Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Pinterest My recent trip to Singapore for The Great Wine & Dine Festival was eye-opening. I got to take part in the festival and indulged in some of the finest wines and food in the world. I also got to witness the first Wine Pinnacle Awards, an exciting wine award based on nominations, where any wine in the world can enter the award-giving body with no restriction on its origin or entry fees, and attend The Harvest, a talk on the latest trends in the wine world. With the holidays upon us, I am inspired to share some of the insights I gleaned, and the wines and sake that I discovered during my trip. These bottles will make great gifts to your friends and loved ones and great additions to your collections. The Harvest was a great platform for world industry leaders and practitioners to share a wealth of knowledge and interact for the benefit of a thriving wine industry. The Harvest speakers from L to R: Doug Frost and Andreas Larsson teamed up to talk about Basic Principles of Food and Wine Pairing, Oz Clark opened the talk by speaking about trends in global wine and spirits, Jeannie Cho Lee and Kenichi Ohashi shared wine pairing tips for Asian cuisine One of the topics discussed that I found interesting was the Western custom where the best dish is served last, while Asians serve their best dishes in the middle of the meal, which makes for a different approach to wine service. I learned that while wine consumption still remains on a high in Europe, Asia has been driving up their consumption steadily as affluence grows around the region. China is the main driver for the growth of wine consumption in Asia right now. They have even started producing their own quality wines and have seriously been expanding their vineyards at an extraordinary rate. It’s an exciting time for wines in Asia. One of the wines that caught my attention at The Great Wine & Dine Festival was the organic and natural wine selection of Cogito. Natural winemaking is the ancient way of making wines and is a big trend in France. I’ve met chefs leaving their posts in top Michelin-starred restaurants because they have fallen in love with natural wines and can see an opportunity to distribute it. Romain Cousot, the owner of Cogito Wines, is one of them. Romain was the director and Head Sommelier of Restaurant André, and he worked in Noma (named World’s Best Restaurant by Restaurant magazine in 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2014, and is currently ranked 2nd) for several years and learned about natural wines there. “In Noma we were not constrained to the kitchen or just the stove, we were always learning,” he shares. “Classic wines were always predictable, but with natural wines it’s exciting like a new world opening up for different possibilities.” Romain Cousot of Cogito Wines passionately shares his knowledge about natural wines They paired delectable wines with gastronomic food prepared by celebrity chefs from Michelin-starred restaurants. I thoroughly enjoyed The Prisoner wine, a red blend from Napa Valley. It has notes of deep black cherries, raspberries, black currant, vanilla, and a smooth long finish. I paired it with a juicy grilled swift steak sandwich with Japanese barbecue sauce from Teppan by Chef Masayasu Yonemura. The Prisoner wine from Napa Valley making its debut in Singapore for the first time steak sandwich from Teppan by Chef Masayasu Yonemura The full-bodied Italian 2013 Il Marroneto Brunello di Montalcino DOCG paired perfectly with Porchetta, e soffice di patate al Tartufo. A line up of Tuscan wines including Maroneto di Brunello Di Montalcino Porchetta I had the amazing Pinot Noir from Bouchard Pere & Fils, 2008 Vigne de L’Enfant Jesus Greves , Premier Cru (Beaune) with the perfectly roasted duck breast with berries, sauce Royale and Oxalis from the stall of Table 65, a Michelin-starred restaurant by Chef Richard van Oostenbrugge & Thomas Groot. It was so good, I forgot to take a picture! Menu board with suggestions for the best wine and dish pairings I have been wanting to learn about sake, and was thrilled that the festival had an impressive layout of sake brewery stalls. Yonetsuru Shuzo Co., featuring their sakes from the Yamagata Prefecture I got to meet Ms. Mika Eoka from the Japan Sake and Shochu Makers Association, who gave some background on the brewers. Ms. Mika Eoka of the Japan Sake and Shochu Makers Association Sake (rice wine) is a traditional spirit that the Japanese have enjoyed for generations. Its history dates back to 300 BC in Japan, but can be traced as far back as 4000 years ago in China. These days, people are spoiled with so many drinking choices. So sake needs to find ways to attract the younger drinking set to try sake. One of the breweries, Tatsuuma-Honke Brewery, presented flavored sake (Matcha Cream, Blue Hawaii, and Cookie Crumble) to entice the younger crowd. Tatsuuma-Honke Brewery presenting their modern take on sake to entice the younger crowd I tried and fell in love with a sparkling sake called Yonetsuru Sparkling Rosé. It is interesting to note that they derive the pinkish color of their sake from the yeast they use in fermentation, so it’s natural with no artificial additives. I paired it with The Lobster Nest (perfectly grilled juicy Maine lobster served with garlic noodles, that reminded me of Mee Goreng) from Lobsterdamus, a pop-up dining concept from Los Angeles, California. Yonetsuru Sparkling Rosé sake gets its pink color naturally from yeast The Wine Pinnacle Awards The first-ever Wine Pinnacle Awards did not disappoint, as it delivered a list of wines that would normally not be reviewed and awarded at a regular wine awarding event. These bottles have been nominated by hundreds of oenophiles and industry professionals, and are reviewed by the taste and quality of their product. Underrated wines were highlighted during the awards and were given a chance to shine. The award categories are also quite interesting. Wine Pinnacle Awards 2019 winners The Wine Pinnacle Awards produced an important list that will surely turn into a definitive yearly guide in Asia. The event is something wine lovers should look forward to annually. Read about the Wine Pinnacle Awards winners here.