Sunday, July 21, 2013

Why, hello there.

Welcome to 'Excuse me sir, there are fish guts in my wine.'  First of all, many thanks to my friend Kenny for his contribution to this ingenious title.  For those of you unaware, there may be fish guts in your wine.  And some egg, animal bone (in the form of gelatin), along with any number of other things.  Now you know, you're welcome.

This blog will serve as a venue for me to share some of my journey through the WSET diploma and into the world of  fine wines.  Year one of the diploma has so far involved viticulture/vinification, fortified wines, and a closed book case study.  Next up come liquor, sparkling wines, and an open book case study.  Then comes the fun part.  An entire year of still wines of the world, which means tasting, tasting, tasting.  A friend who finished his diploma last year suggested trying nothing short of 2,000 different wines during year 2.  Bring it.
Boozy banana ice cream and bread pudding.  Paul, Quinn and Sylvia

So what have I been drinking lately?  Since delving into the life of leisure, Paul and I have tried our best to explore some of Hong Kong's hottest spots.  Today we celebrate our friend Sylvia's 25th birthday at the Blue Butcher.  BB has been on my hit list for the past year since it's opened, but somehow we never made it; until today.  Both Paul and I acted totally out of character and decided to keep it dry and held down the teatoller quota.   Normally I am all about a boozy brunch, but the just thought of bottomless Prosecco filled my already waffle filled tum.  Post brunch Paul and I hit up Wyndham's newest; Numero 15.  I enjoyed a wonderful Viura from Rioja (Rioja whites are currently my latest craze in wine) and Paul had a tasty mojito.  'My only complaint is the glass,' it was pretty feminine).
Waffles, foie gras, oysters, salads.  Blue Butcher Sunday Brunch
Sweaty on the top of the Mt. Parker trail

Yesterday after a sweaty hike, we met up with Jules and Mike at the Globe for a quick catch up round.  As I've mentioned many times before, the Globe is my favorite place in HK for a drink.  Hands down.  Fantastic beer list, knowledgeable staff and owner, and some pretty decent wines by the glass to boot.  Paul's new favorite beer is Rogue's Brutal IPA on draft.   Wonderfully smooth and perfect for summer.
Pirates.  Laura, Courtney and Paul
Sushi.  Paul, Derek, Kevin, Lauren and Laura
Sushi.
Last week we hit up Honi Honi, HK's premiere tiki bar.  My drink was good, although apparently not too memorable as I have not a clue what it was now, but Paul had 'the best mojito ever.'  If you're in the mood for something tropical, if not girly, hit it up.
BBQ at Jackie's.
Also of note this week was a Lambrusco party hosted by Marco.  Great Lambrusco (is there any other kind?) paired with Italian mozzarella grilled cheeses and Parma ham.  Who doesn't love sparkling red wine??
Tapas n paella with Korea friends Jodie and Nick
And how can I forget, one of the best tastings I have been to in the past months.  New friend Simone hosted a wonderful, wonderful tasting of 'orange wines.'  She brought us a selection of wines from Georgia (the country) and a sweet wine from Cyprus.  The 2 'orange' wines were white indigenous grapes from Georgia that were fermented and aged on their skin, giving them an orange color and strong chalky tannins.  Very unique, and were really tasty later that night with some cheese.  The red wine was the smoothest of the bunch, and proved to improve with air as I finished the bottle 2 days later with Paul.  The sweet was absolutely lip smakingly tasty.  Sweet, yet not cloying, with a high booze content from fortification.  And the coolest part is that it's the 2nd oldest wine still in production today.  Interesting, indeed.
Orange wine notes.
Georgian wine

Paul and I are off to Shanghai tomorrow afternoon for the week, so will hopefully have some fun tales of traveling to share.  Hasta lluego!

Oh, and there was that time I filmed a commercial and had to do a voice over

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