Unwind with Wine

Heard of the Wine For Asia 2005 exhibition held at the Singapore Expo? It started on the 10th November and for the first two days it was for trade members and the last day which is today, is meant for wine collectors and enthusiasts. I went there with the motive of taking a not so short little break from my studying for the final exams which is coming real real real soon and to broaden my horizon in the area of wine drinking and appreciation.

When I entered the exhibition hall, glasses were provided and I was quite surprised that we could just take one and go around tasting the wines. So much for being a first time and alone(to make things worse). I walked around first to check things out and I was overwhelmed by the large number of wine exhibitors from all over the world, Spain, Portugal, Italy, France, Australia, South Africa, India, Singapore, Argentina and Chile if I recalled all of them correctly. So far I've only tasted wines from South Africa, Australia and a little from France. I've never really tried the wines from the other countries.

After a short walk around the hall, I finally decided to go pick up a glass near the entrance and start my little adventure and learning journey of tasting the various wines. I started tasting some french wines but oh well, I thought they won't interest my parents as the wines were a little more full bodied and drier than normal. I will definitely like them but not my parents, so I decided to go to other booths to take a look. In the midst of walking around, this very nice lady kindly asked if I were interested in a free wine tasting which was held in one of the function rooms. To my amazement, there were quite a few trade members who owned restaurants and even import wines to sell in Singapore. However, as the young little guy I was, some of them looked at me and was wondering if I was of legal age to drink. I went forward to try the first wine which was a portugese wine and I was pleasantly surprised. I never knew that portugese wines can be so pleasant to drink. There was quite a berry fragrance at first and when you drink it, you can taste the full bodiness of the wine with quite good weighage and the complexity in the after taste.

After that I went on to the Argentinian wines and tasted my first rosé wine. It was very smooth, and easy going, a little like the juice feeling. Not sure if I could call the dealer a sommelier but he said that you can drink it when you are thirsty as well and it's very easy for anyone to drink, unlike wines which dries your throat. I personally like wines which have very good weightage, heavy, dark coloured with great structure and complexity. The best if that it's been oaked (french?) for quite some time in the fermentation process. Well, So far I've liked Cabernet Savignon, but I think there are more for me to find out about my preference.

After these I was able to try the French wines again(not on the same day though). I tried a few 2001 Bordeux and they were generally more expensive ones as they were quite well known and very easy to drink, matured in oak and with a pleasant toast, vanilla aroma for some of them. Not sure if I'm right on this as I've tried a few other wines before this. Unfortunately I forgot to bring my digital camera, if not I can take snapshots of what I've tried and probably mention the names of the wines I tried.

In conclusion to this entry, I'm most impressed with the spanish and argentinian wines, they have a very strong aroma of oak and a little tinge of berry aroma for some which I kinda like. Moreover they have pleasant aftertastes which have soothing sensations and tastes as it goes down your tongue. Will try to list down what I've tried if there is a chance and probably write a little review on the wines that I'll be trying after my exams.

P.S. Won't be touching alcohol until after my exams. Ciaoz for now...