Leave Hong Kong to Bohol, Philippines

Sorry to leave our nice hotel. It's early in the morning we got to catch a 07:50 flight and the fabulous Airport Express is not running early enough. So we need a taxi and get a brand new electric Tesla. Beautiful, quiet, and of course not polluting the Hong Kong air, which is often on the brink of health limits. In part, this is because of factories on the Chinese side, but traffic, air-conditioning and so much more energy consumption in Hong Kong itself play a part.

As we drive past the Kowloon station I notice a lot of roadworks, and I ask our driver. He says they are building a new high-speed train station that will connect with the Shenzhen station just on the other side of the border and offer a seamless superfast connection with Beijing. One more way that Hong Kong is becoming more and more integrated with the mainland.

To fly to the Philippines you need to check-in at Terminal 2, but there are no gates there. After check-in, you can walk to Terminal 1, about ten minutes, or take a shuttle which takes virtually no time.

The Hong Kong airport is my favorite in the world. Bright, spacious, beautiful, full of great shopping and food, efficient. Of course, free and fast wifi everywhere.

After an uneventful flight to Manila, we have to wait a few hours for our connection to Bohol. Manila airport is a bit chaotic but we find a nice bench outside, it's a sunny day and wifi is free. Time goes by relatively fast before we are called in to board a Philippines Air flight. It's OK, nothing to write home about.

When we arrive in Bohol it's raining, not a good start. But it's warm and our driver has a comfy car with cool water and A/C, so the two-hour ride to our resort is bearable. Before setting off we stop at a large shopping mall near the airport to get some cash from an ATM, it would be our last chance here.

Seafood soup

By about 7:00pm we reach our resort, Amun Ini, in Anda, on the eastern side of Bohol. We are tired and hungry. After leaving our stuff in the room we head to the restaurant, a beautiful terrace overlooking the resort's garden and pool. Food is plentiful land varied, and it will be for the rest of our stay.

San Valentino a hong Kong

Giornata pigra, in albergo. Ma stavolta ci siamo concessi il Ritz Carlton, quindi non ci siamo certo annoiati. Buffet stratosferici a tutte le ore del giorno, piscina al centodiciottesimo piano di uno dei grattacieli più alti di Hong Kong, sauna, massaggi, sala lettura con vista da (letteralmente) capogiro sul porto, quasi 500 metri di altezza sul livello del mare.

Ciliegina sulla torta: siccome è San Valentino, cena al Tin Lung Heen "Home of the Sky Dragon", 2 stelle Michelin in mezzo alle nuvole. prendiamo il menù degustazione che è prevedibilmente sublime, e la lista di vini per accompagnarlo che è altrettanto prevedibilmente troppo cara per quello che offre, ma fa parte del gioco...

Uno dei tanti motivi per cui Hong Kong è un gran bel posto da visitare, ed immagino sarebbe un vantaggio per chi ci vive, è che si mangia benissimo. Si spende quello che si vuole, dai 5 euro, magari qualcosa meno, per un "buco nel muro", un ristorantino bisunto sotto ad un cavalcavia, ai 500 euro a testa per un pasto multistellato Michelin che farebbe invidia ai migliori concorrenti francesi.

Uno dei motivi per questa eccellente scelta è che, oltre alla cucina locale, Hong Kong può beneficiare dell'afflusso di culture gastronomiche molto diverse. A cominciare dalla panoplia di cucine cinesi, ovviamente, ma anche dal resto dell'Asia. Con la colonizzazione inglese poi sono arrivati gli europei, e gli americani e quindi si mangia di tutto. 

L'unico altro posto al mondo che mi viene in mente si potrebbe paragonare è Singapore, che certamente è altrettanto cosmopolita dal punto di vista gastronomico, ma forse manca di radici proprie, mentre qui le radici cantonesi forniscono una struttura portante su cui si è sviluppato il resto.

Massage and electric treatment

Today Ouyang takes us to his favorite Spa for a session of massage and hot tub bath. To get there, I ride on his motorbike while my wife rents a moto-taxi. None of us has any helmet, in keeping with local practice. I am not sure if I am more scared of hurting my head or making my cold worse. In the end everything goes smoothly.

It is a great couple of hours. He knows this town very well, he says he does not like to travel and spends some time every day taking care of his body at various salons. He is in his mid-forties and looks a good ten years younger. He has a membership card with many and the staff clearly know him very well as a regular.

Two minute Chinese ladies perform a powerful and very professional massage in a dimly lit room. Massage sessions alternate with dips in a very hot tub filled with water and herbs. A thin sheet of plastic is laid on the tub's surface before it is filled up with steaming water, ensuring proper hygiene. We get nice slippers and disposable undies, as well as soft towels. Quite a break compared to the chilly weather outside. At the end, we are served herbal tea in the waiting room, and Ouyang joins us for a chat with the owner, a lady she knows well for being a regular. Our two masseuses stand by. I can only speak to them with the help of translation, but I want to make sure they know I really enjoyed their treatment and look forward to coming back soon.

Electric practitioner diplomas and Chairman Mao

Traditional Chinese herbs

We then go to a practitioner who Ouyang says can treat my cold. Upon arrival I am offered a potion of tea and herbs to drink. He then performs a kind of electric treatment by gently rubbing my back with his hands while electricity flows through his body. He can adjust power with a pedal. It is a bit uncomfortable at first but then I get used to it.

My muscles contract when he revs up the current. All of this lasts about 45 minutes. More herbal tea is served at the end.



As we leave the practice, I feel a bit shaken up by the electricity, but overall I do feel better. My cold is still there, we'll see the results later.

Street vendor of fruits and veggies

Just outside a lady with balancing baskets on her shoulders approaches. We buy some from her, she is quite friendly and the prices are good, so says my wife. It is a pleasure to find these sellers in a day and age where supermarkets (which I think do have a role to play, so convenient!) seem about to take over even in smaller Chinese towns like this.

Con i vicini a Guiyang, festa a tavola e molto freddo

Giornata gastronomica con i vicini di casa, atmosfera di festa per il capodanno cinese. Fa sempre molto freddo e gli appartamenti non sono mai riscaldati. Nessun appartamento, credo in tutta la provincia del Hunan, ha il riscaldamento centralizzato, neanche quelli nuovi, costosi, con l'ultimo grido di elettrodomestici e nel pieno centro della città. Come il nostro. Quando ho chiesto il perché m hanno sempre detto che il riscaldamento non serve perché siamo al sud della Cina. A Pechino sì, ma qui sarebbe superfluo.

Però fa freddo anche qui a capodanno, la temperatura si avvicina allo zero, forse la notte va anche sotto. Infatti in molti appartamenti di vicini e parenti, e nel nostro, si vedono termosifoni elettrici, pompe di calore, ventilatori riscaldati. Ma non li accende nessuno. O meglio li accendo io a casa nostra, ma i miei suoceri poi li spengono. Siamo al sud, è una provincia calda. 

Quindi stiamo tutti con il cappotto in casa. O almeno giacca pesante. Io mi metto un maglione spesso 2 centimetri degli anni ottanta che ho portato qui apposta e lascerò nel nostro armadio, tanto sono sicuro che mi servirà per ancora molti anni.

Poi d'estate si presenta il problema opposto: il clima continentale è caldissimo afoso, opprimente. Molte case hanno l'aria condizionata ma non la accende mai rigorosamente nessuno Tranne io, ma me la spengono, tranne in camera da letto dove ho fatto muro e la tengo accesa a tutti i costi. Ma di questo parlerò in un altro post, quando tornerò in estate.

Bella tavola con piatto rotante "lazy Susan" ed ogni ben di dio... zuppa di tartaruga. Non approvo di mangiare le tartarughe, potrebbero essere di allevamento ma magari sono anche specie protette prese in mare, e poi onestamente non sa di molto la zuppa di tartaruga! Ma ovviamente non è il caso che io dica nulla, assaggio e vado avanti nel menù.

Molto meglio le zampe di gallina: non le cosce, ma le zampe, artigli compresi. Si mangia poco, la pelle ed un po' di cartilagine, ma la salsetta piccante rende questo piatto, fatto con parti che in occidente vengono buttate via, molto delizioso. Penso potrebbe essere un ottimo aperitivo, magari abbinato ad un vino bianco di medio corpo e moderatamente acido.

zampe di gallina al peperoncino

Un altro mio punto debole, che ho sviluppato qui, sono le orecchie di maiale. Amici mi dicono che si mangiano anche in alcune regioni d'Italia, solo che a me non era mai capitato: piatto consigliatissimo! Bocconcini di vitello leggermente piccanti per continuare. Quindi spezzatino d'oca cotto nel suo sangue, veramente eccezionale che dire, mi mangio tutto!

orecchie di maiale

Per irrorare tutto i vicini tirano fuori una bottiglia di rosso francese, del Languedoc-Roussillon, bel corpo ma tannino vellutato, ci sta molto bene oggi. Chissà dove lo hanno trovato, non ho visto etichette francesi di livelli nel supermercato e non ho neanche visto enoteche. Ma forse ci sono. O magari è un regalo? Una bottiglia di vino francese fa fare una gran bella figura in Cina, non importa che vino. Mentre il vino italiano non ha ancora conquistato la stessa aureola di santità nel paese.

Di solito con la cucina cinese leggermente piccante mi piacciono i vini morbidi bianchi, contrastano con il piccante. Era anche una delle domande all'orale del mio esame per diventare sommelier, quindi non me lo dimenticherò mai più! Però ho scoperto che anche i rossi ben equilibrati, di medio corpo, ci stanno benissimo. Basta che i tannini non siano troppo prepotenti. Mentre il vino morbido bianco si accompagna per "concordanza" al piccantino, il rosso vellutato si accompagna per "contrasto". Entrambi ottimi abbinamenti, provare per credere.

al supermercato

Korean restaurant in Guiyang

My sister-in-law JJ is from Hebei, near Beijing. She came to live here with her husband, my wife's brother, after they married and had a lovely daughter, Cindy.

She used to work in restaurants in Beijing and was good at it so she quickly became a head waitress in a mid-sized Italian restaurant in the capital. Of course, she had to look for a new job in Guiyang, and so she started to walk around our neighborhood and ask the growing number of restaurants if they had a job for her. In just one day she landed a position as a waitress in a Korean restaurant, and after a few weeks, she was promoted to head waitress.

It is amazing how fast one can find a job here. If one wants a job that is. Many such positions as a waiter in a restaurant come and go fast, people move up, move out, change cities. China is more and more a mobile economy. Of course, many employers get away with low salaries, very few days off for their staff (sometimes no days off at all), and no insurance, pension payments, and such amenities as we are used to taking for granted. Of course, it is changing, larger enterprises do have regular contracts and arrangements for sick-leave and all, but it will take some time. It does remind me of the stories I heard from my parents of what the economy was like in Italy right after the war.

Today she invited the whole family to dine at her restaurant. She had reserved the best table for us, at the end of the dining hall, in a quiet corner. We took our seats and then she began suggesting Korean specialties and taking orders on her smartphone app. 

The signature dish is hearty strips of pork meat grilled at the table. We ordered a couple of different variations and they were all quite tasty! I especially liked the strips that were marinated with black pepper and Korean curry. 

Also on the menu were some chicken bites, but I preferred pork. JJ takes good care of changing the grill frequently so as not to mix the flavors and fats of the various meats. The strips are grilled by JJ and served to each of us on open leaves of raw lettuce that are wrapped around the meat and eaten with bare hands.

All of this was brilliantly paired with Korean sake, served slightly chilled, though I thought it might be even better if it had been warmed up.

The "dessert" was a kind of omelet with veggies, a flat "frittata" in fact, cut in triangles like a pizza. Followed by a piping hot vegetable soup. And some fresh fruits, which looked more like an end-of-meal for me.

The restaurant was about half full. It is quite expensive by local standards. Today we are guests of JJ but a normal meal could cost easily some 200 Rmb with some sake, maybe five times more than a Chinese meal at a similar restaurant.

I am pretty sure the staff was all Chinese, the staff in the dining room with JJ and the cooks whom I could see at work all spoke Mandarin and the local dialect. 

That such a restaurant exists is a good thing for me. For one, it means enough people in Guiyang can afford to splurge in what is still considered a luxury. A growing middle class in China is a promising prospect.

Also, in a country that is justifiably proud of its cuisine, it's reassuring to see a degree of internationalization in the culinary offer, it is a sign of open-mindedness. We'll have to see if it takes root. I do see foreign foods at the local supermarket, but not many people buying.

Grandi mangiate per le feste

Giornata tranquilla a casa, in famiglia. Oggi è la festività più sentita per le famiglie cinesi, il capodanno del loro calendario lunare. Che poi a rigor di termini è un calendario lunisolare, cioè prende elementi sia dall'uno che dall'altro. Il capodanno cinese, cade in coincidenza della prima luna nuova dopo che il Sole è entrato nel segno dell'Acquario, e a quel punto inizia il "mese numero 1", quello che da noi è gennaio. Per questo l'inizio dell'anno cinese cade sempre tra il 21 gennaio e il 19 febbraio del calendario gregoriano.

I mesi poi durano quanto un ciclo lunare, quindi più corti dei nostri. E di conseguenza capitano annate in cui ci siano 13 mesi. In questo caso c'è un "mese aggiuntivo", che porta lo stesso nome del mese precedente. Insomma noi abbiamo un giorno in più, il 29 febbraio, ogni 4 anni, nell'anno bisestile, per riallineare il calendario con il sole. I cinesi hanno un mese in più per 7 volte ogni 19 anni, e il calcolo matematico per misurare la relativa astronomia è troppo complicato per me.

Ma per tornare a noi, oggi è una specie di natale: riunioni di famiglia, grandi mangiate, regali. Ma in Cina è anche molto di più: da quando girano abbastanza soldi, e le infrastrutture lo consentono, oltre mezzo miliardo di cinesi lascia il posto di lavoro, che magari si trova a molte centinaia di chilometri di distanza, per tornare a casa dai genitori, o dai nonni. La più grande migrazione della storia umana umana. Una volta, quando non c'erano i treni veloci, gli aerei e le auto private, i numeri erano molto più bassi, ovviamente. Ma erano anche molto  più bassi i numeri delle persone che lasciavano il paese natìo per andare a cercare fortuna nelle grandi città, se non all'estero. Infatti in questo periodo anche i biglietti aerei per la Cina, da Europa o Stati Uniti, diventano difficili da prenotare e i prezzi salgono.

Le stazioni ferroviarie e gli aeroporti cinesi diventano bolge dantesche, le masse umane fluiscono attraverso controlli, banchine, scale mobili, cancelli automatici per l'accesso ai mezzi di trasporto.

Noi pure, come ho detto in precedenza, abbiamo fatto fatica ad arrivare a Guiyang, persino gli autobus, ultima spiaggia di chi non è riuscito a trovare posto su treni e aerei, sono quasi tutti pieni, soprattutto quelli moderni, con sedili comodi e aria condizionata.

A casa sono già arrivati mio cognato Bing Bing e sua moglie Jiao Jiao, che lavorano a Pechino. Hanno portato regali per i suoceri e naturalmente i più giovani (cioè anche io!) dobbiamo dare i classici "pacchetti rossi" (buste rosse con scritte dorate di buon auspicio, e contenenti denaro). Questo sia ai più piccoli, e qui si tratta di cifre simboliche, qualche monetina ai bambini e una paghetta agli adolescenti. E soprattutto ai suoceri, e qui non ci si aspetta una cifra simbolica, bensì un aiuto concreto a sbarcare, è il caso di dire, il lunario!

I genitori di Lifang hanno naturalmente preparato un pranzo eccezionale, verdure, carne e pesce di prima scelta in quantità di un ordine di grandezza superiori a quello che potremo mangiare per la cena di festeggiamento. Ma non si spreca niente: una delle caratteristiche che più mi piacciono della cucina cinese è che quasi tutte le pietanze sono ottime riscaldate il giorno dopo, o due. Insomma non c'è la famigerata "minestra riscaldata", disprezzata da noi.

Le feste di capodanno in Cina sono deleterie per la linea. Come da noi del resto. Solo che in questi anni, da quando mi sono affidato ad una signora cinese, festeggio due capodanni, quello occidentale il 1° gennaio e quello lunare tra fine gennaio e metà febbraio. Con conseguente tensione sui bottoni dei miei pantaloni. Ma non mi lamento, ci mancherebbe!

Oggi grande mangiata a pranzo che continua con la ripulitura degli avanzi, quasi tutti, a cena. Il resto sarà per domattina a colazione.

Pollo, maiale in varie cotture, pesce di lago (o fiume) tipo pesce gatto. Tutto piccante tranne la zuppa. Piccante hunanese, non troppo ma quasi dappertutto. E vino, ma non di uva, bensì riso o patate, fatto dai miei suoceri. Ottimo, confesso, e va giù facile, bisogna stare attenti o si finisce ubriachi sotto al tavolo, anche perché continuano a riempire il bicchiere senza remore, come se non ci fosse un domani. Come verdure oggi spinaci di Yanjia, al vapore con salsetta, squisiti.

spinaci della fattoria di famiglia

Lo stufato di cane, che hanno preparato per farmi provare una cosa nuova, non mi entusiasma né come aroma né come sapore. Gli avevo detto che non lo avevo mai mangiato e che mi sarebbe piaciuto provarlo perché mi appassiona provare tutti i i piatti delle cucine del mondo, soprattutto mangiati sul posto, in originale, e non in qualche ristorante in Europa con il menù addomesticato ai gusti occidentali. E non avevo mai mangiato cane. E credo che non lo rimangerò più, o almeno non lo chiederò. In Cina lo mangiano, ma ovviamente non tutti, è un piatto anche abbastanza caro rispetto a ad altre carni. Nei villaggi molti cani sono allevati per essere mangiati, come tanti altri animali, girano per le strade ma non sono randagi, appartengono a qualcuno. A Hong Kong è stato vietato dagli inglesi, che poi sono partiti ma il divieto è rimasto.

Arrival in Hong Kong

Every time I arrive at the Hong Kong international airport I am amazed. By the beauty the spacious check-in area wrapped the high concave ceiling, by the brightness of it all by the free superfast internet connection that does not require complicated login procedures.

And by the MTR train. The Mass Transit Rail that takes you to Hong Kong in a little over 20 minutes. At each station, luggage carts are ready for travelers, perfectly lined up in sets of three in front of each door of the train: solid, clean, smart-looking and free. I think back to Rome Fiumicino, where it costs 2 Euro to rent one and they are usually rickety and dirty. Never mind...

Meet and greet from our hotel. A very thin man, in his early sixties, come to help with our carts full of cases and diving equipment. he said he has been working for our hotel for 24 years. He leps us buy a ticket for the Airport Express, takes our trolleys to the platform, puts them in the luggage racks of the train car for us, tells us on which side of the train the door will open at our stop, and leaves after refusing a tip which I was handing him in gratitude.

Peking duck in London

Hutong restaurant in The Shard, London.

Film review: The Story of Qiuju (1992) by Zhang Yimou, ****

Synopsis

Qiu ju, a peasant woman in Shaanxi province (central China) seeks redress for her husband, who has been badly kicked by the village chief following a trivial dispute. Local authorities rule in her favor, the chief is ready to pay compensation but does not apologize.

Qiu ju appeal to ever higher higher levels of government but the result is always the same. There is a stalemate in the proceedings until an unexpected turn of events puts Quiju and the chief face to face again. She will come to regret being so stubborn.

going to see a doctor

One of the first films by director Zhang with his long time collaborator and, at the time, partner Gong Li.


Review

Interesting peek into provincial China in the 1980s, and the contrast between hard, backward rural life and rapidly modernizing cities. The director uses "verité" camera to show us real street life, which makes the film part documentary.

This film also shows a very sympathetic bureaucracy, ready to listen to the grievances of a country girl, which may not always be the case in real China. Maybe the director was trying to be ironic about this or perhaps the movie is meant as an encouragement for real civil servants and law and order officials to do their job.

It is also a story of human relationships: one moral of the story is that even when something wrong is done to you, you need to keep calm and find a way out that is reasonable. For us non-Chinese the film illustrates very well the value of not "losing face" in China. All is well that ends well? Not really, but I won't give the ending away...

See my reviews of other films about China here in this blog.

selling chilis to pay for a lawsuit

In the UK buy it here



In the US buy it here

Tasting of Belgian wines

Tastings of Belgian Wines, January 2017

Here are my tasting notes for a selection of Belgian wines I have tasted in December 2016 and January 2017.

Scoring follows the A.I.S. scale of 0-100. Prices are indicative and may vary with time and depending on source. QTP = Quality-to-price ratio

Genoels-Elderen, Haspengouw

Magnificent castle at Genoels-Elderen, on the edge of the homonymous village, a stone's throw from Tongeren, near some Roman tumuli (tombs) of the 1st century AD. The original building dates back to 1132, it was the summer residence of the bishop of Liège. The people of Tongeren, angry with the bishop for excessive taxation and other vexation to which they were subjected, burned the villa a couple of times over the centuries, but it was always rebuilt. The underground cellars of that period are still in use.

The owners, the van Rennes family, planted the first 800 vines in 1990 as a hobby. Today, the vineyard boasts 22 hectares and over 10,000 plants. Joyce, the original van Rennes’ daughter, is the firm’s oenologist. Her husband Stefan manages all the work in the vineyards. Since 2006, sparkling wine has been produced with the Classic Method. In the coldest years, like 2015, they produce only sparkling wines, in the warmer ones, like 2016, only still wine. Otherwise both.

Sparkling Zwarte Parel (Black Pearl) 2012, 12.5% vol.
Chardonnay 41%, Viognier 59%
Intense straw yellow, energetic and fine perlage. Exotic fruit and yellow flowers prevail on the nose; carbon exuberance and the refreshing effect of lemon notes; Despite the unusual cuvée, the palate offers freshly balanced freshness. Moderate persistence (5 sec). Mature. It can be paired to with fish soups, or seafood spaghetti with lemongrass. Score 80. Euro 15 at vineyard.

Sparkling Zilver Parel (Silver Pearl) 2011, 12.5% vol.
Chardonnay 100%
We move one step up with Coer de Cuvée, obtained by eliminating the first and the last part of the must during pressing, and keeping only the “heart”. Brilliant straw yellow, intensely fragrant, both in fruity and in the note of yeast (three years on lees), pineapple and yellow peach bring complexity along with a slight hint of white flowers. It has a freshly attenuated effect with elegance from a little dosage, closes with an aromatic return of roasted hazelnut. It can accompany white meat, from lemon sauce chicken with a slice of suckling calf with light cream. Score 84. Euro 22 at vineyerd.

Sparkling Rose Parel (Pink Rose) 2013, 12.5% vol.
Prevalence of black pinot
Light cherries color. Vibrant foam and microscopic bubble. Fragrant and fruity, ripe red apple, white plum and yellow cherries. Vigor in fruity freshness derives from Pinot and the sapidity helps build a rich structure. Paired with champagne-sauce risotto and seafood pasta dishes, possibly with a Wienerschnitzel. Score 88. Euro 19 at vineyard.

Chardonnay white label 2014, 13% vol.
After 18 months of steel it has a brilliant golden yellow color with some green shades. The nose is full of classic chardonnay fragrance: white flowers (iris and acacia) and tropical fruit are accompanied by vanilla to make for a complex wine. Balanced soft / sapid effect, which makes long and elegant aromatic persistence. Grilled fish and vegetables. Score 90. Euro: not available for retail, only for restaurants.

Chardonnay blue label, 2014, 13% vol.
It has a golden color tone, the nose is intense of mango and papaya. Six months in wood after six in steel make for a balanced wine. It is perfect for crustaceans. Also for tartare or carpaccio. Score 92. Euro 13 at the vineyard, great QTP.

Chardonnay Gold Label 2012, 13% vol.
Late harvest (late October) and Draconian limit of 25 hl / hectare. Flagship wine, this bottle shines with a magnificent deep gold, and the nose expresses intense apples and orange jam. One year in wood and 6 months in steel, then one year in bottle. Very complex to the nose and palate, buttery end. Very persistent (10 sec). Great with dishes full of character, such as lobsters, quail and structured cheeses. Score 95. Euro 26.

Pinot Nero 2013, 13% vol.
The only red of the house: deep ruby, fresh, notes of raspberries and Goji. Moderately intense and persistent. One year in French oak barrels (30% new). A wine that could express itself to the best after a few years in the bottle. It can be combined with soft cheeses, but it may also take on an eggplant parmigiana. Score 86. S bit expensive at euro 26.


Schorpion, Haspengouw

The vineyard lies in the heart of Limburg. In 1994 the brothers Wilfried and Robert Schorpion launched the company and have since reaped growing success, focusing on their bubbles. Chardonnay and black pinot are flanked by white pinot and auxerrois. Intriguing the old Roman motto adopted by the house: Sapere aude! (Dare to know!)

Sparkling Goud (Gold) 2014, 12% vol.
Chardonnay, Auxerrois and Pinot Bianco
Very fresh this blanc de blancs. Average size of perlage with regular chains. Moderately intense notes of lemon and green apple. Moderate persistence. Good aperitif with raw shrimp or caviar, it can be combined with a pasta with four cheeses. I found it excellent also as a sorbet, served quite cold, between two full-bodied dishes. Ready. Score 88. Euro 20 online.

Clos d'Opleeuw, Haspengouw

Peter Colemont produced fruit, only later thought of wine, and so was born Clos d'Opleeuw, adjacent to the village of Gors. Clay soil and an ideal slope of 7% create an ideal stage on which Peter can perform. He decided to focus on the chardonnay, trying to mimic the style of Burgundy, using French and Belgian oak barrels. Only about 4000 bottles, of which a few hundred are part of his Cuvée prestige: more wood, the best part of the parcel and vines planted closer together.

Chardonnay Cuvée Prestige, 2014, 13% vol.
What a surprise! Deep gold, deep, intense and consistent. Vanilla scents blossom in the strong sapidity. This does not detract that the wine is already round and soft (due to a year in new French and Belgian oak), and in perfect balance. Ready for those who love chardonnay fresh and savory, a bit Chablis style. A persistent, harmonious wine with potential to explore over the years. Pair it with pork ribs or American roasted turkey in red fruit sauce. Certainly with mussels with white wine, garlic and parsley à la belge. This bottle is a real flagship of Belgian enology. Score 96. Euro 35, very well spent if you are lucky to find some bottles.


Entre Deux Monts, Heuvelland

Martin Bacquaert grew up in his dad's wine shop and studied viticulture and winemaking in France. In 2004, the first kerner plants, followed by other varieties of vines for a total of 14,000 plants today. The name comes from the two mountains (rolling hills, actually), Red and Black, which put the vineyard in Heuvelland, just a few hundred meters from the border with France.

Sparkling Wiscoutre Rosé 2014, 12% vol.
Chardonnay, pinot black, kernel
The name of this wine comes from an ancient Frankish tribe who lived in the region. Cherry color, very fresh nose and prevalence of lime and mandarin to the palate. Red fruit notes in the background. An assembled rose obtained with prevalence of hard sensations. Moderate persistence (5 sec) and intensity. One year sur lattes. A mature wine. You can drink it alone, as an aperitif, perhaps accompanying it with nuts, salted peanuts, pistachios or olive paté croutons.


Pietershof, Vlaamse Landwijn

Vineyard in the Fourons region, between the cities of Aachen, Liège and Maastricht, on the border with the Netherlands. Limestone rich in minerals. The nearest town is Nurop, near Teuven, in the Gulp valley. Region of wine traditions since the Romans. Varietals used by Piet Akkermans are white and gray pinot, auxerrois, chardonnay and black pinot.

Pinot Gris / Pinot Noir Rosé, 12.5%
The best of Pietershof's wines is this interesting cuvée of two Pinot. Light yellow cherry color, moderately consistent cherry blossom immediately reveals intense strawberry notes on the nose. Tasting is balanced with raw almond and parsley. A wine of moderate texture and persistence. Mature. It can be paired to a sauté of mussels and clams.

Aldeneyck, Vlaamse Landwijn

Already in 750 AD vineyard were cultivated around the abbey of Alden Iker Saints Harlindis and Relindis, in Limburg. After centuries of darkness, Jake Purnot and then Hein and Charles Henckens and his wife Debbie in 1999 decided to make their passion for wine a real job. The first white pinot were planted on the slopes along the Meuse. The experiment has consolidated into a 7-hectare vineyard with 30,000 black and gray pinots. Yield is kept below 50hl/hectare by hand selecting about half the bunches (egrappage).

Aldeneyck Chardonnay Heerenlaak 2014, 12.7% vol.
Last born in Aldeneyck family, a surprising Chardonnay. Intense and complex in the nose, vanilla and pineapple in the foreground. Mineral and fresh but already round, soft, perfectly balanced. Two years in new barriques. Very persistent (10 sec). A wine of great structure, harmonious, still young but with great and unexplored potential. To pair with moderately structured dishes such as a pan-fried sole, or a seafood risotto. Score 95. Euro 18 online.

Aldeneyck Pinot Noir 2014, 12.8% vol.
Intense ruby red, moderate intensity of yellow cherries on the nose, champignon in the mouth. When the cork was pulled out, despite 10 months in barrique, it offered overwhelming hard feelings that were smoother several hours later. Moderately persistent. As a character recalls the Pinot from Alsace. Wine that has to wait in bottle to achieve greater balance. Combined with strongly structured and greasy dishes such as an Alsace choucroute or a Belgian stoemp with boudin. Score 86. Euro 18 online.

Château Bon Baron, Côtes de Sambre et Meuse

The first vineyards of these lands that we know of appear in postcards of the nineteenth century in the area of Profondeville. Bon Baron adheres to strictly organic principles. Jeannette van der Steen and her husband Piotr started in 2001. What was a small production to be shared with a few friends has become, with 17 hectares, one of the country's largest vineyards, spread over three plots along the Meuse.

Château Bon Baron Pinot Noir 2013, 12% vol.
Intense ruby color, mossy and smoky to the nose. On the palate moderate persistence with predominant wild red fruit. Freshness coexists alongside a pleasant velvety feeling and results in a balanced wine. Little structure despite a year in barriques. An easy black pinot without much evolutionary potential. It can be combined with medium structure cheese. Score 78. Eur 22 online.

Château Bon Baron Acolon 2014, 13% vol.
The best red of Bon Baron, perhaps of all of Belgium. Acolon is a German varietal created in 1971 by the Staatliche Lehr-und Versuchsanstalt für Wein und Obstbau in Weinsberg (Baden Württemberg) crossing dornfelder and blaufrankisch. Dark ruby red color. Moderately intense to the nose, red and black fruit with embryonic notes of cocoa and leather. Good minerality and a year in new barrique make it a balanced, medium-structured, ready wine that could give more satisfaction in the years to come. To be paired with game, mushroom risotto or medium-aged cheese. Score 89. Euro 19 online.

Château Bon Baron Chardonnay 2013, 12.5% ​​vol.
Deep yellow gold. Medium intensity and persistence of vanilla and ripe pineapple. On the palate are mature yellow apples, with honey notes. Minimality prominent but well balanced by 18 months in barriques. Medium body. Ready, secure evolutionary potential for 3 or 4 years. You can drink it with a pasta with red sauce seafood, or with monkfish and baked potatoes. Score 89. Euro 21 online.

Le Vignoble des Agaises, Vins mousseux de qualité

Beginning with 600 pinot black plants, Raymond Leroy realized a dream that had begun in his wine cellar. From the two initial hectares in 2002 today we have23 that maybe will increase again, perhaps up to 30 or so, no more because the land with the ideal characteristics is limited. The great advantage of the farm is the constant ventilation that dries his plants from the frequent Belgian rains. Not by chance, just beside the vineyard, there is a powerful battery of wind generators. He only produces sparkling wines with the classic method. White grape chardonnay. Pinot Noir and meunier only for rosé.

Spumante Ruffus Cuvée du Seigneur 2014, 12.5% ​​vol.
Chardonnay 100%, Little sugar added (6 g)
Base wine, straw yellow. You immediately feel the chard fragrance of fresh bread. Freshness is decisively prevalent on the palate, with decisive and capricious perlage and medium minerality. A wine of moderate balance and persistence, suitable to be enjoyed as an aperitif with seafood or bruschetta. Score 84. Eur 16 at the vineyard.

Spumante Ruffus Sauvage 2011, 12.5% ​​vol.
Chardonnay 100%, pas dosé
The only difference from the Seigneur is the lack of dosage. Straw yellow color. Lime and yellow apples on the nose. On the palate it is fresh and mineral. Apples appear with citrus hints but they do not disturb the balance. Although it is a 2011, it is advisable to wait a few years to smooth the acidity. Moderately persistent. Perfect with oysters and seafood or raw crustaceans. Score 89. Eur 19 at the vineyard.

Spumante Ruffus rosé 2014, 12.5% vol.
50% chardonnay, 25% pinot black, 25% pinot meunier, 6g sugar
Unlike in Champagne, where white and red wines are produced separately then blended to make rosé, here they work on the right maceration of red grapes and vinify the whole cuvée together. Light cherry color, this rosé displays a medium perlage, the nose is intense with apple and yellow cherry. The palate is less fresh than the white cuvées, with ripe tangerine notes and ends with surprising vanilla hints. Balanced, moderately persistent and ready. Pair with "matjes" herring or smoked salmon croutons. Score 89. Eur 22 but very difficult to find this bottle.

Thorn, Maasvalleiwijn, The Netherlands

This vineyard is located in the Dutch Limburg, near Maastricht, just a few hundred meters from the Belgian border. So it is a Dutch wine, though they are asking, along with Aldeneyck (Belgian Limburg, see above) a cross-border designation (Belgium / Netherlands) that will be called Maasvallei Limburg. One can build Europe also with wine. It produces its whites (Auxerrois, Pinot Grigio, Dornfelder) in steel or mixed steel and French oak (new or old). On the other hand for its Pinot Noir it opted exclusively for French barriques.

Thorn Black Pinot 2013, 13% vol.
Ruby red is very intense, nose offers underwood and fern. Moderately consistent, complex and intense. On the palate peppercorn notes and cocoa. Round tannins, gifted by its time in oak barrels (30% new, 70% used). Well balanced, and moderately long. A mature wine. Combined with sweet ham of Friuli, medium seasoning cheese or French onion soup. Score 83. Euro 22 online.