Welcome to the HWZ Wine Thread that was started back in 2008! From now until then, my main goal is to share my love for wine and my journey with it as well as to make the wide and wonderful world of wine accessible and easily understood by regular folks like you and me! The first few posts will cover basic information and relevant links to popular wine information like retailers and recommended wines.
Singapore Retailers & Distributors
I have collated a Google Docs spreadsheet of the various wine retailers and importers in Singapore with some comments. By no means is this an exhaustive list but it covers most of the major ones. Not all of them have a retail store but some have an office; I would suggest you visit their website and drop them an email on their price lists.
LIST HERE: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1X5kAfU1KubXzZaZthdC75sRUhvImxcl33yAW24k7vAs/edit?usp=sharing
The information below covers the basics of wines; there are many resources online and videos for you to supplement that information as well! Please enjoy!
There are a whole bunch of content below regarding the basics of wine but the links immediately below this paragraph are topics or ad-hoc discussions we’ve had over the past several years about wine. The links will help you easily reach these topics without having to plough through hundreds of pages.
Bordeaux: http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/e...gpgt]-learn-about-bordeaux-wines-4762556.html
Wine Recommendation: http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/e...-red-whites-national-day-weekend-4764444.html
Prosecco: http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/e...orean-dream-cheap-good-champagne-4703054.html
Sherry: http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/eat-drink-man-woman-16/watching-x-men-sherry-4688731.html
Cahors Wine: http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/eat-drink-man-woman-16/[wine-review]-cars-whores-4686595.html
Moscato d’Asti: http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/e...][wot]-moscato-recomendation-dec-4491195.html
Riesling Recommendation: http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/e...y-3-wine-recommendation-riesling-4563015.html
Florence & Tuscany Wine Holiday: http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/europe-277/florence-tuscany-wine-holiday-3892572.html
Chianti Classico: http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/87157576-post4502.html
How to Keep Opened Wine: http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/33532938-post18.html
New Zealand Wineries:
http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/86951328-post4489.html
http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/86956135-post4492.html
Hunter Valley (Australia) Wineries: http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/87120565-post4495.html
Northern Rhone Valley (France): http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/85263286-post4451.html
WINE INTRODUCTION
Wine is definitely growing in Singapore with many retailers popping up, wine bars opening and consumers getting themselves into wine. No longer is wine a realm for the old retired doctors and investors sipping expensive wine; but now there is a big growth of low to mid-priced wine.
A lot of people tell me that want to know more about wine but there isn’t a proper resources and some wine classes are either too expensive or the stuff taught there is not very helpful. With this collection of resources below and your own exploration of wine, you will definitely be able to make educated decisions about wine in the very near future.
DISCLAIMER: I’m not a wine professional, nor am I affiliated to any wine related business. I am just a fan of wine who wants to share his knowledge with others.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1) What is Wine?
2) History of Wine?
3) What are Grape Varieties?
4) How is Wine Made?
5) Should I Age my Wine?
6) How do I Serve Wine Properly?
7) How should I taste Wine?
What Is Wine?
For all the fanciness and romance behind wine, we have to remember at its core wine is simply fermented grape juice. Grapes are picked, crushed and yeast (bacteria) is added which converts the sugars in the juice into alcohol, much like any other alcoholic beverage.
Of course the final product of the wines will vary depending on many various factors like production method, aging, fermentation, type of grapes, types of yeast etc... which can get a bit too technical but all this information can be easily researched
Wine is also a chemically unstable liquid. Water, for instance, is by and large chemically stable at room temperature. If it put it in an un-reactive inert sealed container and leave it for years, it will still taste like water because nothing much has changed. Wine, however, changes it’s flavour, aromas, texture etc... over time, hence people age wines. We will cover this more in the section on aging. So just remember, wine is just fermented grape juice.
History of Wine
Wine has been in existence for thousands of years dating back to ancient civilizations in the Middle East. It was the drink of royalty and its presence was known in many kingly courts since ancient times from Greece to Egypt. There’s lots of excellent information on the history of wine you can research but for simplicity sake the image below should suffice.
Image from Wine Folly | Learn about wine.
Other Links
History of wine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
History of Wine Timeline (Infographic) | Wine Folly
Essentially it was:
Middle east --> Mediterranean--> Romans spread it all over their empire in Europe --> Travelled to the New World (ie: USA, Australia etc...) via European immigrants --> Modern era and climate change has spread wine to Asia including China and India.
What are Grape Varieties?
Now that you understand a bit of the history of wine, you can next ask whether it was the same grape that was spread all over the world?
We all know the answer is no, as there are hundreds of varieties of grapes in the world. The supermarket carries various species of eating grapes. This applies to virtually any kind of animal or plant produce; each species has a different genetic code and some of the major wine making grapes we enjoy now were a result of genetic mutation or cross breeding! Just like how there are green apples, red apples, fuji apples, gala apples, etc... not all fruits are the same and each varietal bear it’s own unique nuance
But there’s no need to feel scared that there are too many varietals to try. Majority of the wine you are going to encounter in Singapore are made from mainstream varietals that are grown across many other countries. Here is just the tip of the iceberg of the main wine varieties commonly available; as you drink and taste more you will be able to find out what other varietals are out there as there are many great wines that are not even made from these varietals below!
Red Wine Grapes:
1) Cabernet Sauvignon
2) Merlot
3) Shiraz/Syrah
4) Pinot Noir
5) Grenache
6) Malbec
White Wine Grapes:
1) Chardonnay
2) Sauvignon Blanc
3) Riesling
4) Semillon
If you want to get into more detail here are more resources:
List of grape varieties - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Wine grapes | Fine Wine Writing & Wine Reviews from Jancis Robinson
Here is a GREAT resource and 1st of 10 videos that explain individual key grape varietals by one of the world's foremost wine critics, Jancis Robinson in her online wine course
Wine Making
Like I mentioned earlier, wine is essentially fermented grape juice but let’s dive a little deeper into the process. The diagram below is shows a generic overview of how generally still (not sparkling or other types) wine is made. I have elaborated a bit more on the steps but keep in mind this is just a general way of making wine; different winemakers, producers, styles, regions, traditions etc... have slightly tweaked styles of winemaking; but they more or less follow this general flow of work.
1) Harvested grapes are crushed to extract their juices
2) The juice and the other crushed bits ferment together with the added yeast
3) It is pressed to filter out the solids from the juice
4) The fermenting juice is pumped into a tank
5) The juice is then pumped into barrels or just stainless steel tanks depend on what the winemaker wants to do with the wine
6) It may be filtered to remove any cloudiness
7) It’s bottled!
8) It may be sold straight away or the producer may decide to keep it and let it age in the bottle further before release.
How does this affect your wine? By understanding the process you are also able to appreciate the wine more as you realize that certain steps were done in order to give your wine a specific look/feel/taste/texture/ageability. A lot of a wine’s technical information can be found on the producer’s website.
However, various types of wines have slightly different processes like sparkling wine, but we will get into that later.
Should I Age My Wines
The reason why we age wine is because we want to achieve certain things depending whether it’s a red or white wine.
For red wine, we want the tannins to soften. Tannins are the compounds in red wine that leaves a dry and rough taste in your mouth; they are derived from the red grape skins and stems. By aging red wine, the tannin compounds in the wine will soften (remember that wine is a chemically unstable liquid) and smoothen out with aging. Aging also helps bring out more complex flavours that make your wine a multi-dimensional wine in terms of balance and flavour
It’s a little different for white wine, white wines generally has no tannins so what happens is that as it ages , becoming less fruity and turning a golden colour. It will develop a more complex flavours with age.
HOWEVER not all wine is meant for aging. Most of your entry level supermarket or basic wine is meant to be drunk immediately. Some of the wines made from certain areas or certain producers can be aged for 5-10 or 20, 30, 40 years or more! Here are some resources to help explain visually whether your wines are meant for aging!
In summary:
Cheap supermarket basic wine: Drink immediately
$40 wines and up: You can keep it for a while, depending on the type, origin and winemaker’s style. The Jancis Robinson article below is a good guide.
Resources on Aging
Aging of wine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Which wines are worth ageing | Tasting Notes & Wine Reviews from Jancis Robinson
4 Traits of Wines That Age Well | Wine Folly
And since you want to age your wines, you need storage!
Major electrical chains will have a wine chiller section. You can get the expensive stuff like a Vintec of Euro-cave, for go for midpriced brands like Bosch and Kadeka. Please choose a compressor-type of cooling system
Singapore Retailers & Distributors
I have collated a Google Docs spreadsheet of the various wine retailers and importers in Singapore with some comments. By no means is this an exhaustive list but it covers most of the major ones. Not all of them have a retail store but some have an office; I would suggest you visit their website and drop them an email on their price lists.
LIST HERE: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1X5kAfU1KubXzZaZthdC75sRUhvImxcl33yAW24k7vAs/edit?usp=sharing
The information below covers the basics of wines; there are many resources online and videos for you to supplement that information as well! Please enjoy!
XXXXXXXXXXXXX
There are a whole bunch of content below regarding the basics of wine but the links immediately below this paragraph are topics or ad-hoc discussions we’ve had over the past several years about wine. The links will help you easily reach these topics without having to plough through hundreds of pages.
Bordeaux: http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/e...gpgt]-learn-about-bordeaux-wines-4762556.html
Wine Recommendation: http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/e...-red-whites-national-day-weekend-4764444.html
Prosecco: http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/e...orean-dream-cheap-good-champagne-4703054.html
Sherry: http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/eat-drink-man-woman-16/watching-x-men-sherry-4688731.html
Cahors Wine: http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/eat-drink-man-woman-16/[wine-review]-cars-whores-4686595.html
Moscato d’Asti: http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/e...][wot]-moscato-recomendation-dec-4491195.html
Riesling Recommendation: http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/e...y-3-wine-recommendation-riesling-4563015.html
Florence & Tuscany Wine Holiday: http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/europe-277/florence-tuscany-wine-holiday-3892572.html
Chianti Classico: http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/87157576-post4502.html
How to Keep Opened Wine: http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/33532938-post18.html
New Zealand Wineries:
http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/86951328-post4489.html
http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/86956135-post4492.html
Hunter Valley (Australia) Wineries: http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/87120565-post4495.html
Northern Rhone Valley (France): http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/85263286-post4451.html
XXXXXXXXXXXXX
WINE INTRODUCTION
Wine is definitely growing in Singapore with many retailers popping up, wine bars opening and consumers getting themselves into wine. No longer is wine a realm for the old retired doctors and investors sipping expensive wine; but now there is a big growth of low to mid-priced wine.
A lot of people tell me that want to know more about wine but there isn’t a proper resources and some wine classes are either too expensive or the stuff taught there is not very helpful. With this collection of resources below and your own exploration of wine, you will definitely be able to make educated decisions about wine in the very near future.
DISCLAIMER: I’m not a wine professional, nor am I affiliated to any wine related business. I am just a fan of wine who wants to share his knowledge with others.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1) What is Wine?
2) History of Wine?
3) What are Grape Varieties?
4) How is Wine Made?
5) Should I Age my Wine?
6) How do I Serve Wine Properly?
7) How should I taste Wine?
XXXXXXXXXXXXX
What Is Wine?
For all the fanciness and romance behind wine, we have to remember at its core wine is simply fermented grape juice. Grapes are picked, crushed and yeast (bacteria) is added which converts the sugars in the juice into alcohol, much like any other alcoholic beverage.
Of course the final product of the wines will vary depending on many various factors like production method, aging, fermentation, type of grapes, types of yeast etc... which can get a bit too technical but all this information can be easily researched
Wine is also a chemically unstable liquid. Water, for instance, is by and large chemically stable at room temperature. If it put it in an un-reactive inert sealed container and leave it for years, it will still taste like water because nothing much has changed. Wine, however, changes it’s flavour, aromas, texture etc... over time, hence people age wines. We will cover this more in the section on aging. So just remember, wine is just fermented grape juice.
XXXXXXXXXXXXX
History of Wine
Wine has been in existence for thousands of years dating back to ancient civilizations in the Middle East. It was the drink of royalty and its presence was known in many kingly courts since ancient times from Greece to Egypt. There’s lots of excellent information on the history of wine you can research but for simplicity sake the image below should suffice.
Image from Wine Folly | Learn about wine.
Other Links
History of wine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
History of Wine Timeline (Infographic) | Wine Folly
Essentially it was:
Middle east --> Mediterranean--> Romans spread it all over their empire in Europe --> Travelled to the New World (ie: USA, Australia etc...) via European immigrants --> Modern era and climate change has spread wine to Asia including China and India.
XXXXXXXXXXXXX
What are Grape Varieties?
Now that you understand a bit of the history of wine, you can next ask whether it was the same grape that was spread all over the world?
We all know the answer is no, as there are hundreds of varieties of grapes in the world. The supermarket carries various species of eating grapes. This applies to virtually any kind of animal or plant produce; each species has a different genetic code and some of the major wine making grapes we enjoy now were a result of genetic mutation or cross breeding! Just like how there are green apples, red apples, fuji apples, gala apples, etc... not all fruits are the same and each varietal bear it’s own unique nuance
But there’s no need to feel scared that there are too many varietals to try. Majority of the wine you are going to encounter in Singapore are made from mainstream varietals that are grown across many other countries. Here is just the tip of the iceberg of the main wine varieties commonly available; as you drink and taste more you will be able to find out what other varietals are out there as there are many great wines that are not even made from these varietals below!
Red Wine Grapes:
1) Cabernet Sauvignon
2) Merlot
3) Shiraz/Syrah
4) Pinot Noir
5) Grenache
6) Malbec
White Wine Grapes:
1) Chardonnay
2) Sauvignon Blanc
3) Riesling
4) Semillon
If you want to get into more detail here are more resources:
List of grape varieties - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Wine grapes | Fine Wine Writing & Wine Reviews from Jancis Robinson
Here is a GREAT resource and 1st of 10 videos that explain individual key grape varietals by one of the world's foremost wine critics, Jancis Robinson in her online wine course
XXXXXXXXXXXXX
Wine Making
Like I mentioned earlier, wine is essentially fermented grape juice but let’s dive a little deeper into the process. The diagram below is shows a generic overview of how generally still (not sparkling or other types) wine is made. I have elaborated a bit more on the steps but keep in mind this is just a general way of making wine; different winemakers, producers, styles, regions, traditions etc... have slightly tweaked styles of winemaking; but they more or less follow this general flow of work.
1) Harvested grapes are crushed to extract their juices
2) The juice and the other crushed bits ferment together with the added yeast
3) It is pressed to filter out the solids from the juice
4) The fermenting juice is pumped into a tank
5) The juice is then pumped into barrels or just stainless steel tanks depend on what the winemaker wants to do with the wine
6) It may be filtered to remove any cloudiness
7) It’s bottled!
8) It may be sold straight away or the producer may decide to keep it and let it age in the bottle further before release.
How does this affect your wine? By understanding the process you are also able to appreciate the wine more as you realize that certain steps were done in order to give your wine a specific look/feel/taste/texture/ageability. A lot of a wine’s technical information can be found on the producer’s website.
However, various types of wines have slightly different processes like sparkling wine, but we will get into that later.
XXXXXXXXXXXXX
Should I Age My Wines
The reason why we age wine is because we want to achieve certain things depending whether it’s a red or white wine.
For red wine, we want the tannins to soften. Tannins are the compounds in red wine that leaves a dry and rough taste in your mouth; they are derived from the red grape skins and stems. By aging red wine, the tannin compounds in the wine will soften (remember that wine is a chemically unstable liquid) and smoothen out with aging. Aging also helps bring out more complex flavours that make your wine a multi-dimensional wine in terms of balance and flavour
It’s a little different for white wine, white wines generally has no tannins so what happens is that as it ages , becoming less fruity and turning a golden colour. It will develop a more complex flavours with age.
HOWEVER not all wine is meant for aging. Most of your entry level supermarket or basic wine is meant to be drunk immediately. Some of the wines made from certain areas or certain producers can be aged for 5-10 or 20, 30, 40 years or more! Here are some resources to help explain visually whether your wines are meant for aging!
In summary:
Cheap supermarket basic wine: Drink immediately
$40 wines and up: You can keep it for a while, depending on the type, origin and winemaker’s style. The Jancis Robinson article below is a good guide.
Resources on Aging
Aging of wine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Which wines are worth ageing | Tasting Notes & Wine Reviews from Jancis Robinson
4 Traits of Wines That Age Well | Wine Folly
And since you want to age your wines, you need storage!
Major electrical chains will have a wine chiller section. You can get the expensive stuff like a Vintec of Euro-cave, for go for midpriced brands like Bosch and Kadeka. Please choose a compressor-type of cooling system
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