I went!
Ok, I went both this year and the previous one. Didn't quite like it.
1. Venue: Granted, it is in town, and on weekends Shenton Way is deserted, so pretty much ideal. But after walking around a bit and tasting a fair bit of wine does make one a little warm, add to the fact it's opened air, plus it's been raining the whole weekend didn't help at all.. A number of the guests came in wet and drenched, and the hotness and wetness is a little off putting.. (A number of the exhibitors were sweating as they were pouring.. Why can't they put in in an air-conditioned ball room, or something..)
2. Lack of seats and resting places: With over 50 booths and an average of 5 wines per booth, there is a lot of tasting going on.. During the late evening there are a lot of people walking/ squeezing/ pushing around, and there simply ain't enough seats or resting places..
3. Wine: The wines were simply not outstanding.. Granted the range and variety was stunning, with over 150 wines, but 75% of them were either Chardonnays, Sau Blancs, Merlots, Shirazs, and Cab Sauvs. A few surprises were the wines from UK, Japan and Croatia. The rest of the exhibitors were the regulars from the previous years. And yes, this being a Straits Wines event meant that they are all ST wines. Quality was very much average at best.