The week in pictures: Hong Kong

the drinks business Hong Kong hosted the second Asian Cabernet Sauvignon Masters on April 18 at The Pawn in Wanchai, where an expert panel of judges consisting of Sarah Heller MW, Darius Allyn MS, Eddie McDougall, Rebecca Leung, Ron Taylor, Howard Palmes, and Ivy Ng assessed close to 100 samples of Cabernet from a diverse mix of wine regions. Stay tuned for full anlysis and results in the drinks business Hong Kong magazine. 

Sarah Heller MW, proprietor of Heller Beverage Advisory, was one of the judges joining the Asian Cabernet Sauvignon Masters competition. This wines were all judged by variety and price points irrespective of their origins in blind tasting.

Also at the judging for our Asian Cabernet Sauvignon Masters was Darius Allyn MS, who is well versed with wine judging competitions and wine growing regions. His keen interest in wine has taken him to wine regions around the globe including emerging regions in mainland China such as Ningxia and Xinjiang in northwestern China.

Hong Kong’s local importer EMW Fine wines hosted a 15th anniversary Chinese iconic wine dinner recently with three of the leading Chinese wineries in its portfolio – Chateau Nine Peaks in eastern Shandong province, Tiansai Vineyards in Xinjiang and Legacy Peak in Ningxia. The three Chinese winemakers (from left to right): Liu Hai, owner of Legacy Peak; Chen Lizhong, owner of Tiansai Vineyards and Steven Yin, export manager of Chateau Nine Peaks.

Shown here are two Bordeaux blend reds from Legacy Peak in Ningxia. The winery boasts a unique vineyard location that no one in the region can rival – its roughly 70 ha vineyards are planted beside the royal mausoleums of the emperors in the Western Xia Dynasty (1038-1227). The mausoleums are known as the pyramid of the East. Owner Liu Hai reckons that the winery is blessed by Feng Shui in some way because of the “royal” link.

Daniel Lam, Bonhams Head of Fine Wine and Whisky in Hong Kong, showing off two bottles of Macallan 30 Year Old Blue Label at a masterclass hosted by the auction house – except only one bottle is authentic. Using the pair as an example, Lam explained that one can spot the obvious differences between the fake one on the left and the authentic one on the right based on colours of the label, words and aged whisky (the left one too light for a 30 year old whisky). Being one of the most sought after whisky brands in the world, Macallan is often faked in Italy, Japan and the UK, he added. The auction house is offering a pair of rare 1926 Macallan 60 Year Old at its upcoming sale on 18 May.

Yoko Obara, a Master of Wine candidate from Japan, translated wine tasting notes published in the drinks business for Japanese trade publication Sommelier to help trade professionals understand how to correctly describe wines. On her recent trip to Hong Kong, Obara presented the Japanese publication to dbHK. 

Linden Wilkie of Fine Wine Experience and Christophe Perrot-Minot from Domaine Perrot-Minot in Burgundy’s Morey-St-Denis took a break from the annual Fine Wine Experience Burghound Symposium and sat with dbHK for a chat. A meticulously quality focused vigneron, Perrot-Minot, compares the work that went into the domaine’s grape selection as that which a three-starred Michelin restaurant would do.