Charles in charge
Tauranga’s Charles Leong’s enthusiasm for delicious wine is infectious, and he also has the happy knack of helping a wide array of people understand what they’re enjoying, writes UNO wine columnist Jess Easton.
photos ILK PHOTOGRAPHY
Legend has it that Charles Leong is older
than time and wiser than a whole parliament of owls.
In rare circumstances, he’s also been known to pull corks with his mind. Whoever – or whatever – he is, one thing is for sure; Charles Leong knows wine.
The resident sommelier at Tauranga’s Saint Wine Bar appeared out of the mists one day, whispering of mystical vintages and claiming to be descended from the first person who ever trod on a grape and fermented it.
In reality, the Chinese-Malaysian-born, Adelaide-raised guru is a thoroughly likeable aficionado with a quirky encyclopedic brain, who landed on these shores courtesy of a delightful Kiwi wife and two cute kids.
And it’s not just strong New Zealand wāhine he’s fallen in love with; he’s thoroughly excited to be able to match amazing food with burgeoning Aotearoa viticulturalists.
“The winemakers here are making wines with lots of integrity, and doing things like adopting organic and biodynamic practices,” he explains. “And also they’re making wines in New Zealand with texture and complexity, and food-friendly wines, rather than fruit-bombs.”
Spend any time with Charles and you’ll soon notice that his wry, cheeky humour is only matched by the expressions which litter his vocabulary.
Don’t be surprised to hear him drop “onion farts” into a conversation about a particular wine, for example.
Right now, his favourite drop currently stocked at Saint is a one-of-a-kind organic offering, that pairs spectacularly with hard cheeses, salty cured meats and shellfish in their brine.
“The one that’s outstanding, that I like a lot, is Mount Edward O2 Chenin – it’s unique for a New Zealand winemaker and also unusual.”
He’s right about the uniqueness – most people have never tasted anything like the Central Otago O2 Chenin, which is aged and oxidised in barrels for three years, like one of the great dry Sherry wines of Southern Spain, or the Jura style from France.
But there’s also no-one like Charles. His former colleagues in some of Sydney’s finest establishments used to joke that when he opened the bar, he wouldn’t turn the lights on; he’d turn the dark off.
Charles, they said, has been known to sneeze with his eyes open and once did a wheelie on a unicycle.
Most of all, however, Charles invites people to go on a wine journey with him.
“Wine, to me, is like a time capsule. It’s the only thing you can taste from your birth year, for example, and all these amazing winemakers are making all these wines with integrity and finesse and approachability. That’s what I want to show our customers – I like to excite them about the expressions of wine.”
In Charles, we trust.
Jess Easton is a director and owner of Kitchen Takeover and Saint Wine Bar, complementing her career as a Tauranga-based lawyer.
