Wine-savvy

[floppydrive]

Has anyone from the thread visited Wine Story?

 

High end wines for the elite market:

 

http://lifestyle.inquirer.net/food/food/view/20110414-331004/Fine-wining-like-nowhere-else-not-even-in-Hong-Kong-and-Singapore

 

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Fine wining like nowhere else-not even in Hong Kong and Singapore

 

By Constantino C. Tejero

Philippine Daily Inquirer

 

DateFirst Posted 22:05:00 04/14/2011

 

 

Its owners say Wine Story is ‘the LV of wine shops’

WINE HAS finally joined the cultural status of artworks. For some time now it has been a regular item auctioned off by Christie’s and Sotheby’s, with prices pushed to the ceiling by the—what else?—Asian market.

 

And the rhetoric can go the way of overripe literature. A Christie’s wine expert describes one old and rare wine as “redolent of chocolate and schoolgirls’ uniforms.”

 

As investment, this “liquid asset” has beaten equities and commodities since 2006. That was what drove entrepreneur Romy Sia to pour his money into opening a shop that offers “only the finest wines money can buy.”

 

It started in 2008 when he read journalist Benjamin Wallace’s “The Billionaire’s Vinegar: The Mystery of the World’s Most Expensive Bottle of Wine,” an investigative book about the discovery of Thomas Jefferson’s cache of fine wine from the 1780s and the controversial auction of the antique vintage in 1985.

 

“It is ‘The Da Vinci Code’ of wine books,” says Sia. “It got me interested in wines. Every wine has a story.”

 

So, last November, he opened Wine Story in Shangri-La Plaza Mall at Edsa in Mandaluyong City, with high-school friend Christian Tan (also his business partner in the premium niche retail shops Healthy Options and Bow & Wow). They were targeting the wine drinkers from Greenhills.

 

And since most of Metro Manila’s wine aficionados are from Makati, in February, the two also opened a branch in Serendra at The Fort in Taguig City.

 

Raising the bar

 

“There are plenty of wineshops in London,” says Sia (he worked in UK for eight years), “but in Manila we have mostly supermarket wines.”

 

Which he blames on the conventional wisdom that Filipinos are not really wine drinkers but beer guzzlers.

 

“They always give the reasons that people don’t know what are the quality wines, or people cannot afford wines. That’s b.s. How can we have a wine culture if you don’t teach people?”

 

And that’s his primary mission in putting up his store: To raise the bar of wine experience—from learning, tasting and drinking to buying, storing, collecting and investing.

 

“This is the LV of wine shops,” he says. “Not even Hong Kong and Singapore have this kind of wine store. The wines here are the best of the best.”

 

It is your typical clean, well-lighted place. At the lounging area of the Serendra shop are three small square tables and a few low chairs. Temperature here is 18-19° C.

 

On the front wall are compartmentalized shelves filled with gleaming bottles of premium wines, with more cases on the floor. Each compartment is properly labeled.

 

Midnight Snacks offers dessert wines. Small Indulgence has half bottles. For Mr. Big contains the magnums, while Taipans & Dragons has the imperials, the party-size bottles.

 

Best with Dimsum has the Burgundy white, and Best with Sushi the Bordeaux white. Tiny Bubbles is, of course, the champagnes—which are also labeled Best with Friends.

 

Most expensive

 

Among the shop’s best-sellers are Château Siran, vintage 2007 (P2,300 a regular bottle); the Alsace wine Hugel Gewurztraminer (P1,095); Sean Thackrey, Sirius (P3,995).

 

The most expensive (prices upon request) are Château Angelus, Grand Cru Classé, vintage 1990; Château Haut-Brion; Ygrec Bordeaux Blanc.

 

The least expensive is Château Sainte Colombe (P1,000).

 

On the right wall is an Enomatic Elite dispenser, a wine-serving system with four units, each with eight bottles, like a vendo. Customers pay a minimum of P50 for simple tasting, and a maximum of P1,650 for a full glass, depending on the kind of wine.

 

“I saw this machine in a New York mall,” says Sia. “But that was a real wine bar. Here it’s just these tables and chairs for wine tasters to linger at.”

 

On the left wall are shelves of variously shaped wine glasses and decanters for sale, elegantly displayed like glass sculptures.

 

At a small curving counter on the corner are organic chocolate bars for pairing with full-bodied reds, ranging from white chocolate to dark (70-percent cocoa), to flavored ones such as cherry, espresso, almond, hazelnut, currant, from milk chocolate to Maya Gold (with a twist of orange and spices).

 

By the counter is a table stacked with wine books for sale, as well as a low wine cabinet (P49,000).

 

Social beverage

 

Behind the front wall is a walk-in cellar that’s constantly kept at 16-17° C. Here are stored the finest of the fine wines that money can buy.

 

Here the compartment labels are more cryptic: Romy’s Stash; First Growths; Famous Seconds.

 

Private Cellars (For Members Only) are for regular customers, membership being gained after accumulating P200,000 in purchase.

 

Billionaire’s Wine has, of course, pricing upon request. Here is former president Erap Estrada’s fave, Pétrus, vintage 1997, at P120,000 a regular bottle.

 

Annexed to the lounge is Parker Room, the shop’s function room-cum-art gallery named after wine critic Robert Parker.

 

“People who work here are all wine enthusiasts, so they infect the customers with their passion for wines,” says Sia of his staff. “Wine is about knowing the owner, the wine-maker. Not many people know, for example, that a French wine-maker is living here in the Philippines, at Forbes. He’s Edouard Miailhe of Château Siran. If you know the personal story of a certain wine, it becomes your favorite. Wine is a social beverage. You drink it with your family, unlike beer.”

 

Excellent vintage

 

He points out he was born in 1959, an excellent year for Bordeaux.

 

“It’s a great vintage—brick-red in color, caramel-flavored, wala na siyang fruit. A bottle is easily P100,000. Also a good vintage is 1961. And so are 1982, 1989 and 1995.”

 

That observation is based on the weather of a particular year, whether or not it’s favorable to the growth or harvest of the grape.

 

Wine Story carries 80-percent French wines; 10-percent Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Hungarian; the rest from the New World, Chilean, South African. And Australian?

 

“I let Wine Depot have them,” says Sia.

 

Not because he looks down on Australian wine, which has been gathering momentum on the market, but, as he explains, one has to specialize. As with car dealers, someone has to sell the Mercedes, another the Toyota.

 

“Kung sa sports car, ito na ’yun,” Sia says of his top-of-the-line wine shop. “Ito ang Porsche, ang Lamborghini.”

 

Most coveted

 

So how profitable is his newest venture, that he opened shops one after another, in a matter of three months?

 

“Anything about wine is long-term, even the vineyard,” he replies, and counters it is an excellent investment. “Ito lang ’yung puwede mo ma-trade, e. Kilala na siya.”

 

Which seems to be proven right by what’s happening on the world market. Some 100 most-coveted wines are carried by international auction houses, their prices driven by emerging Asian economies. With Château Lafite, the most sought-after Bordeaux, the Chinese market is pushing its price four times higher than other first growths.

 

Two weeks ago, the first wines-and-spirits auction in Manila was held at Mandarin Oriental, with about 100 wines of 12 varietals from eight countries.

 

“It’s a virgin territory,” says Sia. “’Yung maliit na market na ’yun, they have the capacity to buy.”

 

He regularly visits the Bordeaux region in southwestern France to meet up with people who tip him on wines, their fine nuances and proper vintage.

 

Now he’s contemplating of opening a third store, and, if ever, it would be at Ayala Cebu. He’s really bent on weaning us from beer and cuatro cantos.

[bods1000]

The more choices, the better for us here.

There's always a market for anything, at any price level.

 

Just like in two-channel audio. Some readers of Stereophile Magazine harp on why the magazine keeps featuring and reviewing speakers, cartridges, turntables, phonostages in the 4 to 5 figure dollar category. Why dont they feature less expensive models? Well a lot of readers wrote back - turns out that a good number of audiophiles really buy Continuum Audio turntables priced at $150,000 or Vandersteen speakers at $50,000.

 

A market for P10,000 wines exists that's why Wine Story is here.

Your preference is yours alone and nobody can influence you on what to buy.

And it also depends on the reasons on why you buy wine in the first place. If all you need wine for is to have some solid company while listening to good music alone late at night, then perhaps a P500 will taste like a Margaux.

Heck, if you're with a woman resplendent in beauty and redolent with heat, then maybe a Chinese wine will do. But maybe not, on second thought hehe.

 

 

cheers!

[floppydrive]

A market for P10,000 wines exists that's why Wine Story is here.

Your preference is yours alone and nobody can influence you on what to buy.

And it also depends on the reasons on why you buy wine in the first place. If all you need wine for is to have some solid company while listening to good music alone late at night, then perhaps a P500 will taste like a Margaux.

Heck, if you're with a woman resplendent in beauty and redolent with heat, then maybe a Chinese wine will do. But maybe not, on second thought hehe.

 

cheers!

Hahaha! I thought you were building up to a Vintage Grand Cru Reserve for the special date, yun pala....

[bods1000]

on third thought maybe she deserves that Grand Cru. But on a date like that, I don't want the wine to overshadow the company I've got hehe. A Grand Cru will distract my attention hahaha.

 

Fd, nakapasok ka na dun?

[floppydrive]

on third thought maybe she deserves that Grand Cru. But on a date like that, I don't want the wine to overshadow the company I've got hehe. A Grand Cru will distract my attention hahaha.

 

Fd, nakapasok ka na dun?

Hindi pa. Just read about it wondering if anyone here is a partner there or has visited.

[bods1000]

ah ok.

Haven't been there myself, but I have passed by their store at Shang several times.

I feel intimidated to enter such stores. I'm sure wala akong mabibili dun hehe.

[Quake]

Good evening. Sa mga wine experts dito, suggestions please ng isang relatively cheap white wine na madali lang mahanap sa Manila. Meron mabibili anywhere.

Hassle naman kasi kung baon mo pa yung buong bote while mamamasyal kayo.

 

 

Light lang ang dating and magugustuhan ng babae ang lasa. Pareho kaming hindi sophisticated at sosy, basta para maiba lang naman this time, hindi na lang puro hard liquor or beer.

 

TYVM

[bods1000]

hello Quake!

 

Cloudy Bay is good. The white wines from New Zealand are always excellent. I think it's available at Rustan's.

But always check out the vintage year, which you can find on the label. Whites should never go beyond 2 or 3 years because whites deteriorate more rapidly than reds.

A 2009 vintage or better yet a 2010 should be perfect.

[Quake]

Thanks, bods.

[bods1000]

tell me how is it, the wine I mean hehe.

Pasyal ka uli...

[agxo3]

tell me how is it, the wine I mean hehe.

Pasyal ka uli...

Hey Bods! I won't make it there in the next month or two....sorry However, there is a rumor that my project will go ODM. If it does then there is a good chance I will be out that way a bit later in the year. In the mean time I've given my miles to my daughter who will head over to HK to visit some friends.

 

If I do get to go I will bring at least one bottle - maybe two. I have some really great zins for you to try - from a small winery in Healdsburg that only sells through their tasting room at the winery. Not available in any retail stores anywhere.

[bods1000]

Hey Bods! I won't make it there in the next month or two....sorry However, there is a rumor that my project will go ODM. If it does then there is a good chance I will be out that way a bit later in the year. In the mean time I've given my miles to my daughter who will head over to HK to visit some friends.

 

If I do get to go I will bring at least one bottle - maybe two. I have some really great zins for you to try - from a small winery in Healdsburg that only sells through their tasting room at the winery. Not available in any retail stores anywhere.

 

The operative word there is "at least". The winos will be looking for something like this:

 

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[agxo3]

The operative word there is "at least". The winos will be looking for something like this:

 

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Close! But not quite. Look up Zichichi Winery.......

 

Or maybe a Boaventuras Caires cab from the southern part of Livermore.......

 

or both!

[storm]

Looking forward to the zin plus some....

[bods1000]

parens storm, ang tagal na nating hindi nagkikita ah. Check natin yung mga cork sa mga wine mo dyan, baka madurog na yun sa loob hehe...how about an unwinding day before your big event?