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The week in pictures: Hong Kong

At the launch event of Bollinger’s R.D. 2004 in Hong Kong, the Champagne house’s deputy cellar master Denis Bunner showcased three versions of R.D. 2004 each with a different dosage side by side, namely Brut Nature (zero dosage), Extra Brut (0-6 grams/l) and Brut (less than 12 grams/l). The tasting was meant to demonstrate how the dosage affects a wine on the palate. The 2004 R.D.’s dosage is 3g/l, one gram lower than the previous release of the R.D. 2002.

Below are the wines with different dosage. From left to right R.D. 2004 (zero dosage), R.D. 2004 with 3 grams and R.D. 2004 with 8 grams. The second one is the one that has been released onto the market, while the other two are purely for experiments and comparison.

Letizia Patane, sales manager of Vini Franchetti that owns Tenuta di Trinoro and Sancaba wineries in Tuscany and Passopisciaro in Mount Etna in Sicily, explaining to the trade and media about the ‘Passorosso’ 2015, a red wine made from 100% Nerello Mascalese from its Passopisciaro estate.

The wine is made using a blend of different parcels of vines at 800 metres above sea level on various lava flows. The label design is created to resemble the texture and feel of parchment paper, according to Patane, a Sicilian native whose family used to be grape growers in Mount Etna. Speaking of the indigenous Nerello Mascalese grape, she says the winery picks the grape as late as possible so that it reaches optimal ripeness to “smooth out tannins”. Light in colour, the grape is often compared by winemakers to Pinot Noir and Nebbiolo. The wine is unfiltered but is racked every two months, she added.

The Sicilian winery in Mount Etna also makes a high altitude Chardonnay and a single vineyard Nerello Mascalese called ‘Contrada C’ and a rather unusual blend of Petit Verdot and Cesanese d’Affile grown at 820 metres above sea level. The last wine ‘Franchetti’ is winemaker Andrea Franchetti’s interpretation of what a full-bodied wine on Etna would be like. 

Tenuta di Trinoro located in Val d’Orcia in Tuscany sepcialises in making Bordeaux blends using Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot. Pictured from above are four of its wines – ‘Le Cupole’, a Bordeaux blend; ‘Campo di Magnacosta’, a 100% Cabernet Franc; ‘Palazzi’, a 100% Merlot and ‘Rosso Toscana’, a Bordeaux blend from vineyards at higher altitude. 

  

Blue Supreme, a craft beer focused restaurant in Hong Kong’s Sheung Wan, mourns the recently deceased American chef and TV celebrity Anthony Bourdain in its own way by dedicating its latest menu to him. The restaurant’s chef Leonard Cheung previously worked with Bourdain on his popular Parts Unknown on the Charleston episode. 

Hong Kong and Bordeaux signed a Memorandum of Understanding to continue to promote wine and food related events through the annual Wine and Dine Festival. Pictured above is the signing ceremony attended by Hong Kong’s top official Carrie Lam (third from left, standing) during Bordeaux Wine Festival on 16 June. 

American wine critic James Suckling was among the delegates travelling with the Hong Kong Tourism Board and Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam for the signing of the MoU between Bordeaux and the special administrative region.

The House of Camus has launched the Borderies XO Family Reserve in Hong Kong’s retail sector, following a global tour in Paris, Moscow, Tokyo, and Los Angeles. Frédéric Dezauzier, the Cognac brand’s global brand ambassador, was in Hong Kong to unveil the blend crafted from eaux-de-vie exclusively from the family’s estate situated in the very heart of the Borderies. The cognac retails for HK$2,300. 
With the launch of Camus Borderies XO Family Reserve, the brand also unveiled a few cocktails concocted with the blended tipple. Shown above is a mixologist working to create a cocktail named ‘Le Borderies’, using 160 ml Camus XO Borderies, 10ml Goji berry syrup, Angostura bitters and orange bitters. 

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