Taste of the Nations!

Allen and I had purchased tickets to what's called "Taste of the Nations". A company (Torres China) who specializes in selling wine from many countries around the world, puts on this event once a year. It is a fantastic wine tasting event, representing 12 countries across the globe. This year, it was set on a yacht that was supposed to cruise the river. However, due to inclement weather, the boat didn't actually "cruise", but stayed attached to the dock. No matter, because the event itself was a really great time!

In the States, many people...myself included...tend to stick with their favorite wines. Usually, they are a domestic brand of fairly good quality, but also cheap because it's from home. We have some VERY good wine produced in the States. It's hard to justify venturing much further if the cost is too high. However, if people get adventurous, there are the "stock" wines from other countries like Spain, Italy, France, etc. The big ones. And, of course, they are the more vague, harder to find varieties...but rarely does anyone I know search that hard to find a wine or even prefer the more obscure varieties anyway.

China, and Shanghai in particular, has a much more comprehensive representation of wines from around the world. China, itself, is not much of a [grape] wine producing country. But, it more than makes up for itself by importing so many types and varieties of spirits from across the globe. As I mentioned, this one event hosted by Torres China, represents several different names and varieties of wine from 12 different countries. The 12 countries were: Spain, Australia, Portugal, Chile, United States, China, Argentina, New Zealand, South Africa, Hungary, France, and Italy.

The entire 2nd and 3rd levels of the yacht had tables lined up with several bottles of wine and even some liquor based spirits as well. Every guest received a handy neck chain attached to a booklet of all the wines represented and a pen to take notes. Each table had a few spit receptacles in case the wine you chose to drink happened to o-ffend you in some way. The event was well organized, the yacht was clean, and every guest walked away with a party gift...what more could you ask for here in China!? :)

They served food as well. I remember thinking prior to boarding the boat and asking Allen, "Do they know here in China...that CHEESE and wine go very well together?" Once the food appeared, I looked at it with skepticism and more than a little disappointment...the cheese cubes were covered with an unidentified...something...could have been mushrooms...could have been meat....could have been minced fish eggs...you just never know. Never sure about the origin of any of the meat here in China, I chose to decline in the beginning. After finishing a thorough examination of the wines on the 3rd floor, I attempted a few of the "safer" looking savory appetizers. By the end of touring the 2nd floor of wines, I didn't really care and tried most of the appetizers. I'm still here! :) What an education! I learned so much about the different wines from around the world! It's exactly what I have been wanting to do for quite some time. If you attended something like this in the States, it would easily have been a higher price to get in...about $100 per person is our guess. However, this event was very affordable (about $30 per person) and came with lots of "extras" to boot. It was a 3-hour event.

What about the wine??

By far, the wine from Italy held my attention the most. Wow...they make some very good wine! I found many of their Merlots, Cabs and Pinot Grigios to be very smooth. They had a White Chocolate and Bottega Grappa that was absolutely to die for!!!! YUMMMMMM!!! Grappa, by nature, is a very strong spirit and caters to, I think, a smaller crowd. So, when mixing it with the white chocolate, I'm sure they had to overcompensate the stingy Grappa with EXTRA creamy and smooth white chocolate. OMG! It was so good! For those of you who like white russians...you'll definitely like this combo. But, unlike a white russian that never gets creamy enough in my opinion...this Grappa combo nails it in it's creamy, silky texture. And the white chocolate is so incredibly yummy! The Italian table also had a Lemon Grappa mix...but talk about potent! I'm glad I wasn't wearing a wig when I tried that one! Whew! It just about knocked my socks off! The Italian table also had a couple of bubbly options that both Allen and I found very appealing...even better than the "host" champagne that was served throughout the evening.

The French table held my interest a bit, but not nearly as much as the Italian table. In fact, I was a little disappointed in the French wine as a collective group. However, in France's defense, they may not have had a great representation, through this company, of their more refined wines. I'm not sure. Although, there was a BIG French company being represented at the table, B.P. Rothschild. With THIS being said, I did find a few that were more than a little incredible. They had both a Bourgogne Chardonnay and a red that actually tasted buttery! I'm not kidding! Now, how did they manage something like that? They actually had a buttery, smoothness to them that left you smacking your lips after you had a taste...like a french fry. It was incredible...and good! Now, THAT is impressive. These buttery wines were made by Joseph Drouhin.

Australia, again, delivered and didn't disappoint! They had a good representation of wines and their table was quickly depleted of product. I have been very impressed with Australian wines.

The US wines were horrible! There were some bottles from California...the vicinty of Napa Valley (but clearly new to the industry), Sonoma, Monterey and the State of Oregon. Definitely NOT a good representation of what the US can offer, ESPECIALLY from the Napa Valley region. Too bad...

The country that surprised me the most was South Africa. I really enjoyed sampling some of their wines and the results were, again, surprising. Actually, there was only one company from South Africa being represented at this event. The company, Kleine Zalze, is located in Stellenbosch, north of Cape Town...just how far north, I don't have a clue. They had a Merlot unlike any I have ever tasted. It was very spicy (not like a Merlot at all), but with an incredibly smooth finish! Different and yummy! Their Cabernet Sauvignon was truly amazing! It was rich in aroma as well as flavor and the smoothest Cab I have ever tasted. It was such a pleasure to drink! They had a Pinotage that was more of an experience than a drink...again, amazing. This Pinotage tasted...raw...but beautiful all at the same time. It mirrors what I imagine the country of South Africa is like in many ways. The fact that this wine could reflect or mirror something like that defines logic, but nevertheless...that's what it did for me.

China. This probably doesn't come as any surprise, but all of the wines from China were pretty bad. Ok...really bad. They have a long way to go to catch up to the world's standards in the [grape] wine industry. However, I heard they put out a pretty good rice wine. Their wine at the event was tasteless and to say "dry" would imply that any of the bottles held any sort of depth...which is NOT the case. So, I'm not really sure how to describe the wines of China, other than to say...they have a long way to go.

Allen and I found ourselves outside, on deck, about an hour into the event. We ended up meeting this very nice Australian couple, which we talked with for the rest of the evening. It was a very fun, relaxing, unique and entertaining evening out of the house. BOTH Allen and I had a really good time.