My Wine for Asia affair started in 2010, when I was invited to attend the launchfor theWine For Asia 2010(posthere). I must say in 2010 I was already steadily picking up some wine knowledge but it was really thanks to Wine For Asia that my knowledge expanded exponentially.
Below: Mr Gerald of STB welcoming us to Singapore with a smile! ;-)
In 2010, I didnt get to attend the actual event in Singapore, due mostly to budget contraints.
Today, Im much more well-versed with the wines of the world, having been exposed to many wine pairing dinners and wine events over the course of 2 years. And last year, I attended theWine For Asia 2011on Oct 28th and theWine Fiestaon Oct 29th 2011!
Wine for Asia is an annual event that takes place during October (well, so far each year it has been in Oct). I went last year (short postHERE) and came back really impressed. Wine Fiesta @ WFA aims to educate consumers on wine, while offering tastings & bargain wine buys; thus its a successful formula for the past 9 years and no doubt for many more years to come.
With the World Gourmet Summit 2012 coming up end of this m! onth, Im reminded again of my Wine For Asias experience, which prompted this blogpost.
The event was last year, but its an annual event so Im sharing my experiences anyways, as what I want you; my readers, to focus on is what I have seen, drunk and learnt during the 2 days event. And do join me for this years, as I will be going with a bunch of wines snobs friends.
Wine for Asia 2011 is the 9th edition; consisted of a trade show (27 to 28 October 2011),extensive wine seminars with distinguished guest speakers and wine pairing dinners.
Annually,close to 4,000 visitors from 39 countrieswill descend on Singapore, where WFA continuesits role as the regions choice platform for wine business and networking opportunities.
Upon arriving at the conference itself on the first day, I was ushered into the exhibition hall, which was divided into 2 main areas. In 2011, Wine for Asia was running concurrently with aJapanese F&B event, Ganbarou Nippon at Suntec Singapore.
Below: Opening Ceremony of the 9th Edition of Wine For Asia 2011!
Below:Ganbarou Nippon is a showcase of Japans quality food products, as well as sake andsochu, from various prefectures.
Meatballs and blanched slivers of high grade beef.
When discussing Japanese cuisine, Japanese wagyu are an inevitable topic.At this Ganbarou Nipponshowcase, the highest grades of wagyu was proudly displayed.
I was marveling at the marbling here!
These were cooked ala minute and there was a very very long queue right in front of the booth, for obvious reasons!
However, this was much more managable. The above was a bit too much fat to me; to the point that when I put it into my mouth, it just oozes liquid fat onto my tongue. Urghh!
Oh, not forgetting the Kurobuta pork too!
We explored more of the fair and found more Japanese snacks to munch on.
Including some Japanese drinks vinegars, sake and tea!
If you think you have tried all imaginable green teas, youre so wrong. This WASABI Ocha literally (and I mean LITERALLY) jolt me up!
The Ginger and Ginseng one was good too.
Pack some fresh or dried foodstuff home if you wish.
Further exploration leads me to this hybrid kiwi from Japan.
Big, plump and juicy, its expensive (about RM20/fruit!) but OMG, so so fleshy and sweet!
Awesome wasnt it? I ate and drank and ate and drank! *burps + hic *!
Next, the Wine for Asia hall.
There were certainly be plenty to look forward to, from the novice to the wineprofessional. Everyone at every booth was extremely helpful and friendly! All you have to do is ask and keep an open mind.
There are open sessions throughout the day like this one which is held at the wine booth itself.
Alternatively, you can opt for a private one-on-one session as well, which I presume would be invaluable for those in the trade or for the wine connoisseurs.
My brains was in overdrive, ingesting as much as I could as the wine experts and sommeliers rattled off their facts and wisdom of their vineyards, their wines and their industry.
There were probably enough wines here to fill a dam!
Happy and on wine-high friends!
And hot chicks i! n leathe r!
Get your goblet of Columbian rum from them!
Happily for me, there were some booth that serves food as well!
Out of the many booths, this one stood out for me. Maybe its because Im a huge fan of ros and champagnes.
This was an extremely fine ros, divinely lovely in every sip!
Another one that was interesting was this Hubbly Bubbly Wines booth.Hubblybubblywinesis a pan-African wine and spirit specialist. They represent a selection of multi-award wines, organic wines, pink ports, grappas and brandies.
To be honest, my attention was all riveted on this 100 years BRANDY Fruit Cake. Unfortunately there wasnt any for sale there and then, else I would have bought at least 2!
There were informative short seminars throughout the day as well; such as:
Australian Wine Selection Master Class-Award-winning Australian Wines for Asian Cuisine
Bordeaux Wine Master Class by five wine personalities from Bordeaux
Italian Wine Master Class-The Unheard Story of Italian Wines
Gambero Rosso Grand Tasting
A taste of South Africa Presentation By Hubblybubblywines
Speaker: Ms Nora Sperling Thiels, the owner of Delheim vineyard in Stellenbosch with history that dates back to 1699.
So basically, anyone could easily spend the whole day here without any chance of boredom setting in. Just exploring theGanbarou Nippon showcase took me 2 hours, followed by wine seminars in between, chatting with wine industry experts, and surveying the main wine exhibition area. And thats Day One gone!
And thats only the exhibition. As the sun sets, there were networking cocktails and dinner for the media and industry veterans.
A total of 48 wine clinics was held during the show.
Each session, lasting 20 minutes, forgroups of 15-20 people, will provide practical information and tips on wine for visitors. They willbe held in four wine clinic rooms throughout the duration of the event. Topics include:
Basics of wine appreciation
Tips to avoid buying a bad wine
Reading labels on wine bottles from various countries including pronunciation of e.g.French, Italian names etc
Are there really cherry, coffee and cinnamon in wine?
Dos and donts in ordering wines in restaurants
Why should we pay more for champagne?
Wine and your health
Women and wine
Planning your own wine party
Wine for weddings
Hilarious wine jokes
Thats not all! Below are the concurrent events with the Wine for Asia 2011:
Vini ChallengeHospitality Sector. This involves a casino-lik! e table, and chips areused. The difference is that the players are served wines in dark glasses and they bet withtheir knowledge on wine to win e.g. which country the wine is from, what grape varietal itis, what vintage, etc. The winner in the public category gets a vineyard stay in Australia.
Wine Style Asia Award 2011
The annual Wine Style Asia Award is a prestigious award which has gained much recognition from wine associations and experts since its inception. Labels who have won this award have gained market interest. With a panel comprising an international and regional mix of influential wine personalities, its stringent judging system ensures only top quality wines receive the sought-after award.
http://www.winestyleasiaaward.com/pdf/WSAA2011.pdf
For 2011, the timing were as follows:
Opening hours:
Trade: 27 and 28 October 2011, 10.30am to 6.30pm daily
Public: 29 October 2011, 11am to 9pm ($10 for onsite registration)
I assume that these will be the more or less the same format for 2012!
For more information, please visit Wine For Asia: www.wineforasia.com and Wine Fiesta @WFA 2011: www.winefiesta.com.sg
So who wants t! o go wit h me for this years??
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