The Other Piedmontese Wines

"Which grape varietal do you think is the most-planted in Piedmont?" A winemaker from the region raised this question to the audience at a wine dinner I attended a couple weeks ago.

I was at the trendy restaurant Mr and Mrs Fox in Quarry Bay for this dinner hosted by Ms. Raffaela Bologna from the 3nd generation of the family-owned winery Braida, located just outside Asti in Piedmont region. She was trying to make a point that while Nebbiolo, the grape behind Barolo and Barbaresco wines, may be the better-known varietal in the region, there were other grapes that were as significant, if not more, to this important wine region in Northern Italy (the answer to the question is Moscato, by the way, and Nebbiolo only came as fourth or fifth, if I remembered correctly) Of course, that’s particularly relevant to Braida winery, as they are famous in producing wines with Barbera grapes, Piedmont’s other famous grape varietal.

Burgundian Delight - Yung Kee x Montille Dinner

We were on a rare weeknight out to join a dinner at Yung Kee hosted by the British wine merchant Berry Brothers and Rudd with Burgundy winemaker Etienne de Montille. Yung Kee, the legendary Cantonese restaurant famous for its roast goose among many other classic dishes, has been in the news lately for all the wrong reasons, so I was quite interested to see whether those negative publicity has any impact to the overall quality of food.

The dinner was held in a private room on the VIP Floor, one level above their regular 3-story restaurant. I had never eaten in this more intimate and quieter section so that's yet another reason we were curious to come. Of course, the main attraction was still the wines being presented, which came from the two estates Etienne owned and actively managed - the Chateau de Puligny-Montrachet he worked and later acquired, and Domaine de Montille that he inherited from the family.