Hong Kong

The Mandarin Oriental’s limousine is ready and awaiting my arrival in Hong Kong and I am immediately impressed with the efficient service that is the norm in this fast-paced city.

This landmark hotel is now managed by one of my very first Asian clients, Jonas Schurmann, who when I met him twenty years ago was the Food & Beverage Director at the legendary Oriental Bangkok.

Within two hours of my plane landing, I’ve checked into to my room, have showered fresh, and I am sitting at my desk in The Antique Wine Company’s Hong Kong offices enjoying the sunset view over Hong Kong’s exclusive residential district ‘The Peak.’

After taking care of a few administrative matters, my local director (Julien Froger) and I set off for dinner with ‘Mr. Pavie,’ one of Hong Kong’s numerous wine collectors. We dine at Cepage, a Michelin-starred restaurant owned by an Antique Wine Company client from Singapore, and take pleasure in a dinner that would knock the socks off many meals at notable European restaurants.

During the evening we compare the various virtues of La Mission Haut Brion versus Chateau Haut Brion from the now deliciously drinkable 1999 vintage. The La Mission is deep and powerful, with an austerity that will serve the wine well for a long life yet to come. The Haut Brion is more about elegance, finesse, and the classic minerality that for me is the hallmark of this great wine.

Afterwards it is back to the hotel for a mandatory nightcap and some time to play catch-up on the ever-growing email inbox because the European business day is still in full swing. I am finally ready for bed around 2:00AM, which I take as a good indication that my jet lag has reduced itself from seven to a mere three hours of discomfort.

The following two days are spent in client office meetings and hashing out deals over lunches and dinners. It is a very full agenda, but I also manage to sit for an interview with the Wall Street Journal about the phenomenon of the Hong Kong wine market. The interview includes making a visit to a private wine cellar at a spectacular home on Hong Kong's famous St. Andrews Golf Course, which is located about an hour drive away in the New Territories. Here we see another side of Hong Kong which reminds me of Gibraltar twenty years ago.

My final day in Hong Kong includes a visit to our logistics company. They provide us with a very secure and temperature-controlled storage facility in the Sha Tin District. The visit is followed by lunch with another one of our importers/exporters to mainland China. Over the best Dim Sum lunch I have ever tasted we talk about the Chinese market and how consumers are now developing interest in wines other than just Chateau Lafite.

While Lafite looks certain to remain the iconic wine for gift-giving, it seems there is a rapidly growing demand for many other Grand Crus and their second wines.

We spend some time studying the 1855 Classification in detail and interpreting the Chinese translation of each name. Leoville Las Cases, for example, means “Wine of the Lion.” Angelus is translated as “Golden Bell.” In China it is not only the taste of the wine but also its name, its meaning and its price that are important factors in the market.

I manage to get an hour in at the Mandarin Oriental's spa before my final dinner, a meal with one of Hong Kong's most prolific collectors, ‘JC.’ We meet at one of his buildings in the former manufacturing, but now choice residential, area of Kowloon.

It is a modest 50-storey affair, about the same size as London's Park Lane Hilton, and inside JC has installed two wine cellars.

One cellar houses about 10,000 bottles of his personal wine collection, and the other is divided into 100 smaller lockers which are rented out to fellow wine collectors for their own storage. "It’s just a hobby business," he tells me casually as we sip on Pol Roger's 1998 Cuvee Winston Churchill and tour his personal cellar - which seems to contain every great wine ever produced. We examine cases of DRC, Comte de Vogue, and Comtes Lafon going back to the 1950's, along with Petrus, Cheval Blanc and all the other First Growths.

Later, over a Japanese dinner in his boardroom, we share Louis Latour's 1989 Corton Charlemagne, Bouchard Pere et Fils Batard Montrachet 2000, Armand Rousseau's Gevrey Chambertin Clos St Jacques 2000, and Chateau Palmer 1983. It is a delightful finale to my three day visit to Hong Kong, and I am dropped back at my hotel with enough time to pack for my 5:00AM departure.

However, as I step into the hotel elevator, out walks ‘Charlie’ - one of our longest-standing clients from Bangkok. What a coincidence in this small world!  Charlie, who is now running JP Morgan's Hong Kong office, and I enjoy a nightcap at the bar together, a drink well worth it because I pick up an order for a few more cases of 1982 First Growths, including a case of Chateau Latour in superb condition that we acquired recently in a cellar purchase in Switzerland.

Thank goodness I am able to get some sleep on my Singapore Airlines flight back to Europe the following day. That is of course after the Krug, caviar, and roast lamb washed down with plenty of their standard Bordeaux - Chateau Cos d'Estournel 2004!
 
For The Antique Wine Company, Asia is currently the fastest growing sector of our customer base, but we still don’t know enough about our clients there. They remain a complex mix of wine traders, hoteliers, and private collectors. During the coming year my objective is to get to know them and their needs better.

Travel arrangements booked by Amex Platinum Travel Service.

Day 2 - Pontet Canet, Montrose and Leoville-las-Cases

Perhaps, not surprisingly, Pontet Canet can’t reach the heights of the Lafite we tasted just before lunch yesterday. Nonetheless, there’s no question that this is a rising star in Bordeaux. Moreover, Alfred Tesseron and his team have produced another good wine in 2009 but which perhaps lacked a bit of depth and was just a touch austere on the finish. 15 points.

Of course, Pontet-Canet is the only classed growth to have been certified as biodynamic and whilst there isn’t time to go into that here, I will delve into it for sure on a podcast at some future point.

And like Latour, they are using horsepower to work the soil rather than tractors, said their chef de cave Jeanne-Michel Comme who I talked to at length about the benefits of this natural approach to vine growing.

‘We have three horses. But I think we will have more. They are only a brick in the wall we want to build. Because to improve the wines, we have to take care of the soil. When we started to farm biodynamically, we noticed that the soils were in bad shape because of damaging pesticides and heavy tractors which compacted it and prevented oxygen from getting to the natural microbes in the soil. So we have to get the soil in the right condition for the microbes to return. Then the soil will be in better health which we hope and expect that will improve condition of the and ultimately the fruit and the wine. But this will take years. It is a long process.’

Our next stop was Montrose in St Estephe. It too has ambitions under its relatively new owner Martin Bougyes and Technical Director Nicholas Glumineau – not least because of the number of building projects on the go at this second growth, including plans to generate all their own electricity using solar panels.

However, they’re not just expanding their capacity in the cellar,they have recently bought 22ha of vineyards from Phelan-Segur. According to Glumineau what is so exciting about this is that is a very good terroir. ‘It is the same kind of soil at the top of the hill abutting the estate and used to be owned by Montrose a long time ago. So we are very happy to get it. The vines are not too old or too young vines and I think it was the best part of Phelan Segur.’

Glumineau showed us four wines including the first and second wines of Tronquoy Lalande. Both had a lot more Merlot because of the terroir – it has more clay and less gravel. But I preferred the Montrose wines – particularly the Grand Vin.

72% of production has gone into the wine with Cabernet at 65% and 29% being Merlot. To me this is very pure, polished and fairly monumental but it’s also surprisingly approachable now. I am sure it will be a vin de garde because of its sheer concentration and fresh acidity. The tannins are also powerful but ripe and the fruit is terrific. So the balance is good and there’s no hint of heaviness. 18 points.

Last but by no means least is Las-Cases in St Julien, which remains one of the leading performers of all the classified growths. More often than not, it’s First Growth quality and the rumours that are ricocheting around Bordeaux are that M Delon has produced something special in 2009.

Apparently, 300 visitors showed up on Monday and Tuesday was just as busy, according to chef de Cave Bruno Rolland whose family have been at Las-Cases for the last three generations.

The Nenin was good from Pomerol but I preferred the Potensac from the left bank, which I thought was really impressive this year and will be a great value wine for drinkers. Also impressive was the debut vintage of Le Petit Lion, Las-Cases’ brand new second wine. It had excellent jammy fruit with a hint of tobacco. Also on top form was Clos du Marquis which was very well made and I gave it 18. To me it was a velvet glove in an iron fist.

But the Las-cases simply blows you away. It is the complete package – sweet, cedary, very ripe, creamy tannins. And there’s an awesome black fruit sweetness with a savoury character. The colour is opaque and there’s a fat texture full of glycerine without being over extracted. And it has wonderful length and balance. To me this is vinous perfection again and I have no hesitation in giving it a perfect 20.

On a final note, what I also like about the Las-Cases is the alcohol level at just 13.4%. My view so far is that the very best wines of 2009 are at or around this level and the common thread which links them is Cabernet Sauvignon. Similarly, the least successful wines that I have tasted with higher alcohol of over 14% are from the Right bank with higher percentages of Merlot.

So the conclusion I am reaching is that this is shaping up to be more of a left bank vintage – and here’s why. Essentially, the left bank chateaux could pick the ripe cabernet at the right time when it was ripe and not too alcoholic. But on the Right bank, many chateaux have had to wait for their Merlot grapes to achieve full phenolic ripeness. And, of course, that has meant a big build up of sugar and has resulted in some wines being overextracted or just too alcoholic for their own good.

However, today I’ll get a much clearer picture of the Right bank as my itinerary today includes the likes of Cheval Blanc and Petrus. So tune in later for the latest news on this exciting vintage.

Day 2 part 2

The Rothschild connection.

Mouton

Our first lunchtime appointment was at Mouton, where the cellars are being modernised. Because of this and the rain we were bizarrely transported by electric golf buggies from the car park to the tasting room. It must have been all of 200 yards and at one point I wondered whether we were on our way to EuroDisney?

However, this is no Mickey Mouse operation. Waiting for us were Mouton’s MD Herve Berland and winemaker Philippe Dhalluin, both of whom were looking confident and relaxed. And so they might. Le Petit Mouton was fresh and aromatic, with good acidity, classic dark fruit and medium body. Armailhac was in the same mould, but had more lifted aromas, sweet creamy fruit and superb length with a touch of spice. Clerc Milon was also elegant, fresh, firm and with lovely fruit as well as more minerality. The finish was long and complex.

And what about the star of the show? For me, Mouton was terrific. Blackcurrant fruit, layered texture, cashmere tannins and superb delineation, poise and polish. Very classical too in terms of structure with just 13.1% alcohol. I gave it 18+. For me it wasn’t quite as good as Margaux but still very, very good.

As I was leaving, I took the opportunity of asking Herve Berland what he thought about the market for the forthcoming campaign. His comments were fascinating and insightful. His first point was that the Asian markets would be very important in this campaign and in particular he was confident that mainland China would definitely be in the market, a first for the mainland Chinese. The second point he made was that the chateaux do need to take note of the fragile economic climate. In fact he was almost at pains to emphasise that this will be factored into the price. To me, this was interesting because he was one of the few Bordelais who was willing to talk about the all important issue of price. Let’s hope he is right on the money.

Assuming he is, how will the campaign develop? This year the problem may be more to do with getting hold of the top wines rather than how much they will cost. Not least, because the chateaux will drip feed a miniscule amount of wine on the first tranche – in order to test the market and also to be seen to be fair and reasonable.

If I was in their shoes I would be tempted to sell the minimum and wait to see what develops. So I expect a long drawn out campaign with multiple tranches. I also think that the most prosperous chateaux may well release less wine this year simply because it will be in their interests to hold it back and sell it subsequently at a higher price. Either way, it will be an interesting few months as the wines emerge from April onwards.

Finding Lafite

Then it was off to Lafite, or rather Duhart Milon in Pauillac where Lafite’s winemaker Charles Chevallier was showcasing his perennially impressive wines. One minor problem was that nobody seemed to know precisely where Duhart was situated in the village. Fortunately, we found it quite quickly – but I imagine that there are some who are still looking for it.

Nonetheless, the tasting room was full with about 40 or so tasters as you would expect. But what I did notice was that there wasn’t a single Chinese buyer present, something which took me by surprise given the level of demand coming out of Asia for anything with brand Lafite on it. So the question remains: will the Chinese buy en primeur for the first time? We’ll have to wait and see. However, even if the Chinese don’t buy, there will be a host of speculative investors who will happily fill the link into the Chinese market. You can bet your house on that.

And let’s not forget the wines! Carruades was again almost indecently delicious and almost invited you to drink it rather than spit it out. The purity of cassis fruit was utterly beguiling and the tannins were barely noticeable. It easily merited 18 out of 20. It will sell like hot cakes, particularly if they price it keenly which seems to be the rule rather than the exception for Carruades.

If Carruades was reassuringly good, Duhart was a revelation. This property is on the up and Charles Chevallier and his team have done a terrific job this year. ‘One of the reasons why we are holding the tasting at Duhart was to raise its profile,’ he told me. So they are clearly repositioning it for the future but the wine is starting to speak for itself. This 2009 was outstandingly good and I think will really turn some heads this year. It is definitely one to watch. On the nose and palate, it is simply sublime and I rated it 19 out of 20.

So where does that leave Lafite, the headline act? The answer is firmly in the spotlight. Once again, Chevallier has produced a quintessential and classical Lafite that could be another legend in the making. The fruit is ‘à point’, the tannins are so svelte that you can hardly perceive them – except perhaps on the finish, where they make their presence finally felt. And the balance of acidity, fruit and structure is all that you would want – and more.

This wine doesn’t attack your palate, it seduces it with a slow building crescendo that envelops your senses. It’s a bit like Ravel’s Bolero - and almost as long. How do you score such a wine? Easily, you give it a perfect 20 points.

Sadly, the next chateau we are going to has an almost impossible act to follow. And tomorrow morning, I’ll tell you how it (Pontet-Canet) fares as well as Montrose and Leoville-Las-Cases. One of them gets another perfect score so tune in tomorrow to find out which chateau it is. See you then….