Simon Tam on the Money

'Perfect Match' by Simon Tam
South China Morning Post, 3rd January, p.C7

I've previously been critical of Simon Tam's Thursday wine and food column; 'Perfect Match'. I argued the average cost of the wines was often ridiculous and matches like Grange and 'joong' rice dumplings and Krug and a fry-up were excessive to the extreme (see here). This week however things look a lot better as Tam suggests wines to go with Thai style raw prawn 'sashimi'. The three wines chosen have an affordable average price of $178. His inclusion of Mateus Rose was superb. Despite what snobs in the wine establishment may think (and luckily I'm too young to be influenced by the older generation's produce against rose based upon the once syrupy, sweet tackiness of this beverage) at $98 and widely available Mateus is an honest and accessible suggestion. While I haven't had the Antinori Montenisa Franciacorta Brut from Lombardy I've recently been impressed with Italian sparkling and don't begrudge it getting a gig. And then there's Tam's final suggestion, the Plunkett Gewurztraminer 2007, a wine I love with biased flamed passion. I use to live relatively near the vineyard in Victoria's Strathbogie Rangers and it's fantastic to see a wine that's not a style Australia is usually acknowledged for from a region that most Hong Kongers would never have heard of. Well done Tam it's great to see you're on the money this week.