The week in pictures: Hong Kong

dbHK was lucky to join Argentine winery Catena Zapata’s celebration of its 100-point Adrianna Vineyard wines at the Great Wall of China in Beijing. The evening brought together more than 100 guests.

The impressive tasting line-up for the evening, included River Stones Malbec 2016, River Stones Malbec 2017, Fortuna Terrae Malbec 2012, Mundus Bacillus Terrae Malbec 2011 and Gran Enemigo Malbec 2013, all wines that have earned 100-point scores from pivotal figures in the wine industry.

Dr Laura Catena, daughter of Nicolás Catena Zapata, said in the opening speech before commencing the dinner, “my father, the grandson of Italian immigrants, born in a small Argentine village, dreamed of making Argentine wines that could stand with the best of the world. Today his dream has become a reality. What better place to celebrate than at the Great Wall of China, an icon that represents both the wonders of the past and the promise of the future.”

To commemorate the 70th Anniversary of the People’s Republic of China, guests received a special edition wine, D.V. Catena Cabernet Malbec 2017, which was gifted as a souvenir.

Jackson Family Wines presented the 2016 vintage of Vérité and Cardinale in Hong Kong. To illustrate how the wines developed over the years, the tasting was accompanied with older vintages of the three wines that comprise Verité (La Muse, La Joie and La Désir) and Cardinale.

Corney & Barrow invited us on a wonderful wine lunch with Gustavo Rearte, winemaker of Argentina’s Achaval-Ferrer. Rearte shared his passion in winemaking with us and explained how the philosophy and terroir of Mendoza is reflected in the three single vineyard Malbecs from the Fincas series. The plots, with the oldest dating back to 1913, are planted at altitudes from 700m to 1,100m above sea level.

We joined the Appleton Estate Rum Masterclass delivered by Zoltan Konczol, Campari Group’s regional brand ambassador. In the comprehensive session, Konczol talked us through topics from terroir, the production process, sugar cane to tropical ageing. He mentioned that the master blender, Joy Spence – the first woman to be appointed master blender in the world – tends to use many different types and styles of rum to create a blend, and some of the fruity and buttery notes detected in Appleton Estate rums are derived from the source product, which is from specially selected varieties of sugar cane.