Debuting the James Suckling Wine Challenge in Hong Kong on www.AsiaTatler.com, James began with posing the challenge to Eric Yau, the sommelier at L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon, one of the city’s best restaurants.
Upon entering the eatery, a glass wall – that doubles as a storage facility – displays grand cru Burgundies and first-growth Bordeaux. It holds about 6,000 bottles, and the rest of the wine (17,000 bottles) is stored in the basement of the building.
The restaurant’s wine list boasts over 3,000 choices from around the world, including a 22-page Bordeaux section; an extensive array of Burgundies; California reds; and a unique selection of sweet wines.
The Wine Challenge asks a sommelier to give James two wines to blind taste. The criteria for the wines are that they must be:
– 90 points or above – priced under HK$1,000 per bottle – available for purchase at the named restaurant
James then gives his own points for the wines selected and chooses a winner that best matches the food at said restaurant.
For this Wine Challenge, James was presented blind two bottles of Syrah: Tenimenti Luigi D’Alessandro (read note) from Manzono in Italy (HK$1,000) and Spinifex (read note) from Barossa Valley in Australia (HK$1,000). He is asked afterwards to comment on a good pairing with two of L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon’s famed dishes: the seared sea bass with lemongrass foam and stewed baby leeks; and the pan-seared Japanese A5 wagyu beef with arugula salad.
Watch the video above to see which wine James picks.
-KS
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