Top 10 Mid-Autumn Festival wines

Hong Kong is gearing up for the 2015 Mid-Autumn Festival, with the city’s wine merchants offering delights that can be enjoyed with or without the ubiquitous mooncake.

This year the Mid Autumn Festival falls on 27 September and is heralded by Hong Kongers as a culmination of a season filled with mooncake giving, lavish family dinners and plenty of Chinese tea-drinking.

However, for those looking for something a little more grape-based, we’ve scoured the Hong Kong drinks trade to find out what wine lovers should be drinking with their mooncakes this year.

Click through to discover what Hong Kong’s wine merchants have in store…

ASC Fine Wines

Teaming up with French chocolate master, Jean-Paul Hevin, ASC has chosen a premium selection of specially discounted wines to pair with Hevin’s new “Pleine Lune” mooncakes until 30 September.

Any spend over HK$800 will include a Paul Hevin Chinese Lantern Box with one Praline Mooncake (worth HK$128) and HK$1,500 will bestow two mooncakes of Praline and Chocolate Ganache (normally HK$228). Customers splurging HK$2,500 and above will receive a 10-piece set of Jean Paul Hevin’s macarons (normally HK$260) and free delivery is for any order of HK$1,500 and over.

ASC Fine Wines, Unit 2101-17, 21/F, Leighton Centre, 77 Leighton Road, Causeway Bay, 3923 6788

Watson’s Wines 

Carruades de Lafite is the second wine of Lafite Rothschild and displays similar characteristics to the lauded grand vin but with a higher percentage of Merlot.

Especially for the Mid Autumn Festival, Watson’s is offering Carraudes de Lafite for HK$9,588 (normally HK$12,730) until 29 September.

Watson’s Wines, various Hong Kong locations,  2606 8828

Corney & Barrow

Pairing sweet with sweet, Corney & Barrow is offering a classic 2008 Label 5 Puttonyos Tokaji for HK$290.

They say: “Rumoured to be the world’s first ‘noble rot’ sweet wine and made in tiny quantities, this Tokaji is a dessert wine for any special occasion. Sweet, rich and beautifully balanced, with citrus fruit and fine acidity giving a long, refreshing finish.”

Corney and Barrow, Unit D, 6/F , 9 Queen’s Road Central, 2537 3325

Ca del Grevino

An organic family owned estate in the Santa Maria Valley in Saint Barbara County, Ca del Grevino is offered with an array of Kowloon Shangri-La mooncakes that are paired with Grevino’s two Rieslings and Chardonnay.

Grevino is also available in Pinot Noir, Grenache, Dolcetto and Syrah in “Party size” packages for HK$2,688 (normally $HK3,700).

Jennifer Luk, independent wine consultant, 9615 9966

Fine+Rare

From one of the greatest estates in Pomerol and with only a 1,000 cases produced a year, Fine & Rare’s offering of 2000 Lafleur is a once in a blue moon opportunity. One of only a handful of wines to be rated 100 points by both Robert Parker and Neal Martin, the 2000 vintage is the first in the Lafleur stable to be scored in this way since 1982 which per case comes at a rather eye-watering $207,358.

Offered in a six-bottle case for HK$78,588, the 2000 vintage is described by Parker as: “An utterly awesome wine…If you can find it, it is an extraordinary wine, and as expensive as it was a decade ago, it will look cheap compared to prices for more recent vintages.”

Fine+Rare, Room 1103, 11/F, Tin Yau Building, 181 Johnston Road, Wan Chai, 2832 9986

Berry Bros & Rudd

Champagne always goes down a treat with any mooncake; the acidity cuts through the heaviness but a hint of berry sweetness saves it from tasting bitter. BBR has come up with a bubbly selection from Thiénot – Champagne at the Oscars and an all-round crowd-pleasing fizz – which includes a NV brut, rosé and vintage blanc de noirs.

NV Thiénot Brut $308 Rose (RRP $400).

Berry Bros & Rudd, Suite 2305-06, 23/F, China Resources Building, 26 Harbour Road, Wan Chai, 2511 2811

Kerry Wines

For traditional mooncakes, Kerry has chosen Port and Recioto della Valpolicella for their concentration, density and sweet finish. The wine’s dark fruits, chocolate and nutty flavours will match the fillings of the lotus seed paste and egg yolks.

The team also recommends a glass of Sauternes that, “beautifully enhances the complexity, silkiness and aromas of the cake.”

Kerry Wines is offering a set of four Island Shangri-La mooncakes (worth $348 per box) with any order over $3,988.

Kerry Wines, 20/F, Kerry Centre, 683 King’s Road, Quarry Bay, 2169 7700

Ginsberg+Chan

Who wouldn’t love a bottle of vintage Dom for their Mid Autumn Festival celebrations? Ginsberg+Chan is offering various vintages of Dom Pérignon rosé from 1971 to 2003.

Prices vary from HK$2,150 to HK$11,000.

Ginsberg+Chan, 6/F, Loke Yew Building, 50-52 Queen’s Road, Central, 2504 2221

Madison Wine

Offering another sweet wine and mooncake pairing, Madison wine presents the 2004 Joh. Jos. Prüm Riesling Spatlëse Wehlener Sonnenuhr.

It says: “The aroma of cinnamon, honeysuckle, and vanilla-tinged watermelon and apple leads to a mouth-coating, rich yet delicate palate with nut oil, vanilla, and wet stones underlying the wine’s exuberant, juicy fruit.”

2004Joh. Jos. Prüm Riesling Spatlëse Wehlener Sonnenuhr HK$340 (normally HK$420).

Madison Wine, G/F, 178 Gloucester Road, Wan Chai, 2827 7288

The Fine Wine Experience

For those looking to make the 2015 Mid Autumn Festival forever memorable and drop HK$16,000 on a bottle of 1945 Ausone, the Fine Wine Experience has one bottle lurking in its cellars.

Director, Linden Wilkie says: “There is something about autumn that makes me think of Ausone when I think of good claret. There is a particular fragrance that is very special – full of herbs, spices, and puerh earthiness. This is a rich, intense, tannic and super long-lived vintage.”

Snap up the last remaining bottle while it’s still here.

The Fine Wine Experience, Shop D, Hollywood Centre, 85 Queen’s Road West, Sheung Wan, 2803 0753