Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Why do I prefer fruity wines?

"Why do you prefer fruity wines, Bank?" is a question I often get (or its polar opposite of "Why don't you like tannic wines, Bank?").

Interesting questions, I must admit.

I think it has come down to the two cuisines of my childhood: Chinese and Thai. I am a Thai citizen with Chinese grandparents. Asian food tend to be better paired with wines that are not tannic. This journey of self-discovery is another positive step towards defining who I am as a wine person.

To define the types of wines one prefers should be something that new wine drinkers should do first and foremost. Personally I believe that this is something much more worthwhile to start off your journey into the wine world than only focusing on wines from big producers and ignoring the rest.

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

My cherished wine experience

My cherished wine experience would have to be the first time I’ve savoured Beaujolais-Villages. It has been over 5 years of “drinker’s block” for red wines. The one I was looking for was something light in terms of tannins, acidity and alcohol level.

Unfortunately for me, the Thai market favours the styles of reds from Bordeaux and Australia, which are the opposite of what I was looking for, what I was trying to define as “my pallet” and “my preference”. In a sense, the search for “my red wine” was also a search for my own wine identity.

After reading several wine books, through which I was introduced to Burgundian paragons of wine like Clos-Vougeot and Volnay. I settled on the fact that the wine which would not “bust my budget” and I might enjoy is a Beaujolais-Villages. The moment I decided to buy a bottle, I had a hunch that this might be “the wine” for me. Sure enough, after turning the corkscrew and pouring the liquid content into my Burgundy “balloon-nette” glass, the colour of the liquid captivated me, drawing my curiosity even closer to it, beckoning me to swirl-and-sniff; sniff-and… swallow. Definitely not spit!

It was like a raspberry tart in liquid form.

Thursday, September 16, 2010

A Burgundian education

After all the paperwork of applications and legal processes, I'm finally here in Dijon, France to study a masters degree in wine business at the Burgundy School of Business (the locals call it "Groupe École Supérieur de Commerce de Dijon Bourgogne").