PDF file - Community Services Center

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Taipei Uncorked WINE BLING on a BUDGET “Drink moderately, for drunkenness neither keeps a secret nor observes a promise.” Mark L. peTerson The fashion and design worlds have a concept style mavens call ‘high/low.’ It’s the savvy shopper’s secret, a way to achieve a posh look on a student’s part-time salary. You carefully shop the bargain bins for items that either eerily mimic the latest overpriced designer wear or that match well with the latter in a yin-yang sort of way. Say, a NT $250 Jockey T-shirt from Costco worn with a NT $21,000 pair of Christian Louboutin heels from Sogo. You can do the same with wine. Many premium styles have what I would describe as more affordable analogues that don’t carry the usurious built-in brand premiums. As with style and design, finding a good knockoff takes a modicum of knowledge as well as healthy confidence and creative imagination. I’ve become aware that people are somewhat dubious concerning taking risks with wine. I’ve heard it first-hand from friends and clients who’ve voiced their disappointment at having to negotiate the minefield of buying wine at the big box stores and supermarkets here in Taipei. Says Stéphane Castera, director of food and beverage for Four Seasons Hotel Vancouver: “You can’t always buy Prada, but you can buy something which looks really good, which is well made, and which can satisfy your needs.” A perfect example, when talking wine, is California red zinfandel (‘high’) compared with Italian Primitivo (‘low’). Decent versions of California’s signature grape start at about NT$1,500, while top-quality zinfandels sell for upward of NT$3,000. Fullbodied and jammy, red zinfandel is often recommended in cookbooks as the ideal pairing for sweet-spicy barbecued meats as well as pizza, burgers and game-day snacks such as chicken wings and chili. Yet many zin fans don’t know that primitivo, made mostly on the south-Italian peninsula of Puglia and usually costing NT$300 to 900, is made from the same grape and shares the basic flavor profile of its Californian cousin. The structure of the wine is going to be the same. Now, is the wine going to have the richness of a Ridge or a Seghesio (two top California zinfandel producers) No. But it’s a good wine at a good price. It’s not mass produced and it’s not a boxed wine. Allow me to offer a few other stylistic high/low counterparts. Red BoRdeaux vs. Chilean-aRgentinan CaBeRnet sauvignon Chile and Argentina’s main wine-growing regions are sunny, yielding riper, more opulent fruit flavors than generally is the case in Bordeaux. But if you want good cabernet sauvignon or merlot and can’t afford the NT$2,000-plus of a classified red Bordeaux (I can’t), I’d recommend going with a NT$450 to 1,000 Chilean or Argentinian. It will likely beat the pants off (Cervantes, Don Quixote) any other sub-NT$1,000 cabernet, including those inexpensive big brands from Bordeaux itself. I love the Los Vascos Grand Reserve for NT$900, part of the Lafite Rosthchild family of wines. Among Spanish reds from the Ribera del Duero region (often a blend of tempranillo with cabernet or merlot) try the Fontana-Fontal Temperanillo Mesta at NT$475, also the Penedes region wines are generally good bets for satisfaction. Red BuRgundy vs. CRu Beaujolais Great red Burgundy, perhaps the most recherché wine category of all, is made from pinot noir. Good ones tend to be made in small quantities by tiny producers with spotty distribution and run about NT$3,000 or more. In recent years, Burgundy addicts have increasingly experimented with alternative sources of pinot noir from such copycat regions as Oregon, Carneros and Russian River in California and, most recently, New Zealand. As a money-saving strategy, though, it has become all but fruitless. Those ‘alternative’ regions often now charge just as much or more for decent pinot. The key here is to think laterally. Stylistically, the best alternative to good red Burgundy, for my money, is quality Beaujolais. It’s made from gamay instead of pinot noir, but when it’s good, it’s way more satisfying than bargain pinot noir. I speak here of quality Beaujolais specifically from the ten best hillside towns of the Beaujolais region. These so-called cru Beaujolais (which carry such place names as Chénas, Brouilly, Juliénas and Morgon rather than Beaujolais) can pass for good pinot noir in professional blind tastings. I’ve seen it happen. I’d do a Chénas (as a substitute for red Burgundy). The crus are up the hill. They’re not on the lower section of Beaujolais. They don’t have the juicy fruitiness. They have a bit more body and structure. Part of the reason is that the vines tend to be older and yield less but more concentrated fruit. At about NT$500 to 1,500 per bottle, Cru Beaujolais is the savvy buyers poor man's red Burgundy My two cents worth, Valdivieso Reserve Pinot Noir 2006 (from - you guessed it - Chile), robust, sweet fruit, med-full body at NT$550 and the Trapiche Old Oak Pinot Noir 2006 (Argentina) nicely weighted, spiked with ripe red fruit, elegant and well balanced at $599 are two great bets for Pinot lovers. Chianti vs. MontepulCiano d’aBRuzzo I am, again, thinking laterally here. Chianti is a mediumbodied red made from the sangiovese grape in a central Tuscan district. Good examples now almost all cost more than NT$1,000, unfortunately. Bright red cherry, firm acidity and an undercurrent of earthiness hinting at mushroom and tobacco are all classic elements of the flavor. You can often find similar Mark loves to hear from you with all your questions concerning the world of wine and spirits. Feel free to email him at: mark.vinvinowine@ gmail.com or visit his informative site at www.vinvinowine.asia. 22 apr 2010
nuances and structure in a grape called montepulciano (not to be confused with the Tuscan town of Montepulciano, where they make something called Vino Nobile based on sangiovese). Montepulciano – the grape – is widely grown in the lowercost region of central Italy called Abruzzo. Drinkable examples are as low as NT$350, and very good ones can be had for NT$400 to 700. Another option is the sangiovesebased reds from Tuscany’s neighboring (and generally less expensive) region of Umbria. A good choice is the Aldiano Montepulcino D’Abruzzo DOC 2007 at NT$750, it’s quite suave, but not Soave. BArolo vS. gATTinArA The so-called king of Italian reds, Barolo, now costs a king’s ransom: roughly NT$2,500 and up a bottle. It’s made in the Piedmont region from the highly tannic, acidic nebbiolo grape. And, quite frankly, it tastes like no wine produced in any other region in the world. Which is why the best substitute may be Gattinara, a red based mainly or entirely on nebbiolo in a town not far from Barolo in Piedmont. Prices for Gattinara, which tends to have less endurance in the cellar, are about half those of Barolo. I think you can find some great wines in Gattinara, although not often found here in Taiwan. I can't really find a drinking substitute for Borolo other than Borolo here in Taipei, so I am drinking the Zonin Valpolicella Ripasso 2007 (NT 800) made from the Corvina and Rondinella grapes, although bolder, spicier and juicier than Borolo's Nebiolo grape, this satisfies my Italian craving just fine. A big unctuous mouthful of yummy, let it breathe. I can't really find a drinking substitute for Borolo other than Borolo here in Taipei, so I am drinking the Zonin Valpolicella Ripasso 2007 (NT 800) made from the Corvina and Rondinella grapes, although bolder, spicier and juicier than Borolo's Nebiolo grape, this satisfies my Italian craving just fine. A big unctuous mouthful of yummy, let it breathe. SAncerre vS. TourAine A crisp, grassy, iconic white, Sancerre is made from sauvignon blanc in the Sancerre district of France’s Loire Valley, where the grape achieves a sublime balance of citruslike fruitiness, herbal-grassy notes and a sort of stone-like mineral quality. It’s the perfect spring tonic, a fine match for lightly dressed salads and vegetable dishes as well as a variety of cheeses (especially goat). Sancerres usually cost between NT$800 and 1,400 a bottle though, which is serious coin for most people. At about half the price you could uncork a lesser-known Touraine. Made from the same white grape not far from Sancerre, Touraine wines usually are priced from NT$NT350 to 600 and do an impressive Sancerre imitation. My favorites because of their availability here in Taipei are the many fine Sauvignon Blancs, especially the Reserve designations coming out of the Chilean Valleys. NT$350 - 700 buys good value with a lot of diversity in their flavor profiles. Valdivieso’s 2007 Reserve Sauvignon Blanc at NT$550 is awesome, and its sibling 2007 Sauvignon Blanc is a best buy at NT$350. chArdonnAy vS. chArdonnAy Here it’s Old World white Burgundy and expensive California and New Zealand ‘Brands’ versus New World affordability. There is no comparison between the two, but there is satisfaction to be had. South Africa, Australia, Chile and Argentina are abundant and affordable here in Taiwan. Argentine’s Dona Paula 2007 Estate Chardonnay at NT$550 is sophisticated, while Valdivieso’s 2006 Reserve Chardonnay has bottle age and is drinking beautifully at NT$550. For ultra value try Valdivieso’s 2008 Chardonnay for NT$350; your money goes a long way here. chAmpAgne vS. cAvA My preference is for the dry sparkling wines of northeast Spain as a dirt cheap substitute for NT$2,000 and up Champagne. Made using the traditional, labor-intensive process perfected in the Champagne region of France (in which the bubbles form naturally inside the bottle with the addition of yeast and sugar), Cavas generally cost between NT$600 and 900. Cavas are my preference compared with today’s trendier choice, Prosecco. Good Prosecco from Italy is a riskier navigation, but if you stick with the Gancia label (Italy’s oldest producer) you will be delighted. Gancia’s Pinot di Pinot “Rose” for NT$540 is dry enough and satisfies while Jane Ventura Cava at NT$599 is delightfully elegant. Well that’s it for this month’s quaff. See you out and about town my friends. Bon Boire. april 2010 gAllery oil paintings by Ah-ping Wu a dancing Soul From the Beginning Ping is a local artist from Beitou who has dedicated herself to children’s art education for over three decades. as an artist her skill is mature, yet her paintings glow with a child’s heart, sentiment, thoughtfulness, and innocence. In her exhibition at The Center, Ping explores in a way that approximates a kind of Zen, the essence of life through painting freely and joyfully. great pottery items elizabeth S T Lim brings you beautiful mugs, aromatherapy oil bottle necklaces and other great pottery items for yourself and your loved ones. all items are made in Yingge, Taiwan's home of pottery. handmade cotton bags from "gide" meili Kou offers a selection of handmade cotton bags from her company, gide. Select from small bags for jewelry to shopping bags to backpacks. many are decorated with cats and traditional Chinese gold nuggets. You will find many uses for these versatile bags. A percentage of all proceeds of items sold at the Gallery go to The Center, so please remember that by displaying and shopping here you are helping us to provide much needed services to the international community. Apr 2010 23
Page 1: Publication of the Community Servic
Page 4 and 5: 4 apr 2010
Page 6 and 7: RICHARD xReCommenDs RichaRd SaundeR
Page 8 and 9: around taipei A Symphony of Plac te
Page 10 and 11: Community TAS Annual Flea Market te
Page 12 and 13: outlook Not just living happily eve
Page 14 and 15: Casual dining Calcutta Indian Food
Page 16 and 17: traditional arts The Temple of the
Page 18 and 19: entertainment As you like it - Taip
Page 20 and 21: environment Happy Birthday, Earth D
Page 24 and 25: kinder ‘ping's Adventure in Taiwa
Page 26 and 27: generation y o L ss of Creativity E
Page 28 and 29: sports 2010 ECCT-ICRT Int’l Chari
Page 30 and 31: Center Courses Apr 2010 To sign up,
Page 32 and 33: Worship Directory (For full details
Page 34: dirk's taiwan dirk DIEsTEL took thi

PDF file - Community Services Center

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?