Philippine snacks need ample wine

The initial Malayo-Polynesian then Austronesian influences on Filipino cuisine brought the basic ingredients, while the Spanish brought chili peppers, tomatoes, corn and potatoes to augment the diet. Modern Filipino cooking is an amalgamation of many cooking style from the east and west offering some of Asia’s most intriguing flavors and textures. With as many as five meals in a day, the snack culture of this island nation is particularly rich and varied. Tasty by themselves, these snacks are even more delicious when enjoyed with the rights wines. Read more

Finding the right wines to match Turkish delights

Winemaking in Turkey predates that of Western Europe but due to religious and political issues the industry has experienced numerous ups and downs. Exports are quite modest, mostly to Cyprus and counties like Germany with large ethnic Turkish populations. So what’s our wine solution here in Shanghai when enjoying delicious Turkish cooking? My answer is to pick wines that emulate the tastes, textures and styles of Turkish wines that have evolved alongside their cuisine for millennia. Wine and food cultures develop tastes as a whole, not in parts, meaning there’s a strong synergistic relationship between Turkish foods and wines. Read more

Sicily’s flavorful wines

Homer’s epic work, The Odyssey, brought the world’s attention to Sicilian wine. Sicilian winemaking over the millennium has experienced many ups and downs, but today the island is indisputably on a hot streak. For most the 20th century, the ripe grapes of Sicily were consumed locally or sold in bulk to provide sugar and alcohol to wines made in the more northerly wine regions of Europe. Sicilian wines were considered over-ripe, too high in alcohol and lacking in elegance. But the problem was never the grapes themselves. The problem was the high temperature and lack of modern winemaking equipment. Throughout the winemaking process the heat and exposure to oxygen would harm the grapes and result in wines that were oxidized and lacked freshness and style. Now with investment in new technology and modern winemaking, Sicilian wines represent some of the most exciting and affordable Italian wines. Read more