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The clinking of wine glasses and excited chatter rang out for hours across the Harbour View ballroom at the Four Seasons Hong Kong hotel on Wednesday, where hundreds of wine lovers and industry professionals came together for an afternoon and evening of fine wines and cheeses. Once again, Hong Kong Tatler collaborated with wine editor James Suckling to bring some of the best wineries to town with the second edition of the Great Wines Series, with a new focus on the most coveted ready-to-drink wines of Bordeaux.
The sold-out Grand Tasting event on May 29 saw over 900 visitors over the course of the industry and public tastings, to the delight of the 45 participating Bordeaux wineries, which included the likes of Château Mouton-Rothschild, Château du Tertre, Château Haut-Brion, Château Ducru Beaucaillou, Château Palmer, Château Montrose, Château Pontet Canet, and Château Talbot. Some notable guests who came to lend support to the event included Henry Tang, Didier Li, Yolanda Choy-Tang and Audry Ai Morrow.
To commemorate the event, Edipresse Asia also published Hong Kong Tatler and James Suckling’s Guide to Great Wines of Bordeaux, the essential paperback guide for any wine enthusiast looking to know more about the best ready-to-drink premium Bordeaux wines. James Suckling also unveiled his latest collaboration with Lalique: the “90+ points” wine glass designed to bring out the best bouquet of Bordeaux wines.
Edouard Moueix, Director of Sales of Établissements Jean-Pierre Moueix, joked genially about the unrelenting steam of wine lovers at the Grand Tasting: “My right arm will have to rest because of all the pouring I’ve been doing,” he laughed. “But it’s fantastic. It’s a good success and I’m amazed by the number of people who have showed up.”
Those who came for the two tasting sessions – the first one for trade professionals, the second for the general public – were unanimous in their appreciation for the quality of wines and food on offer. Caprice at the Four Seasons provided the artisan cheeses to pair with the Bordeaux wines, even going as far to fly in a Brie from France; other offerings included mimolette, ossau, fourme d’ambert and charolais.
“Usually, at a tasting there is nothing really good to go with the wine,” remarked Anna Fedou, the brand ambassador for Château Smith Haut Lafitte. “Tonight, the cheese from Caprice is marvelous. It’s really nice to have those kinds of cheeses to go with our beautiful wines. You need that level of quality when it comes to pairing.”
Brand ambassador of Domaine de Chevalier, Adrien Bernard, was incredibly candid when asked about his thoughts about the Grand Tasting. “There are a lot of events in Hong Kong, but not many are organized with the right people,” he declared. “Here, you have the good people from the press, the trade, and the good consumers. You don’t have the boring consumers who take you by the arm and ask you a million questions.” He grins. “This partnership between Tatler, Bordeaux and James [Suckling] is a good one.”
Similarly, Alexander van Beek, the general manager of Château Giscours and Château Du Tertre remarked that the love for Bordeaux in Hong Kong created the perfect environment for the event to happen. “People enjoy it – you feel the excitement,” he said. “It’s wonderful to see the people enjoying themselves and having a good time.” For van Beek, the highlight of Great Wines of Bordeaux was getting to know Hong Kong Tatler readers and other wine enthusiasts during the public tasting. “That’s what life is about: putting people around a table or in a room and opening good bottles of wine.”
“Next year is going to be even bigger,” predicted Adrian Cheong, the co-proprietor of Château Haut-Brisson. And we can certainly promise that Hong Kong Tatler and James Suckling will continue to raise the bar when it comes to Asia’s best wine events.
Watch the video above to hear more about what the vintners thought about the inaugural Great Wines of Bordeaux, and click here for photos from the event.