best wines by the glass Hong Kong

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P/Q: I was getting too old to wake up with my face in a plant
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The longest I've gone without a drink in Hong Kong was 22 days. And when it was over I thought it was a stupid exercise to partake. Drinking is entertainment, and I was bored without it. Fact is I like drinking, I like the taste of alcohol, I just didn't like going retard then being a zombie during normal people hours. Plus, I thought I was getting too old to wake up with my face in a plant.
But drinking is good. Drinking is life. A glass of wine a day may boost life expectancy by five years, say some uncredited doctors somewhere. So rather than having a traditional dry month this January, I'm going to drink a drink a day. But sensibly, with wine not whiskey. This also means that January will be an expensive month as having a glass a day will equal being ripped off in most places, (Soho being the worst offender as a glass of wine can sometimes cost more than double the price of the entire bottle). So I've asked my friend, Wine Chap, to have a drink with me so I can pick his brain. Wine Chap (winechap.com) is a service that pits wine lists against wine lists. Their motto: "We spend our time poring over lists, so the only pouring you need to do is in your glass."
Since their arrival in Hong Kong last fall, they've produced an additional service that was probably not intended, but a great byproduct; they've unveiled the ridiculous mark up of wines in restaurants to the public, some over 400 per cent, and over the past few months this has forced some to reevaluate their wine programmes and reprice.
I asked him to take me on a mini-wine crawl of sorts to seek the best value wines by the glass around town. This kicks off a series of columns devoted to great wines by the glass. We kick off with Hong Kong Island.
Our first stop is, surprisingly, Tapeo for a glass of La Guita Manzanilla, Palomino Fino ($55 per glass). They have a sign that reads: "Sherry is the English corruption of the word Jerez". I like this place already. We have a glass of Fino with a plate of lomo (Spanish dry-cured pork loin) and plump white anchovies at the bar. I'm not sure I've ever had a better starter to an evening than this. Wine Chap agrees, "There is no better aperitif than a glass of Fino. A dry, crisp, and slightly salty style of Sherry.”
One down and four more glasses to go, (yes, I did say one glass a day, but this is research people). We head for a glass of Cabernet Franc Rosé, Couly-Dutheil Chinon Rosé ‘René Couly’ 2008, ($78 per glass). It shocked me to learn this was being served at Lian in IFC Mall. The second shocker was we had rosé with ox cheek in red curry and French loaf. But again, it was the perfect pairing. “It’s dry but oily, and soft with berry fruit and floral aromas," he says. "This perfumed rosé from Loire Valley has enough weight to deal with chillis without either the wine or the food being over-powering."
As we cross town to The Pawn, he tells me, "I'll make a journey for this wine. This wine is as good an example as you can find in Hong Kong today." I'm getting excited, and full. We skip the pasta course and go straight for the Dolcetto d’Alba 2008 Bruno Giacosa ($95 per glass). In his wine lexicon he says, "A cultural understanding of wine is really the key to getting maximum enjoyment. A simple denominator is New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc is best enjoyed with raw fish or oysters on a terrace in the summer. So when and why to drink an unusual grape variety like Dolcetto is important. It’s a simple grape, normally un-oaked and designed to drink young and fresh. That way it retains its perfume and juicy damson plumy fruits."
A word must be inserted that when wine is well-matched with food, both brings out the best in each other. Such is the classic coupling of cheese and wine. This evening's starlet a glass is the Côteaux Du Layon Les Rouannières Dom. C. Papin 1997 Chenin Blanc, ($210 per glass) served at the best kept secret in Central, the haute-cosy bar at Caprice, Four Seasons. Wine Chap's noted, "This is the most outstanding cheeses available in Hong Kong, and this wine in particular is unique. It’s quite floral and quince note, but has high acidity and minerality, which help it deal with salty blue cheese. It’s nothing but a noble experience."
Even gluttionists reach their limits, and I hit mine about three restaurants ago. But one more glass is in order, this time, sans food pairing. "I like to finish the meal in high, but often a glass of heavy red or a sweet dessert wine can really finish you off. So a fresh and clean glass of Prosecco is the perfect lift," he says. We head to Posto Pubblico for a glass of Nino Franco Prosecco, ($95 per glass). Here I get a lesson on the other sparkling wine. "Prosecco is not Champagne and people should stop comparing the two,” he says. It is different to Champagne because it’s less sparking," he says. "There is a lot of average stuff out there– but this is regarded as the best Prosecco producer there is.

I'll drink to that. I’ll drink to all of that.