The journey into the World of Wine

CEBU, Philippines – The journey into the world of wine is as difficult as learning a new language. There are many new words to understand and new taste sensations to comprehend, especially among Filipinos because drinking wine is not really embedded in Philippine culture. We have wines made from mango, duhat, bignay, cashew or coconut, but we do not produce wine from grapes.

The grape variety used in wine manufacture grows best in temperate zones, North (30-50 degrees latitude) and South (30-40 degrees latitude). There are thousands of grape varieties, each giving its distinct flavors and characteristics in the wine. The “terrior” or land where such grapes are grown also interacts with the plant genetics, creating distinctive qualities. For example, fruits like our mangoes grown in Busay and Guadalupe taste better (sweetness with a touch of tart) compared with those in Zambales, Guimaras or Pangasinan – in my opinion.

Fortunately, there’s a gadget these days that allows you to taste wine by the sip, half-glass or a full glass instead of buying one whole bottle of the particular grape variety. Planet Grapes Inc. outlet in Ayala Center Cebu is equipped with an Italian Enomatic wine dispenser which allows you to do just that. If I had access to this device at the time my passion for wine began four decades ago, my journey into the wine world would have been much easier, faster and less expensive!

You do not need to taste all those grape wine varieties; maybe twenty red and white varieties would be sufficient – plus a visit to few websites to increase your knowledge about wines in order to form a good foundation for your wine drinking experience. For example, your first taste of Cabernet Sauvignon will be encoded in your brain cells and will subsequently be the basis for comparing all the Cabernet Sauvignons you will taste in the future.

The next leg of your wine journey is the pairing of wine with food. Your favorite food writer was invited to taste the wines of Chile by Jose Meneses of Titania Wine Cellar at the Tea of Spring Restaurant, Shangri-La’s Mactan Island Resort. Nicolas Happke of Errazuriz and Caliterra from Chile joined the select group from the media to discuss the intricacies of Chile and their wines.

Chile and the Philippines were both discovered by Ferdinand Magellan. The majority of Chile, like the Philippines, embraced the Roman Catholic faith (67 percent in Chile’s case). The climate there is very unique; ranging from the world’s driest desert on the north, Mediterranean climate at the center and subtropical to alpine tundra and glaciers on the south and east.

From the Caliterra Vineyards, we had three red wines (Merlot, Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon), one white (Chardonnay) and Syrah Rose to pair with Chinese dishes like Oven Roasted Beijing Duck, Baby Back Ribs, dimsum delights and designer noodles from the Live Cooking Stations.

Each participant had their opinion as to which wine enhanced the flavor of which food. The nice thing about wine tasting is that everybody is correct; there’s no rule on taste and wine preference is an individual right. Nobody can argue, excuse me, if in my opinion, this wine or that wine is good or bad, and which wine and food pairing tastes best.