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SAVOUR VOICES IN WINE
MASTER OF VIN The primary objective of attaining the
Master of Wine title has always been to help
build a healthy culture of wine consumption in
Asia: less ganbei, less price speculation, more
Asia’s newest Master of Wine is none drinking for pleasure.
other than 29-year-old Sarah Heller—a The biggest misconception about being
Hong Kong native, beverage consultant a MW is that it means you’re familiar with every
vintage of every brand of wine available anywhere
and champion of using the digital and can thus serve as some kind of wine Google.
landscape to open up the world of wine I only wish I had that level of recall!
appreciation. She speaks to T.Dining At the first wine trade fair I ever visited,
about life behind the rosé-tinted glasses I remember nervously telling this winemaker her
white reminded me of pineapples. To my relief,
she was delighted; it was exactly the aroma she’d
had in mind, but nobody had yet picked it up. As
an art student, I recognised that electric thrill you
experience when someone “gets” your work.
Over an afternoon of drinking, this thought
morphed into fantastical notions about
wine’s preternatural ability to connect
people and cultures, bring about world peace,
et cetera. Even the ensuing hangover did nothing
to dampen my enthusiasm.
When dining out, I look at the bottom end
of the price scale; if I see wines around the
HK$500-800 mark from non-standard, trendy
regions – say Yarra Valley in Australia, Rias Baixas
in Spain or Wachau in Austria – I know I’m in
safe hands.
I derive immense enjoyment from slightly
irreverent wine pairings—at one point I
discovered that Chachawan has Bollinger at
an almost outlandishly reasonable price, and
since then it’s my go-to. With the smokiness of
Chachawan’s chicken thighs and crab fried rice, a
deliciously toasty Bolly is just magnificent.
Champagne is the white silk blouse of
wine pairing, and so the easy choice for a BYO
option. I’d pick a pinot noir-dominant grower
champagne, maybe Champagne Dosnon or
Charles Dufour: both have little or no sugar and
have sourdough, berry and turf profiles that will
wrap themselves gorgeously around whatever you
throw at them.
Delicious as French reds are, I think our
sultry climate in Hong Kong demands something
designed for humidity and heat: Sicilian reds from
Etna or Vittoria, Cornelissen and COS are perfect. PHOTOGRAPHY MOSES NG
If I were a wine, I’d love to be Aldo
Conterno Granbussia Barolo Riserva 1988
– layered and intriguing, with lots of life in it yet.
52 | T .DINING 2018
