Cortes de Cima » General

Chinese Tasting Notes and Food Pairing suggestions

Carrie — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 18:37:47 +0000

Last month, when we were participating in Vinexpo Asia in Hong Kong, we ran into an old friend, winemaker Tersina Shieh. We last met Tersina here at Cortes de Cima, when she gave a helping hand out in the cellar for a spell, a few vintages ago. Tersina has now teamed up with Simon Tam and together they are wine consultants running the Independent Wine Centre, a contemporary tasting and education centre based in Hong Kong. We asked IWC to do some ‘Chinese’ tasting notes, and here they are!

Chaminé Branco

This wine is more fragrant than Chinese pear. It is fresh and lively. The refreshing feel lingers for a while.

Best food match: Steamed fresh seafood, Salt and pepper stir fried dish in Southern China.

Courela

It has abundant grapey sweetness. The texture is rich and smooth with a bitter-sweet aftertaste.

Best food match: Shanghaiese smoked appetiser, Air-dried preserved meat.

Chaminé Tinto

Rich fruit aromas give a satisfying mouthfeel. It has intense fragrance of dried prunes and preserved plums. Overall, 2009 Chaminé Tinto is powerful, simple but rich.

Best food match: Mongolian barbecue, Cantonese style roast meat.

Syrah

This Syrah reflects the best growing season of 2007. The aroma is forward yet it is more complex than Syrah from other countries. Westerners will describe the aroma as mineral but in the food culture of Chinese, this 2007 Syrah reminds us of one of our beloved food – dried seafood, especially dried scallops. This wine is the result of the best combination of ideal weather, rich land and ripen grapes.

Best food match: Peking duck, river fish cooked in Northern China style.

Cortes de Cima

This 2008 Cortes de Cima is like a double-boiled soup. It is rich but not heavy, its texture is velvety instead of drying. Its long aftertaste is reminiscent of roast sesame and the bitter sweetness of ginseng.

Best food match: Braised good quality abalone, Braised sea cucumber with shrimp roe.

Touriga Nacional

This 2005 Touriga Nacional is the first great year of the 21st century. Although it is still young, it is already showing the bouquet and quality of a mature wine. It is not easy to describe this wine in a few words but it reminds us of the rich and colourful smells of a Shanghai candy store or a grocery store. The wine is fragrant, aromatic and comfortable. It has a smooth mouthfeel and a lingering taste.

Best food match: Stew beef brisket in clay pot, Preserved meat with rice, Fried glutinous rice.

Incógnito

This Incógnito has a typical new wine colour which is vibrant purplish red. The fruit aroma is intense, with a strong fried pancake flavour, and a hint of sweet lotus taste. It has a medium body, intense aroma and long ‘fried pancake’ aftertaste. This Incógnito is probably the best representative of Portuguese wine, and it won’t disappoint any wine lovers from around the world.

Best food match: Cantonese style clay pot dishes, cheese platter shared with a few friends.

A Portuguese Orient Express – HONG KONG

Carrie — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 18:33:34 +0000

On a modern day Sino-Luso vinous encounter last month we joined a group of Portuguese winemakers embarked on an epic journey to Beijing, Shanghai, Macau and Hong Kong, to showcase Portuguese wines to the booming Chinese market. This is the 3rd and last post.

Following Beijing and Shanghai, the winemakers group moved on to Hong Kong for Vinexpo Asia-Pacific 2010, where Cortes de Cima participated for the first time in this biannual fair in it’s 3rd edition.

“More than 880 exhibitors from 32 different countries greeted 12,000 visitors over three days, a 40 percent attendance increase from 2008. Two years ago, during the trade show’s last visit to Asia, producers and industry members were still exploring how to get their feet wet in the Chinese market. This time, there was a gold rush atmosphere as startup Chinese firms scrambled to make deals with wineries and merchants. The energy inside the show was a result of the rapidly expanding market—according to Vinexpo, total wine consumption in the region is increasing four times faster than the world average.” – Wine Spectator.

We could most definitely feel that buzz of activity and energy, as buyers and exhibitors jostled for attention during the 3 non-stop days! It was hard to find a free moment from pouring and chatting with well-informed and interested sommeliers, educators, distributors, importers and others from the Asian wine trade. One Vinexpo highlight was finally meeting in person the lovely and highly talented MW Debra Meiburg, hitherto we had only been Facebook friends!

During Vinexpo, Viniportugal organized a Touriga seminar, pouring a few examples of this Portuguese grape variety, including our 5 time gold medal winning Touriga Nacional 2005 (including the IWC 2008 Alentejan and Portuguese Red Wine Trophies).

Winemaker Tersina Shieh, gave us a pleasant surprise when she dropped by our stand. We last met Tersina here at Cortes de Cima, when she gave a helping hand out in the cellar for a spell, a few vintages ago. Tersina has now teamed up with Simon Tam and together they are wine consultants running the Independent Wine Centre, a contemporary tasting and education centre based in Hong Kong. So many exciting things happening in the Hong Kong wine world! I’m already looking forward to the next Vinexpo Asia 2012!

A Portuguese Orient Express – SHANGHAI

Carrie — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 17:05:13 +0000

Shanghai was the second hop on our Luso-Sino Wine Express in May, which started in Beijing (see previous post), and was to end in Macau and Hong Kong at Vinexpo Asia 2010 (next post).

We reached Shanghai just in time for the start of the SIAL China Food and Beverage Fair, where we again formed part of a group of Portuguese winery exhibitors. Our importer RuoAo helped us man the stand at the 3 day fair, lucky for us, as the majority of the visitors were from the local Chinese beverage trade and not fluent in English.

As in Beijing, our importers RuoAo were again impeccable hosts, escorting us around all the Shanghai highlights, the Bund, French Concession, People’s Park, Oriental Pearl Tower, and at mealtimes plying us with many-coursed delectable Chinese dishes.

The highlight of our Shanghai visit was visiting EXPO 2010, and in particular, the Portuguese pavilion. As we are VERY supportive of using natural cork as the closure of choice for all our wine bottles, we were excited to see that the Portugal Pavilion has a façade that is covered in cork, a nationally sourced, recyclable and environmentally friendly material!

Once inside the pavilion, the visitor is treated to an excellent short video “Portugal, a Square for the World”, and before exiting has the chance to buy Portuguese wines (including Cortes de Cima!) as a souvenir, or to drink a glass of Cortes de Cima or Chaminé at the wine bar adjacent to the souvenir shop! What a great opportunity to try Portuguese wines for the 3 million expected visitors to the Portuguese Pavilion, out of the 70 million expected visitors to Expo Shanghai while it runs over the next 6 months!

A Portuguese Orient Express – BEIJING

Carrie — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 13:37:27 +0000

The trip started in Beijing, where our importer and distributor RuoAo played the role of superb hosts in true Chinese fashion. Picking us up upon arrival at the Beijing airport the world’s largest and most advanced airport building designed by Norman Foster, we were whisked off to RuoAo’s very impressive Beijing wine store outlet, specializing in Portuguese wines and boasting a fine selection from the Cortes de Cima range. Subsequently, we were chaperoned around all the major sights, including the Great Wall, Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square, interspersed by numerous lavish and sumptuous Chinese meals with an over abundance of courses.

Not to be excluded was a visit to YuanMingYuan the Imperial Gardens destroyed by British and French troops in 1860 during the Second Opium War. The scene of destruction is still regarded as a symbol of foreign aggression and humiliation in China, and an eye-opener for a Westerner visiting China for the first time, to put relations between China and the West into a more historic perspective.

The last day of our Beijing stay the inaugural ‘Annual Grand Portuguese Tasting’ took place, attracting some 180-200 trade visitors, not bad for the very 1st time! The tasting included a seminar hosted by Tommy Lam, sommelier and wine educator from Singapore, where our Reserva 2004 was the star of the show. The event finished off with a Portuguese buffet dinner put on at Vasco’s, a Portuguese restaurant at the Beijing Hilton (which features Cortes de Cima Syrah on their wine list!) In conjunction with the Portuguese wine tasting, the owners of the Portuguese restaurant Tromba Rija flew into Beijing with a plane load of Portuguese ingredients for a Portuguese Food Fair, affording Beijing socialites a true Portuguese wine and food experience!

A particular highlight of our Beijing stay, was making the acquaintance of Edward Ragg and Fongyee Walker (MW student) who run Dragon Phoenix, a Beijing based wine education and consultancy company. Communication about wines is alpha omega for selling wine in China, and it goes without saying, needs to be in Chinese! According to Edward Ragg, the chief barrier for Portuguese winemakers in breaking into the Chinese market is “the lack of knowledge surrounding Portugal in mainland China (at least the Mandarin for ‘Portugal’, putao ya, meaning ‘grape teeth’, is suggestive of wine, however).”

Getting ready to welcome ‘Old and New Friends’ – Cortes de Cima 8th Annual Summer Vineyard Concert

Carrie — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 17:46:39 +0000

The winery is a buzz of activity as we are busy preparing once again for our Summer Vineyard Concert, when the echo of Danish opera can be heard against the backdrop of the verdant summer vineyard. The lovely mezzo soprana Ulla Kudsk Jensen will be returning this year accompanied for the first time by the tenor Thomas Præstegård and of course, as always Mats Knutsson at the piano! Chef Bjarne Otto and his team of helpers are busy in the kitchen concocting delectable dishes for the Post concert Gala Buffet Dinner, which will be served with our full range of wines and varietals. This year’s concert is sold out!

“Let the “Old” well known be inspired, renewed and uplifted from the “New”, the unknown. Let me have the honor to present a new man. A man who is beautiful – yes, he is tall – yes, he is a very good singer – of course, but most of all: He is a TENOR.

This gives us the opportunity to meet Don José the sympatric lover who ends up killing Carmen in despair. And to meet Freddy who wants to meet his girlfriend, and Tony who long for Maria and of course he’ll also sing O Sole Mio for you. Let Thomas, Ulla and the wonderful maestro Mats Knutsson lead you through an adventure of music and love.” – Ulla Kudsk Jensen

And for a taste of what’s to come, here is a clip from last year’s concert from YouTube here!

Syrah in The top 10 > Decanter Recommendations > Top ten wines from Waitrose

Carrie — Sat, 29 May 2010 14:18:14 +0000

For many years and across many vintages, we have been supplying to Waitrose direct from the winery our single varietal Cortes de Cima Syrah, and were pleased to read that it was included among the Waitose Top 10 in a recent Decanter tasting, as you can read below. It is available in the UK both in their shops and also online at Waitrose Wine direct.

“Waitrose has long enjoyed a reputation as one of the best sources of wine on the UK high street. It has carried off numerous awards in recent years, championing wines and styles that are sometimes missing on the shelves of its peers, not to mention the strength of its own label range. This selection, picked from a recent, comprehensive tasting of its wines, proves that this is a supermarket still offering a fantastic choice for anyone browsing its aisles.”

Cortes de Cima, Syrah, Alentejo 2005 – Decanter Rating: This has been a reliable wine for many vintages now. Produced by a Scandinavian couple in southern Portugal, this wine is fresh and plummy, with the fruit carrying a complementing pinch of spice. Smooth and clean, it possesses a strong, refreshing structure and a satisfying, lingering finish. £10.99 Waitrose supermarkets” – reproduced from decanter.com .

(I will forgive them for calling me a Scandinavian!)

IWSC – 3 Silvers (2 Best in Class)

Carrie — Wed, 26 May 2010 11:48:07 +0000

International Wine & Spirit Competition – UK 2010

Silver Medal (BEST IN CLASS) Cortes de Cima 2007 “Deep youthful colour with aromas of toast, smoke blackberries and fruits of the forest. Flavours of tangy mouthwatering berries with a peppery lift. It has a long finish which is rich ripe and smooth. Leaves you wanting more.”

Silver Medal (BEST IN CLASS) Aragonez 2007 “Lively ruby red with delicate aromas of berry fruits. Flavours of sweet brambles with some clove spice adding hints of complexity. Flavours open up and develop in the glass and support the velvety tannins. All leading to a well balanced finish.”

Silver Medal Homenage to Hans Christian Andersen 2008

Bronze Medal Cortes de Cima 2008

Bronze Medal Syrah 2007

Bronze Medal Syrah 2008