18 March 2016 was the “AustCham Wine & Cheese Night – A Taste of Australia” at the Grand Hyatt Singapore. Bob the Minion of Wine Exchange Asia (WEA) asked me to help out at their booth pouring and helping with any sales. AustCham hold these nights a few times each year, the next one is “A Taste of Australia and New Zealand” in August 2016.

The approach that WEA took on the night was very different to the other distributors who showed current releases from their portfolios whereas WEA showed 6 vintage Australian Reds, the feedback on the night indicated that this was a very good idea, lost count of the number of people who said we had the best booth, it was definitely the two us pouring, the term “A good face for radio” comes to mind!

The Wine

Oz’s Wine Reviews

Feedback

It was an interesting night, lots of mainly educational and informative wine questions and comments, but what did surprise me was that there was one wine that did not notch up even one sale on the night, the Tahbilk.  The 2002 Tahbilk Eric Steven Pubrick Shiraz is a good wine, but seems that the South Australian wines (which are ALWAYS better than the wine from Victoria, yes I am from South Australia so might be slightly biased) which are traditionally bigger than the ones from over the border were what people were after.

I was also surprised by the significant number of people who were concerned about buying wine in a magnum. The reason was not that they had an issue with the amount of wine in the bottle but the fact that once it was opened that they would have to finish it, something about it being un-Australian to leave wine in the bottle, obviously they drink alone too often!

Ranking by Sales

The ranking, by number of sales on the night was as follows:

1. 2012 Henschke Keyneton Euphonium Shiraz Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot Cabernet Franc
2. 2008 Hewitson Private Cellar Shiraz Mouvedre (Magnum)
3. 2006 Grant Burge Meshach Shiraz
4. 2007 Clarendon Hills Moritz Syrah
5. 2004 Hazyblur Barossa Shiraz
6. 2002 Tahbilk Eric Steven Pubrick Shiraz

My picks on the night were the 2007 Clarendon Hills Moritz and the 2008 Hewitson Private Cellar, both drinking well now and will repay patience, if you can wait.

Cheers!