Week in pictures: Hong Kong

We round up this week’s highlights from Hong Kong’s drinks industry from the German Riesling Weeks’ masterclass and grand tasting to a Japanese wine from Château Mercian’s chief winemaker that was served to state leaders including former US president Barack Obama.

A German VDP classification masterclass was hosted last Friday in the lead up to the month-long German Rieslings Weeks in June. Showing different styles and levels of Rieslings, the masterclass took a closer look at Germany’s new VDP classification, ranging from Gutswein, Ortswein, Erste Lage to the top of the pyramid, Grosse Lage /Grosses Gewachs. VDP now has 200 members across Germany.

Hong Kong-based wine professional Tersina Shih, organiser or the masterclass, was proudly presenting the relatively new VDP classification guidelines to HK’s trade.

Martin Palmer of Thomas Palmer Fine German Wines is showcasing wines from his hometown Nahe, which included a white Pinot Noir called ‘Deep Blue’. The white wine is made using Pinot Noir grapes with only one hour skin contact. The wine, according to Palmer, has generated a lot of buzz on trade, since he first started importing the wine eight years ago.

Weingut Horst Sauer’s four Silvaner wines from four quality levels. The flattened ellipsoidal bottle ‘bocksbeutel’ is still widely used in Franken.

Weingut Dr Heger’s two Spätburgunder wines from Baden featured at the German VDP Classification masterclass.

Hong Kong-based wine merchant Sino Vantage hosted a wine dinner in Taoyuan, Taiwan, showcasing wines from Italian producer Umani Ronchi. The wine brand was famously popularised in Asia because of Japanese manga, The Drops of God.

Michael Cruse of Cruse Wines Co in California was in Hong Kong introducing his range of wines carried by local importer Bottle Shock. Cruse, a California-native was named as Winemaker of the Year by San Francisco Chronicles in 2016, and has quickly risen to stardom in California’s contested wine scene for his unusual sparkling wine called ‘Ultramarine’ and his unwavering support for lesser-known grape varieties such as St. Laurent and Valdiguié, an indigenous grape from south-west from France that was mistaken as Gamay in Napa until 1980s. The wines available at Bottle Shock are a Valdiguié, a Chardonnay, a St. Laurent and a sparkling wine made from St. Laurent called ‘Pétillant Naturel’.

Yalumba’s managing director Nick Waterman was in Hong Kong hosting a masterclass featuring older vintages from the Eden Valley estate, including a 1959 ‘Galway Vintage Claret’, a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz, 1993 and 1995 vintages of ‘The Signature’, and a 1974 ‘The Signature – Cristobel Hill Smith’. The estate just released a ‘super claret’ called ‘The Caley’. The wine is a Cabernet-Shiraz blend with fruit from Conawarra and the Barossa, and is available with Hong Kong wine merchant Watson’s Wine.

Katsuhisa Fujino, chief winemaker of Japan’s leading winery Château Mercian, was in Hong Kong to launch Château Mercian with its new local distributor Hing Lung Food Place. Shown in photo above is a red wine called ‘Omnis’, a Bordeaux blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. The wine was served by Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe to state leaders during the G7 Summit last year in Japan. Only 1,000 bottles of the wine was made.