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

Wine Talk Hosts First Winemaker Tasting Session featuring Bertrand Sourdais

Wine Talk does it again…an enjoyable evening of wines plus an exclusive preview of new ones from France and Spain for its customers and Wine Club members

18 April 2015 – It is a rare event for a wine lover in this part of the world to meet the winemakers themselves. If you were in Germany, Australia, France, Spain or maybe Italy, you’d have good chances of meeting the talented men and women behind the art of winemaking process. But here in Malaysia, it would be a memorable occasion to enjoy a wine tasting session with the winemaker himself.

Wine Talk, headed by its CEO and sommelier David Stephan, recently hosted an indulgent session of wine tasting and Spanish tapas at La Bodega Lounge in Jalan Telawi, Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur. The tasting session featured 4 different wines from reputable winemaker, Bertrand Sourdais, who flew in to Malaysia that day for Wine Talk’s first winemaker tasting session this year.

Bertrand Sourdais talking about Chinon wines

Freshly landing an hour before the event started at 4pm, Sourdais was a breath of excitement and enthusiasm as he entered the cozy lounge of La Bodega. And the moment he started talking, one can immediately feel his passion for wines and the meticulous work involved in his winemaking process.

Sourdais with guests and David Stephan (in green apron)

Sourdais guided guests through 4 wines, which were all products of his lifelong passion for wines: Chinon 'Les Messanges De Pallus', Chinon 'Les Pensees De Pallus', Chinon ‘Le Grand Vin de Pallus’ and Bodegas Antidoto. The first 2 are already available in Malaysia, exclusively at Wine Talk, while the latter 2 wines are expected to arrive in June/ July. Sourdais’s Chinon wines are from France while the last one, the Antidoto, is from Spain.

4 wines tasted during the wine tasting session with Bertrand Sourdais

Bertrand became the 5th generation of the Sourdais Family to manage the estate when he took over in 2004. They are based in the village of Cravant-Les-Côteaux, one of the 2 villages encompassing the Chinon AOC, which produces mostly red wine, Cabernet Franc being the King Grape of the region. Since he took over, he has been slowly converting the estate towards a fully organic approach, and working parcel per parcel (some planted in sand, others in limestone) to make a more drastic selection for the 3 different cuvees. He does this to produce extremely refined and complex wines, which are friendly to drink now but can also withstand some ageing.

Passionate about offering the purest expression of the grapes only, Bertrand works with a very respectful and minimalist approach, growing grapes with an organic method, combined with slow and careful oak ageing.

As a grand traveler and lover of Spanish wines, Bertrand has also been making wines in Spain since the late 90’s, first managing the now highly-renowned Dominio de Atauta, and during this event introduced Bodegas Antidoto. Wine Talk customers and Wine Club members were the first ones to enjoy a glass of this much-awaited wine, together with Chinon ‘Le Grand Vin de Pallus’, which are both arriving in 2-3 months in Malaysia.

4 Wines by Bertrand Sourdais:

Wine No. 1 - Chinon 'Les Messanges De Pallus' – RM79.50 per bottle

Aged in concrete tanks and stainless steel for over 6 months, the grapes come mostly from vines planted in sandy soils - Dark berry and fruity notes combined with capsicum, mild spice and herbal qualities, make this a great value wine – dry and addictive! Perfect with a wide selection of meat dishes, better served slightly chilled. Les Messanges is a pure expression of the Cabernet Franc: dry, fruitful & very friendly.

Wine No. 2 - Chinon 'Les Pensees De Pallus' – RM106.00 per bottle

‘Les Pensées’ (name of a flower which is very present around the vineyards) is the Domaine Trademark-cuvée. It is the one that put them on the World Wine Map a few years ago, getting top-scores everywhere. Sourced from parcels surrounding the estate, planted dominantly on sand-limestone hillsides and pebbly sand parcels, the wine is oak-aged for over 12 months and a further 6 months in tanks.

This is a beautiful bold dry red with great depth, richness to the layers of capsicum, plum, black cherry and redcurrant fruit, accented by notes of bouncy pepper, savory and olive. Perfect with a nice grilled steak!

Coming soon, exclusively available in Malaysia via Wine Talk at www.winetalk.com.my

Wine No. 3 - Chinon ‘Le Grand Vin dePallus’– from Loire Valley, France

Sourdais set aside the fruit of his oldest vines to produce just 100 cases of this very special grand vin. Named Grand Vin de Pallus, this wine is a pure expression not only of a blessed terroir and a historic vintage, but also of  Sourdais' talent and his persistent passion to create a Chinon for the ages. This wine bursts with the essence of violets, combining rich black currant fruit with a bracing fraîcheur (this is a French word meaning freshness or coolness). As one of the guests described, this Chinon has an amazing flavor that “dances around inside your mouth”.  Sounds appetizing.

Wine No. 4 - Bodegas Antidoto – from Ribera del Duero, Spain

This Spanish wine is organically made from old Tinto Fino (Tempranillo) vines. Extractions are kept under control and second- and third year 225-litre barriques are used in order to limit oak influence. It combines 70% of old vines with younger vines, bringing a lively touch to the wine, resulting to fruit flavours of red berries, floral reminiscences, a racy acidity and considerable minerality while remaining juicy and dense on the palate. 

Bodegas Antídoto is a project designed by Bertrand Sourdais with David Hernando, an agricultural engineer and a former technical director of the winery Atalayas de Golbán, where he worked from 2004 to 2010.  Their objective is to produce fine, unique wines in the Eastern part of the Ribera del Duero region. Antídoto is a youthful project that started in 2009. Though it was not until 2011, the year in which the first Antídoto was made using grapes from the vineyards that they run in Soria, that the project truly gained momentum.

Guests had a great time with Bertrand Sourdais, David Stephan and the rest of the Wine Talk team. Aside from the beautiful wines and Spanish tapas, they also enjoyed special prices to buy or pre-book any of the wines they liked that day.

To the surprise of guests, David Stephan had a lucky draw at the end of the session and gave away a beautiful magic decanter. Sounds interesting? The magic decanter speeds up the process of traditional decanting, which normally takes half an hour or more, by decanting the wine immediately as the wine is poured through. And a lucky guest bagged the prize.

David Stephan and Bertrand Sourdais with the lucky guest

Gastrodome General Manager Sach Seelan (left) with Bertrand Sourdais and David Stephan

Wine Talk is an online wine delivery service in Malaysia, providing fast, efficient and easy way for people across West Malaysia to shop online for wines, wine accessories such as wine glasses and decanters, and now including selected spirits that French sommelier David Stephan has carefully handpicked for customers.

During this event, Wine Talk’s Wine Club members enjoyed the privilege of free entrance to enjoy exclusive wines from featured winemaker Bertrand Sourdais. The Wine Club, the first of its kind in Malaysia, is a unique service where members subscribe to a monthly or bi-monthly delivery of wines. Wine Club wine cases contain wines that David Stephan himself personally picks to send to its members. It is definitely a great way to discover more wines from around the world, not just labels that one can easily find in wine shops. After all, discoveries make wine appreciation even more pleasurable.

Wine Talk online site offers red wines, white wines, sparkling wines, rosé wines, Champagne, crystal wine glasses, decanters, aromaster and spirits, sent right to your doorstep with FREE delivery for any order worth RM120.  

For those who are interested to discover more about the Wine Club and its privileges, you may visit https://www.winetalk.com.my/wine-club.html

The Ultimate Gift - Ace of Spades Champagne

Probably the most luxurious bottle of champagne anyone can give or receive this season or for whatever occasion…

The first time I saw the photo of this bottle, I was amazed. How can a bottle of wine be so beautiful? And when I saw the actual bottle for the first time, I was mesmerised, captivated, enamoured. Is this for real? 

One look at the box gives you an immediate feeling of class and elegance. Have you ever seen any ordinary wine or champagne bottle packaged in such style? Ace of Spades Champagne, or Champagne Armand de Brignac, comes elegantly packaged in a black lacquered box. Take note - lacquered. The cover is adorned with the brand’s logo in pewter, the stylized letter A inside a spade.  This is definitely the most beautiful letter I’ve seen. 

The inside of this box is lined with solid rich black velvet. Under the top cover is a gold plate embossed and imprinted with “Armand de Brignac, Reims, France - Edition Limitee”. The bottle lies perfectly inside, with grooves specially made and designed to fit its size. 

And here’s another magnificent thing; the box comes with a sexy booklet, also in black and stamped with the logo and name in gold. 

The bottle itself is in opaque gold and all labels are made of genuine pewter —- all handmade. Unique, elegant, classy. Who wouldn’t be delighted to receive this as a gift? 

The Taste of Ace of Spades

Marvelously complex and full-bodied, its bouquet is both fresh and lively, with light floral notes. On the palate, Brut Gold has a sumptuous, racy fruit character perfectly integrated with the wine’s subtle brioche accents. The Champagne’s texture is deliciously creamy, with great depth paired with a long, silky finish. Armand de Brignac Brut Gold is pressed from a perfectly balanced blend of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Meunier wine. - Armand de Brignac

How to enjoy it:

Recommended serving temperature - 6 - 8 degrees Celsius

(place the bottle in the refrigerator the night before or chill in an ice bucket for 30 minutes)

Use a flute or champagne glass, not a broad-rimmed glass

For many different occasions, I think that the Ace of Spades is an ultimate gift.  Whether it’s for a loved one, a close friend, a business partner or a client, giving this bottle as a gift will make a solid statement of value and appreciation. Expressing it with a gold - pewter bottle of Champagne perfectly packed in a black lacquer box is just pure class. 

It was no surprise when I heard the news in November 2014 that Jay-Z bought this label. The Ace of Spades champagne was featured in his video, Show Me What You Got. Well, he’s also seen serving this US$300-worth-a-pop champagne in a lot of events and has long been associated with the brand.  

I haven’t tasted this Champagne yet, not that I can afford one. Well, one can dream. And I think that it’s one of the best wines to feature this season, seeing how such bottle can be the perfect gift for Christmas or New Year. 

Armand de Brignac - Ace of Spades Champagne

Where to buy in Malaysia: www.winetalk.com.my

Normal price: RM1,480 / Limited promotion price: RM1,280

Origin: Champagne, France

Type: Non-Vintage Champagne/ Sparkling Wine

About Armand de Brignac via www.wine-searcher.com 

Armand de Brignac is the brainchild of the Cattier house, located in the Champagne village of Chigny-les-Roses, and the New York drinks distribution company Sovereign Brands.

The Cattier family have been growing grapes in the Montagne de Reims area since 1763, and have made Champagne since 1918. The house is still family owned and run by Jean-Jacques Cattier and his son Alexandre, both respected winemakers. Champagne specialist and writer Michael Edwards speaks highly of the Cattier Champagnes and is particularly fond of the family's single-vineyard cuvée Clos du Moulin.

According to Jean-Jacques Cattier, Armand de Brignac aims “to present something authentically luxurious and which does justice to the once-in-a-lifetime events at which Champagne is so often present.” He believes that Champagne produces "bubbles in the eyes."

De Brignac was the name of a hero in a book that Jean-Jacques Cattier's mother once read. She liked it so much it became stuck in her memory, though no-one nowadays can remember which book the character was in. Later, Jean-Jacques' sister added "Armand" to round out the name. The family registered it as a brand in the 1950’s with Champagne's wine authority, the Comite Interprofessionnel du vin de Champagne (CIVC). It then lay dormant until 2006, when they dusted it off for their prestige cuvée and the forgotten hero once again enjoyed the limelight.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all my fellow wine lovers!