2011 was a stellar year for Port, and Wine Spectator has selected Dow's Vintage 2011 as their number 1 wine for 2014. We are sold out of the full-sized bottles but still have a few half bottles left!
We are happy to announce that our favourite Californian winery Velvety has just received 90 points in the Cru Magazine November Tasting. In November, Cru ran their first ever food and wine pairing tasting panel and tasted wines that paired well with Braised Abalone. Although abalone is seafood, and so perhaps more often paired with white wine, we felt the richness of the braised abalone deserved the richness of Velvety's 2011 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. We are pleased to say that the judges agreed, scoring it 90 points and making the following comments:
"Nice plum, black berries aromas. Ripe fruit flavor just goes well with the freshness of abalone. Good tannins, well balance. 漂亮的梅子及黑色漿果香氣。成熟水果的味道，與鮑魚鮮味不謀而合。良好的單甯及平衡。"
Congratulations Velvety!
The tasting was organised by the German Wine Institute and scored by an independent panel. 8 out of the top 10 wines were from Germany, as were all 5 of the top 5 wines. We've known for a long time that German Pinot Noirs are some of the best in the world, and it's good to see this becoming more well known!
See the full results here and our great section of German Pinor Noirs here.