Residual sugar is the content of sugar left in the wine after fermentation. While most wines will have almost close to 0 gram (meaning the yeast has done its job!), some wines - especially the ones made from grapes with higher sugar content like Pinot Gris, for example - may still have some, maybe a few grams, left naturally after the end of the fermentation. For many German wines, the winemaker actually stops the fermentation before completion to intentionally keep some residual sugar. This can be done by simply chilling the wines to close to 0 degrees, killing the yeast. Depending on the classification, the sugar will vary: Halbtrocken (half-dry) wines will have the least amount of sugar which is around 12 to 18 grams of sugar per liter. This is followed by Spätlese (Late Harvest), Auslese (Selected berries), then Beerenauslese (Selected Berries) and finally Eiswein (Ice-wine), which can go up to 400 grs of sugar per liter!

Sparkling wines like Champagne or Cava can be tricky to open. The bubbles create pressure inside the bottle. This can go up to 6 bars for Champagne, lower for others. Any mishandling can actually cause some harm (I have seen it happen!).

Here a few steps you can follow to ensure it opens without a bang. In fact, it shouldn’t even pop at all!

• Make sure that the bottle is very cold – too warm, and the pressure is more likely to pop the cork
• Remove the foil. Try to always keep the bottle in 45 degrees angle to have better control over the pressure
• Be sure that the cork isn’t pointing at anyone.
• While keeping your thumb on the top of the cork, untwist the wire. But do not remove it as it offers a better grip
• Squeeze the cork/wire at the top of the neck and slowly turn it left to right – do not pull it yet
• When you feel a bit of pressure, gently start pulling together along with the turning
• You should be able to remove the cork at then, without any noise – and impress your group of friends waiting for the pop!

Take advantage of our Moët & Chandon offer price of RM170 and try these tips so you can show off your bottle opening skills!

With hundreds of labels in the market, choosing one can be a daunting task. Here at Wine Talk we’ve narrowed it down to help you out by listing 8 great red wines to enjoy for your reunion dinner and festivities! There’s something for every budget.

1. Mancura Cabernet Sauvignon (2011)

Central Valley, Chile
100% Cabernet Sauvignon
RM39.90
Boasts a bright ruby-red colour, with pronounced blackberry aromas on the nose mingling with touches of leather and chocolate. In the mouth the wine is soft and fruity, perfectly balanced with fine, smooth tannins. Ideal to combine with grilled red meats

2. Bodegas Muñoz ‘Legado’ Garnacha (2010)

La Mancha, Spain
100% Garnacha
RM47.90
Aged for 3 months in American oak barrels. It showcases soft aromas of strawberries and raspberries, with a hint of spices (nutmeg, pepper…), and smooth creamy notes from the oak, combining vanilla and coffee, with refined tannins. Perfect by itself, served slightly cool, or paired with a selection of tapas, grilled meats and pasta dishes.
Exclusively available through Wine Talk

3.Chanson Moulin-à-Vent, Beaujolais (2008)

Burgundy, France
100% Gamay
RM62.50
Moulin-À-Vent is one of the most famous crus of the Beaujolais. It has a bright red colour with purple nuances, intense aromas of raspberry and violet mixed with spices; Very pure fruit aromas and well-shaped tannins, with a long and generous aftertaste. Great match for roasted chicken or grilled duck or mild cheeses.

4. Altos de Rioja Reserva (2006)

Rioja, Spain
100% Tempranillo
RM89.90
Aged in new oak barrels for 24 months, before resting in the bottle for over a year in the winery to complete its maturity. This is a refined and elegant wine, a nice mix of aromas of beeswax, fine spices and leather, over a layer of black cherry. It shows elegance and complexity with toasty oak. This will go well with char-grilled steaks, grilled lamb and cured cheeses. Decant for a few minutes.
Exclusively available through Wine Talk

5. Veramonte ’Primus The Blend’

Colchagua Valley, Chile
29% Cabernet Sauvignon, 28% Syrah, 25% Carmenère, 18% Merlot
RM89.10
Primus is the Estate top-cuvee, using the best parcels, with extensive oak-ageing. This wine delivers world-class quality in the glass featuring rich, dense fruit, exotic spice and a long textured finish. Red and black berry fruit flavors with hints of dried plums, fresh acidity and a long finish with fine, elegant tannins. Perfect match with a grilled prime-ribs and béarnaise sauce.

6. Delheim Pinotage (2010/11)

Stellenbosch, South-Africa
100% Pinotage
RM95
Sourced from carefully selected old Bush vines and aged in French barrels for 12 months, this is an amazingly rich with bold black cherry, plum and redberry fruit, backed by dark chocolate and floral notes. The palate shows red and black berries, with fine soft tannins that linger on the palate. A great match to a range of BBQ dishes, like lamb chops.

7. Penfolds 'Bin 128' Coonawarra Shiraz (2010)

Coonawara, Australia
100% Shiraz
RM129.90
Offers a solid and refined Shiraz bouquet of violets, blackberry, black cherry, and plum, with accents of pepper, chalky minerals, and oak toast. A smooth attack is followed by a medium-bodied mouth feel, with very nice acidity, moderate and supple tannins, and an underpinning of minerality. Match with braised beef with wild mushroom.

8. Frescobaldi 'Nipozzano' Chianti Rufina Riserva (2009)

Tuscany, Italy
90% Sangiovese, 10% Malvasia Nera, Colorino, Merlot & Cabernet Sauvignno
RM102.50
Nipozzano Riserva Chianti Rufina DOCG is one of the historic wines produced at the Castello di Nipozzano. Oak-aged for 24 months, the nose opens with dark wild berries and cherry, hints of candy floss and pleasant floral notes of lilac and chocolate. The spicy component emerges with nuances of clove and green peppercorn. Enjoy with Barbecued meat and beef stews, aged cheeses.

This Chinese New Year, buy your wine from Wine Talk and we’ll deliver your wines for free if your order is more than RM300. Be sure to use voucher code, ‘NODELCNY’.

If that isn’t enough incentive, we’ll even throw in (not literally, of course) a free decanter if you spend more than RM500 on regular priced red wines! Use voucher code ‘FREEDEC’ to redeem!

‘Corked’ wines refer to wines that do not taste or smell how they should.  The term comes from when too much air  has infiltrated the bottle from the cork, and oxidized the wine.  Other systems of closure (plastic corks, screw-caps) do not guarantee that the wine won’t face the same issue.

When tasted, wines should at least have some fruity aromas, but ‘corked’ bacteria dull those aromas. So you will notice that the nose will be dull, weak and unpleasant. Look out for smells of cardboard, wetness or dampness, which is a sign of a problem.

Wine is a living environment. Regardless of the good care given across the distribution channels, 'corked' wines can happen. It is estimated that 5% of the world production is!  So do not force yourself to drink bad wine. If you are in doubt at a restaurant, ask the manager – they are supposed to replace the bottle if it is not good.

Here at Wine Talk, we extend the same service to guarantee your satisfaction. If you find that one of your wines is 'corked', we will send you a replacement.  

False! Most wines are actually made to be drunk within 1 to 5 years. Some grapes are more delicate, and don’t age at all (like Sauvignon Blanc, which has a ‘the fresher, the better’ policy). In general, most wines under RM60 haven’t been aged in oak-barrels. The oak help concentrate the wines (tannins, actually), and aid in ageing. So do not buy simple wines and keep it in your house for ‘ageing’ as it will not evolve to be any better.

More expensive wines are usually aged in barrels. If the winemaker uses new oak barrels, the wine will get a more oaky flavour and get extremely concentrated; so it does need to age for some time. However, the price will also be higher. Barrels can be re-used a few times, and after each use the wines will be less concentrated. Generally speaking, the more expensive the wine is, the more time it will require to age. This works mostly for the red wines, but also some whites likes Chardonnay.

For champagnes, it is a bit different. Most champagnes are sold when they have reached a good maturity, and will not evolve much while ageing. Only the top bottles, like the vintage ones or limited Cuvées, from each Maison will have some ageing potential and need for time to develop.

So go through your selection and enjoy the most of it!

I simply decant most of my wines at home, all the reds and even some whites. There are 2 types of wines which benefit decanting:

Old wines Some bottles, mostly in the mid to high-range, need to age for a few years before showing their true potential. Those wines are generally bottled after a light filtration (or even unfiltered) from the oak barrels, in order to leave most of the components into the wines. After 5-10 years, the natural ageing process makes those miniscule fragments of grapes pulp, dead yeast cells – still tiny & invisible when bottled - get compacted together and create sediments. When planning to open an ‘old’ bottle, you should move it up a few hours before, and very slowly pour it into the decanter, in order for the sediments to stay on the bottom; Use a candle to help see when the sediments have settled in the round part of the botttle. Some bottles may have more sediments than others, so take your time. If there is indeed a large amount, you may not be able to pour all of the wine. Alternatively, you can use a sieve to filter the remaining if you don’t want to waste any.

Younger wines The ‘simpler' wines, on the cheaper side of the scale (below RM60 maybe), have been aged in stainless steel, and do not really need to be decanted. Most wines over may have spent at least a little time in oak. However, they didn’t get the chance to develop sediments yet. The act of decanting is simply to ‘wake up’ your wine from its time spent in the bottle, and to show its true flavours and potential faster. So no need to be ‘delicate’ on the pouring, and give it a good twirl to help it come back to life. Some wines may need more time to breathe: varietals with high tannins (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Shiraz), may need more time to open up, depending on the age and level of new oak barrels used. Wines using new barrels will definitely be more expensive. So young wines below RM100 can be served straight after decanting, some may need to rest & open up a bit while premium wines of about 5-10 years of ages may actually need to‘breathe’ for a few hours before being enjoyed!

So pop it up and don’t hesitate to decant! And if you think the wine has not ‘breathed’ enough, just give it some mouth to mouth!

This is another question I hear many times. You are a wine lover and enjoy sharing good wines with friends; meanwhile, during parties, it’s difficult to see your favorite wines being skulled down & not enjoyed by some…I know, I have been there! But you also don’t really want to serve the cheapest wine available. So the best is if you still want to have some of your good wines, serve them at first; people will be more ‘concentrated’ and enjoy the wines. Once the evening gets closer to ‘Party’ mode, you can switch to simpler wines (and yes, less expensive). To choose, stay within the ‘classic’ varieties which can please the widest crowd, like Italian Pinot Grigio or NZ Sauvignon Blanc, Chilean Cabernet or Argentinean Malbec. Do not pick the most popular (and with the lowest prices) brands, those can be seen ‘cheap’ wines sometimes, but rather select smaller producers, which will still be at similar prices but have a different impact on your guests! And now enjoy and have a good time!

Vintages are mostly important for more ‘premium’ wines; For ‘regular’ wines (I would say below RM60 a bottle), the modern winemaking technics now allow winemakers to produce very decent wines regardless of the vintages conditions, especially with the weather (drought or too much rain, disease attacks, etc.). For premium wines, the work is more drastic in the vineyards to get the best & most intense grapes production. Too much rain may make the vines to produce too much grapes, where the juice will be like ‘diluted’; not enough rain and the production will be very small, and very concentrated. Many ‘New World’ countries are actually too hot and need to have controlled irrigation, so they can control the exact production. In France, for example, irrigation is mostly forbidden for the highest AOC classification, unless, for exceptional situations. So French wines – and Europeans wines in general – are more prone to have big difference between vintages. So for Bordeaux for example, the last decade have produced some outstanding vintages (2000, 05, 09, 10), but also some more classic (2001, 06, 07, 11). 2003 was a complicated vintage with a massive drought season which caused very small crops and complex wines; 2012 was very bad, and many wineries will not even be selling their cuvées! So check the vintages for the more expensive wines, and for the more ‘simple’ wines, keep it as ‘the younger the better’.

So here's the deal on what TERROIR really is: The ‘Terroir’ represent the complete surrounding of a vineyard. The better the terroir is, the best quality grapes you will get – and directly the best potential to make great wines. It encompasses many elements but there are 3 primordial ones:

Type of soil: vines need to have a tough life to grow good quality grapes. If the soil is too good, the vines will become ‘lazy’ and produce lower quality grapes. The best soils are porous (if the water goes deep in the soil, the vine will have roots going deeper to find it, becoming stronger) and have sufficient elements to add specificity to the grapes.

Location: The geography of the environment is important too. The best vineyards are usually situated on slopes or even hillside. Flat lands have more tendency to retain water, when on hillsides, the water will simply roll down the hill, leaving to the vines just enough. Slopes have also better exposure to the sun.

Weather: Vines need water & sun but not too much. The balance must be perfect to arrive at the upmost condition for the vines. Too much rain will cause overproduction of grapes; Not enough will cause a drought, and the production may be uneven and low. Some countries allow irrigation but it is mostly forbidden in Europe for the higher classification wines. So areas combining the best of each element may have potential to produce higher quality grapes.

 After, it is the job of the winemaker to help it reflect inside the wine.