Friday, February 24, 2012

Wine clubs in Singapore

New to wine and like to meet more like-minded souls? One way to go is to join wine clubs. Wine clubs organize regular wine tasting events for their members, offer wine at discounts during tastings and at times arrange wine educational workshops. Some promote wines from a particular region or country, while others help you discover wines from all wine producing countries.

Recently I took the opportunity to attend wine tasting sessions organized by various wine clubs in Singapore. By and large the organisers are friendly, knowledgeable and more than happy to share about wine. I like to highlight a few in this blog entry so those keen can go check them out :) 

Claret Wine Club. This club is run by BDX Wines Pte Ltd from the Singapore Wine Station located at One Raffles Link, City link Mall, B1-17A, Singapore 039393. It’s tastings mainly revolve around entry and mid-range Bordeaux wines. It strives to introduce new Bordeaux labels not usually found in Singapore to its members. You can visit www.bdxwines.com to get more information on how to join this club. Alternatively, you can contact 62234477 or Mr Thomas Le Moal at 96425930 for more information. (More pictures of tasting at photo album in Facebook.)



Viva Vino Wine Club. This club focuses on wines from Portugal. It holds regular tasting sessions and offers wine at discounted prices during these tastings to its members. I attended one such tasting held recently at HOST at Clarke Quay. It was a tasting of port wines from Niepoort (more pictures of the tasting session in photo album). Not many merchants in Singapore carry wine labels from Portugal; being in a club like this offers a new wine enthusiast the opportunity to explore and discover what Portugal has to offer. More information on this club can be found at www.vivavino.com.sg; tel:62917866.



Magma German Wine Club. This club specializes in the introduction of German wines. Its tastings are held at Magma German Wine Bistro located at 2-4 Bukit Pasoh Road, Singapore 089816; tel: 62210634, www.magmatc.com. Apart from its wines, the food here is good. You can order a few dishes to pair with your wines during tastings or swing by here during evenings for dinner with its comprehensive list of german wines. It offers discounts on wines, food and tastings to its club members. Its next tasting is scheduled on 4 March 2012; with wines from Wittmann Estate from Rheinhessen offered for tasting.


 

Asia Wine Society. This society introduces wine from various countries to its members via wine educational workshops, tastings and wine at discounted prices. I attended its open house event held late last year and I must say there were some pretty good discounts offered for wines. It operates from 3E River Valley Road, #02-04 Clarke Quay, Sinagpore 179024 and more information on this society can be found at www.asiawinesociety.com.sg; tel: 65925360.





If you are keen, do check the websites and give the organizers a call for more information on membership fees and upcoming activities. You may just find a wine club that suits your need :)

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Wine courses in Singapore for year 2012

 (Hi, an update: Did a recent blog entry on wine courses and program providers for year 2013; you can read about it at: Wine Courses in Singapore for year 2013).


The new year has begun bringing with it a series of wine courses. This hints at a growing demand among the people here for wine knowledge; be it for professional needs or for hobby-driven curiosity.

I've briefly outlined below available courses and the respective organizers so that it makes it easy for those curious to check out the options available. Attending these courses could pave the way towards a new career option or at the very least provide an opportunity to meet like-minded wine enthusiasts :)

Singapore Poly has already commenced the Certificate of Performance in 'Science, Art and Business of Wine' course on 9 January 2012. Good news is three more intakes are planned for this year. Those interested in the next intake can visit the page on www.sp.edu.sg for more information.
 
One other wine course by Singapore Poly is the 'WSQ Provide Advice on Wine'. Its a 2-days course (the coming one being the 8th intake). Two intakes are planned this year. The upcoming one is on 13th and 14th Mar 2012 (daily from 9am-6pm). For more information on course details, target audience, fee details and SDF subsidy offered you can visit the following page; www.sp.edu.sg



If you are more keen on international wine courses then the WSET wine courses may provide an ideal option.

Wine & Co Consultancy is offering the following levels this month:
WSET Level 1, Introduction to Sommelier; (over 2 days) on 25 and 26 Feb 2012.
WSET Level 2 on 4, 11, and 18 Feb 2012
WSET Level 3 (distance learning) commences on 11 Mar 2012.
For more info on Wine & Co's courses you can visit: http://www.winenco.com/educate.html


SHATEC's Continuing Education and Training Dept has scheduled for five WSET Level 2 courses and two Level 3 courses for year 2012. For course schedule, course outline and fee structure you can visit the respective pages:
a. WSET Level 2 Intermediate Certificate in Wine & Spirits
b. WSET Level 3 Advanced Certificate in Wine & Spirits 

I hope this summary helps you to plan for your wine studies this year :)