G. D. Vajra - Moscato 2009 (Italy)

There was a clearance sale at Dennis @ Turf City recently, and I couldn't resist but pick up a few nice wines. You should now know that I have a weakness for Moscato and trying out new Moscato is just irresistible.

I picked up a Italian Moscato this time round. The Italians always have a way to make things sound very cool and sexy, Moscato is no exception. "Moscato D'Asti" is just the Italian Moscato and boy was I delighted by this buy!

As with other Moscato, this wine doesn't have that strong fragrance like other wines. However, it is the most refreshing Moscato I have ever tried to date. I was so in love with this bottle, I couldn't resist but to go back to Dennis (Yes I went to Turf City again!) to get another couple of bottles!

This is one good Moscato that is definitely worth getting again and again! My ratings?


Fragrance: 3/10
Taste: 8/10
After-taste: 5/10
Value-for-money: 7.5/10 ($34.00 @ Dennis)

Final Words: Go to Turf City now!! Not sure if its available at other Dennis. Anyone knows?

Wine Collection for all!

There's a amazing collection of wines that's fit for all! Check them out at Giant @ Tampines!

Wolf Blass - Chardonnay (Eagle Hawk) 2008 (Australia)

Whenever there is food, there is always wine! I have always believe that there is always wine that will go well with whatever food there is to be served. A pig-out session recently with family and friends saw a need for a affordable wine for many. Off I went to NTUC in search for a suitable wine. This group I was having a meal with is a more matured groupd whom do not appreciate a fruity and sweet wine like the Moscato that I had rambled on for so many post (Sometimes, I feel this blog should be named Moscato Lust instead =P).

One of my aunty recommended Wolf Blass, but... I had never been a big fan of this "overly-factory-manufactured" wine. No doubt, in today's industralised world, its hard to find anything that doesnt involve any machinery. However, the fact that Wolf Blass omits the cork packaging totally puts me off sometimes. I sometimes feel that the cork packaging is one of the important defining factor of a wine. Obviously, Wolf Blass doesn't think so.

Well, since a guest (My aunty) asked for it, I had no choice... This baby here did not come cheap at all! At a price of $49.00, I was wondering if it was even worth it.

It turn out to be quite a nice wine to go with flavourful food. More on the dry side, this wine would fit well into a slightly more matured group of drinkers who would prefer a taste with less tannin in it.

A surprisingly tannin-free after-taste I would say. I would love this wine to go with a heavy cream-based pasta. Aglio Olio might also go well I guess. I guess it is worth that 50 bucks after all.


Now, for my usual ratings, high on taste but low on value:

Fragrance: 7/10
Taste: 8/10
After-taste: 7/10
Value-for-money: 6/10 ($49.00 @ NTUC)

Long Flat - Red Moscato 2009 (Australia)

I must be in love with Moscato! Today's review would be on Moscato again! Haha! And a Long Flat one for that matter of fact. Long Flat should really start paying me! Haha! Back to the wines...

You might be wondering, didn't I just had a review on the Long Flat Moscato just the last post? Yes I did, but there is a slight difference in today's review, because its a RED Moscato! Coming from a similar species of grapes, the Red Moscato actually comes from a Black Muscat grape variety (thus red moscato). Strange but true, this wine tasted almost identical to the Moscato wine from Long Flat.

The Red Moscato has a slight fizziness similar to that of its cousin (the Moscato). However, it has a much more beautiful colour than the white moscato. The slight tinge of redness in this wine is truly attractive, almost glowing I would say. In terms of fragrance, it gives of a slight tinge of fragrance like the white one does. Give it a closer sniff and you will be able to get that fruity fragrance that is absent in the white one.

This is such a pleasant almost-red-wine that it is suitable for easy drinking, especially on a hot afternoon! Though almost identical to the white Moscato, it does have a slight kick in it that scores it slightly higher than its white counterpart I would say:

Fragrance: 5.5/10
Taste: 7/10
After-taste: 7/10
Value-for-money: 7.5/10 ($19.00 @ NTUC) 

Final Words: Red or White they are almost equally good! I would get a Moscato anytime! Perhaps more reviews on the different Moscato I can find soon!

Interesting Wine Packaging

Saw this at NTUC. Cool!

Long Flat - Moscato 2009 (Australia)

It was Christmas Day and we had a small little family lunch gathering at home, so I thought a wine would add a nice touch to the really scrumptious meal that we were having. I needed something light, something that would appeal to the masses since I did not exactly have a wine-loving group. Champagne? Nah... Don't recall Champagne being very cheap.


That was when I thought of a wine that me and my friends would enjoy over a nice afternoon chat. Moscato! I wanted to get a Moscato from Brown Brothers because I had heard so much about it! Alas... It was such a popular wine that I couldn't get one on Christmas eve itself. Oh well... A review on Brown Brothers Moscato had to wait I guess. However, I did manage to find a Moscato from Long Flat instead.


The Moscato wine, made from the muscat grapes species, was supposed to be a sweet and light wine highly suited for easy drinking. At a low alcohol level of usually 5-7% (as compared to 12-14% in usual wines), you could almost drink it non-stop! However, if you like your wine dry and heavy-bodied (that's the opposite of sweet and having a heavier alcohol content in wine language), this might not be something you will want to get.


The Moscato from Long Flat is one that is readily available in most supermarket in Singapore and is a great complement to a nice afternoon gathering. Refreshingly sweet, the Long Flat Moscato is fruity but not too sweet. It isn't as fragrant as your typical wine, but there is a faint fruitiness in its light fragrant. Oh did I mention that this is actually a spritzy wine, kind of bubbly like a champagne but a fraction of the price (the intensity of the "spritzi-ness" is also a fraction of that in a champagne). So if you feel like getting a champagne for any occasion but find that the price is kinda steep, a Moscato might be a good substitute.


I did find a certain faint bitterness in its after-taste though, however, it is so faint that many would probably miss it. Overall a great complement to any gathering that is looking for a wine for easy drinking. The label did say it would go well with "spicy asian dishes, fruits or cheese platter". Hmm... Spicy asian food with this wine, it would be interesting... Well, in any case, it might be a good wine to put out the fire in your taste buds if the spiciness gets out of hand (destroying your chance of enjoying the wine at the same time).


In my opinion the Long Flat's "rendition" of the Moscato gets:


Fragrance: 5/10
Taste: 7/10
After-taste: 6.5/10
Value-for-money: 7.5/10 ($19.00 @ NTUC)

Final Words: Good light wine! Might be an interesting substitute for champagne (go easy on the comparison). Slight bitterness in after-taste seem quite negligible.

Landskroon - Merlot 2005 (South Africa)

Was just going through the wines that I have at home one day and decided that I will open up this bottle of Merlot since I was going to have a dinner with several red meats. You know what they say,"Red wines are for red meat and white wines are for white meat...". So i decided to go with this old adage and open up a red Merlot for this dinner.

People always say that the longer you keep the wines the better they taste (another age-old adage which I wonder if its true, come back another day when i bust this myth!). So... 2005, 4 year old wine, should be a good catch there. I probably got this bottle from DFS when I came back from some overseas trip.

At first sniff, it has a very nice fragrance. You can almost smell the grapey-ness in it. I read the label behind it and it says that it was supposed to have a tinge of oak spiciness in it. However, I did not detect that, could be a result of my poor storage of the wine or simply the label was exaggerating.

Given the lack of that oak fagrance in it, it was still generally a good fruity wine with slight tanin in its after taste. On the label, it also mentioned that it was ready for consumption now, but would improve if kept for several years. At this point, I was devastated, I think I might have caused the degardation in the wine with my poor storage condition. I need to work on my storage system for my wines, but that is for another day (but then again it might be some cheap wine I got from NTUC... Shrugs).

Despite the initial devastation of the degradation this fine bottle of wine, it was generally a very pleasant red Merlot that would go well with most meaty meals.

Not too acidic or too sweet, the tanin after taste was not too strong to put me off (but remember to keep it chill given the hot weather in Singapore). I would rate this wine:

Fragrance: 8/10
Taste: 6/10 (After my poor storage conditions, may be higher if kept well)
After-taste: 6/10
Value-for-money: ?? (Forgot the price)

Final words: Good wine to go with a hearty meal, but definitely not suitable if you are looking for one for easy-drinking.

P.S. This is the first entry for this blog and is hastily put together. Thus do come back soon as the rating system would be improved and vaious factors will be added to the rating system again. In the mean time, readers, you might like to tell me what you look for in a good wine and what factors should be rated! :)