by Martin Field
Veuve Clicquot Rosé Brut NV – seen for $78 – ****
Reims, France. A classic blend of pinot noir, pinot meunier, and chardonnay along with a percentage of red wine to give its delicate salmon-flesh colour. The nose shows complex aromas of strawberry shortcake and a hint of Turkish Delight. In the mouth, we find more flavours of strawberry along with fresh brioche and a refreshing touch of acidity at the finish.
Tyrrell’s Pinot Noir Chardonnay Brut 2005 – up to $27 – ***
Hunter Valley, New South Wales. This wine had two years on yeast lees before disgorgement. Pale lemon in colour. Nose of sweet biscuit and citrus blossom. The palate is dry and full with a pleasant beady tingle, and a tangy finish reminiscent of a squeeze of lemon over a wedge of Granny Smith apple pie.
Angove Butterfly Ridge Riesling Traminer 2008 – up to $7 – **
Generous tropical fruit aromatics. The palate in this quaffable white is soft, stone-fruity and off dry. Good value for a drink any time style.

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by Martin Field
I read Jeni Port’s story – that nearly a million bucks has been spent to come up with a couple of replacement names for Oz “sherry” and Oz “tokay” styles. The new approved names are respectively, “apera” and topaque”! How sophisticated.
A million bucks! I nearly choked as I poured a glass of dry apera down my aperture.

by Martin Field
Perfumes: The Guide – * * * * * acid spicy $45
Wine guides there are in plenty but apparently this is the first critical guide for perfume. Perfumes: The Guide lists some 1500 fragrances and rates them with a five star system. (See (pdf) examples here.)
I used to work in the perfume biz and early on realised that perfume shares many elements with wine and its evaluation. Wine lovers will recognise many of the terms used in this book’s fragrance descriptions. You’ll find volatility, fruits and spices, citrus, lactones and aldehydes, acetones and vanillins and all.
You can almost smell the scents of expensive fashion houses wafting off the pages. Well in my copy you can. I went to a perfume store and asked for a few perfumed cards, which I took home and sniffed as I read the relevant descriptions and then used them as bookmarks. If ever a book needed a scratch and sniff capsule on every page this is it.
Co-authors Turin (AKA the Emperor of Scent) and Sanchez write beautifully. Their expert critiques are at times incisive, hilarious, lavish and scathing. Brilliant!
Tania Sanchez and Luca Turin. Hardback. Published by Profile Books. Distributed in Australia by Allen and Unwin

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by Martin Field
Penfolds Koonunga Hill Autumn Riesling 2008 – $18 and around $35 on premise ****
From the Barossa Valley comes this pale-hued wine showing greenish edges. The nose is fragrant with distinct lemon zestiness. Tangy lemon flavours continue in the mouth along with a hint of rose water. Will serve very well with entrée courses.
Tahbilk Marsanne 2008 – $17 ***
Nagambie Lakes, Victoria. The invitingly perfumed nose reminded me somehow of apricot Danish with a touch of clotted cream on the side. The palate, in contrast, is elegant and dry with a touch of honey and a finish of lemon zest. These Tahbilk whites cellar very well – worth putting some aside to try in a few years time.

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by Martin Field
Da Nang is sited on the Han River and the riverside is lined with flashy modern buildings. Behind the esplanade you’ll find bustling markets and narrow shopfronts. On sale at the Han Market are dried fish, prawns, and squid in abundance, which produce a smell so eye-wateringly pungent that I imagine it could cure chronic asthma. One exotic delicacy on the shelves is a local firewater – each bottle containing a small cobra with a scorpion in its mouth. Don’t ask.
If you like an adventurous treat visit the vegetarian Thanh Tam restaurant in Ngô Gia Tự Street. We went in despite its rather seedy aspect and lack of menu. Nobody spoke English but sign language worked and they served up two plates heaped with spring rolls, tasty mixed vegetables, and rice. On the side were two bowls of a clear broth tasting unusually of herbs and citrus. The meal was washed down with two bottles of Coke (this was poured on to ice and I broke my own rules by drinking it – no after-effects though). The total bill for the two of us was $1.50.

by Martin Field
Piquant Szechuan brekkie
In 1994 we were cruising down the Yangtze River through Szechuan Province. Breakfast was fried (hot) green chilis, two kinds of sautéed green beans, fried cashew nuts, ancient (preserved) eggs, whiffy fermented bean curd, steamed bread rolls filled with sweet red bean paste, wok-fried cabbage seasoned with flecks of fresh red chili, a huge bowl of congee (a bland rice porridge) and Chinese tea.

by Martin Field
Lunch was at Bilson’s in Sydney. Foster’s Group winemakers were hosting a roadshow for winewriters from all over.
I’d asked for the vegetarian option at lunch and was dreading a glutinous risotto or an over-oreganoed, limp-wristed pasta. Should have trusted Bilson’s reputation, the chef presented as a main, one of their entrée items: Fricassee of Wild Mushrooms with Truffle and Poached Egg.
Picture: a beautiful platescape of a perfectly poached egg surrounded by sautéed Shimeji mushrooms, King Brown mushrooms, chanterelles, oyster mushrooms, fresh black truffles. Anointing the egg is a ‘salt’ of marinated chanterelles, thinly sliced King Brown, black truffle slices and cepes. The accompanying sauce contains cepes, chanterelles and King Browns. Crowning the dish is a tiara of latte-hued foam made with madeira and mushroom cream.
Not as complicated as it sounds but as delicious a course as ever I’ve been served. Went down very well with a goblet of Castello di Gabbiano Chianti Classico 2006.

by Martin Field
Just back from a cruise on the good ship Superstar Gemini. We sailed from Singapore to Thailand, Vietnam and Hong Kong.
All meals were included in the cruise price, drinks were not. Cuisine was European with the occasional Asian dish. Vegetarian options were limited. In the Ocean Palace restaurant you dined semi-formally, with waiter service, table linen and all. The restaurant has a ludicrous rule that men may not wear shorts or sandals to dinner(we are in the tropics during monsoon you should know). Women wear what they like.
The ship’s other restaurant, the Mariners’ Buffet, is more casual and the food is self-served, er, from a buffet.

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by Martin Field
Glenmorangie The Original Single Malt Scotch – up to $70 ****
Ten years old, according to the label, and matured in ‘Bourbon oak casks’. And you can detect the oaky vanilla as you first inhale this distinctive Scotch. There is also a faint aroma of smokiness and a hint of lemon. The palate is light and velvet in texture and you’d swear there was honey in there somewhere, along with top notes of lime and lemon. Drink with just a splash of water and leave the ice and mixers for the tourists. Classy stuff indeed.
Appleton Estate Reserve Jamaica Rum – up to $55 ****
‘Aged 8 years.’ Lifted aromatics of Demerara sugar and island spices. Sweet and mellow in the mouth it flows down the throat like molten golden syrup. Definitely a sippin’ rum, drink it from a goldfish bowl as you would a Cognac or malt scotch. I wouldn’t spoil it with mixers; maybe ice or a few drops of water to enhance the esters.
Tulloch Hunter River White 2008 – up to $22 **
A blend of chardonnay, semillon and verdelho from the Hunter. Tropical fruity nose leads to a well-weighted palate, replete with zesty and refreshing elements of passionfruit and pineapple.
Plantagenet Great Southern Riesling 2008 – up to $22 ***
This wine’s bouquet of sweetness and limes reminded me of a wedge of Key Lime Pie I once savoured. Its palate is light, dry and delicate showing some of that lime tartness along with Granny Smith apples. The finish shows a zingy acidity.
Pfeiffer The Carson Gewürztraminer 2008 – $16.50 **$
King Valley, Victoria. Lime blossoms and roses dominate the bouquet. The palate is smooth and softish with some grapey sweetness. Try with entrée dishes.
Cape Mentelle Sauvignon Blanc Semillon 2008 – up to $28 ***
Margaret River. Western Australia. The nose shows white flowers, an edge of lime juice and a hint of toasted oak. On the palate we find kiwi fruit, blackcurrant leaf, hay and lime zest. The finish is distinctly crisp and dry. Fine aperitif style.

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by Martin Field
I was reflecting one night, over an aged cognac, on chaos theory. Popularised by the notion that the gentle motion of a butterfly’s wings in, say, Noosa, may very well cause a typhoon in, say, the Philippines.
Extraordinary, I thought, and hard to believe, but then again all things are possible.
How does one separate theory from fact? I wondered.
By scientific experimentation, I answered myself readily.
So, just a moment ago, I popped the cork of a bottle of champagne.
I do not take responsibility for the consequences of this action but, wherever you are in the world, I say to you:
‘Do you notice a slight freshening of the breeze? Did the dogs just start to bark?
‘Be very afraid!’