a Volnay and some rather good Champagne. No doubt it will be a great pleasure writing those up.

Very disappointing bottle of Chilean Cabernet this weekend. It is the 2003 Panul Reserve from Errazuriz, an excellent Chilean producer. I paid more than I should have, 28,000 no less, and was so hoping for a good bottle. It didn't give out at all.
I do have a bit of a cold but this wine was as tight as my mate Bryn. The nose was giving a hint of the Cabernet standards, the palate seemed well structured, but having swilled and slurped and sucked I finally had a normal drink and it tasted of nothing. A great shame. Why was this wine so closed? I have no idea, I suspect if it had been opened a few months before it might have been good and if it was opened a few months later it might have been good. Just bad luck here.

I am going to try and get hold of a bottle of Australian Moscato today, it has been described as Appletize on steroids which sounds entertaining. Also, we have the Pieroth warehouse sale this weekend. Having looked over the list I am hoping to put a couple of cases together so there should be plenty to write about when we get back from Blighty.

Lastly, I will point you to Wine Library TV. The host, Gary Vaynerchuck, is a bit of a prat but he is passionate and seems to like similar wines to me. It is a fairly entertaining show and he does some really good and worthwhile comparisons.

GS Mart Taste-Off

Casa Toscana Chianti, DOCG, Italy, 2005

Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon, 2005.

18,000 for the two in a GS Mart deal.

I am sorry I can't remember the name of the Chilean, a victim of recycling again. You will recognise it if you see it though, a red label and the only Chilean Cab Sauv that GS do, I think.

Well, these are interesting for two reasons. The first is the price, 18,000 for two bottles is not to be sniffed at and the second is for a budget comparison of old world vs new world wines.

No great detail on the wines here and I will deal with them in the order they were drunk. So, first to Chile.
Chile has long been regarded as a good place to go hunting for good value, decent quality reds. I seem to remember reading somewhere, many years ago, that when in doubt a Chilean Cab Sauv will always please. Is it the same here? The nose is not bad, blackcurrant, slightly jammy, with a real coffee bean feel to it. Do Starbucks do blackcurrant syrup with their coffee? If they do then this is what I imagine it would smell of. Or maybe a coffee flavoured Ribena. Anyway, it is not a bad nose no matter how bad the above product ideas sound.

The drink? It is inoffensive. Blackcurrant juice with a touch of acidity, the softest of tanins and a silky mouth feel. It is so inoffensive it is uninspiring. No one will complain if you get it out for a barbecue, they will probably get drunk on it. It is a wine that is difficult to say anything about to be honest. For the price you would probably have few complaints.

Chiantis are always a gamble, though perhaps more so in the past. They fall under the DOCG classification, Italy's answer to the French AOC controls. It is a guarantee of quality, of sorts.
It has the classic sour cherry notes on the nose and not a lot else. Perhaps a touch of sweaty leather, there is something other than fruit which I couldn't put my finger on.

Drinking wise it is miles from the Chilean, acidic and tannic with the sour cherry following straight through. Decent length on it too. As far as drinking on its own it is a no brainer, you wouldn't really do it. Unlike the Chilean you wouldn't put this away with little thought while watching TV. It would probably pair pretty well with hearty, meaty dishes. Something Italian you will be amazed to hear. Or perhaps Galbi.

A real contrast between old and new world then, on the one hand an acidic, tannic wine that could probably be described as rustic that will work reasonably with food or a soft, fruity, juicy wine that is completely characterless. Which do I prefer? I drank all the Chilean, the Chianti made it into the lasagne....... Despite describing the Chilean as uninspiring and characterless it is eminently quaffable. The story with the Chianti is.......I don't mind working for pleasure, to find the characters of the wine and match with food, but here we just have a rustic wine that in reality does not give that much pleasure.

I am having to save money at the moment, I am back in England for 2 weeks from August 11th and I know how I spend money at home(Now that is a proper blog sentence! 4 I's.). Still, with the number of quality wines waiting for me at home at least the Wine Korea blog can look forward to a few postings on some of the higher end wines for a couple of weeks. New Zealand Pinot this week. Had a glass. Like being punched in the face by a raspberry.

Chateau Haut-Bages Averous

Chateau Haut-Bages Averous, Pauillac, Bordeaux, France, 2001
55,000W Les Vins, Kyobo Building, Jamsil

After the disappointment of the 2004 it was with some trepidation that I opened this. The 2004 was a long way from being ready to drink and honestly didn't give much pleasure at all. I know this is a good wine though and so was willing to take a chance on a different, older, vintage. This is the second wine of the acclaimed 5th Growth Chateau, Lynch Bages.

It is a nice dark ruby wine with a slight pink rim. The nose is really good, an explosion of raspberries and cherries with the expected Cabernet blackcurrant. There is a little more complexity than just the fruit though and there is the cigar box and cedar one might expect as well as a lovely mintiness. I really like it when Cabernet driven wines give off mint, I always find it surprising and exciting! Yes, exciting.

The palate is, thankfully, great. There is a fairly intense burst of blackcurrant backed up, again, by cedar/cigar box and the mintiness. It has a little spiciness with some gentle clove flavours which linger on a long finish, that is rich smooth and has a really good chocolate quality to it. With good body, acidity and tannins this is a really well balanced bottle of wine. Obviously it is not a cheap wine but it is a great, approachable Bordeaux that won't break the bank. Recommended.

Emart today, I fancy some crisp whites to drink in the sun. Might treat myself to a new world Pinot as well. Also, got very excited coming home from work yesterday, GS Mart are selling some new beers! Duvel, Kronenburg, Cobra and an Italian beer. I was like a kid in a sweet shop.

Pieroth Warehouse Sale

Click the picture to bigify.


I haven't talked about Pieroth before and I probably should.

Pieroth are a company that operate on an excellent premise, let your customers taste the wines and then they will buy them. It is such a simple idea yet so few retailers do it. It is happening increasingly in the UK and I am hugely excited to try out the new shop in Islington, The Sampler which offers ridiculous fine wines to sample(5 weeks and counting!).
Through the Pieroth website you can arrange a tasting, whereby someone who knows their stuff, in our case the CEO Dan Schulte, will talk you through the wines and offer you tastings of each. There is no obligation to buy but the idea is you will find enough wines you like to put together a case of 12. The prices are much more competitive due to buying by the case and so you are getting a wine you know you like at a good price. Whats not to like about that? The only negative I could find was they didn't offer mixed cases, you had to buy 6 of each bottle. For me this was not so useful, I need as much variety as possible and so I didn't buy from them. No sweat.

Which brings me to the warehouse sale. Mixed cases! 5% to 10% discount! Free delivery in Seoul and the chance to try some of their fine wines, Barolo and Amarone to name but two. There are two dates, the 21st of July in Hongdae and the 28th in Apkujong. I am booked into the 28th of July date and am hoping to put together a nice mixed case to see me through the summer. I think this is a no lose offer, especially with the chance to eat real cheese.

To book yourself on to one of the dates click here and state the date you are interested in. I should probably ask for advertisement money eh?

Vine Training

Fear not, not a blog on the Geneva Double Curtain, the above should read wine training. Perhaps.

The Nintendo DS, recently released here in Korea, is getting 3 titles all based on drinking. Bartender DS dedicated to bar mixology, Sakashou DS dedicated to Sake and Sommelier DS dedicated to the choosing and tasting of fine wine!
Sommelier DS is getting a July release in Japan, useless to me of course, but as HMV have it listed on their website I am hopeful for an English language version. If it does become available in English I will be sure to check it out. I was always better at Super Mario Kart when drunk.

Nowt as queer as oak.

Nederburg Chardonnay, Western Cape, South Africa, 2003 10,000w from Lotte Dept Store Jamsil(Big sale on at the moment)

Laroche Viognier, Vins de Pays D'Oc, France, 2005 12,000w from Les Vins, Kyobo building Jamsil(Big sale on at the moment!)

We have two very different wines here. One of which I would say is the best deal I have found in Korea so far.

First to the New World and a South African Chardonnay. The SO had a desire for an over the top Chardonnay, ripe and oaky like they all were a few years ago. This certainly matched up to her desires. I should say first that 10,000w for a New World wine is pretty impressive here, you very rarely see wines at that price.

The appearance of this wine tells you quite a lot. It is a pretty intense lemon green, when I say intense I mean dark. It's like the water you might pass after a very heavy night on the beers. I know, it is an unpleasant truth...... What does this colour tell us? It can mean one of two things usually on a dry wine, the first is age, something we can rule out here, the second is a significant exposure to oak, something that becomes very apparent on the nose.

The nose is pretty intense. An analogy might be an oak tree falls on your head and the monkeys that were living in the tree take offence and pummel your face with butter, popcorn, coconuts and eventually take pity on you and give you some melons. Yeah, it is a pretty stupid wine. The fruit is on the back burner here, it is creamy, vanilla oak that is hitting you. It is not unpleasant by any means, just incredibly rich.

The palate is actually not quite as unbalanced as I was expecting. I was expecting the creaminess to follow through with no fruit and no acidity. This is not the case, it is certainly very creamy with butter and vanilla notes at the fore but we have some nice citrus flavours with a good level of acidity. Unfortunately, for my tastes, there is just too much oak. Is it a bad wine? No. If you are in the mood for something over the top I reckon you would probably quite enjoy it, it is incredibly rich but not as one dimensional as the nose suggests. Would I recommend it? Kind of. At 10,000w it is cheap enough to be a throw away purchase that at least gives some very definite flavour. I won't be buying it again though. The SO might.....

To the second wine....

Laroche Viognier, once again a Viognier once again a Vins de Pays d'Oc. You can see where my tastes are at the moment? Interesting, good value whites is where I am at. This is exactly that and I will reiterate that this is the best value wine I have found to date in Korea.

It is a much lighter lemon in the glass, an indication of limited, if any, exposure to oak.
The nose is just lovely. A fresh lemon beginning quickly backed up by the most delicious peach you have ever smelled. Like walking through a French market in summer. There are other soft stone fruits there as well, notably apricot. It wasn't quite as aromatic as the last viognier, not really having many of the floral elements but what it did have was pineapple. Not just any old pineapple though. Pineapple cubes, from your local sweet shop. I liked that!

The palate is fairly straightforward, decent acidity, peach and lemon with an apricot kernel finish. Length was decent, and it is a refreshing drink, not a massive full-bodied viognier. A really good, clean, simple, soft wine at 12,000w then. We have already been back to buy more. I suggest you get over to the Kyobo store at Jamsil now and get a bottle. I would be amazed if you didn't like it.
Also, I want people to try Les Vins for buying wine, the staff are great, the selection is good. It is still clearly my favourite wine shop in Seoul.

When picking up the second bottle of Laroche I also got a 2001 Haut-Bages from Pauillac. Eagle eyed readers will know I have already had the 2004 and it was far from ready for drinking. Let's hope 3 years bottle age is sufficient!

Drinking in Korea

Warning, this post may be a little unfair.

I am, currently, a little dispirited(pun intended) with the state of drinking in Korea. As I stated last post it is very much a story of liquids to make you drunk. Now, don't get me wrong, I am all for getting drunk. Dylan Thomas, Oliver Reed, Jeffrey Bernard, Noah, Homer Simpson. Drunks are great company. When you are drunk. You can't be a student of wine without appreciating the effects of alcohol, something many wine writers seem to glaze over, but there is a caveat. That is, there should at least be some pleasure, real sensual pleasure, in the consumption of the alcohol. Not solely in the pleasure of a temporary suicide(thanks Bertrand Russell).

Drinking in Korea is all about getting wasted. I understand(for understand read: am aware of) the cultural nuances behind the drinking culture. I understand why Soju is so popular in the same way that I understand why white ciders are so popular in the UK. Money counts. I understand why Koreans want to drink beers that are brewed in Korea by Koreans. What I don't understand is why it is all so bad. Surely, with the economic growth in Korea, with the raising of living standards, with Sparkling Korea there could be a market for Soju that is not just made through dilution by mixing pure ethanol with water and flavoring. Surely there could be a market for a beer that tastes of something other than chemicals. A true quality spirits industry? Good quality wines, red and white at reasonable prices in every city. A country that has such an important cultural role for drinking should surely have a market for drinks above the industrial? Arirang TV each day has artisans of Korea making dresses, musical instruments, hats......Where are the artisan brewers? The artisan distillers?

I will admit that I am no expert on traditional Korean drinks, but what I see and have tasted that is available in most supermarkets does not instill much confidence. I think about Korea's neighbours, Japan, with their wonderful Sake, Whisky and beer producers and I wonder why can I not see this here. Why are people drinking Soju out of juice cartons with straws? Why was I drinking a beer last night with added fibre(produced by Hite....Called S......Added fibre......S.Hite indeed!)?

Drinking is a pleasure of the senses. Korea seems to offer only senseless drinking.

I tell you what though, the above post is most likely the result of too much S.Hite last night. I'll be revelling in the Korean drinks industry later tonight!

Two wines to report on this weekend. A big, oaky Chardonnay from South Africa and a very surprising Vins de Pays d'OC Viognier.

A Weeks Drinking

Moulin De Gassac, Vin de Pays de l'Herault(Pictured)
2004, France 15,000W. Enoteca, Galleria Department Store

Chateau Puech-Haut, Saint-Drezery, Rose
2004, France, 29,000W. Enoteca, Galleria

Morande, Terrarum, Chardonnay
Cassablanca Valley, Chile, 2004. 25,000W Hanam-si wine shop.

3 bottles to report on then, though I won't be going into great detail as I took notes for none of these bottles. It's been a tough week!

The first 2 are both from the Languedoc in the south of France, both come under the more localised appelations than Vins de Pays d'Oc. The white is de l'Herault the pink, Coteaux du Languedoc.
Both were very pleasant little wines.
The Gassac was a Sauvignon Blanc from old vines(Vielles Vignes), the older the vine the lower the crop the better the wine. So, I was hoping this would be great. It was good. A crisp, clean, understated Sauvignon with a touch of minerality. It is on offer at 15,000w and offers a nice contrast to the big, brash, New Zealand SBs. Much more subtle but perhaps a little too subdued to be a memorable wine.

The rose was a hot day purchase. Why I think a rose is going to be refreshing on a hot day I don't know. I am seduced by the pink I guess. It is a lovely salmon pink as well. It really is appealing in the glass. The nose is nice and fruity and ever so slightly confected, there is almost a candied cherry character to it. On the palate it is a tale of sour cherries with some of the confection coming through. Interestingly I served it too cold and it really opened up as it warmed up in the glass. Not bad then but perhaps a little expensive for what you get.

The final wine was a reward for a stressful Friday. It is a nice ripe Chardonnay. Melon, yes, fat juicy melon, on the nose and a nice creamy mouth feel. A little citrus, plenty of tropical fruit and some well integrated oak, there is just a touch of vanilla. This can probably be found much cheaper in Seoul and if so is well worth picking up.

There you go, short and sweet. 3 bottles that might be worth your time. Roast beef for dinner today so I hope to pick up an Argentinian Malbec. We will see.

I have been reading one of my many Wine and Spirit publications today and it has really brought home to me the dire state of the drinks industry here. From the beer through the the spirits it is a tale of mass produced, foul tasting, drunk making beverages. I will admit to being ignorant of the more traditional spirits however(something I would love to remedy). If I can find the time and energy a close look at the drinks business here might be in order.

On the up.

I was determined to have a good day yesterday. Despite staying out much too late on Friday drinking the shocking draught beer I made it to Apgujeong to meet the SO. We headed straight to the Enoteca wine shop, located downstairs in the East building of Galleria department store. It is a nice store, airy and spacious with a well presented wine selection. As you might expect the focus is on high end French wine, Galleria is a store for the moneyed Koreans, but there are also a selection of monthly wines reduced to some reasonable prices. Pouilly Fumes reduced to 24,000w are pretty appealing. Perhaps this is why they had sold out. They were doing a sparkling wine tasting which was unfortunately fully booked but we gave details so we will hopefully get to experience one of their future events.
I bought two wines from the Languedoc, a rosé from a respected producer and a Sauvignon Blanc. Two bottles, 44,000w. Not too bad. I will report on them in the week but the pink is a refreshing, fruity, sour affair that may need food...

Yesterday was far too hot to be pounding the streets so we dived into a bar called Abbey Road that is just off Rodeo Street. It is a nice bar, I have no idea what the connection to Abbey Road is but it feels a long long way from a traditional English boozer. It has a really nice garden area and lots of open inside areas, the inside outside basically. I was drinking Hoegarden myself, the wine list was average and over priced, but the SO had the house white. She said it was revolting. Near the end of her glass I decided to have a sniff. It was corked. We agreed that she really needs to trust her nose more. She assumed it was just a bad wine whereas in reality it was spoiled. The corked wine is the one that has appeared at the top right of the blog. So, at least it looked nice.

We decided to hunt down some food but happened upon Once in a Blue Moon, a Jazz bar. I am not a big jazz fan but we had read a lot about this place and it sounded interesting. It's a pretty nice place, dark, comfortable with a stylish 1920's interior. It feels a long way from the more traditional Korean bars. The food is expensive! So was the wine. The closest thing to good value was a Muga Reserva, which weighed in at 84,000w. A fairly hefty price tag then, but Muga is a good Rioja producer and given the price of some very average wines elsewhere on the list it did represent value of a sort. We were in the mood for white though and so plumped for a Macon Village at 55,000w. That is a mighty mark-up for a Macon, you could get some far more illustrious Burgundies for that sort of money. The wine was opened with a level of ceremony that a Macon Village is probably not worthy of. Our waitress sniffed the cork and presented it to me, I dutifully ignored it, there is absolutely nothing to be learned from the cork. It was a pleasant enough little Chardonnay. Light, slightly nutty citrus and apples. Had the length of Sheffield United's stay in the Premiership. There really isn't a lot to be said about it except that I did detect a bit of cheesiness about it. I had been drinking in the sun though, so, you know, my radar may have been a bit out. If you have the cash to spare I would definitely recommend it as a place to go though. I think drinking Champagne in there would be a pretty pleasurable experience.

Speaking of Champagne, why aren't there any Champagne bars in Apgujeong? It would make a killing. Absolute. Conspicuous consumption is Agpujeong. What says wealth better than Champagne. In fact, if there are any venture capitalists reading, get in touch. I'll make us rich. A Champagne and Oyster bar. Dark, stylish and expensive. Seriously, this time next year......

A Bad Week

I wasn't drinking the above.


I have had a nasty cold for the second half of this week and I had two dreadful bottles of wine at the beginning of the week. It could be related?

The first was a white Bordeaux. I was tricked into buying it as the GS Supermarket near work had suddenly expanded their wine selection. It was Saint-Angel and I forget the name of the region in Bordeaux. I know it was an area close to Entre deux Mers and I found out after that it is an area noted for reasonably priced, reasonable wine. It had the wonderful phrase Cuvée Prestige on the label, which means absolutely nothing. Cuvée means vat. They are trying to tell us that this was a good batch. Which really doesn't bode well for their Vins Ordinaire or such like. Walking home I was calculating how much it would cost in Britain. I paid 14,000W which is roughly 7 quid so we are probably talking a 3 pound 50 wine. This is a dodgy supermarket though so I knocked off 51p. A 2.99 bottle then. You would have felt cheated of your 2 pounds.
I didn't do a tasting note as I pretty much just spat it out. It smelled of chemicals and rotting fruit. I did wonder if it was corked but there was none of the musty, damp smell you would expect. It tasted as dreadful as it smelled. Off-dry chemicals with an acrid finish. A bit like drinking flat White Lightning with some added sugar. It had been a hot day and this was exactly what I didn't need.

The second bottle was from that well known wine purveyor, 7-11. The bottle was behind the counter, much like fine wine and Champagne often is. It was 14,000W and the girl working there had clearly never seen it before. It was a Chardonnay, you don't often see varietals outside of the specialist retailers, and it was from the Vins de Pays D'Oc which can be an excellent source of cheaper, good quality wines. The nose was ok, had some nice ripe melon and green apple. It was nice and simple and fruity. It just did not convert to the palate unfortunately. It was all out of balance with, again, a real chemical quality. A shame really, to get a decent white from the local 7-11 would feel like a step forward. Especially if the price could come in at sub 10,000. This is probably as good an indication as any of where the Korean market is at right now(Probably another post for another day).

To add insult to injury I missed the Seoul Wine Market last weekend. Advertising? Website? Not that I could find. That will teach me to live out in the sticks I guess.

This weekend I will buy some good wine. I will try to stay true to buying an American wine. I hope to go to Aligote in Gangnam, which is reputed to have the biggest wine list in Korea.
I will have a good week.

Miguel Torres 'Tormenta' Viognier, 2006

Miguel Torres 'Tormenta' Viognier
Chile, Central Valley, 2006
24,000W Shindong Wine in Hyundai Department Store, Cheonho.

A nice bunch of Viognier(Vee-on-nyey) grapes there. Viognier is a very fashionable grape, due to the expensive and expressive wines of Condrieu in the Rhone. As is the way in the wine business, the New World took note and started planting their own Viognier to piggy back on the popularity. A good thing certainly, Viognier is a really interesting white with great character but some plantings are certainly not wise. It needs to be fully ripe to produce its aromatic qualities and in too hot a region this leads to alcoholic blockbusters......

This wine(no picture, the bottle made it to recycling before the camera got it. It has a moody modern label though) is fairly light in intensity, a clear and bright lemon green.

The nose is fairly powerful, you get a nice head full of youthful fruit smells. Anise is taking centre stage, really dominating the other aromas. However there are some classic Viognier characteristics, ripe melon, peach and a very appealing floral element. This manifested itself in cherry lips for me(remember them?). It is a really aromatic nose and is a pretty good example of what a Viognier should smell like.

Drinking, it is dry and fairly intense and full bodied. It is a mouth full of wine for sure. The acidity is surprisingly good, Viognier can suffer from a lack of acidity but this is sufficiently mouth watering. What is really noticeable is the alcohol though, there is that tell-tale burn at the back of the throat. There is lime and apricot and the finish is almost almondy. The floral elements follow through as well fortunately with orange blossom notes. Nice flavours then. But...... The alcohol is too high. It is, for want of a better expression, kicking the shit out of the wine. It has this slightly harsh effect on the overall experience, so rather than a wonderful, soft, aromatic wine we are getting a kick in the face. With Doc Martens.

I may be exaggerating a bit. I am somewhat scarred by a South African Viognier that was 14.5% and oaked into submission. Still, I haven't seen many Viogniers here so if you are in the market for something a bit different and fancy getting drunk then this is well worth a punt.

Crab and wine...

Just a quick one before the weekends drinking, I mean tasting, begins.....

Had planned to go for pork last night, boiled pork with special kimchi wrapped in lettuce(Bossam), but the place was full. So we crossed the road and went to the crab place for the first time. We had snow crab, the cheapest option and it was pretty good. The fried rice at the end that they obviously make with all the brains and other head cheese was amazing. Now, I didn't drink wine as I was a little bit scandalised by the price of the food(60,000! For both of us with beer, I am that tight), but I was pleased to see their wine selection.
Following on from the last post they were all white wines. As you would expect with something as delicately flavoured as crab and lobster. It wasn't a great selection admittedly, 1 Vins de Pays d'Oc and 2 Chilean Chardonnays. In red centric Korea it was nice to see though as I can't think of many reds that would go with crab. I wonder what wine the expert from the news article would pair with crab? Thinking about it he would probably be eating lobster. And drinking something from the Côte de Nuits. Git.

Also, my local hoff(pub) has a load of Chateau Mani in. I had a quick look and it is 10% alcohol so I am assuming it is going to be sweet. Still, I will try it out and write it up. It will be my first Korean wine!

Wine Means Red Wine......

Well, Gypsy Scholar pointed me to his blog and I feel I should probably comment(though the topic is covered very well in the links). An article in the JoongAng Daily offering advice to the wine drinkers in Korea has certainly got some issues that can be addressed.

One of the issues raised is something I had intended to comment on before reading this and that is the anxiety and fear that people feel about buying wine. Walking into a wine shop can be terrifying, yet there is no good reason for this. It is not a mysterious commodity that in order to buy and enjoy requires great depth of knowledge. I do not know a great deal about MP3 players, but I know I have certain requirements and that I can talk to a salesperson about my likes and dislikes in MP3 players, I can tell them how much I want to spend and they will show me the items they stock that match those attributes. Wine is no different.

A good sommelier or retailer will be able to talk you through the wines and find you something that will match your expectations. The best part is that these people are passionate about their product and they want to share that with you. They want you to enjoy the wine they sell and hopefully introduce you to something new. I promise you that this will be the case with 90% of the people in the wine industry. It is a passion that people want to share. Take advantage of that.

My biggest issue with the article is the line "For Lee, wine means red wine. Like many connoisseurs he regards white wine as frivolous." I can only assume that this is a little artistic license from the reporter. It just seems a ludicrous thing for anyone in the wine industry to say. I mean, just ludicrous. This is a man who clearly has a passion for French wines yet he writes off Champagne, he writes off White Burgundies, Puligny Montrachet, Chassagne Montrachet, Corton Charlemagne. He writes off Coindreau, spicy Alsatian aromatics, he writes off the great whites of the Loire, Sancerre, Pouilly Fume. German Rieslings, Austrian Gruner Veltliner, Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc. If he really did say this then I can only assume it to be part of some misplaced machismo. That white wine is somehow feminine and therefore, in his mind, not serious. As a wine man he really is missing out on a whole lot pf pleasure though..

The other points are covered well by the Gypsy Scholar's knowledgeable friend. Balance is good. Choosing a wine at 13.5% is a daft way to choose, though I agree that avoiding some over-alcoholic wines is a good idea. I am pleased that he can afford to indulge a preference for Red Burgundies. No, really, I am.

The other point of contention is his assertion to avoid American wines. I will admit that I am guilty of this and it is something I have been meaning to address. However, each time I'm buying a bottle I always come out with something from anywhere but America. Why? Well, in the UK, under 10 pounds, you do not get that many great American wines. At least not ones I tried. They tended to suffer from the great excesses that the Europeans criticize the Americans for, massive fruity Zinfandels with enough alcohol to put you on your back with one whiff. Merlots with the structure and balance of Bambi on ice. I developed a bad impression of them. In Korea I worry that it will be the same story but I will have to pay even more for the pleasure or lack thereof. However, I will make a promise that the next time I am wine shopping I will buy at least one bottle of American wine.

So, what is the point? Well, don't be scared by wine, you buy it, you drink it and if you like it you remember it. The old world wines can be a git to get to grips with, but a little knowledge will go a long way and could prove to be extremely rewarding. Drink red and white please. Especially now it is getting hot. A cold crisp Riesling after a hard day is guaranteed to cheer you up.
This post comes directly from my place of work and it is hot and I haven't had a drink. If it is rambling there you have your excuse....

Lagunilla, Vina Artal Crianza Rioja

Lagunilla, Vina Artal Crianza , 2003
Rioja, Spain
EMart, W16,000

I talked about Riojas age classifications here..
I am a big fan of Riojas, they offer some really good juicy wines and come in a great variety of styles. With the 18 months in oak for a Crianza you get that extra level of complexity and interest for your money. At W16,000 in Emart not bad value.

It is a light ruby, not an intense coloured wine and it has a slight pink rim. There is just a touch of brown to indicate its age.

On the nose we are getting many secondary aromas. This isn't the big fruity wine that was the story of the Campo Viejo. There is a real dried fruit thing going on here, raisins, prunes and spice. Cloves are really coming through. This is still fairly young though and so there is still plenty of fruit there. As is the case with most wines that are predominantly tempranillo this is a juicy red fruit affair. Red cherries and cranberries with a touch of strawberry.

This is a really soft wine tannin wise but is really quite acidic. Surprisingly so. It is not a power house by any means, it feels really quite light bodied but does linger on the palate. The dried fruit isn't really following through at all, instead we are getting the cherries and cranberries in a far less ripe style than the nose suggests. It feels a little thin and acidic for my tastes. There is at least a pleasant vanilla finish, characteristic of the time in oak, but it isn't enough to save this wine for me.

It is by no means a bad wine and if it had a little more in the way of tannins I would suggest it just needs a little more time to round out. However I don't think it will benefit all that much from age and so cannot really recommend it. My SO thinks it is pretty good though so maybe you will like it. It is not a bad price after all..

Lawsons Dry Hills Sauvignon Blanc

Lawsons Dry Hills Sauvignon Blanc, 2005
Marlborough, New Zealand
E-Mart, W24,000.

Well, I have written about this in brief in other posts yet have never given it my full attention. Why? Well, it really is very good and generally it has been put away before there is any time to write it up.
Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc is one of those wines that really does show off the true varietal character of a grape. It is a region that takes the grape and produces wines that seem to have all the characteristics that are noted for Sauvignon Blanc(SB). SB tends to be a gooseberry, cat piss, passion fruit, grassy, herbaceous wine. That is what you get with Marlborough SBs. Some can do more tropical fruit, some more of the grassy quality but there is usually no mistaking what it is that is in front of you.
I suspect in the UK they may soon go the way of Chardonnay, that is people becoming tired of its power house fruit and intense refreshing hit. That is the nature of fashion but unlike the welcome retreat of the over ripe, over oaked Chardonnays I think it would be a shame if Marlborough SB went out of fashion. It is a great wine.

The Lawsons is a great example of the more ripe style of the region. This is a 2005, I believe the ones I had before were 2006 and SB does benefit from being young. It is a wine all about lively fruit, not developing, secondary flavours. Indeed, the secondary flavours tend to be somewhat unpleasant tinned vegetable aromas.
This is a clear and bright lemon yellow wine of a medium intensity(I know people probably don't care too much about the appearance, this is for me and my course). The nose is great, pretty intense with no searching for the fruit required. It comes straight with the grassiness so appealing to SB and then follows up with some lovely tropical fruit aromas. Pineapple is there as is passion fruit. Gooseberry is there as well though a much riper gooseberry than some SBs. It is all backed up by a fresh citrus lemon and all in gives off a really refreshing idea of the drink to come.
And it is refreshing. Mouth watering. Crisp. An intense fruit burst with citrus taking the lead quickly followed by the fuller, riper pineapple. It has really good length with the herbaceousness and gooseberry lingering just long enough to remind you to have another slug on it(I mean, sip, of course). This is not a subtle wine, there is none of the minerality of a great Sancerre or Pouilly Fume but then to get even a decent SB from the Loire you have to pay a premium.
One of the nicest things about this wine is its price, at 24,000 that converts to about £12. Majestic Wine have this at £9.99. For once I feel that I am not getting a bottle marked up beyond belief.

If you are a fan of Marlborough SB or you have never tried them and are looking for a cracking bottle of wine at a really good price then get yourself to E-Mart. While there you could pick up one of the Lawsons Pinot's as well.

So, having debased my wine blog with talk of beer snacks we are now back on track. Coming next are a Crianza Rioja from Emart and a Viognier(Vee On Nyey) from Shindong wine.

Ultimate Beer Snack?

Not a wine post. I am a bit hungover. Had to work yesterday and we felt bitter about this and so drank too much to compensate. Also it was the (extremely dull) FA Cup final.

I was thinking about beer snacks this morning. And........

What is it? The ultimate beer snack?
I reckon it has to be salty, moreish and not too filling. It is the kind of thing you have to compulsively push into your gaping maw.

Contenders?
1: Crisps(chips for our American friends). Salt and Vinegar walkers.......
Korea doesn't do Salt and Vinegar and God I miss it. They work as a beer snack. Salty, crispy and the vinegar gives enough of a hit to not be overpowered by the beer. Other flavours can work, not ready salted I reckon though(too simple), spicy ones work. Haitai Habanero would work. They are spicy as and have a bit of sweetness make them double moreish.

2: Pork scratchings. Even the name is good eh? Scratchings of pig. Salty, check. Crunchy, check. Macho, check. Pork scratchings are pretty powerful and can ruin a set of teeth but the crunchy, soft, salty and I think, unamic(I think I invented this word) snack is a genius partner to a pint of lager. I love scratchings(sorry Mam and Dad) but you can't eat a lot. One bag will do you for a session really.

3: Nuts.
Couldn't find a picture of dry roasted. It has to be dry roasted in the pub I think. The flavouring is pretty false but it has a good hit of flavour and works well with beer. 1 bag isn't enough which is a good sign as well. All nuts work well though. If you are in a better boozer you could maybe get smoked almonds and that is always going to work well.

That's the British boozer standards out of the way.

Others.....

4: Popcorn!
You pretty much get a bowl of popcorn with every beer in Korea. This is a good thing. Popcorn works. Salted popcorn. It is salty, crunchy and moreish. You can push endless piles of it into your face without really noticing it. It requires a slug of beer to remove the bits of husk stuck in your teeth. Popcorn is good. The Oriental Brewery in Jamsil has the best popcorn I have had in a pub here so far.

5: Seaweed.
Yep. Seaweed. It works. The small salty sheets are a treat. What you get is an extremely delicate, crispy vehicle for getting the all important salt in your mouth. It isn't something you get that often but when you do it is a real treat. Pretty healthy in comparison to the above as well.

6:Edamame
Ahhhh edamame. Who would have thought a soy bean could give so much pleasure? I love these. They are my ultimate beer snack. Why? Well, they come loaded with salt(when I make them), you put the pod in your mouth, tooth the bean out and get the salt with a nutty bean with bite. Then you have another. And another. I honestly think I could just keep putting these away. You don't get full. You don't grow tired. Each and every one is pleasure. Amazing. The first time I had them was in a bar in Clerkenwell and they cost £4 for about 10 pods. Stupid money. It was worth it though. If you haven't had edamame yet then go and get some.
In Seoul you can get them from the foreigners market at Hannam-dong.

So what have I missed? What is the greatest beer snack? Get stuck in!


This post was brought courtesy of Prime Max. Delicious idea.



I have been drinking wine..... We had a pretty amazing Pouilly Fume, Sauvignon Blanc at its most smoky and mineral. Very much like sucking wet stones but with alcohol. Also, we had a 2005 Haut Bages Averous. A Pauillac Bordeaux that I knew wouldn't be ready to drink and indeed wasn't. Give it a few years and it will be an impressive Pauillac though I reckon.
7-11 are now doing some dry whites also. I spotted a Chardonnay and also a Sauvignon Blanc/Chardonnay blend from Chile. The latter costs 13,000 and is a bit meh.

Old World Vs New World...... Battle of the Blends.

Cape Mentelle Sauvignon Blanc/Semillon 2005
Margaret River,
W26,000




Kressmann Grande Reserve 2005
Bordeaux
W17,000







Both bought from les vins maeil located in the Lotte Castle Plaza(pictured above), Jamsil. They have a website at www.lesvins.co.kr but unfortunately it doesn't work. This is a really nice wine shop. It has issues. It has a tendency to be hugely over priced. Rather than separate its wines by just region it does them by reds/whites and regions. Most importantly it does not have a price against every wine. Or even most wines. There is very little pricing......
However, I like it. It is haphazard, wine boxes scattered about the place, wine bins overflowing, bargains scattered here and there. The staff are extremely friendly and helpful. There is none of the abject fear that seems to strike some shop workers when confronted with a white faced, big nose(I try to engage in my pidgin Korean but there is a moment of rabbit caught in headlights as I approach in most shops). It just feels like a real wine shop. A bumbling, enthusiastic, passionate wine lovers retail experience. What's not to like? Also, they gave me free cheese. As service. All good.

To the battle.....

Old World V New World.
France V Australia
The largest exporter of still light wine V the largest growth(by volume) of still light wine exports

and so on.

In all honesty this is probably unfair, though not without worth. Dry white Bordeaux has a propensity to be fairly uninteresting, dry and characterless wine. It is very firmly in the shadow of the reds and the sweet wines of the region. The reasoning behind picking up this bottle was pretty simple, it was cheap. However, knowing that it was a Semillon/Sauvignon Blanc blend gave me the opportunity for this comparison. And comparison is good!

The Bordeaux is a 50-50 split, Semillon/Sauvignon, the Cape Mentelle 49-49 with 2% Chardonnay.
Both are clear, bright lemon and very pale wines. They look young, they are young, the Bordeaux carrying just a touch of green.

On the nose the Australian wins hands down. It has characteristic Sauvignon traits, herbaceous(grassy almost), gooseberries, green apples and there is a touch of honey in there which must be coming from the Semillon. It is a really expressive nose. The Bordeaux has far less going on. There are green apples, though they smell slightly oxidised, as though they are all that's left from a fruit salad from yesterday(HA! I think that right there was the moment I moved in to horrible, over descriptive, wine bore territory. You witnessed it here! It's true though.). There is a touch of the herbaceousness, a touch, and far more nondescript citrus. It all feels a bit green to be honest.

It is a similar story on the palate. The Bordeaux is a tale of unripe fruit, green apples and lemon. It is a refreshing dry white that lacks the character to take it out of the realms of bland. I could probably argue the case for a touch of minerality but I can't really be bothered.
The Cape Mentelle is a bit of a zinger, lemon and grapefruit, far less herbaceous than the nose suggests. Although the Sauvignon dominates there is much more weight than a straight Sauvignon Blanc. It has crisp green apples as well as the citrus and all said and done offers hell of a lot more than the Bordeaux.

A surprising result? Well, no. Cheap, white Bordeaux is probably not the place to look for exciting wine and 17,000 is cheap. It probably translates to about £4 or $8 in real(not marked up beyond recognition) money. However, I quite liked the Bordeaux, when taken on its own merits. Crisp, light and refreshing I would be quite happy to drink this. The Cape Mentelle was just a good wine.

Edit: Alright, just to clarify the Australian was the superior wine. By a long shot.