Earning his first sommelier title at three-star Michelin restaurant Les Amis, Lucas Liu is now the group head sommelier at Park90 Wine Bar based at the Regent hotel in Singapore. Named champion in the Singapore National Sommelier Competition 2020, he also won the Ruinart Sommelier Challenge Singapore 2019.
‘While the wine bar has its own restaurant, guests – the majority of which are local Singaporean – can order food from the other outlets in the hotel too. This includes an Italian restaurant and a one-star Michelin Chinese restaurant.
‘We have a total of 3,200 bottles of wines in our cellar, spanning 10 countries, but the list focuses on classic regions and classic wines. However, we do have a small selection of Chinese wines which I think is unique in Singapore.
‘We change our wine list on a monthly basis and in the latest update we introduced biodynamic wines from across France and grower Champagne. We are also promoting New World wines, as these emerged when immigrants struck out searching for a new and better life in another place. We love their entrepreneurial spirit. We love the words “new thoughts, new possibilities”. We have Jonata from the USA, Mount Mary Vineyard from Australia and Dry River from New Zealand.’
Top Tip:
‘Popping a Champagne cork is no joke. The average pressure in a bottle is 5-6 atmospheres – you don’t have time to react when the cork flies. Don’t shake the Champagne bottle before serving, use a cloth to cover the cork and allow the Champagne to chill as this helps it to settle.’
Anecdote:
‘Talking of corks, when I was serving a 1980s Taittinger Comtes de Champagne the cork slipped out from my hand, flew across the room and broke a water jug from the side station while Christmas carollers were singing. That was indeed a very memorable Christmas for me.’
