Blu

BLU, the restaurant on the 24th floor of Shangri-La Hotel is having a Napa Valley wine promotion. It features the wines from Duckhorn, Shafer and Joseph Phelps vineyards.

There is a reason why wines from the Napa Valley are so much in favour by wine promoters. It happened in Paris, way back in 1976. What is now known by many as the Paris Wine Tasting of 1976 (duh!). In a blind taste test put together by a wine merchant named Steven Spurrier, the top wines, both red and white, were won by Napa Valley vineyards.

The red was won by a cab and white was won by a chardonnay. Amazing thing was, both vineyards were established in 1972. Both vintages were 1973. Both bottles (one each of the red and white) are on permanent display at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History.

Steven Spurrier only sold French wine and thought it was a great way to humiliate New World wines everywhere with a show down but after the wine taste test, he was banned for a year from wine tasting tours. The French dismissed the results of course, and the judges attempted to recover by wanting to take back their ballots.

I have yet to open my bottle of White Zinfandel from Beringer. Bought it for $25 at Carrefour only to see the same bottle being sold for $23 at Isetan Scotts.

Anyhow, the Napa Valley Food and Wine Series at BLU is going at $245 (probably still got +++) for the set dinner with wine pairing per person or $145 per person without wine.

I don't have to think about this one. I'll pass.

'That is definitely a California. It has no nose,' said another judge - after downing a Batard-Montrachet '73."