A wine story

By Sharen Kaur (Published in NST on June 17 2008)

DRINKING a glass of wine a day may keep the doctor away but drink moderately and stick to the red if you want to benefit.

Red wine is good because of the high concentration of antioxidants. Reds also contain resveratrol, a substance proven to repair damaged cells and help prevent cancer.

Resveratrol also helps to thin the blood, which protects you from heart disease.

"It's better with a meal and I have a glass every night so I sleep better. Wine contains some level of alcohol so drinking a glass a day is just fine," said Carlos Spoerer, export area manager for Chilean produced
Morande wines, who was here on his eight visit.

The casual event was the Morande wine tasting evening at popular Sri Hartamas nightspot Backyard Pub and Grill.

Spoerer noted that almost 80 per cent of world consumption for wines are reds.

In Malaysia, red wines have to be slightly chilled for 15 minutes, bringing the temperature down to 18-20 degrees Celsius and the whites for at least 45 minutes to level it down to 10.

A good quality wine should also have above 12 per cent alcohol level and the Morande wines are nicely above 13.

Morande wine is the result of the efforts of Pablo Morande, a traditional winemaker, who discovered conditions for producing white vine-stocks in the Casablanca and Maipo Valley more than 10 years ago,
unique in Chile, and similar to those found in the Carneros area of California.

According to Spoerer, Maipa is more popular for producing reds while Casablanca's cooler climate is famous for whites.

Morande also makes Reserva and Gran Reserva wines where oak aging is involved.

These are available in Malaysia for RM120-RM140 and RM180-RM200 per bottle respectively, distributed exclusively by Cave and Cellar.

"Morande is more French influence in the way it grows the grapes and do the wine," Spoerer said.

"In our winery, we are focused on both volume and quality. In the case of Sauvignon Blanc, we use high quality grapes," said the 31-year old connoisseur who has been promoting the Morande wines worldwide for more than five years.

At the wine tasting, Spoerer introduced Morande's proudest wine, Pinot Grigio 2006.

"We are the first and only winemaker producing this wine. It's a good work of wine that is a bit sweet and fresh, making it suitable to have with Thai dishes that are not too spicy.

"It's also good to have with grilled fish without the sauce as this is a light wine," he explained.

The Pinot Grigio is pale pinkish and full-bodied with distinctive touches of grey. In the nose, the wine is fruity with aromas of red apples, dried flowers and spices.The fruit comes from the El EnsuenoVineyard in Casablanca.

Next, we had Sauvignon Blanc 2006 to sample, a pale yellow wine with distinctive touches of green; delicate and very bright. The wine offers the nose intense aromas of pineapple, herbs, lime grapefruit and lemon
grass.

It is tasty and light-bodied, with a flavour of citrus fruit and the perfumes of white flowers.

Spoerer suggested to have salads, sushi and fresh seafood accompany this wine.

The fruit for this wine also comes from the El Ensueno Vineyard in Casablanca making it an ideal aperitif or something to receive guests at home with.

The Grand Reserva Chardonnay 2005 was equally fabulous; in the wine barrels for a year before it bodied.

This is a shining golden-yellow and olive-green wine offering aromas of tropical fruits in the nose, with evident notes of papaya.

Its ageing in wood adds an attractive aroma of vanilla and roasted hazelnuts.

In the mouth, there is the taste of tropical fruit and the toasted flavour of the wood, ideal to accompany strong seafood and highly-flavoured, somewhat oily fish, such as a good smoked salmon, tuna and white poultry meat.

A shining wine, with colours of rubies and rosewood offering notes of dried rose-petals, strawberry jam, black tea and spices, ended up my favourite; the Pinot Noir Reserva 2006, which, in the mouth is light,
delicate, fresh, elegant and feminine, with fruity, seductive flavours.

"It has good persistence and a long, pleasantly refreshing finish. This wine should be drunk fresh in order to enhance its elegance and flavours.

It's ideal for oily fish such as salmon, cod and sea bass, in addition to pastas and cheese," said Spoerer.

The Cabernet Sauvignon Reserva 2005, perfect for cheese, red meats and spicy pastas, is another popular wine, an intense, violet-red wine with touches of ruby. In the nose, it offers elegant aromas of ripe red fruit,
plums, vanilla and jam.

It is very tasty in the mouth, with plenty of fruit, spices, chocolate and caramel.

This wine has very good structure and body, with long persistence and broad tannins.

The last wine, Merlot Gran Reserva 2005, which usually does not enjoy my favour, was a fantastic wine, in French oak barrels for 18 months.

A deep-red, intense wine with hints of ruby, the wine was elegant in the nose, with aromas of fresh herbs, black pepper and red fruits.

It is a medium-bodied wine with pleasant, complex flavours, smoothness and sweet tannins, perfect to combine with pastas, white meats, cold meats, matured cheeses and soups.

"The fun thing about grapes is that they have the capacity to reproduce flavours and aromas that belong to all the components of nature.

"That is why when you smell a wine, it smells of a certain aroma and flavour," noted Spoerer.

"Hence, whether you like the Morande wines or not, you know they have been well done right from harvesting to bottling."

Backyard Pub, owned and managed by Jerry Chong, has also earned a reputation for heart meals. While you're at Backyard, order the spicy mutton peratel, veravel or cutlets, all very nice with these wines, or
its Indonesian fried rice, mamak mee and mee jawa.

The stage, music director being Edmund Anthony, boasts some great talents, nightly, the star-studded list including Raymond Cheah (Sunday), Mark Renesh (Monday), Gerard Singh and Simon Justin Leo (Tuesday), Mizan's Click (Wednesday), Zarsadius Brothers (Thursday), Retro Edge (Friday) and Big Game, starring Gerard Singh, Raymond Cheah and Simon Justin Leo (Saturday).

Also popular and well-patronised are its two pool tables, and Saturday night barbeques.

Backyard Pub is located at Jln Sri Hartamas 8, Tmn Sri Hartamas, Kuala Lumpur.

For more, call 03-6201-0318 03-6201-0318 or log on to its website, www.backyardpub.com.

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