Wine

[ikileo]

as in those nice nice ones? to be honest, i've never really bought a wine opener/corkscrew since mine were all gifts.

cheaper ones can be bought at ikea. the Oak Cellars has more expensive fancy ones. THey have outlets in a couple of places but probably the most accessible is the one at Great World City.

 

[nautilus]

I'm using an opener from screwpull at it seems pretty good. I also have a cheap $2-3 ikea opener that works perfectly as well. Once you're used to it, most openers should be fine.

Came back from Napa and managed to haul some bottles back.

Probably have to cellar most of them for a long time.

 

[ikileo]

yeah nice haul. lots of big labels. how was the tasting room experience?
did u visit any of the smaller producers?

looks like you have to let them sleep for at least another 10-15 years before cracking them open, unless you bought a case

 

[Beta_Tester]

i think i saw one WMF brand.. i think is WMF.. looks quite cool.. Think ish 80+.. At CK Tang.

 

[Beta_Tester]

TS: U ever thought of go get a Wine Sommelier Certification? hehe..

 

[ikileo]

@nautilus: btw, did u have to pay any tax or just shoved them in your luggage?

@beta_tester: my friends asked me about this. currently i have neither the time nor money to pursue a Court of Sommeliers Certificate.

 

[Beta_Tester]

last time my coy got this welfare benefit or course.. i saw that certification.. back in 2008.. some aunties went. They say noobs also can join.. just that they go some extra lesson b4 the actual course..

I heard from my SQ frend that she may wanna go for the kinda course. Over a 3 year period. Got those site visits to the wine house etc..

Guess it will be nice to attend some workshop or stuff b4 going there to get certified.. for Noobs that is. hehe

 

[ikileo]

there's the Court of Sommerliers certificate, even within that there are different grades. you move up as you take more tests.

then there's the most pretigious wine qualification, the master of wine. there's less than 300 in the entire world. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_of_Wine

 

[nautilus]

yeah nice haul. lots of big labels. how was the tasting room experience?
did u visit any of the smaller producers?

looks like you have to let them sleep for at least another 10-15 years before cracking them open, unless you bought a case

Yes they will lay dormant for a pretty long time. Unfortunately i didn't have time to visit any other vineyards beside Opus One. The devil is in the details it seems in making good wines. They control every step of the production process very tightly, from the vines, to the processing, fermentation, and bottling. Some facts i learnt:
- grapes are harvested in the evenings under floodlight when they are the juciest
- during harvesting time, everyone lends a hand in order not to miss the narrow window of opportunity during the harvest
- grapes are placed in shallow containers so as not to bruise them
- the environment in which the grapes are processed is made almost sterile during the harvest
- everything is gravity fed
- they have state of the art machinery and an optical sorter to sort grapes down to the individual fruit level
- barrels are all new french oak from 12 different coopers which are compared and evaluated, before deciding which ones they will use. Used barrels are sold to other wineries in the region.
- even the corks are analysed to ensure cork taint is minimised

I did not buy the wines (except the Overture) from the wineries. Wierdly, the wineries priced their wines more than a shop i bought from in downtown Napa. The taxes i paid were cheap though (each person is allowed to bring in 2L of wine) and it is insignificant compared to the trouble of lugging those *#*(&*(@#$& heavy bottles in our luggage. The wines plus the packaging it comes with came up to a total weight of about 18kg.

 

[ikileo]

yeah, wineries with high amounts of investment in equipment and technique are super anal about their grapes and soil. there are some french producers who believe in using a divining rod to determine when and where they should start harvesting; also they will harvest on a certain date with a full moon. crazy stuff!

could u elaborate more on your packing procedure? how many bottles did u get in the end? did u you just pack a case and checked it in or put it all in another luggage?

 

[Delusion_Disorder]

Yes they will lay dormant for a pretty long time. Unfortunately i didn't have time to visit any other vineyards beside Opus One. The devil is in the details it seems in making good wines. They control every step of the production process very tightly, from the vines, to the processing, fermentation, and bottling. Some facts i learnt:
- grapes are harvested in the evenings under floodlight when they are the juciest
- during harvesting time, everyone lends a hand in order not to miss the narrow window of opportunity during the harvest
- grapes are placed in shallow containers so as not to bruise them
- the environment in which the grapes are processed is made almost sterile during the harvest
- everything is gravity fed
- they have state of the art machinery and an optical sorter to sort grapes down to the individual fruit level
- barrels are all new french oak from 12 different coopers which are compared and evaluated, before deciding which ones they will use. Used barrels are sold to other wineries in the region.
- even the corks are analysed to ensure cork taint is minimised

I did not buy the wines (except the Overture) from the wineries. Wierdly, the wineries priced their wines more than a shop i bought from in downtown Napa. The taxes i paid were cheap though (each person is allowed to bring in 2L of wine) and it is insignificant compared to the trouble of lugging those *#*(&*(@#$& heavy bottles in our luggage. The wines plus the packaging it comes with came up to a total weight of about 18kg.

2L should be wrong....

The following goods may be imported into Singapore by persons aged 18 years and older without incurring customs duty:

• 1L of spirits.
• 1L of wine.
• 1L of beer.

 

[nautilus]

2L should be wrong....

The following goods may be imported into Singapore by persons aged 18 years and older without incurring customs duty:

• 1L of spirits.
• 1L of wine.
• 1L of beer.

It's correct and told to me by the customs officer when i paid duties at the airport (i declared to them beforehand BTW). 2L because i did not have any spirits or beer with me, so the provision for spirits can be used for wine and it's the same if you buy from the DFS shop.

 

[nautilus]

yeah, wineries with high amounts of investment in equipment and technique are super anal about their grapes and soil. there are some french producers who believe in using a divining rod to determine when and where they should start harvesting; also they will harvest on a certain date with a full moon. crazy stuff!

could u elaborate more on your packing procedure? how many bottles did u get in the end? did u you just pack a case and checked it in or put it all in another luggage?

Yeah, before the tour, i didn't know that they can be so anal about it. Another point to add is that they do both drip irrigation and foilage irrrigation on each vine. This way they are able to control the exact amount of water each row of vines get.

The shop that i bought from was really friendly and they gave me a nice cardboard box with styrofoam inserts to put the bottles. In fact the box itself was good enough to be shipped without putting into a luggage or bag, but knowing the itchy hands of the useless TSA in the USA, a box of wines is going to be the top target for them to bring back and share with their family. I decided to put it in my luggage which fortunately could fit in the box with space to spare. But as a result, i busted the 32kg per piece of luggage limit and had to offload some other stuff to another luggage.

FYI, i declared the wines to the customs voluntarily. I decided it was not worth the risk and in the end i only ended up paying tax for the excess 2L of wine which works out to be about $20. So it is actually very worthwhile to bring wine back from overseas as you need to factor in only about <$10 per bottle for tax above your 2L of allowance provided you don't bring in other types of alcohol.

 

[Delusion_Disorder]

It's correct and told to me by the customs officer when i paid duties at the airport (i declared to them beforehand BTW). 2L because i did not have any spirits or beer with me, so the provision for spirits can be used for wine and it's the same if you buy from the DFS shop.

OIC..thank you for the advice of your experinece ....but I had different experience ...I carried 2 full btls of 750ml wine only but I still have to paid the GST +Tax for wine for additional 0.5L ....

 

[reign]

am i right to say once i have gotten 2ltrs of wine from overseas, i am not entitled to purchase any more wine at the DFS? or just need to pay for the taxes for thee bottle i got in overseas

 

[kangzkangz]

Anyone went for the Burghound in Asia Grand Tasting yesterday? Had an overdose of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, but some interesting ones like Spanish Pinot Noir.

 

[nautilus]

am i right to say once i have gotten 2ltrs of wine from overseas, i am not entitled to purchase any more wine at the DFS? or just need to pay for the taxes for thee bottle i got in overseas

The customs allowance takes into account the total of all alcohol brought in, including those bought from overseas and DFS.

 

[nautilus]

OIC..thank you for the advice of your experinece ....but I had different experience ...I carried 2 full btls of 750ml wine only but I still have to paid the GST +Tax for wine for additional 0.5L ....

I think the customs officer at that time was blur.

 

[chiwawa7]

Alcohol limits about a year ago. Got my cousin to bring in 2 bottles of 750ml wine without tax a couple of days ago. http://www.customs.gov.sg/insync/issue08/features/duty_free.html

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[ikileo]

My birthday weekend wines: http://www.cellartracker.com/event.asp?iEvent=13736

@kangzkangz: too bad i didn't go to that event. normally would have cos you get to taste a lot, but i am saving money for my trip next month. so have you got a grasp on pinots and chards? and noticeable difference between a Central Otago Pinot Noir and a red Burgundy?