Australian Wine Tasting at Hilton: The Korea Times

The Korea Times
13 Australian Wine Tasting at Hilton

THURSDAY, JUNE 25, 1988
For its variety of styles and quality levels, there is still no beating the Barossa- one of Australia's first wine regions and still the single most important.
By Ken Kim Times Wine Writer
ocals always ask me the question, "Why do you call it a tasting when it is really a wine party?" in referring to the wine "tastings" that I have been writing about. I usually answer that it is because wine is a food rather than an alCoholic substance and it has to be tasted rather than gulped down like a !)'pica! party beverage. The Australian wine tasting at the Hilton was not immune to this question especially because the tasting started out as if it was a wine party rather than a tasting. And I must admit that I was caught off guard when I walked into the tasting that evening. The wine tastings to which I am normally accustomed begin with servings of sparkling wine (Champagne if it is a French tasting). But at the Hilton, the sparkling wine was joined by two other red and white generic French wines. For awhile, I could not figure out what was going on and I ended up asking the bartender why they were serving French wine rather than Australian wine. The bartender told me that the French wine was being served as "a sort of a preview" and that the real Australian wine tasting would begin in the next room. Even now, I am puzzled as to why anything else besides sparkling wine was served. I guess that is the difference between a party and a tasting. As everyone was partying in the reception area, I walked through to the tasting set-up next door. The wine was carefully and neatly stacked according to the order of the tasting . Of course white wine bottle~ were placed in containers of ice to keep them chilled and fresh. The seating arrangements were made as if it was a major dinner event. Each table, which could accommodate about I 0 people, was covered with
white cloth. At each seat, there were eight wine glasses that were neatly placed upon the usual identification diagram. The diagram I am talking about here is a white sheet of paper containing eight circles with serial numbers from one to eight which correspond to the subject wine labels. This way, you can tell which glass is from which bottle and from which varietal. In most tastings, the order of wine tasted is white wine first and then red. Also, as a rule, people use smaller glasses for the white and larger for the red. There are two reasons for the size differences and they are quantity and oxygen contact. White wine is served cold so you want it in smaller quantity outside the bottle to keep it chilled longer. In contrast, red wine needs to have as much room as possible so that it can have greater contact with oxygen to give it the best aroma and flavor. Also, unlike white wine, you need a larger glass so that you can swivel the red wine as wildly as you need to in order to get to the hidden flavor. As I was ending my inspection of the tasting site, participants began moving into the main tasting hall. We were then all seated and the tasting began. The first wine served was the Cafe de Paris, Burt and it was not much of an attraction because it was an extension of the preview reception (wine party?) next door. The second serving was Jacob's Creek Chardonnay 1996. As many of you may already know, Australian wines are well known to Korea and I did not have much curiosity in confronting this Chardonnay. Like other fine Australian wines, this wine was well-balanced and I could not say any more than "It is a good Chardonnay." Likewise, the Bin 222 Chardonnay 1996, which was the third serving in the order, was not much of a new discovery to my palate. If you are a regular wine drinker, a "connoisseur," you
will agree with my notion that familiar wines don't usually impress you as much as some of the more rare, exotic wines that you have never had before. One is always on the look-out for something new and exciting in life and wine is no exception. The fourth serving was the Jacob's Creek Shiraz Cabernet 1995. This really got my attention and I would have purchased at least a case of it and taken it home had there been a spot sale. This unique mixture of Shiraz and Cabemet is a bold statement on how good the Australian wine makers have become at making wine. In the old days when they were under British control, Bourdeaux wine makers imported the Shiraz from Burgundy to make their Cabemet Sauvignon better than the usual Cabernet. The Shiraz is not as popular as the Cabernet for some, but for others, they would not trade Shiraz for anything in the world - - especially since the Shiraz is produced from select vineyards in the Rhone Valley of France, where the world's most popular red wine grapes are grown. In fact, it is still a popular wish among connoisseurs to take a sip of the Rhone Valley Shiraz, myself included. he Shiraz (some call it Syrah) is a varietal which can best be described as tasting like the red wines of northern Italy. It is a very heavy and concentrated red wine with a high tannin content. The color is so red that one may even mistake it for purple. I did not read the fine print of the wine makers' notes and so I can't say what percentage of Shiraz is combined with Cabernet but I would guess it to be about 50150. According to the law, one is not obligated to state what the exact mixture ratio is, as long as it is under 50 percent of the overriding variety. Of course, as consumers become more and more vehement in their demands to know exactly what they are drinking, the more willing the
wine makers are becoming to disclose every detail of the mixture that goes into the finished product. I would like to note that the combination of Shiraz and Cabernet is truly an Australian discovery and I am sure that we will see more of this label in the future. The fifth serving was the Bin 333 Pinot Noir 1997 and I am forced to say that I did not enjoy it as much as I usually enjoy this varietal. The varietal, also called a "Pinot," is originally from Burgundy and is famous for its ripening ability in less than warm weather. Like Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot has a unique punch and a taste that one does not normally find in any other red varietal. I particularly admire the Burgundy wine makers for their world's best Pinot production because, in my opinion, no other country has yet come up with a "true" Pinot. The sixth serving was the 1995 Cabernet Sauvignon and for a moment, I could not tell whether it was from Australia or California. Wine making in Australia has become world class and I would not hesitate for a moment to buy their wines for my own cellar. The tasting then went on to the 1996 Shiraz and ended with a 1994 Cabernet Merlo! as the eighth order. Is anyone wondering if there was anything about the tasting that I didn't like? Well, in case you are wondering, I didn't like the diagram that I mentioned earlier. It had colored circles and I wish that they would use simple numbered circles the next time around. The colored circles distract and distort the wine shades which are such an important part of the wine tasting ritual. I must close this column with a personal note to Stephan Auweele, the newly appointed F & B manager of Hilton, who came all the way from Belgium and added much European hospitality to the event. Stephan, you did a good job and I hope you have a wine tasting every month!
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The Korea Times

13 Australian Wine Tasting at Hilton

By Ken Kim Times Wine Writer

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