Decanter staged a triumphant entry on to the Singapore wine scene on Saturday, when it hosted its first ever Fine Wine Encounter in the country – and the first to be held in Asia since Decanter’s Fine Wine Encounter (DFWE) in Shanghai five years ago.
More than 550 guests made their way to Singapore’s luxury Shangri-La Hotel, where 54 wineries from 13 countries were waiting to pour their wines in the splendid setting of the Tower Ballroom. Wines were shown off at their best in pristine glassware from Riedel, kind sponsors of the event.
Grand Tasting
Château La Conseillante at the DFWE Singapore. Credit: Syafiq Abdul Latiff, Colossal Productions
The all-day tasting offered guests the chance to enjoy wines from top estates from around the world, poured and presented by the names behind the labels. A walk around the Ballroom provided an exciting tour of classic Old World regions in France, Spain, Italy, Croatia and Switzerland; as well as the New World strongholds of Argentina, Chile, Australia, New Zealand, California, Oregon and South Africa.
China also fielded an impressive contingent of five leading estates from the regions of Shandong, Yunnan, Ningxia and Hebei, offering a rare insight into the dynamic Chinese wine scene. All of the Chinese estates present have won medals at the Decanter World Wine Awards (DWWA) and exhibited styles as diverse as a Petit Manseng dry white (Longting Vineyard), Marselan and Tempranillo reds (Canaan), Chardonnays, and Malbec (Xige), alongside the Bordeaux red blends that have made the country famous, from estates such as LVMH-owned Ao Yun, and Mystic Island.
Show-stopping large-format bottles were on display at tables around the room, including Pichon-Baron from Pauillac in Bordeaux, and Remírez de Ganuza in Rioja, which both poured older vintages from double magnum – Pichon’s 2016 vintage and Remirez de Ganuza’s 2012 Reserva. But an even bigger draw were the winery principals who had flown in especially for the event, and enjoyed pouring their wine personally for visitors.
These included Philippe Chandon-Moët, co-owner of Bordeaux’s Château de Ferrand; Edouard Moueix from Bordeaux’s Jean-Pierre Moueix; Marielle Cazaux, managing director and winemaker at Château La Conseillante in Pomerol; José Ramón Urtasun, owner and winemaker at Rioja’s Remírez de Ganuza; and Giovanni Frascolla of Tuscany’s Tua Rita estate. From the New World, Travis and Elisabeth Wray flew in to present wines from their House of Cards estate in Australia’s Margaret River; Eddie McDougall, The Flying Winemaker, poured his wines from regions across Australia; and Helen McCarthy, Hardy’s first ever female chief winemaker, poured vintages of Eileen Hardy Chardonnay and Shiraz, Thomas Hardy Cabernet Sauvignon and Heritage Reserve wines.
Meanwhile, a selection of 45 award-winning wines from this year’s DWWA were poured at a dedicated DWWA table. With all wines shown scoring 95 points or higher, this was a chance to taste an eclectic line-up spanning styles that ranged from English sparkling wines and top Brut Nature Cava, through whites from Valle d’Aosta, Friuli and Sardinia in Italy, rosé from Moldova and a Platinum-winning aged rosé Rioja, plus reds from Switzerland, Mallorca and northern Greece, as well as more classic regions. Two Spanish fortified wines – an Amontillado Sherry and a Verdejo from Rueda – rounded off the voyage of discovery.
In the foyer, DWWA Regional Chair for Asia Ch’ng Poh Tiong, who lives in Singapore, signed copies of his new book ‘A Primer on Pairing’, and chatted to guests. A fascinating source of knowledge on Chinese cuisine and ideal wine pairings, he includes in the book his pick of the world’s top 30 Chinese restaurants, a draw for any globe-trotting food and wine lover.
Masterclasses
François Labet (left) and Charles Curtis MW. Credit: Syafiq Abdul Latiff, Colossal Productions
In addition to the main tasting, guests could purchase tickets to a series of exclusive tutored sessions (individual, detailed masterclass reports to follow).
In the first masterclass of the day, Decanter’s Burgundy expert Charles Curtis MW took attendees through a dozen wines, in ‘Clos de Vougeot: An exploration of terroir’, focused on the famed Burgundy grand cru. He was joined in the class by co-host François Labet, owner of Château de la Tour, Clos de Vougeot; other wines poured included Domaine de la Vougeraie, Domaine Anne Gros, Domaine Thibault Liger-Belair and Domaine Jean Grivot.
In the second, sellout masterclass, Saskia de Rothschild, executive chairwoman at Domaines Barons de Rothschild Lafite, presented a unique tasting which brought together the wines of first growth Château Lafite with wines from its Chinese venture Long Dai. Titled ‘East meets West: A Lafite story from Pauillac to Shandong’, the tasting provided the inside story on Lafite and its Chinese winemaking project, with four vintages of Long Dai poured alongside four wines from the Pauillac estate: vintages 2018, 2008 and 1988 of Lafite’s grand vin, poured from magnum; and the 2018 vintage of the second wine Carruades de Lafite, also poured from magnum.
The last masterclass of the day saw ‘Nikka Whisky celebrating 90 years of Japanese craftsmanship’. Decanter’s first ever whisky masterclass was presented by Diego Araud, marketing director for La Maison du Whisky Asia Pacific, and Ch’ng Poh Tiong. Guests enjoyed a range of single malts, a pure malt and a Coffey malt whisky, before Nikka’s flagship From the Barrel whisky, a blend of Coffey grain and malts from Yoichi and Miyagikyo distilleries. The tasting concluded with a surprise pour, a commemorative whisky made in tiny quantities to mark the 90th anniversary.
Look out for a set of pictorial highlights from the event shortly – if you attended, keep an eye out for our photo gallery as you may be featured. Back in Europe, our next DFWE takes place at The Landmark London on 16 November, showcasing more top names from around the world. Or for those based in the USA, we host our next annual New York DFWE in June 2025. For more information, visit our Events page.
The ‘East meets West: A Lafite story from Pauillac to Shandong’ masterclass. Credit: Syafiq Abdul Latiff, Colossal Productions
