Champagne Tasting with Maison Moet & Chandon in KL

Something like this should not be missed...

Oh, how we love the beautiful sparkles and bubbles of Champagne. Not to be confused with just any other bubbly, Champagne is a sparkling wine produced from grapes grown specifically in the Champagne region of France. Champagne is typically more expensive than other sparkling wines here mainly because it is considered a luxury item.

(image from moet.com)

And who wouldn’t know of one of the world’s largest Champagne producers in the world, Moët & Chandon? This iconic bottle has been gracing celebrations, happy moments, weddings, parties and car races all over the world!

Moet & Chandon, together with Wine Talk Malaysia, will be hosting a Champagne tasting session on 21^st October 2015, 3:00pm at Neo Tamarind Kuala Lumpur. Early Bird tickets are available for purchase now, limited seats available. You’ll enjoy tasting of 4 variants of Moet & Chandon Champagne with Maison Moet & Chandon Brand Ambassador, Pierre-Louis Araud. If you are a true lover of Champagne, you wouldn’t want to miss this exclusive experience!

Purchase your tickets HERE or call 1300 88 9788. Tickets are in limited availability.

Early Bird Tickets - RM199

Normal Price - RM250

(image from moet.com)

Mateus Rose Wine - A 'Pink' That I Love

Who said you need expensive wine to enjoy wine?

 

  

I am not easily convinced to buy low-priced wines that I haven’t tried before. Not that I’m a snob but I believe that I cannot expect an RM40 bottle to taste good enough, unless of course you just simply want alcohol in your mouth and down your throat. It wouldn’t hurt much to add another RM15 – RM20 if you really want to have an enjoyable wine. And for more experienced wine lovers, they’d even add several hundred (or thousands) more to please their tastes.

For us who are still learning to appreciate wine, we can stick to a price range of RM55 – RM90 and I just discovered a new beautiful wine, which is surprisingly only RM58!

Mateus The Original Rose Wine

Grape: Baga Blend

Type: Rose wine

Origin: Portugal

Vintage: Non-Vintage

Flavour: Sweet

Body: Light

Cork? Nope, screw cap

Price: RM58.30 with GST

Where to buy:

Supermarkets, Jason’s or via www.winetalk.com.my

What caught my eye was the unusual whiskey-like shape of the bottle. How often do you see something like this in a wine shop? I’ve never heard of this wine before and after some digging online, I was surprised to find a lot of interesting facts about this wine brand.

Mateus Rose is the first product of the Sogrape Vinhos S.A., a Portuguese winery founded in 1942 by Fernando van Zeller Guedes. Sogrape continued to produce quality wines with its style while it also expanded through acquisitions, diversifying into other areas of the Portuguese wine industry. By 1980s, Sogrape has succeeded to become the largest wine producer in Portugal. And it started with this wine that I’m enjoying now…

I just love the light, sweet flavour of this wine. Very easy to drink (and finish the whole bottle myself). Check out the light fizz of this wine.

Some interesting facts via Wikipedia:

• The Mateus Rose was among the brands found stockpiled in the vaults of Saddam Hussein’s palaces
• The Mateus brand was mentioned in the lyrics of the 1973 Elton John song entitled ‘Social Disease’

When I first saw this bottle, I took a while trying to see if it really was rose wine inside. The bottle color is green and it hides the real color of the wine. But there’s great news. According to its brand site at www.mateusrose.com, there will be a clear glass version of the Mateus rose! I wonder when it will reach our shores…

Mateus Rose Wine in clear glass bottle (photo from mateusrose.com)

Mateus The Original Rose Wine (photo from mateusrose.com)

Tasting Notes via www.winetalk.com.my

Mateus is an iconic Portuguese wine, created in 1942 and has been one of the most popular wines in the World. Mateus Rosé Original is a light, fresh, young and slightly sparkling wine; a rosé with a very appealing and bright hue, it is a fresh and seductive wine with fine and intense bouquet and all the joviality of young wines. In the mouth, it is a well balanced and tempting wine, brilliantly complemented by a soft and slightly fizzy finish.

For more beautiful, pink/rose wines, you can visit https://www.winetalk.com.my/all-wine/type/rose.html

To know more about the brand Mateus, please visit the brand site at

www.mateusrose.com

Viu Manent Secreto White Wine - Viognier

Beautiful Chilean white wine to enjoy after (or during) a busy day…

I got interested to try this white wine last year because of its interesting, fun, cool label. It is a rare occasion to find an artistic figure, somewhat cartoon-style image on a label of wine, after years of getting acquainted with mostly texts and vineyard-inspired sketches on a bottle. You might not see something like this easily on an Old World wine, which makes me even more interested to discover New World wines even if the former has earned its reputation for century-old experience in winemaking.

I love white wines and have been lately learning to enjoy more rosés. This Viu Manent white wine from its Secreto range is a Viognier. It has a light, fresh yellow color. I’m not an expert in describing the taste, see tasting notes below taken from online wine delivery site, but what I do know is I like its flavor, easy on the palate, and this wine is definitely something that I can enjoy any day in the office or at home after a stressful day, or better yet, to share with friends!

Grape: Viognier

Type: White  

Vintage: 2013

Flavor: Fruity

Body: Full

Country: Chile

Tasting Notes, taken from online wine delivery site:

Viognier is a great aromatic white varietal and this is a perfect example of its kind. The fresh nose recalls exotic fruits such as guava as well as apricots and ripe pears with subtle notes of citrus fruits and flowers. The palate is viscous yet fresh, with tremendous volume. It is very fruity and balanced with a long and persistent finish.

Viu Manent is a Chilean winery owned by the Viu Family. It was founded in 1935 when the Catalonian immigrant Miguel Viu-García and his two sons Agustín and Miguel Viu-Manent founded Bodegas Viu in Santiago de Chile. They bottled and sold wine on the local market under the “Vinos Viu” brand. In 1966 Miguel Viu Manent fulfilled his long-time dream of making his own wines when he acquired the Hacienda San Carlos de Cunaco in Colchagua. This traditional estate included 150 hectares of vineyards planted to noble, pre-phylloxera vines, as well as a winery and manor house. The estate is certified sustainable, so all works in the vineyards and the winery are done with an environmentally friendly and socially equitable approach. All wines are made from their own vineyards within the heart of the Colchagua Valley; one of the countries’ most acclaimed wine regions, famous for its robust, full-body reds.

The ‘Secreto’ range has a closely guarded secret related to land, proportions, and balance. The result is a line of blended wines made with a primary varietal component that is recognized and complemented by a closely guarded ‘secret blend’ of up to 15% in each of these factors.

So, YES, I will definitely be ordering this lovely white wine bottle again.  

La Bodega and Wine Talk invite you to Wine Tasting & Sale Evening

Save the date and gather your cool friends…an exciting wine tasting in KL is coming!

Well-known and well-loved Spanish restaurant, La Bodega, teams up with Wine Talk, Malaysia’s online wine delivery service, to bring you yet again another beautiful evening of wine tasting, paired with delicious tapas and more.

La Bodega Tapas Y Vinos is popular for its numerous and unforgettable Spanish dishes, including the classic Paella, which is the best version I’ve tasted in my life. With branches in Jalan Telawi, Bangsar Shopping Center (BSC), Pavilion KL, Empire Subang and the Shore in Malacca, La Bodega continues to delight us with their appetizing menu and other fun-filled activities.

La Bodega's Gambas Al Ajillo (one of my favourites!)
*Photo by La Bodega

La Bodega's Deep Fried Goat Cheese (I can't resist this one...it's addictive!)
*Photo by La Bodega

La Bodega's Arroz Negro con Calamares
*Photo by La Bodega

And if you haven’t heard, La Bodega makes us women even happier to be…women! Every Thursday, enjoy an evening of lovely music and, of course, drinks at La Bodega Jalan Telawi KL and La Bodega The Shore in Malacca.

Wine Talk is known for its wide selection of wines online, ready to be ordered and delivered to your address within West Malaysia. Wine Talk wines are selected by its French sommelier, David Stephan, and are made available online where you can order anytime, anywhere…from a couch while using your phone to a coffee shop while using your laptop.

Wine Talk also makes you discover wines that you haven’t seen or tried before. With David Stephan always looking for new great wines to introduce to Malaysia, Wine Talk continues to make wine discovery an exciting and pleasurable journey.

And this time around (again), La Bodega and Wine Talk join wines and wine glasses to bring us its wine tasting and sale event for July. Come on, ladies and gentlemen, you don’t want to miss all these!

There will be 11 wines from respected winemaking countries: France, Italy, South Africa and Chile. For only RM100 per guest, you will enjoy free flow drinks of these beautiful wines, which are available in Malaysia exclusively via Wine Talk.

Wine is best enjoyed with friends and even better with delicious Spanish food by La Bodega. Take a look at this mouth-watering Paella Valenciana Mixta that was served during the previous wine tasting evening in May! We gotta have a plate or 2 of this!

La Bodega's Paella Valenciana

How to be part of this event? You can RSVP via the Facebook pages of La BodegaTapas Y Vinos or Wine Talk Malaysia or you can click the image below and fill-up your details. Payment is not required yet on RSVP. RM100 will be collected at the entrance during the event on 25^th July 2015, Saturday, 4pm-7pm, La Bodega Bangsar Shopping Center.

See you soon!

If you have any questions, you may directly send a message via the Facebook pages above or call 1300 88 9788