AsiaLIFE

 
The new lunar year and the closing of spring brings with it fresh new ingredients, exciting new menus and new vintage releases of just bottled, crisp, aromatic wines. So, get out there and get fresh with your food, your wine and your love life. Here is a selection of ‘fresh’ new releases that can currently be found in and around Cambodia.

Sileni, Cellar Selection Pinot Gris, New Zealand
I’m not sure where Sileni take its name from but ‘the Sileni’ were followers of Dionysus the god of wine. Satyrs and Sileni were always looking for nymphs although the nymphs teased them and managed to outsmart them, making the Satyrs and Sileni look like fools. Apparently your Sileni is not nearly as nymph crazy as your Satyr. He is more interested in drinking wine and getting drunk. Slightly spicy with persimmon aromas this wine’s palate is redolent of white peach and subtle fruit spice. Beautifully balanced by natural acidity, it has a long finish. It is just off-dry.

Chateau Hostens Picant, “Cuvée des Demoiselles”, Bordeaux Blanc, France
St. Foy is a little appellation tucked behind the world famous St Emillion region of Bordeaux. The secret of Saint Foy is that the wines are made from the same varieties and of the same quality as those from St. Emillion, but cost three, four, and even up to ten times less. Well worth seeking out, this superb white wine is 50 percent Semillon, 45 percent Sauvignon Blanc and 5 percent Muscadet. The nose is pleasantly creamy, with distinctive pear scents. Herbal and clean on the palate, it too has a nice long finish.

Springfield, Life from Stone, Sauvignon Blanc, South Africa
One of the world’s truly great Sauvignon Blanc wines comes from a rocky vineyard in South Africa’s Western Cape. A wine of incredible character, depth, intensity, finesse and complexity, it is laden in both bouquet and palate with intense aromas and flavours of sweet capsicum, kiwi, starfruit and passion fruit. It has notes of fine talc, wet slate, gunsmoke, flint and minerals on the finish.

Domaine Paul Blanck, Schlossberg, Grand Cru, Riesling, Alsace, France
This Grand Cru Riesling is one of the best examples of great Alsace wine. Subtle, fresh aromas of nectarine, butter and wild flowers, fruit spice and citrus play with exotic hints of sugar banana. A moderately sweet wine, with flavours redolent of nectarines and fruit spice, its richness and vibrancy combine well on the palate. It has a delightful intensity of flavour and a fine balanced acidity to the finish. Superb with spicy Asian food.

Champagne de Saint Gall, Brut Tradition Premier Cru N.V. France
I could, of course, love this wine for its name alone! Saint Gall is the largest Premier and Grand Cru grape producer in the region. Historically a huge percentage of production has been sold to the ‘big name’ champagne houses. More recently the vineyard has become known in its own right. The result is champagne of exceptional quality at a fraction of the price of better-known houses. With light, shortbread, biscuit notes on the nose, a lean and crisp citrus fruit on the palate and light honey and floral blossom hints, Saint Gall has a good crisp finish with a hint of creamy richness on the end. It is as good a champagne as any of the house cuvées from the most famous names in Champagne – and better than a great many of them.