When at Wine Fiesta 2011 (at Customs House)

Early part of Saturday afternoon I swung by Wine Fiesta. This wine event was organized by The Straits Wine Company at the Customs House. My timing was thankfully good, I escaped the soon-to-come drizzle. Other guests were just trickling in, providing an opportunity to do some tasting at a leisurely pace and talk to the winemakers present.

Despite the afternoon rain, the crowd began gathering in earnest by 5pm. Evening saw the place 'packed, swinging and alife’. The atmosphere was certainly different from the quiet, contemplative and serious group of wine enthusiasts I get to encounter at other tastings :p

The guests were intent to relax, enjoy, taste, drink and have a good time with their friends during this weekend; and this they certainly did with great exuberance.

Sips offered for tasting came from Australia, New Zealand, S. Africa, Chile, Argentina, Germany, Switzerland, Russia, India, Spain, Italy and France. Observing the folks, there seem to be a general preference among the younger crowd to taste sparkling wines and wines with are off-dry or sweet (Villa M's bianco moscato and rosso brachetto, the late harvest german wines and Tokaji seem to hold a particular appeal for revisits).

For me personally, I like the excitement of a new or unique find. There were a handful of such wines in this event:

a. Chateau La Nerthe Chateauneuf Du Pape Rouge 2006. This is unique for its use of all 13 permitted grape varietals in the making of this wine.

b. Provins Valais from Switzerland offered wines from varietals not usually seen in Singapore; 2010 Fendant Swiss Valley, 2007 Petite Arvine Maitre De Chais, 2010 Heida Maitre De Chais and 2009 Cornalin Maitre De Chais.

c. Burgundy's aligote varietal tend to get scant attention and make only the occasional presence at burgundy tastings in Singapore. Domaine Jean Marc Brocard offered a 2010 Aligote for tasting during this event.

d. Champagne Henri Giraud's Ratafia De Champagne N.V. (a vin de liqueur) stood out as a fine example of an 'unsparkling wine' from the Champagne region :p

I must say the staff and crew did a good job. There was an adequate supply of bottled water and plain crackers at each table for those who needed these, the spittoons were regularly cleared and the crew certainly carried themselves in a friendly and an approachable manner. These little things made for a pleasant experience during this event, which was well managed and ran smoothly; a no easy task looking at the strong number of participants in the evening.

All in all it was an event worth attending (and at a decent price too I must add).

Below are a few pictures taken during this event.

.. the crew at work

Rocca delle Macie, Italy

Oddfellows Wines

Bouldevines, NZ

Golding Wines, Australia

K1 by Geoff Hardy, Australia

Dombeya winery, S. Africa

Boekenhoutskloof, S. Africa

Speri, Italy

Cave de Tain, France

La Forge Estate, France

.. as evening draws near