Celebrity Life

In France's storied Bordeaux wine region, an experiment aimed at helping some of the world's best-loved tipples to weather the ravages of climate change is starting to bear fruit.

The post Grapes of change: French wines adapt to global warming appeared first on The Peak Magazine.

In France's storied Bordeaux wine region, an experiment aimed at helping some of the world's best-loved tipples to weather the ravages of climate change is starting to bear fruit.

For more stories like this, visit www.thepeakmagazine.com.sg.

Five years later, the winemaker realises his dream of producing a single varietal cabernet franc wine for Raats Family Wine.

The post Bruwer Raats grows cabernet franc where you least expect in South Africa appeared first on The Peak Magazine.

Five years later, the winemaker realises his dream of produces a single varietal cabernet franc wine for Raats Family Wine.

For more stories like this, visit www.thepeakmagazine.com.sg.

The famous French wine-producing region produced sterling vintages in 2018 and 2019. Is the latest one equally as good? James Suckling takes a closer look at what the year brought and picks his top bottles.

We all know that the pandemic will make the 2020 vintage particularly memorable, but the vintage in Bordeaux will also be remembered because it produced so many outstanding wines under such challenging circumstances – from logistical shortages to severe drought conditions.

In fact, 2020 is the third outstanding vintage in a row for Bordeaux and marks perhaps the first time the region has experienced such a high-quality trilogy of superlative years.

JamesSuckling.com rated 1,302 barrel samples from the 2020 vintage and conducted almost 40 Zoom calls from Hong Kong with chateau owners and winemakers, and the story behind the 2020 vintage is a fantastic one.

It was not only our biggest en primeur tasting ever but perhaps even the biggest for any wine critic. The outstanding quality of so many of the wines highlights the genius of Bordeaux viticulture and winemaking, as well as the incredible human effort and collective energy it takes to make so many terrific-quality wines.

“You had a new challenge every day, and it could be climatic or it could be sanitary,” says Veronique Sanders, general manager of Château Haut-Bailly, who made one of the best wines of the vintage. “We had to keep our team working and that could be a challenge. Imagine what it was like when France was in lockdown in May and April!”

I think that we’re all going to be excited with what’s eventually bottled in Bordeaux from 2020. The reds show complex and intense aromas as well as bright fruit character, but also floral and earth undertones. This is something you don’t see in such young wine resting in barrels or other vessels in cellars. They also have intense yet fine tannins and relatively fresh acidity. They’re wines that can be consumed relatively young but will age very well after bottling.

Some wines are of really exceptional quality. In fact, I rated 10 wines with possible perfect scores of 99 to 100. That’s the third-highest number of top wines in the last 10 years for my en primeur tastings for Bordeaux and one of the highest in my career of tasting Bordeaux from barrel. By comparison, 2019 had eight wines with 99-to-100 ratings, and 2018 just four.

“We think that the 2020 is the best of the trilogy,” says Florence Cathiard, owner of Château Smith Haut-Lafitte, who made one of her best wines ever. “It has the structure and the typicity of the 2018 and the aromatics of the 2019. So it takes the best of both.”

The best wines of 2020 also have a ripeness but slightly less alcohol than 2019 and 2018, because many wineries picked earlier and extracted less during fermentation and macerations, using lower temperatures and fewer pump-overs.

“It was crazy, crazy,” says Saskia Rothschild, head of the famous first-growth Château Lafite-Rothschild, as well as Château Duhart-Milon and Château L’Évangile. The Lafite only has about 12.8 percent alcohol, a good degree less than most recent high-quality vintages.

“Everyone told us 2020 was hot and we measured the vats and they were like what we knew in the 1990s and 1980s. It’s very surprising. It’s about that paradox [of the vintage] that we talked about.”

The paradox is that Bordeaux experienced one of its most severe droughts ever during the summer, with almost 50 days of no rain – or only a few drops from about mid-June to mid-August. Most winemakers worried that they would have a high-alcohol harvest with shrivelled and sugar-rich grapes.

Yet the wet weather during most of the first half of the year enabled the best vineyards with great soils to maintain moisture. Large amounts of rain came in mid-August, but not enough negatively to affect the quality of the grape crop. The most important precipitation arrived in late September, but many of the top names on the Right Bank had finished their harvest or were very close to ending. This early and dry harvest delivered some impeccable merlot in many estates.

But don’t write off wines with a predominance of cabernet sauvignon in their blends. The cabernets were much smaller than normal, with thick skins, so the rains at the end of September didn’t negatively affect them in many areas or properties.

Moreover, the cabernets in Pessac-Léognan were super in 2020, which is why three out of my top 10 wines were from the appellation.

The question now is whether 2020 is better than 2019 or 2018. My impression after tasting so many barrel samples is that it’s certainly better than 2018 and at least at the same level as 2019 in quality. I’ll have to wait and see the wines in bottle to finally decide how they compare with 2019.

Tasting Notes: Top 10 Bordeaux 2020 Wines

These 10 Bordeaux 2020 wines were rated 99-100 by James Suckling and his tasting team.

CHÂTEAU HAUT-BRION PESSAC-LÉOGNAN 2020

This is a superb Haut-Brion with incredible tannins that are wonderfully fine-grained. It’s really powerful. This is very primary, with so much grape-generated tannin structure.

CHÂTEAU MARGAUX MARGAUX 2020

So floral and perfumed with blackcurrants, blackberries and some asphalt. Full-bodied with super, fine tannins.

CHÂTEAU HOSANNA POMEROL 2020

This shows very intense, old-vine character with bark, black mushroom and dark fruit. Full-bodied and creamy with unique flavours of earth and fruit.

CHÂTEAU LA FLEUR-PÉTRUS POMEROL 2020

Purple berry and blackberry aromas with cracked black pepper, violets and lavender. It’s full-bodied and layered, and broadens in the mouth.

CHÂTEAU LAFITE ROTHSCHILD PAUILLAC 2020

Rather ethereal and so refined, with finesse, focus and brightness that provide incredible energy and pedigree.

CHÂTEAU HAUT-BAILLY PESSAC-LÉOGNAN 2020

This has incredible power and drive, with blackberry, black olive and graphite. It’s full-bodied, yet dynamic and agile, with so much polished and muscular tannin.

CHÂTEAU MOUTON ROTHSCHILD PAUILLAC 2020

This is a great and impressive Mouton with plushness and precision. A million layers of tannins. It’s full and very friendly, even seductive, in a rich and opulent way.

CHÂTEAU TROTANOY POMEROL 2020

A very concentrated Trot with density and depth, the tannins spreading across the palate.

CHÂTEAU SMITH-HAUT-LAFITTE PESSAC-LÉOGNAN 2020

So much blackcurrant, graphite and iodine character. Full-bodied. Incredible quality to the tannins. They’re polished yet powerful.

CHÂTEAU PAVIE ST-ÉMILION 2020

The aromas are already exceptional, showing crushed stone, limestone and salt character to the dark fruit and bark. Floats on the palate.

James Suckling honoured by French Government

In June, James Suckling, noted international wine critic and Prestige's wine correspondent, was honoured by the French Government for his services to the country and its wine industry with the title and rank of Chevalier de l’Ordre Nationale du Mérite. Suckling received the honour — the only time such an award has been bestowed on an Asia-based wine critic — during a ceremony held at the residence of the French consul general in Hong Kong, Alexandre Giorgini.

For more wine reports and ratings, you can visit JamesSuckling.com

The post Best of Wine: The Top 10 Bordeaux Bottles of 2020 appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.

Asia welcomes two new catamarans into its waters: The Lagoon 55 and Sixty 5, which will be sold through Simpson Marine.

The post Asia Welcomes Two Catamarans: Lagoon 55 and Sixty 5 appeared first on LUXUO.

There’s no doubt Alex Lam inherited his musical talent from his parents, his father being Cantopop legend George Lam Chi-Cheung, and his mother, Sally Yeh. Still, the singer-songwriter and actor hasn’t let privilege get to his head — he’s not afraid to explore other paths, from a stint in Los Angeles to discover yoga and becoming a yoga teacher, to dipping his toes in fashion.

Lam met Hiro Yoshikawa, founder and designer of Washi Jeans, a Japanese denim brand, a couple years back and was intrigued by the designer’s backstory. Now based in Hong Kong, Yoshikawa is the 18^th generation of a revered sake maker in Okayama, Japan, and the first to leave the family business to pursue his own passion in denim-making. By chance, Yoshikawa had found an old document that charted out his family’s history, written on washi paper. Inspired by this, he developed and patented the Washi No. 6 paper yarn, which he utilizes in his first solo collection launching this month.

Lam, who has always had an eye for detail, quickly became an ambassador and muse for Yoshikawa, and took it upon himself to bring the recognition Yoshikawa deserves by helping him stage his upcoming solo debut.

We sit down with Alex Lam and Hiro Yoshikawa at Washi Jean's studio to talk about style and the upcoming debut of Yoshikawa's solo collection Life on Earth.

Can you describe your style? What are your wardrobe essentials?

AL: My style has always been inspired by musicians. I grew up watching some of my favourite bands like The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, and today, I'm inspired by singers like Drake. For me, my summer essentials include a sleeveless vest, a good multi-functional blazer and a pair of high-quality designer jeans.

Have you always been passionate about fashion and did you want to work in fashion?

AL: I have always cared about how I look and my outfits since I was a kid. I remember there was one time when the collar of my t-shirt wasn't right and I wouldn’t wear it out until my parents fixed it for me. Having friends who are in the fashion industry allows me to execute and experiment my ideas during workshops, like the ‘marshmallow’ colourway of the t-shirt I’m wearing right now. 

How did the both of you meet?

AL: I met Hiro-san thought some of our mutual friends.

HY: have been making jeans for other brands for the past 30 years and it has always been my dream to have my own denim brand. I have always hung out with people from the fashion industry, and meeting Alex from the music and acting world has made my life more fun and exciting.

Can you tell us a bit about your project with Hiro-san?

AL: I was hanging out with a group of producers and we often talk about fashion shows, designer brands’ videos, installation art and music. Once we found out Hiro-san wanted to launch his own denim brand this year, we decided to catch this opportunity and put our ideas together. We are organising a VIP launch event with a fashion show on June 11, 2021.

What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome with this project?

AL: I think the rules of the game changed after Covid started last year. We looked at online fashion shows last year, without the tradition styles, and we knew our team needed to do it in a cleverer way. The restriction for event gathering is 30 persons at the moment, so we were not able to invite too many friends and make the event as big as before. Plus the campaign and fashion show video shoot all in one day, that’s the biggest challenge in this project.

HY:  We have been staying in our studio almost every day is the past few months, meeting different parties like our PR team, models, videographers and producers.

What else are you up to this year that you can share with us?

AL: I have released a new song and I just finished a music video for another song. I have also been working on my YouTube channel and created a few series, but it’s been slightly slowed down because I was focusing in this project.

Has the pandemic affected the way you work or changed your priorities?

AL: Before Covid, I was busy working with clients, who often prepared everything. With changes and restrictions during this period, I am able to organise and create more content by myself.

What are you currently inspired by?

AL: There are many indie musicians and young kids out there who are doing their music in their unique styles. I admire them a lot as they can release songs as long as they think it sounds good. I used think good music requires the best studio and recording equipment, but turned out a lot of indie musicians are producing high quality songs just by working at home.

You have a YouTube channel, you're into fashion, music as well as classic cars. How did you get into each of those passions and how do you balance it all?

AL: Project by project. I’m now focusing more on quantity over quality and I'll keep learning from the progress and mistakes.

Do you have a motto you live by?

Stay healthy. As I was a yoga teacher, I still practice yoga for two to three hours each day. It’s a good way to reflect on myself and find peace.

The post Is 2018 Bordeaux the Superlative Vintage? appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.