grapes, it has notes of dried fruit, cassis and mixed spice.

Béarn lies further to the southwest between the towns of Dax and Pau. It com-prises the Béarn AOC to the west and the Jurançon AOC to the east.

Jurançon wines are exclusively white and are made principally from Petit Manseng and Gros Manseng grapes.

Didier Dagueneau Les Jardins de Babylone 2006 (HK$1,000, Elizabeth Wines, Wanchai) is ripe with notes of orange peel, lemongrass and botrytis and regarded as one of the finest vintages by Dagueneau, the Burgundian cult winemaker and former motorcycle racer who died in an ultralight plane crash in 2008.

The Pays Basques (French Basque Country) at the extreme southwest corner of France, near the Spanish border, had drifted into obscurity by the 1980s.

However, its sole AOC, Irouléguy, has been revived almost singlehandedly by vignerons Michel Riouspeyrous and his Alsatian wife, Thérèse, who moved there in 1993. Their Domaine Arretxea Cuvée Haitza Rouge 2009 (HK$315, The Wine Cave, Yau Tong), 89 percent Tannat and 11 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, has pleasing blackcurrant and blackberry notes amid mellow tannins.

For a great white wine, try the Domaine Brana Irouléguy 2011 (HK$375, Sarment Wines, Central). This is a creamy blend of 50 percent Gros Manseng, 30 percent Petit Courbu and 20 percent Petit Manseng that combines a sharp tang with savoury minerality.

After hours

Southwest headsin right directionGeorge W. Russell samples vintages from an underrated region of France

T he Southwest of France, spanning the country from the stark Atlantic Coast to the rolling hills of the Mid-

Pyrenees, has long played a subordinate role to neighbouring Bordeaux when it comes to wine.

Yet the areas of the Southwest closest to Bordeaux – the vineyards planted on both sides of the Dordogne and Garonne rivers – produce very similar, world-class wines that are sold at a fraction of the price.

In terms of wine geography, Southwest France is divided into five subregions: Béarn, Dordogne-Bergerac, Garonne, Gascogne and Pays Basque. The subregions are in turn divided into one or more appellation d’origine contrôlée and vin délimité de qualité supérieure designations.

The Dordogne-Bergerac is the northern-most subregion of the Southwest, hugging both banks of the Dordogne River and close to Bordeaux. It includes the large Bergerac AOC, known for many Bordeaux-style wines, as well as Pécharmant, Rosette and Montravel on the north bank and Saussignac, Monbazillac, Côtes de Duras and Côtes du Marmandais to the south.

Château Thénac is in Bergerac, situated just east of Bordeaux. One of its popular wines is Fleur du Périgord 2009 (HK$165, Y18 Elegant Spirits, Lai Chi Kok). An intense red and juicy wine redolent of blackcurrant and raspberry, with a long, spicy finish, it is made from 75 percent Merlot, 15 percent Cabernet Franc and 10 percent Cabernet Sauvignon.

The Pécharmant AOC is lesser known internationally but is famous in France for its full-boded reds, such as the Vignobles Lajonie Château Les Merles L’Envol 2009 (HK$170, Dunn & Dunn, San Po Kong).

Monbazillac is a well-known sweet white

58 November 2014

wine and comparable with Sauternes in Bordeaux. A fine example is the Château Tirecul-la-Graviere Cuvée Madame 1996 (HK$1,300 for 500ml, OneRedDot Fine Wines, Tsuen Wan).

Gascogne, or Gascony, lies further south and includes the Madiran, Pacherenc du Vic-Bilh and Pacherenc du Vic-Bilh Sec appellations.

Château Laffitte-Teston Vieilles Vignes 2006 (HK$248, JCJ Shop, Tai Po) is made in the Madiran AOC from 100 percent Tannat from vines at least 60 years old. Aromas of roasted coffee and chocolate give way to deeply fruity tones melded with vanilla and spice. This wine is ideal with roasts and other red meats and strongly flavoured poultry.

The Garonne subregion occupies the central part of the Southwest and includes the Cahors, Côtes de Buzet, Fronton, Gaillac and Marcillac AOCs. Wines made there, especially in Fronton, are often made with at least 50 percent Négrette grapes that the subregion is best known for.

The Lionel Raymond Villaudric de Calèche Fronton 2011 (HK$85, MegaWill Wine, Tsuen Wan) has a typically deep crimson hue and its tones of wild berries and plum make it an easy-drinking red, ideal for pairing with lamb, spicy Thai or Sichuan food, or even to accompany the last of the summer barbecues.

A lighter red is the Domaine de Pialentou Nuances de Cocagne 2010 (HK$188, Le Magasin, Stanley), which comes from the first organic vintage harvested at this estate in Gaillac. Made from Merlot, Duras and Bracol

Monbazillac castle and vineyard in Dordogne, France

Vacheron Constantin brought several unique

pieces to Hong Kong, includ-ing a stunning new series of

three watches called Métiers d’Art l’éloge de la nature, driven by the

brand’s passion for preserving, age-old, traditional decorative arts for timepieces.

These three one-of-a-kind cre-ations feature various wild animals

artistically captured in their natural environ-ment as the central motif on each dial. One of which, depicting two leaping deer, showcases a new decorative art, wood marquetry, which creates a mosaic of 130 tiny pieces of wood to create a background. Each offer a hands-free reading of time through four openings that reveal the hours, minutes, day and date.

The brand also exhibited a new addition to its Traditionnelle collection, the Tradition-nelle Calibre 2253 L’Empreinte du Dragon, bearing meticulously hand-engraved dragon scales across the entire rose-gold case. It takes centre stage for also being a technical master-piece, featuring a tourbillion that offers two weeks of power reserve, a sunrise and sunset indicator and a perpetual calendar.

The growing appreciation among women for fine watchmaking was evident at the exhibition as many flocked to the counters at nearly every booth.

At the Audemars Piguet booth, women tried on pieces from the Royal Oak Ladies Col-lection, which adopts the brand’s signature contemporary and sporty Royal Oak-style with the iconic octagonal bezel, yet expresses an air of haute jewellery. The Selfwinding Royal Oak line, for example, presents lovers of petite watches with 37mm pieces adorned with diamonds and is a concentrated blend of elegance and expertise.

new watches, unveiled to visi-tors at the booth, feature a clas-sic round case design, a new date display and a moon phase display. The diamond-set bezels and indices, gold cases, mother-of-pearl dials and supple leather straps by Italian shoe-maker Santoni are what make the collection unflinchingly glamorous.

To celebrate its 20th anniversary, the Roger Dubuis booth recreated the interior of a Swiss chalet with an iconic cuckoo clock. Inside, the firm showcased its new pink gold Hommage Minute Repeater Tourbillon Automatic model, which was designed to pay tribute to an iconic complica-tion. The bared minute repeater mechanism

delivers better quality chimes with the signature aesthetic traits of the Hom-

mage collection, launched in 1995, and proudly bears the signature

of Roger Dubuis himself on the sapphire crystal case-back.

Highlighting astro-nomical timekeeping for the wrist, Jaeger-LeCoul-tre revealed its Master

Grande Tradition Tourbil-lon Céleste watch – one of its

latest creations – which fuses together three complications:

a minute repeater, a flying tour-billon and a zodiacal calendar. A

sun motif completes one revolution around its rim once every 24 hours, while zodiac signs as well as the days and months appear on

a circular scale surrounding the dial. This white gold watch, with a bezel

adorned with baguette cut diamonds, is pro-duced as a limited edition of eight pieces, sig-nifying the exclusivity of the movement.

November 2014 59

Af

Displays of mastery for the second time Fresh designs, fine craftsmanship at Watches & Wonders 2014, writes Jemelyn Yadao

Blocked roads and an absence of taxis meant bad timing for the sec-ond edition of Watches & Wonders,

Asia’s haute horlogerie exhibition, which took place at the Hong Kong Exhibition and Con-vention Centre last month.

Some news reports had previously pre-dicted that the show would be unable to build on last year’s success due to nearby pro-de-mocracy demonstrations. However, it was later confirmed that the event drew more than 16,000 visitors, almost as many as last year.

Those on the ground could feel that, despite the protests, nothing could prevent visitors from witnessing the return and the new offerings of 13 luxury watchmaking maisons: A. Lange & Söhne, Audemars Piguet, Baume & Mercier, Cartier, IWC, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Montblanc, Officine Panerai, Piaget, Richard Mille, Roger Dubuis, Vacheron Constantin and Van Cleef & Arpels.

If they weren’t indulging in free-flowing champagne or gourmet food at the lounge areas, visitors were crowding around the grand booths of each brand, featuring good-looking models, live demon-strations of watchmaking, and head-turning displays of both classic and new movements.

One of the most dazzling booths at Watches & Wonders was set up by IWC, with a setting that featured a central double staircase, a huge chande-lier and lounge. That and a timeless, mono-chrome interior design reflected a world of Italian elegance that is the inspiration behind its new Portofino Midsize collection. These

Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Grande

Tradition Tourbillon Céleste

IWC Portofino Midsize

Automatic Moon Phase