WEBVTT

00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.399
To walk away from a successful job and pursue

00:00:03.399 --> 00:00:08.019
a passion you never knew you had. Our guest today

00:00:08.019 --> 00:00:10.779
knows exactly what that's like. For decades,

00:00:11.000 --> 00:00:14.000
she lived a high -flying life in the skies, soaring

00:00:14.000 --> 00:00:16.179
the world as an in -flight manager for Singapore

00:00:16.179 --> 00:00:19.420
Airlines. But after a long and successful career,

00:00:19.620 --> 00:00:22.800
she made a bold move, trading this high -flying

00:00:22.800 --> 00:00:26.899
life for a world of deep flavour and fine palates.

00:00:27.679 --> 00:00:31.120
At 58, she went back to school and emerged as

00:00:31.120 --> 00:00:35.799
a certified WSET wine trainer. She's also a trailblazer

00:00:35.799 --> 00:00:38.520
in a fascinating profession you may have never

00:00:38.520 --> 00:00:42.200
considered. Singapore's first female water sommelier.

00:00:42.560 --> 00:00:45.420
Her story isn't just about a change of jobs.

00:00:45.539 --> 00:00:48.880
It's about a total shift in passion and purpose.

00:00:49.520 --> 00:00:53.659
Join us as we sit down with Karen Tang, the beverage

00:00:53.659 --> 00:00:56.100
professional. who proves that it's never too

00:00:56.100 --> 00:01:00.920
late to love what you do. They tell you room

00:01:00.920 --> 00:01:03.799
temperature. They are actually referring to continental

00:01:03.799 --> 00:01:06.599
countries. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Their room temperature.

00:01:06.599 --> 00:01:10.760
Which is cold. 18. Good point! 18 normally. Wow,

00:01:10.760 --> 00:01:13.620
good point. Because all these books are written.

00:01:13.799 --> 00:01:16.620
Okay, Nadine, I'll tell you what. Thanks. I've

00:01:16.620 --> 00:01:18.640
got a certified sommelier here who just said

00:01:18.640 --> 00:01:22.480
this, okay? You can drink refrigerated red wine,

00:01:22.519 --> 00:01:29.750
correct? Okay. Before we begin the show, here

00:01:29.750 --> 00:01:33.170
is an important announcement. For 100 years,

00:01:33.409 --> 00:01:35.989
Shura set the standard for professional audio.

00:01:36.530 --> 00:01:39.730
Designed to outlast and outperform, Shura products

00:01:39.730 --> 00:01:41.810
help you deliver your message with confidence.

00:01:42.189 --> 00:01:44.950
Trust in Shura. You can be Shura with Shura.

00:01:45.530 --> 00:01:48.310
Shop the SureShop Singapore now. Visit the link

00:01:48.310 --> 00:01:51.790
on screen and use the promo code AFCHENSON to

00:01:51.790 --> 00:01:54.650
get limited Sure merchandise with your purchases.

00:01:55.230 --> 00:02:01.480
Now, let's start the show. Hi, everybody. You

00:02:01.480 --> 00:02:03.579
must be wondering, what's this guy doing without

00:02:03.579 --> 00:02:06.879
his cap today? I always have a hat on or a cap

00:02:06.879 --> 00:02:10.159
on. And for two reasons. The two reasons why

00:02:10.159 --> 00:02:13.620
I don't have my cap on my head today is because

00:02:13.620 --> 00:02:16.020
some people have said, Chris, you're always wearing

00:02:16.020 --> 00:02:18.780
a cap. That's because you've got no hair. Check

00:02:18.780 --> 00:02:23.439
it out. I've got a full head of hair, dudes.

00:02:23.860 --> 00:02:28.680
And not balding. No, no, no. I'm not balding

00:02:28.680 --> 00:02:32.550
either. And the second reason why I have my hair

00:02:32.550 --> 00:02:35.469
all done up today, and I'm kind of more dressed

00:02:35.469 --> 00:02:39.370
up than outside of my usual rock and roll tees

00:02:39.370 --> 00:02:42.270
and my stupid looking tees and stuff, and I'm

00:02:42.270 --> 00:02:45.710
looking more like a service staff today, is because

00:02:45.710 --> 00:02:49.409
this episode is all about the atas. It's all

00:02:49.409 --> 00:02:51.250
about, you know, atas in Malay, for those of

00:02:51.250 --> 00:02:53.469
you who are not Singaporeans, you probably don't

00:02:53.469 --> 00:02:56.150
understand what that means. Street slang Malay,

00:02:56.169 --> 00:02:59.250
atas means it's hot. High class topic today.

00:02:59.689 --> 00:03:02.930
It's all about the bourgeois, the bourgeoisie.

00:03:03.009 --> 00:03:05.990
You know what I mean? We're talking about, today,

00:03:06.110 --> 00:03:11.569
we're talking about wine. And with me in the

00:03:11.569 --> 00:03:15.210
studio, I have someone who is a certified wine

00:03:15.210 --> 00:03:18.289
sommelier, and she is Karen Tang. Welcome to

00:03:18.289 --> 00:03:20.710
the studio, Karen, and welcome to the show. Thank

00:03:20.710 --> 00:03:22.830
you, Chris. No, not at all. You might want to

00:03:22.830 --> 00:03:24.669
step in just a little bit, just ease yourself

00:03:24.669 --> 00:03:26.409
in a little bit so we can pick you up. Okay.

00:03:27.210 --> 00:03:29.069
So Karen's here. You heard the introduction.

00:03:29.250 --> 00:03:33.069
I mean, she was flying high, flying high in the

00:03:33.069 --> 00:03:36.750
skies all over the world when she was working

00:03:36.750 --> 00:03:40.310
as an air stewardess or in the cabin crew of

00:03:40.310 --> 00:03:44.490
the Singapore Airlines. And right. And then then

00:03:44.490 --> 00:03:47.689
all of a sudden she went into this thing about

00:03:47.689 --> 00:03:51.530
wine. And we want to find out why on this series

00:03:51.530 --> 00:03:57.610
of I love my job. So, Karen. We'd like to start

00:03:57.610 --> 00:04:00.830
with you. And I typically would like to start

00:04:00.830 --> 00:04:03.530
the show usually in this fashion. In your mind,

00:04:03.530 --> 00:04:07.750
for my audience, can you please tell them in

00:04:07.750 --> 00:04:11.669
your mind and in your own opinion, who is Karen

00:04:11.669 --> 00:04:19.149
Tang? Oh, Chris. Yeah, who is Karen Tang? Karen

00:04:19.149 --> 00:04:26.269
Tang actually... Came from a very small town

00:04:26.269 --> 00:04:31.829
in Malaysia called Taiping. Tin mining town.

00:04:32.129 --> 00:04:38.310
Yes. Yeah. Many, many years ago. Yeah. Singapore

00:04:38.310 --> 00:04:43.110
Airlines, they were advertising quite aggressively

00:04:43.110 --> 00:04:47.370
looking for cabin crew. So I was looking through

00:04:47.370 --> 00:04:50.410
the newspapers and then I said, okay, let's give

00:04:50.410 --> 00:04:56.939
it a try. And when I got shortlisted, I was very

00:04:56.939 --> 00:04:59.459
excited because I've never taken a plane before.

00:04:59.759 --> 00:05:06.259
Wow. Yeah, the first plane ride to Singapore

00:05:06.259 --> 00:05:09.500
was coming to Singapore to have an interview

00:05:09.500 --> 00:05:14.639
with Singapore Airlines. So I got accepted as

00:05:14.639 --> 00:05:19.180
a stewardess. I was very excited. And then as

00:05:19.180 --> 00:05:22.290
the years progressed, literally flew by after

00:05:22.290 --> 00:05:25.009
two, three years, I realised that, yeah, I'm

00:05:25.009 --> 00:05:28.230
beginning to like my job as a stewardess. Okay.

00:05:28.430 --> 00:05:32.250
And then over the years, you know, I got promoted

00:05:32.250 --> 00:05:35.509
and eventually held the last position as in -flight

00:05:35.509 --> 00:05:40.110
manager. Right. For about 16 years. And during

00:05:40.110 --> 00:05:43.990
my time in Singapore Airlines, I had the opportunity

00:05:43.990 --> 00:05:48.709
to improve myself professionally. Okay. And what

00:05:48.709 --> 00:05:53.180
was that? I studied to become a sommelier. Whilst

00:05:53.180 --> 00:05:55.779
you were there? Yes. There was an aha moment

00:05:55.779 --> 00:05:59.019
during the time when you were in -flight manager,

00:05:59.100 --> 00:06:02.019
on board? At the time, I was not an in -flight

00:06:02.019 --> 00:06:04.160
manager yet. I was still a chief stewardess.

00:06:04.180 --> 00:06:06.860
Ah, okay. But there was an opportunity to study

00:06:06.860 --> 00:06:09.259
to become a sommelier. And they offered that

00:06:09.259 --> 00:06:12.699
for you in the SQ? SIA offered that? Yeah, offered

00:06:12.699 --> 00:06:15.399
to the cabin crew. Wow! Yeah, and you can apply.

00:06:15.980 --> 00:06:19.019
Wow! Yeah. Of course, in SQ, we were called...

00:06:19.120 --> 00:06:23.500
Air Sommelier, because we are in the air. What

00:06:23.500 --> 00:06:26.300
a branding, huh? Yeah, Air Sommelier, we had

00:06:26.300 --> 00:06:30.699
a badge. And then SQ also offered foreign courses,

00:06:31.040 --> 00:06:33.540
foreign language courses. Oh, they do? Yeah,

00:06:33.600 --> 00:06:38.139
so I took up French. I mean, of course, my French

00:06:38.139 --> 00:06:40.500
is, you know, I will not sound like a French,

00:06:40.879 --> 00:06:44.579
but it's enough to get by. I made the French

00:06:44.579 --> 00:06:49.589
announcements. Wow. During my time in SQ, I mean,

00:06:49.649 --> 00:06:53.750
when you ask me who's Karen Tang, I think I spent

00:06:53.750 --> 00:06:57.029
32 years with Singapore Airlines and I learned

00:06:57.029 --> 00:06:59.149
a lot of things that I could have never learned

00:06:59.149 --> 00:07:04.110
from books. Wow. And I think I also had the opportunity

00:07:04.110 --> 00:07:10.410
to improve myself, to, you know, apply to become

00:07:10.410 --> 00:07:14.250
a French speaking crew, to become an air sommelier.

00:07:15.199 --> 00:07:17.839
And eventually when I became an air sommelier,

00:07:18.100 --> 00:07:24.600
I was selected to be a trainer. Oh. So I was

00:07:24.600 --> 00:07:27.560
also a trainer for wines for our cabin crew.

00:07:27.740 --> 00:07:30.420
Oh, wow. Yeah. So I did quite a lot of things,

00:07:30.459 --> 00:07:34.430
not just fly around. So many benefits. I didn't

00:07:34.430 --> 00:07:37.370
realize this. I thought, okay, fine. You guys

00:07:37.370 --> 00:07:39.990
get paid pretty decent money. The more you fly,

00:07:40.110 --> 00:07:41.910
the more money you make. Just like the pilots.

00:07:42.029 --> 00:07:44.350
Pilots make more, I suppose. And then, yeah,

00:07:44.370 --> 00:07:49.069
yeah, okay. Can I say it? For lack of a better

00:07:49.069 --> 00:07:53.050
adjective, you wait on the passengers, right?

00:07:54.199 --> 00:07:55.759
Yeah, but I never realised that you got these

00:07:55.759 --> 00:07:58.920
other perks and benefits where you could actually

00:07:58.920 --> 00:08:02.139
upgrade and learn new stuff. Yep, there were

00:08:02.139 --> 00:08:04.720
other courses. You know, hotels maybe. I would

00:08:04.720 --> 00:08:08.579
expect that to happen, but not. So I took up

00:08:08.579 --> 00:08:12.000
French and studying to become a sommelier. But

00:08:12.000 --> 00:08:13.740
why French? Can I just ask you personally, why

00:08:13.740 --> 00:08:17.939
French? Ah, because the first foreign language

00:08:17.939 --> 00:08:20.800
to be offered to the cabin crew was French, then

00:08:20.800 --> 00:08:24.120
followed by... Oh, okay. I think if I remember

00:08:24.120 --> 00:08:29.720
correctly, our beloved late Mr Lee Kuan Yew actually

00:08:29.720 --> 00:08:33.519
said something like, how come we don't have crew

00:08:33.519 --> 00:08:36.899
speaking other foreign languages apart from English?

00:08:37.279 --> 00:08:40.340
Was that his thoughts? I think so. If I remember

00:08:40.340 --> 00:08:42.240
correctly, that's how this thing came about.

00:08:42.519 --> 00:08:46.139
Wow. Yeah, because of course SQ had... I won't

00:08:46.139 --> 00:08:50.179
say had, has foreign speaking crew like Japanese,

00:08:50.379 --> 00:08:54.480
Korean, you know, but when you talk about European

00:08:54.480 --> 00:08:59.120
languages, the crew were trained. So as far as

00:08:59.120 --> 00:09:02.820
I know, it was French and German. So today, is

00:09:02.820 --> 00:09:06.799
it, do you know, are you updated whether today's

00:09:06.799 --> 00:09:11.159
crew, they all have to learn at least French,

00:09:11.220 --> 00:09:14.860
at least one foreign language? Oh, no, no. It's

00:09:14.860 --> 00:09:17.820
elective. If you apply, then if you're selected,

00:09:17.980 --> 00:09:22.820
then you get selected to be French -speaking

00:09:22.820 --> 00:09:26.379
or German -speaking crew. And then the crew will

00:09:26.379 --> 00:09:28.799
go on ground for about two months just to learn.

00:09:29.059 --> 00:09:33.059
Wow. Yeah. And then, of course, you know, the

00:09:33.059 --> 00:09:35.860
proficiency test will take place every year just

00:09:35.860 --> 00:09:39.240
to check on the proficiency. Okay. So let's talk

00:09:39.240 --> 00:09:43.379
about what we're here for today. Attending the

00:09:43.379 --> 00:09:47.039
Wine Sommelier course whilst you were in SQ,

00:09:47.279 --> 00:09:51.580
why did you elect yourself to go and attend that

00:09:51.580 --> 00:09:57.519
course? What was it? Okay. I enjoyed my wines,

00:09:57.720 --> 00:10:01.259
but I didn't know what I was drinking. Okay.

00:10:01.779 --> 00:10:05.059
And then I also learned something very valuable.

00:10:05.600 --> 00:10:10.039
Always look at what your seniors are doing. Okay.

00:10:10.080 --> 00:10:14.120
Listen to what your seniors, saying to each other

00:10:14.120 --> 00:10:17.220
or maybe sharing with you. Right. So I heard

00:10:17.220 --> 00:10:19.879
from one of my seniors that these courses are

00:10:19.879 --> 00:10:24.100
available. So I said, okay, you know, let me

00:10:24.100 --> 00:10:28.159
learn how to taste wine and appreciate wine properly,

00:10:28.460 --> 00:10:33.480
professionally. Okay. But because, so can I say

00:10:33.480 --> 00:10:38.759
that it's because you personally enjoy wine.

00:10:39.159 --> 00:10:42.009
And so, wait, why not? I'm just going to go learn

00:10:42.009 --> 00:10:44.750
this so I can appreciate wine even more. Correct.

00:10:44.970 --> 00:10:48.169
That's the reason. That was the reason. Okay.

00:10:48.389 --> 00:10:53.129
And then when I started studying wines and we

00:10:53.129 --> 00:10:55.450
were trained by somebody in Singapore Airlines.

00:10:55.649 --> 00:10:59.429
Right. But then we also got our more professional

00:10:59.429 --> 00:11:04.299
certification, WSET. Whying and Spirits Education

00:11:04.299 --> 00:11:08.779
Trust, the one from the UK. So it ranges from

00:11:08.779 --> 00:11:14.659
level one to four. After clearing level two and

00:11:14.659 --> 00:11:18.940
three, then I said, oh, why not try level four?

00:11:19.399 --> 00:11:23.600
So at least, well, when my wings are clipped,

00:11:23.720 --> 00:11:29.179
perhaps I could do something. I could do something.

00:11:29.279 --> 00:11:34.720
And at that time, Well, I do not have a university

00:11:34.720 --> 00:11:39.399
degree. Okay. I know my weaknesses in a lot of

00:11:39.399 --> 00:11:44.659
subjects. Right. But if I think, if I can pass

00:11:44.659 --> 00:11:47.259
level three for wines, let me have a go at level

00:11:47.259 --> 00:11:50.720
four. Okay. Let's see what happens. Right. Yeah.

00:11:50.860 --> 00:11:53.820
I, you know, I took all my level four exams in

00:11:53.820 --> 00:11:56.740
Hong Kong. Wow. Yeah, because it's not. offered

00:11:56.740 --> 00:11:58.879
in Singapore then. It's still not offered now.

00:11:59.039 --> 00:12:01.940
So even level four was paid for by SIA? No, no,

00:12:01.960 --> 00:12:04.179
no. All these were paid for by myself. So you

00:12:04.179 --> 00:12:07.559
took it upon yourself on your own, at your own

00:12:07.559 --> 00:12:11.159
expense, to further your education in wine. Correct.

00:12:11.360 --> 00:12:14.019
Because you enjoyed it from the beginning. Yeah.

00:12:14.159 --> 00:12:17.279
From your, what's it called again? Your first

00:12:17.279 --> 00:12:21.480
grade one. Is it grade one? Oh, level one. Level

00:12:21.480 --> 00:12:23.460
one. From level one, you had your level one through

00:12:23.460 --> 00:12:28.639
SIA. Oh, okay. We had, at that time, Mr. John

00:12:28.639 --> 00:12:31.159
Chua was the one training us. Right. Okay, he,

00:12:31.299 --> 00:12:36.379
it's just in -house program. Okay. But for WSCT,

00:12:36.519 --> 00:12:39.159
the school in England. In England, yeah. They

00:12:39.159 --> 00:12:41.940
recognized the course that we went through and

00:12:41.940 --> 00:12:44.120
said that we don't even have to go through level

00:12:44.120 --> 00:12:46.919
one. If we want to be certified and take more

00:12:46.919 --> 00:12:48.980
exams, we could straight away go to level two.

00:12:49.309 --> 00:12:52.610
Okay, and that one you paid for? Yeah, but actually

00:12:52.610 --> 00:12:56.190
I didn't do Level 2. I did Level 3. I sat for

00:12:56.190 --> 00:12:59.809
the exam in the UK. Ah, so you could skip Level

00:12:59.809 --> 00:13:05.769
2? Yeah, I mean, I could. How come? I'm curious.

00:13:05.990 --> 00:13:07.950
I'm sorry, because there's a gap there somewhere.

00:13:08.110 --> 00:13:12.330
You had Level 1 with SIA. It was exempted from...

00:13:12.330 --> 00:13:15.330
It exempted you from doing Level 1 with WSCT,

00:13:15.330 --> 00:13:19.110
but then Level 2 you could skip. I don't remember

00:13:19.110 --> 00:13:21.669
doing level two, but I remember going to the

00:13:21.669 --> 00:13:25.649
UK and doing level three. But to be fair, that

00:13:25.649 --> 00:13:30.590
was in maybe the late 90s. Okay. Which I think

00:13:30.590 --> 00:13:36.169
maybe, would I say a little bit easier than now?

00:13:36.649 --> 00:13:40.230
Okay. So they exempted you from level one and

00:13:40.230 --> 00:13:43.620
level two. Was it an exemption? I don't know.

00:13:43.860 --> 00:13:45.679
But they told you you could go to level three.

00:13:45.740 --> 00:13:48.080
Yeah, I just applied. Could I sit for this exam?

00:13:48.320 --> 00:13:52.820
Okay. I did it. I did it in the UK, I remember.

00:13:53.559 --> 00:13:58.179
Yeah, I did it. Yeah, it must be something. No,

00:13:58.200 --> 00:14:00.720
because I was already a sommelier with SQ. The

00:14:00.720 --> 00:14:03.000
training was already completed. Correct. We just

00:14:03.000 --> 00:14:05.299
wanted to further. Maybe it's because after you

00:14:05.299 --> 00:14:08.580
got certified as level one and through the time

00:14:08.580 --> 00:14:10.899
that you were serving and then you were demonstrating

00:14:10.899 --> 00:14:13.669
and stuff, Maybe because of the time spent, you

00:14:13.669 --> 00:14:16.690
could actually be exempted from level two. Kind

00:14:16.690 --> 00:14:18.970
of grandfathered, so to speak, you know, so that

00:14:18.970 --> 00:14:21.450
you could go straight to level three. I don't

00:14:21.450 --> 00:14:23.509
know. I suppose. But it was just an exam, you

00:14:23.509 --> 00:14:25.990
know, you take it, if you pass, you pass, you

00:14:25.990 --> 00:14:27.669
fail, you take it again. So tell me, level three

00:14:27.669 --> 00:14:30.649
was at your personal expense then? Yeah. And

00:14:30.649 --> 00:14:32.830
moving forward to level four is also your personal

00:14:32.830 --> 00:14:36.950
expense. Correct. And the reason for that, the

00:14:36.950 --> 00:14:40.659
reason for you saying, I am going. To go to the

00:14:40.659 --> 00:14:44.500
UK for Level 3 and pay and do this, and then

00:14:44.500 --> 00:14:47.360
I go to Hong Kong and pay and do Level 4, what

00:14:47.360 --> 00:14:50.039
was the motivation behind it? It can no longer

00:14:50.039 --> 00:14:53.039
be just because, oh, I enjoy my wine, so I want

00:14:53.039 --> 00:14:54.960
to learn more. There must have been something

00:14:54.960 --> 00:14:56.779
about it, right, that made you want to go even

00:14:56.779 --> 00:15:05.019
further. What was it? Okay. Am I being too probing?

00:15:05.059 --> 00:15:17.259
No. Okay. Okay. At that time, he was my boyfriend.

00:15:17.740 --> 00:15:21.159
Oh, here we go. Now we are hearing stuff. But

00:15:21.159 --> 00:15:27.440
now he's my husband. Okay. Now we're really hearing

00:15:27.440 --> 00:15:30.409
stuff. Okay, she married her boyfriend. Okay,

00:15:30.509 --> 00:15:31.669
now what happened with that? Boyfriend became

00:15:31.669 --> 00:15:34.409
your husband. At that time, I mean, he really

00:15:34.409 --> 00:15:39.429
has foresight. Okay. I can say I don't have much.

00:15:39.730 --> 00:15:43.210
Okay. So he said, you know, now you have passed

00:15:43.210 --> 00:15:45.490
this exam. Looks like you enjoy your wines. Looks

00:15:45.490 --> 00:15:48.649
like you enjoy studying this subject. Go further.

00:15:49.149 --> 00:15:54.139
Go further. And then, you know. Singapore Airlines

00:15:54.139 --> 00:15:57.779
is not forever. You will need something after

00:15:57.779 --> 00:16:04.559
SQ. Smart man. So he said, I will pay half for

00:16:04.559 --> 00:16:08.320
you. And then you pay the rest. And he was boyfriend

00:16:08.320 --> 00:16:10.279
then at the time. Boyfriend then. I said, okay.

00:16:10.419 --> 00:16:14.759
I said, okay. Wow. Very good tactic. Whoever

00:16:14.759 --> 00:16:19.500
you are. He doesn't really like it when I give

00:16:19.500 --> 00:16:23.039
him credit. But I didn't mean... to actually

00:16:23.039 --> 00:16:25.379
want to say this? No, it's fine. I mean, why

00:16:25.379 --> 00:16:27.320
not? Hey, I'm giving you credit, dude. I mean,

00:16:27.340 --> 00:16:28.720
whatever you've done, you've done the right thing.

00:16:28.879 --> 00:16:35.100
But you are so clever in your interviewing skills.

00:16:35.440 --> 00:16:41.000
Well, you know, I mean, you know, okay. So, it's

00:16:41.000 --> 00:16:42.379
a great thing. It's a great story. I think it's

00:16:42.379 --> 00:16:45.399
so human. Please tell it. I'm going to tell this

00:16:45.399 --> 00:16:47.559
to your husband right now. Don't worry about

00:16:47.559 --> 00:16:49.620
it, man. I mean, there are people out there,

00:16:49.659 --> 00:16:51.600
right? People out there who are watching and

00:16:51.600 --> 00:16:53.399
listening to this and people are trying to make

00:16:53.399 --> 00:16:56.659
their own decisions. And this is like stories

00:16:56.659 --> 00:16:58.539
from the salt of the earth. You know what I mean?

00:16:58.580 --> 00:17:01.460
This is so human. And it's great. Thank you for

00:17:01.460 --> 00:17:04.200
sharing. Thank you for sharing. So these are

00:17:04.200 --> 00:17:07.500
the reasons because, you know, and the push was

00:17:07.500 --> 00:17:10.519
actually for him. Ah, okay. And basically he

00:17:10.519 --> 00:17:12.640
told you that, look, listen, we've got to put,

00:17:12.740 --> 00:17:15.109
we've got to think. Practically, we use a lot

00:17:15.109 --> 00:17:17.849
of pragmatism here. One day you will have to

00:17:17.849 --> 00:17:20.369
stop flying and what's next, right? So now that

00:17:20.369 --> 00:17:24.569
you've got this, pragmatism says, sense and sensibility

00:17:24.569 --> 00:17:28.450
says, let's go and get even better at this. And

00:17:28.450 --> 00:17:31.170
you've got something in hand the moment you decide

00:17:31.170 --> 00:17:34.390
to leave. Now, you said earlier on, Karen, you

00:17:34.390 --> 00:17:39.650
said, when my wings got clipped. Did they clip

00:17:39.650 --> 00:17:42.089
your wings or did you clip the wings off from

00:17:42.089 --> 00:17:45.609
them? My wings were clipped because of COVID.

00:17:46.450 --> 00:17:50.690
Wow. Yeah. That was just recent, like five years

00:17:50.690 --> 00:17:55.309
ago. Yeah. Okay. How it works, because I joined

00:17:55.309 --> 00:18:01.869
in the, it was December 88. So we go by contracts.

00:18:02.150 --> 00:18:05.720
Right. Each contract is five years. Okay. So

00:18:05.720 --> 00:18:08.279
at my... Oh, five years renewable, you mean?

00:18:08.359 --> 00:18:10.779
Correct. Depending on performance, of course.

00:18:10.900 --> 00:18:14.059
Right. Weight, you know. Wow, okay. I'm sure

00:18:14.059 --> 00:18:19.359
you know. No, I don't actually. I don't. I don't

00:18:19.359 --> 00:18:21.640
really talk to many people from the cabin crew.

00:18:21.700 --> 00:18:25.319
So at my level then, in -flight manager, you

00:18:25.319 --> 00:18:27.759
know, the one that wears purple, the purple uniform.

00:18:28.619 --> 00:18:31.539
Oh, those guys are the in -flight managers? Yeah.

00:18:32.700 --> 00:18:35.920
The purple uniform. See, I'm such a plebeian.

00:18:35.920 --> 00:18:38.220
I don't know. Okay, purple uniform are the ones

00:18:38.220 --> 00:18:40.559
who are in -flight managers. Thank you for schooling

00:18:40.559 --> 00:18:42.460
me. Now I know. You have the blue, the green,

00:18:42.599 --> 00:18:47.900
the red, and then purple. Red, I know. The purple

00:18:47.900 --> 00:18:50.259
is the highest, huh? Then the chief steward wears

00:18:50.259 --> 00:18:54.839
what? Red. And the chief stewardess? Red. Red

00:18:54.839 --> 00:19:06.109
also. And then COVID clipped your wings. Five

00:19:06.109 --> 00:19:12.130
-year renewable contract and what happened? We

00:19:12.130 --> 00:19:15.970
call it extensions because for in -flight manager,

00:19:16.230 --> 00:19:19.829
it's a total of five contracts. That means 25

00:19:19.829 --> 00:19:24.660
years. So there will be one more. Contract, you

00:19:24.660 --> 00:19:27.079
know. Oh, so that's how it works. They give you

00:19:27.079 --> 00:19:31.640
a total maximum of five contracts of five years

00:19:31.640 --> 00:19:35.000
each. Yeah. So 25 years like long service and

00:19:35.000 --> 00:19:38.559
goodbye. Wait, let me count. Wait, wait, wait.

00:19:38.660 --> 00:19:43.359
I had four contracts. Was it four? Let me see.

00:19:45.539 --> 00:19:47.900
That's why I'm a stewardess. I can't even do

00:19:47.900 --> 00:19:51.859
simple math. No, no, no. This is too much wine.

00:19:52.019 --> 00:19:56.500
Okay. Yeah, it was five, you know. And then the

00:19:56.500 --> 00:19:59.380
next one, because it will be beyond. Beyond the

00:19:59.380 --> 00:20:01.920
25 years. Beyond the 25. Then they will offer

00:20:01.920 --> 00:20:05.000
in terms of two plus one or one plus two. Right,

00:20:05.000 --> 00:20:09.140
so shortened contracts. Yeah. So I remember they

00:20:09.140 --> 00:20:13.079
told me that if not for COVID, there would have

00:20:13.079 --> 00:20:17.460
been a possibility. of extension. Right. Yeah.

00:20:17.519 --> 00:20:20.059
But because of COVID, then, you know, yeah, correct.

00:20:20.160 --> 00:20:23.779
I stopped at 32 years because I finished 30 years.

00:20:23.940 --> 00:20:28.680
Right. So it could have been two plus one. Could

00:20:28.680 --> 00:20:32.799
have been 33 or something. Could have been. So,

00:20:32.880 --> 00:20:36.319
yeah. So, yeah, correct. My wings were clipped

00:20:36.319 --> 00:20:38.559
during COVID. How did you feel when that happened

00:20:38.559 --> 00:20:41.920
to you? After so many years, three decades in

00:20:41.920 --> 00:20:46.390
one place. Of course, disappointed. Okay. Yeah,

00:20:46.410 --> 00:20:49.470
disappointed. What was going through your mind

00:20:49.470 --> 00:20:51.490
when you were told, hey, I'm going to clip your

00:20:51.490 --> 00:21:01.289
wings? Well, you know, you're disappointed, but

00:21:01.289 --> 00:21:05.950
you need to accept it. But then, Chris, to be

00:21:05.950 --> 00:21:13.299
very honest, even before, you know, extension

00:21:13.299 --> 00:21:17.720
of contract the five years before. Because the

00:21:17.720 --> 00:21:20.519
whole, I would say that they are very dynamic.

00:21:20.680 --> 00:21:23.480
You know, things will change. You do not really

00:21:23.480 --> 00:21:28.319
know. But when I was told, okay, at this level,

00:21:28.339 --> 00:21:30.839
you have four contracts and then you would not

00:21:30.839 --> 00:21:34.000
know that you could possibly have another contract.

00:21:35.359 --> 00:21:38.740
So when I was up to my fourth contract, I already

00:21:38.740 --> 00:21:43.470
told myself, okay, Karen, go and do the things

00:21:43.470 --> 00:21:45.809
that you want to do, places you wanted to visit

00:21:45.809 --> 00:21:48.130
because you may not have a contract extension,

00:21:48.289 --> 00:21:50.690
you may not get to go there or you may not get

00:21:50.690 --> 00:21:54.029
to eat in this restaurant. So I was doing stuff

00:21:54.029 --> 00:21:55.690
like that. So whilst you're flying, you want

00:21:55.690 --> 00:21:57.990
to make sure you go and visit places. So which

00:21:57.990 --> 00:22:02.210
means to say, I did not take all the extensions

00:22:02.210 --> 00:22:06.049
for granted. So basically you were kind of buffering

00:22:06.049 --> 00:22:08.170
and getting ready, readying yourself to leave.

00:22:08.349 --> 00:22:14.059
It can happen to anyone. It can happen. So that's

00:22:14.059 --> 00:22:16.500
why I didn't use the word like it came as a surprise

00:22:16.500 --> 00:22:20.440
to me. I said to you earlier on, disappointed,

00:22:20.440 --> 00:22:24.180
but you know. But it happened. It happened. Okay.

00:22:24.700 --> 00:22:30.259
Okay. This is a whimsical question. Okay. Whimsical.

00:22:30.740 --> 00:22:35.279
Was there a single wine or bottle particularly?

00:22:36.359 --> 00:22:39.200
that first captured your imagination, truly opened

00:22:39.200 --> 00:22:41.359
your eyes to the world of wine? Was there anything

00:22:41.359 --> 00:22:43.559
like that? Like, I popped open this. It could

00:22:43.559 --> 00:22:46.400
have even been doing your time, you know, learning

00:22:46.400 --> 00:22:49.819
to be a sommelier and you poured it. What do

00:22:49.819 --> 00:22:51.519
you call it? You pour, right? You pour it. I

00:22:51.519 --> 00:22:58.619
am a commoner. And you pour into your goblet.

00:22:58.980 --> 00:23:01.859
Goblet, right? Okay. And then you swirl and then

00:23:01.859 --> 00:23:06.980
you take a, you just, you know, What's the word

00:23:06.980 --> 00:23:10.519
for it? And you take a sip and you go, was there

00:23:10.519 --> 00:23:13.319
anything like that? Any particular wine bottle

00:23:13.319 --> 00:23:14.900
that just opened up your imagination and go,

00:23:14.960 --> 00:23:22.119
wow, this is great. This question actually brings

00:23:22.119 --> 00:23:26.940
me to tasting a proper wine for the very first

00:23:26.940 --> 00:23:30.359
time. Yeah, yeah. Not even touching about becoming

00:23:30.359 --> 00:23:33.019
a sommelier and things like that. Okay. So that

00:23:33.019 --> 00:23:36.890
bottle would be a... Robert Mondavi Cabernet

00:23:36.890 --> 00:23:39.609
Sauvignon. Robert Mondavi Cabernet Sauvignon.

00:23:39.630 --> 00:23:42.970
Cabernet Sauvignon. Yeah. Somebody opened it

00:23:42.970 --> 00:23:44.869
for me and let me try. What was it? What was

00:23:44.869 --> 00:23:46.829
it? I just want to hear from you. You know, I

00:23:46.829 --> 00:23:48.970
just want to hear how, what was it? What was

00:23:48.970 --> 00:23:51.809
it about that Robert Mondavi Cabernet Sauvignon

00:23:51.809 --> 00:23:54.269
that captured your imagination? What was it?

00:23:54.269 --> 00:23:56.710
How would you describe it? Okay. I didn't know

00:23:56.710 --> 00:24:01.509
much, but I found, you know, the wine to be very

00:24:01.509 --> 00:24:05.359
concentrated, but balanced. and a lot of fruits

00:24:05.359 --> 00:24:10.839
and that one particular fruit that i enjoy and

00:24:10.839 --> 00:24:14.259
love the nose very very much is blackcurrant

00:24:14.259 --> 00:24:17.980
okay yeah and for cabernet sauvignon you get

00:24:17.980 --> 00:24:24.019
a lot of that okay hang on hang on you use a

00:24:24.019 --> 00:24:29.119
lot of terminology the nose hang on hang on Karen,

00:24:29.259 --> 00:24:31.380
before becoming, as you said in your own words,

00:24:31.420 --> 00:24:34.380
before becoming a sommelier, had that Robert

00:24:34.380 --> 00:24:38.440
Mondavi Cabernet Sauvignon. Without knowing all

00:24:38.440 --> 00:24:41.539
these terminologies, the official terminologies,

00:24:41.759 --> 00:24:46.099
how would you have described it? Oh, nice wine.

00:24:49.460 --> 00:24:58.230
Nice wine. So all the other descriptives that

00:24:58.230 --> 00:25:01.210
came, you just mentioned the blackcurrant, the

00:25:01.210 --> 00:25:04.349
nose of the blackcurrant. It's so balanced, condensed.

00:25:04.690 --> 00:25:07.589
It all came after you became a sommelier, right?

00:25:07.589 --> 00:25:11.170
Yeah, yeah, actually. Okay, people. That's the

00:25:11.170 --> 00:25:13.750
reason why we're having this episode. Because

00:25:13.750 --> 00:25:16.009
an idiot like me would have gone just like, what?

00:25:16.150 --> 00:25:21.750
Karen said, nice wine. Yeah. What is it about

00:25:21.750 --> 00:25:26.279
a wine? I don't know. But it was nice. It wasn't

00:25:26.279 --> 00:25:30.180
like, was it like Rabina? Oh, no, no, no. It's

00:25:30.180 --> 00:25:34.599
wine. So that's why we're having this episode.

00:25:35.400 --> 00:25:38.220
Because I think we just need to be schooled a

00:25:38.220 --> 00:25:41.039
little bit more, right? No harm what, you learn

00:25:41.039 --> 00:25:45.460
something new. What the hell, right? So this

00:25:45.460 --> 00:25:48.119
is going to be fun. What did you just put up

00:25:48.119 --> 00:25:51.900
there, Kai? I forgot. Okay, you flash that on

00:25:51.900 --> 00:25:58.940
screen. You've got prices too. See, those are

00:25:58.940 --> 00:26:04.700
all different noses. Thank you very much, Kai.

00:26:04.740 --> 00:26:08.619
That was funny. Okay. So Robert Mondavi, Cabernet

00:26:08.619 --> 00:26:11.140
Sauvignon. As I said, that was a whimsical question.

00:26:11.839 --> 00:26:17.799
You were already kind of, can I safely say this?

00:26:18.099 --> 00:26:22.990
Karen Tang was already prepared. for wings to

00:26:22.990 --> 00:26:25.430
be clipped. And I said, nevermind at that stage.

00:26:25.789 --> 00:26:28.970
Were you at level three or level four? When I

00:26:28.970 --> 00:26:32.849
left SQ? Yeah. Oh, already level four. So you

00:26:32.849 --> 00:26:36.130
were like, I got level four. Was it like that?

00:26:36.230 --> 00:26:37.950
Oh, no, no, no, no. It was a tremendous, or was

00:26:37.950 --> 00:26:41.369
it a tremendous leap? A tremendous leap from,

00:26:41.430 --> 00:26:43.829
I'm no longer working in that, in that space

00:26:43.829 --> 00:26:48.089
where I've been for 30 years. And now I got my

00:26:48.089 --> 00:26:50.779
level four. Did you decide straight away that

00:26:50.779 --> 00:26:53.940
this is what I'm going to do? No. Well, I was

00:26:53.940 --> 00:27:00.660
also teaching wines with SQ. And after, I mean,

00:27:00.680 --> 00:27:04.599
post SQ and straight away, I said, okay, I think

00:27:04.599 --> 00:27:07.400
I would apply to be a wine educator because of

00:27:07.400 --> 00:27:11.400
my qualification. Oh, there was one more thing.

00:27:11.519 --> 00:27:15.519
Yeah. When I was in Singapore Airlines, I was

00:27:15.519 --> 00:27:19.160
also selected. under this program where the school

00:27:19.160 --> 00:27:22.779
in the UK actually trained us to be educators.

00:27:23.099 --> 00:27:25.440
Okay, that's cool. Yeah, that's cool. It's like

00:27:25.440 --> 00:27:28.240
a trainer -trainer program. Correct. So I have

00:27:28.240 --> 00:27:30.480
that qualification from the school itself. Okay.

00:27:30.759 --> 00:27:35.740
And that has equipped me to teach. Okay. Yeah.

00:27:35.980 --> 00:27:41.460
So now that we're talking about WSET, it's a

00:27:41.460 --> 00:27:45.579
global benchmark for white knowledge. Yeah. I

00:27:45.579 --> 00:27:48.940
know, actually. I also do my research before

00:27:48.940 --> 00:27:54.180
you come in, you know. So as a trainer, what's

00:27:54.180 --> 00:27:57.799
the most common misconception you see students

00:27:57.799 --> 00:28:01.380
bring in the classroom about wine? What's the

00:28:01.380 --> 00:28:05.619
most common misconception? What do they bring?

00:28:05.720 --> 00:28:10.640
When you train students, right, in wine appreciation,

00:28:10.980 --> 00:28:14.000
do they come with any misconceptions about wine?

00:28:15.819 --> 00:28:21.160
What's the most common one? I don't think there's

00:28:21.160 --> 00:28:24.299
any, I don't know whether what I'm about to say

00:28:24.299 --> 00:28:28.660
is a misconception because for level one, of

00:28:28.660 --> 00:28:31.359
course, it's quite simple. But then when you

00:28:31.359 --> 00:28:34.539
progress on to level two or three, I think maybe

00:28:34.539 --> 00:28:38.019
people would not have expected that the syllabus

00:28:38.019 --> 00:28:40.859
would be difficult. Right. But is there any misconception?

00:28:41.200 --> 00:28:44.220
Let me try to explain my question. If I walk

00:28:44.220 --> 00:28:47.440
in, to your classroom, right? And then let's

00:28:47.440 --> 00:28:49.460
say five of us walk into your classroom, okay?

00:28:50.119 --> 00:28:54.599
And in a class of eight, there's five of us,

00:28:54.599 --> 00:28:58.019
which is a majority of the class. Is there anything

00:28:58.019 --> 00:29:00.440
the five people would say to you that you would

00:29:00.440 --> 00:29:02.140
have to go, yeah, everybody asked that question

00:29:02.140 --> 00:29:04.960
is wrong. Everybody thinks about why in that

00:29:04.960 --> 00:29:08.599
way and it's wrong. Is there any one misconception

00:29:08.599 --> 00:29:13.650
at all? Like, for example, how they perceive

00:29:13.650 --> 00:29:21.809
wine to be? So far, I don't think so. Wow. So

00:29:21.809 --> 00:29:29.230
good are these people. I can't recall. But I

00:29:29.230 --> 00:29:31.529
haven't taught for a long time. So these people

00:29:31.529 --> 00:29:34.049
come in on a clean slate. I come here with an

00:29:34.049 --> 00:29:36.650
open mind and I just want to learn. That's it.

00:29:36.750 --> 00:29:39.589
I just want to learn. Because some people could

00:29:39.589 --> 00:29:41.789
come into any course with certain misconceptions

00:29:41.789 --> 00:29:43.970
like, oh, this is how I see this thing to be,

00:29:44.029 --> 00:29:46.589
this product. But actually, that's not how it

00:29:46.589 --> 00:29:51.789
should be seen. Oh, to be honest, no. No? No.

00:29:51.849 --> 00:29:54.529
Okay, that's good. They may have their preferences

00:29:54.529 --> 00:29:59.109
for certain things, but not like a misconception

00:29:59.109 --> 00:30:02.049
whereby you throw it out and then have a... Big

00:30:02.049 --> 00:30:06.450
debate. Oh, is it? Yeah, so far. Really? So basically,

00:30:06.630 --> 00:30:09.650
they just listen and learn. That's it. Oh, they

00:30:09.650 --> 00:30:11.509
have questions pertaining to the syllabus. Like

00:30:11.509 --> 00:30:17.309
what? Like what? Show me one. Common one. Common

00:30:17.309 --> 00:30:25.789
one. Let me think. I can't remember. So far.

00:30:25.930 --> 00:30:30.339
Am I putting you in a spot? No, I just. Have

00:30:30.339 --> 00:30:34.799
they ever asked me anything? No. Because you

00:30:34.799 --> 00:30:36.740
said that they actually ask you questions. Ah,

00:30:36.740 --> 00:30:40.359
okay. Okay, maybe this thing, you know. Screw

00:30:40.359 --> 00:30:44.740
cap versus a natural cork. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:30:45.140 --> 00:30:47.140
Good one, good one. Let's share that. Okay, okay,

00:30:47.140 --> 00:30:49.700
okay. This one, this one, this one. So that could

00:30:49.700 --> 00:30:51.920
be a misconception, you know. A lot of people

00:30:51.920 --> 00:30:57.960
would think that screw cap is inferior. to a

00:30:57.960 --> 00:31:03.960
natural cork or a bottle of wine that is sealed

00:31:03.960 --> 00:31:09.119
with a cork. Yeah, so this has got to be dispelled

00:31:09.119 --> 00:31:12.460
because it doesn't mean that if it is a screw

00:31:12.460 --> 00:31:14.859
cap, therefore the quality is inferior. You know

00:31:14.859 --> 00:31:19.119
what? It is what? But it is inferior. No. Why?

00:31:21.500 --> 00:31:26.039
If it's... Wait, wait, wait. Wait, before you

00:31:26.039 --> 00:31:29.799
address that, me being stubborn about that, screw

00:31:29.799 --> 00:31:32.940
cap versus corked, right? What is the meaning

00:31:32.940 --> 00:31:37.759
of when someone says, Karen, this wine is corked.

00:31:37.819 --> 00:31:40.880
What does it mean? This wine is corked. That

00:31:40.880 --> 00:31:44.539
means the fault lies with the natural cork because

00:31:44.539 --> 00:31:48.920
cork can come in the form of plastic, synthetic.

00:31:50.329 --> 00:31:53.490
So those corks, you won't have problems. But

00:31:53.490 --> 00:31:55.990
natural cork, because it comes from a tree, and

00:31:55.990 --> 00:32:00.150
the cork could have been diseased. So when you

00:32:00.150 --> 00:32:03.289
use the cork, when you cut the tree, you probably

00:32:03.289 --> 00:32:06.750
don't know. Right. How would you know that the

00:32:06.750 --> 00:32:10.170
bottle is corked? Ah, from the smell. Smell or

00:32:10.170 --> 00:32:16.400
sediment? Smell. Smell. What kind of smell? We

00:32:16.400 --> 00:32:19.980
call it cork taint, but actually it smells...

00:32:19.980 --> 00:32:29.299
Describe the smell. It's damp, damp wood. Oh,

00:32:29.299 --> 00:32:35.900
wow. Or, you know, in a dilapidated building,

00:32:36.119 --> 00:32:38.859
that kind of places where you walk in, those

00:32:38.859 --> 00:32:43.329
damp... Musky. Yeah. Musky could be... A nice

00:32:43.329 --> 00:32:48.309
description for dogs, you know, so. Some perfumes

00:32:48.309 --> 00:32:50.950
are also musky, but I'm trying to draw you to

00:32:50.950 --> 00:32:54.769
that place whereby. Moldy. Could be a little

00:32:54.769 --> 00:32:58.089
bit. Okay. That kind of foul smell. So when that

00:32:58.089 --> 00:33:00.690
happens, the whole wine is corked and it's going

00:33:00.690 --> 00:33:05.289
to be, forget it, you can't drink it. No, because

00:33:05.289 --> 00:33:09.269
we won't die from it. Right. I'll be very honest.

00:33:09.289 --> 00:33:15.299
If the wine is corked, If the wine is super expensive,

00:33:15.519 --> 00:33:18.599
I'm not going to throw it down the drain. I would

00:33:18.599 --> 00:33:25.000
at least drink half a glass. Okay, it's not only

00:33:25.000 --> 00:33:28.019
detected from the nose, but when you taste it,

00:33:28.059 --> 00:33:31.119
it almost echoes in your palate. It does? A cocked

00:33:31.119 --> 00:33:35.019
wine. Okay, like how? Same. Oh, really? Yeah,

00:33:35.019 --> 00:33:39.390
that kind of cardboard, wet flooring. I don't

00:33:39.390 --> 00:33:40.829
know, man. I watch a lot of movies, you know,

00:33:40.869 --> 00:33:42.569
and a lot of TV shows and I see all these atas

00:33:42.569 --> 00:33:45.049
people who order wine. The waiter will come and

00:33:45.049 --> 00:33:47.670
I'll tell you, he'll pop the wine and after that

00:33:47.670 --> 00:33:50.250
he'll pour it into the glass. The guy will swirl

00:33:50.250 --> 00:33:52.170
it and he'll taste it first and he says, hmm,

00:33:52.390 --> 00:33:58.630
this wine is corked. I don't want it. These days,

00:33:58.710 --> 00:34:01.869
it's quite difficult to find a corked wine because

00:34:01.869 --> 00:34:05.859
it's synthetic. Wines are also well -made these

00:34:05.859 --> 00:34:08.579
days. These days, the younger ones, newer wine,

00:34:08.639 --> 00:34:10.780
new generation, that means, right? Yeah, they

00:34:10.780 --> 00:34:14.719
are well -made, you know, and then the wineries,

00:34:14.840 --> 00:34:17.860
they are also... How about the real old bottles?

00:34:17.940 --> 00:34:19.400
Okay, before I go there, before I go there, I'm

00:34:19.400 --> 00:34:21.519
getting carried away. Let me just go back to

00:34:21.519 --> 00:34:26.219
the point again. Screw cap and corks, okay? And,

00:34:26.300 --> 00:34:30.179
I mean, I just feel, it's easier, of course,

00:34:30.179 --> 00:34:33.280
if you buy a screw cap wine, but to me, it looks

00:34:33.280 --> 00:34:36.570
cheap. You know, you don't have the atasness,

00:34:36.650 --> 00:34:38.489
you know, must be atas a bit. You don't have

00:34:38.489 --> 00:34:43.690
the atasness to it. But one way you need to really

00:34:43.690 --> 00:34:45.750
pull a cork out, you know what I mean? To me,

00:34:45.750 --> 00:34:49.530
that's like, that one is probably a little bit

00:34:49.530 --> 00:34:51.869
more atas wine. Is that the wrong perception?

00:34:52.250 --> 00:34:55.090
Correct. Wrong. Really? In general. So you can

00:34:55.090 --> 00:34:58.130
have a really good, expensive bottle of wine

00:34:58.130 --> 00:35:00.730
that is screw cap. Yes. Can you name me one?

00:35:03.929 --> 00:35:07.170
Henschke from Australia. Henschke. Henschke,

00:35:07.309 --> 00:35:11.789
the brand. Okay. I remember, if I'm not wrong,

00:35:11.929 --> 00:35:16.409
their Mount Elderton is already... Screw -capped.

00:35:16.610 --> 00:35:19.969
Screw -capped, yeah. Okay. And they retail easily

00:35:19.969 --> 00:35:22.710
for $80, $90 Singapore dollars. How about those

00:35:22.710 --> 00:35:27.210
with a synthetic cork? Synthetic cork, mostly

00:35:27.210 --> 00:35:35.260
more inexpensive wines. Huh? Yeah. Because if

00:35:35.260 --> 00:35:37.980
you talk about those Grand Cru and very expensive

00:35:37.980 --> 00:35:41.840
wines, there's already oak investment from the

00:35:41.840 --> 00:35:46.239
producer. Right. Of course, they would use a

00:35:46.239 --> 00:35:49.400
natural cork. Oak investment. Yeah, because oak

00:35:49.400 --> 00:35:52.000
investment meaning the wine is oaked. Okay, okay.

00:35:52.300 --> 00:35:56.099
Casks. Yeah. Okay, in oak casks. Yeah. And then

00:35:56.099 --> 00:36:00.099
natural corks will allow the wine to be aged

00:36:00.099 --> 00:36:03.360
and then let it breathe. Because synthetic corks,

00:36:03.360 --> 00:36:10.340
synthetic. See? So corked wine. Corked wine bottle.

00:36:10.639 --> 00:36:13.119
Wine bottles with cork, not corked wine. Wine

00:36:13.119 --> 00:36:16.960
bottles with cork. Better. Because you can let

00:36:16.960 --> 00:36:21.840
it age. Screw cap, we can't, right? Ah. Okay.

00:36:22.800 --> 00:36:28.170
Okay. From what I know, even screw cap, you can

00:36:28.170 --> 00:36:30.269
tell the manufacturers, I don't know how they

00:36:30.269 --> 00:36:34.489
do it. Okay. Apparently, they can. Oh, they can?

00:36:34.650 --> 00:36:37.489
They can from the screw cap. I don't know how

00:36:37.489 --> 00:36:41.190
small the holes are or whatever they do with

00:36:41.190 --> 00:36:45.750
it to be able to let the wine age. Wow. This

00:36:45.750 --> 00:36:48.889
is what I've read. Okay. But I... Have you encountered

00:36:48.889 --> 00:36:54.059
those before? No. No. Okay. See, so... Perception

00:36:54.059 --> 00:36:56.840
is reality. Everyone seems to have that. I'm

00:36:56.840 --> 00:36:59.219
pretty sure I'm not the sole person who thinks

00:36:59.219 --> 00:37:05.099
about it that way. And you agree that we're talking

00:37:05.099 --> 00:37:06.659
about this because when I ask you that question,

00:37:06.739 --> 00:37:08.480
now we come into a whole new topic, which is

00:37:08.480 --> 00:37:20.699
great. So when we have wine from, say, the 1700s,

00:37:20.699 --> 00:37:26.820
wow. One of the 1700s, say 300 plus years ago.

00:37:27.820 --> 00:37:30.159
Aged for 300 plus years. Is there such a thing?

00:37:30.340 --> 00:37:35.079
I'm sure there is. Darn expensive probably. I've

00:37:35.079 --> 00:37:38.420
never come across, but I do know, I do remember

00:37:38.420 --> 00:37:44.219
the champagne that they found. deep in the ocean.

00:37:44.440 --> 00:37:46.659
Yeah, I don't know how many hundreds of years.

00:37:46.840 --> 00:37:49.159
That one I don't remember. Including what, you

00:37:49.159 --> 00:37:53.260
know, including wine from amphoras still preserved

00:37:53.260 --> 00:37:56.940
from ancient Rome at the bottom of the ocean

00:37:56.940 --> 00:38:04.400
and still drinkable. Yeah, so let's talk about

00:38:04.400 --> 00:38:10.519
aging wine. When you have got wine that's being

00:38:10.519 --> 00:38:15.940
aged, why, Is it that the older the wine, provided

00:38:15.940 --> 00:38:18.659
of course the environment is correct, the cellar

00:38:18.659 --> 00:38:21.860
is right, the bottle is being turned every now

00:38:21.860 --> 00:38:23.900
and then, I suppose. Am I right about that? No

00:38:23.900 --> 00:38:28.059
need. Or is that BS? That's BS, huh? No, you

00:38:28.059 --> 00:38:29.539
don't need to do that. You don't need to turn

00:38:29.539 --> 00:38:33.739
the wine? No, no, no. Minimum intervention. Okay,

00:38:33.800 --> 00:38:36.099
minimum intervention. Oh, really? When you store

00:38:36.099 --> 00:38:38.360
your wines, just leave them there? I always what?

00:38:38.699 --> 00:38:41.480
Okay, I watch TV, call me stupid or what, but

00:38:41.480 --> 00:38:44.219
I watch people on TV, they turn the bottles.

00:38:44.300 --> 00:38:46.719
No, you don't have to. No, you don't have to.

00:38:46.800 --> 00:38:52.320
Okay, but what's the reason for aging wine? Okay,

00:38:52.320 --> 00:38:56.099
some wines are meant to be aged and some are

00:38:56.099 --> 00:38:59.440
not. Right. So when you have decided to buy wines

00:38:59.440 --> 00:39:04.170
to be aged, you need... The tannins to settle,

00:39:04.190 --> 00:39:06.449
we are talking about red wine, to be smoother.

00:39:06.630 --> 00:39:09.090
The tannin from the skin of the grape, you mean?

00:39:09.190 --> 00:39:13.369
Yeah. Okay. To be smoother. And then you would

00:39:13.369 --> 00:39:16.630
expect the wine, after aging, it will not be

00:39:16.630 --> 00:39:19.989
so harsh on your palate. I learned this when

00:39:19.989 --> 00:39:22.590
I came to Singapore. They call the wines siap

00:39:22.590 --> 00:39:25.010
-siap, you know? Yeah, siap -siap. But actually,

00:39:25.030 --> 00:39:27.369
it's the tannins. More vinegar type, basically

00:39:27.369 --> 00:39:32.409
siap -siap, right? I was told it's more the tannins,

00:39:32.409 --> 00:39:35.710
you know, that dry feeling in your mouth. Okay.

00:39:35.929 --> 00:39:39.670
So when you age your wine, everything will settle

00:39:39.670 --> 00:39:42.849
down. Right. Yeah. You need to tame, so -called

00:39:42.849 --> 00:39:45.170
tame the wine. Right. Okay. Yeah. That's why

00:39:45.170 --> 00:39:48.150
you age your wine. But of course, some people...

00:39:48.150 --> 00:39:51.070
Tame the wine. Yeah. Wow. But this is just my

00:39:51.070 --> 00:39:55.650
own word. It's not a wine term. Okay. Okay. Thanks

00:39:55.650 --> 00:39:59.639
for clarifying that. Well, some people age their

00:39:59.639 --> 00:40:02.539
wine, they keep it stored for investment purposes.

00:40:04.699 --> 00:40:08.340
Why? I mean, how would one make money? Okay,

00:40:08.380 --> 00:40:10.320
basically, they put it up for auction, you mean?

00:40:10.559 --> 00:40:12.659
Oh, they can just sell it, you know, auction

00:40:12.659 --> 00:40:16.159
or... Okay, but why? Okay, if you open, say,

00:40:16.400 --> 00:40:20.900
a fantastic bottle of aged wine, and God forbid

00:40:20.900 --> 00:40:24.480
you open it. Oh, these people actually buy these

00:40:24.480 --> 00:40:28.309
wines? Okay, maybe... Not to drink it. Not to

00:40:28.309 --> 00:40:31.369
drink it. Some drink it, they age it, and wait

00:40:31.369 --> 00:40:34.250
for a number of years, and then you enjoy your

00:40:34.250 --> 00:40:36.750
wine. But some people just buy it for investment.

00:40:36.809 --> 00:40:41.050
Therefore, you also age your wine. But why? You

00:40:41.050 --> 00:40:44.750
said to tame the tannin. And after being aged

00:40:44.750 --> 00:40:49.190
for so many years, and then you pour it, what's

00:40:49.190 --> 00:40:51.710
the difference between having it now and having

00:40:51.710 --> 00:40:54.929
it, say, 100 years later? Okay, because wine

00:40:54.929 --> 00:40:59.550
changes and is constantly evolving. Because a

00:40:59.550 --> 00:41:02.429
newly made wine, it would just be very fruity.

00:41:02.510 --> 00:41:05.309
The tannins would be very harsh. But then it

00:41:05.309 --> 00:41:08.989
goes through the process of maturation and then

00:41:08.989 --> 00:41:12.429
you will get what we call secondary aromas, depending

00:41:12.429 --> 00:41:16.369
on whether it's white wine or red wine. So secondary

00:41:16.369 --> 00:41:21.000
aromas can come from oak aging. Because you leave

00:41:21.000 --> 00:41:24.059
your wine in the barrel. And the smell, the fragrance

00:41:24.059 --> 00:41:27.139
of the oak gets into the wine. Okay, what else?

00:41:27.239 --> 00:41:34.940
Because oak barrels, they are rounded. Yeah,

00:41:34.940 --> 00:41:38.579
yeah. Right? Yeah. But how do you make it round?

00:41:39.800 --> 00:41:45.800
You... get the carpenter to make it round. It's

00:41:45.800 --> 00:41:48.059
called toasting, toasting the wood because when

00:41:48.059 --> 00:41:49.860
you cut out wood, it's just a straight plank.

00:41:49.880 --> 00:41:51.760
Okay, okay, okay. So you need to bend it a little

00:41:51.760 --> 00:41:53.980
bit. So you bend it because physics, you heat.

00:41:54.059 --> 00:41:58.619
Yeah, you toast it and then all this will contribute

00:41:58.619 --> 00:42:01.940
to the smell of the wine. Oak itself, depending

00:42:01.940 --> 00:42:04.340
where it comes from. Because it's smoked. Yeah.

00:42:04.659 --> 00:42:08.579
So you also get that charred smell. Okay, you

00:42:08.579 --> 00:42:11.599
get that. Coffee. Can you get the chart smell

00:42:11.599 --> 00:42:14.280
really? When I smell things, I can't get anything

00:42:14.280 --> 00:42:17.840
except for the grape or whatever it is. That's

00:42:17.840 --> 00:42:22.659
because you have not been highlighted to the

00:42:22.659 --> 00:42:26.760
nuances. I have yet to reach that level. Yeah,

00:42:26.840 --> 00:42:33.309
my nose is... Blocked. Everybody can smell. Really?

00:42:33.329 --> 00:42:35.230
Everybody can smell. Okay, later we'll find out,

00:42:35.250 --> 00:42:38.050
okay? Yeah. Let's come back to you. Let's come

00:42:38.050 --> 00:42:41.250
back to you. So your wings were clipped. You

00:42:41.250 --> 00:42:44.909
have your level four. What next? What happened

00:42:44.909 --> 00:42:48.030
after that? It was COVID period. Yes. Okay. What

00:42:48.030 --> 00:42:52.710
happened after that? Yeah. I applied to be a

00:42:52.710 --> 00:42:59.309
mind educator. And then also during the lockdown,

00:42:59.630 --> 00:43:07.869
my husband said to me, would you like to study

00:43:07.869 --> 00:43:11.130
to become a water sommelier? Okay, the water

00:43:11.130 --> 00:43:15.329
bit. Okay. Yeah. Like Sam Wu. Yeah. So yeah,

00:43:15.349 --> 00:43:17.429
during the lockdown, you know, okay, I applied

00:43:17.429 --> 00:43:22.449
to be a wine educator with whatever schools here

00:43:22.449 --> 00:43:26.929
in Singapore. But during that time also, husband

00:43:26.929 --> 00:43:29.670
dangled that idea and I went for it. So you went

00:43:29.670 --> 00:43:33.230
for Water Sommelier as well? Yeah. Okay. Yeah,

00:43:33.250 --> 00:43:38.429
I went for it because I was curious and then

00:43:38.429 --> 00:43:43.809
I thought maybe my husband was joking. How serious

00:43:43.809 --> 00:43:47.210
can I take this topic? But after applying for

00:43:47.210 --> 00:43:50.150
it and got accepted, when I went there after

00:43:50.150 --> 00:43:54.179
two days, I said, wow. It has opened up to another

00:43:54.179 --> 00:43:57.920
world. Okay. Now, what's the difference? Is there

00:43:57.920 --> 00:44:03.880
any similarity at all between tasting wine and

00:44:03.880 --> 00:44:06.940
then tasting water? Are there similar principles?

00:44:07.059 --> 00:44:10.420
Is there any difference at all? Similar principles,

00:44:10.519 --> 00:44:15.780
but the water will not have such clear expression

00:44:15.780 --> 00:44:20.679
as compared to wines. Not as clear. And I have

00:44:20.679 --> 00:44:24.280
a very, very good teacher. Yeah, certain things

00:44:24.280 --> 00:44:28.179
I never knew when I was learning about wines.

00:44:28.400 --> 00:44:32.179
Right. Yeah, but through him. Right. Yeah, I

00:44:32.179 --> 00:44:36.159
learned one or two things more. Did it refine

00:44:36.159 --> 00:44:38.219
your palate for wine after going through the

00:44:38.219 --> 00:44:44.039
Water Sommelier course? Do you think? Not really.

00:44:45.019 --> 00:44:50.420
Basically remain about the same. It's just that

00:44:51.599 --> 00:44:55.559
other kind of vocabulary description for water

00:44:55.559 --> 00:44:59.380
that we would not use for wine. Okay. How about,

00:44:59.440 --> 00:45:04.300
what's the concept of terroir? Ah, this word.

00:45:06.860 --> 00:45:09.820
Terroir is a French word and then what we understand

00:45:09.820 --> 00:45:14.420
would be, you know, where the origin of the wine

00:45:14.420 --> 00:45:20.159
is from, you know, the land, the terroir. If

00:45:20.159 --> 00:45:22.760
I'm not mistaken, I've heard some French people

00:45:22.760 --> 00:45:27.840
say that terra doesn't just refer to the land.

00:45:28.000 --> 00:45:31.320
It refers to the people, the culture, everything

00:45:31.320 --> 00:45:35.119
that encompasses where that wine was made. Oh,

00:45:35.119 --> 00:45:38.579
cow. That's what I remember. That's so artsy.

00:45:38.579 --> 00:45:42.260
Yeah, I remember reading that and I said, hmm.

00:45:45.409 --> 00:45:47.650
Because I think terah is... So when you taste

00:45:47.650 --> 00:45:51.889
the terah, the terah, and you go, hmm, I can

00:45:51.889 --> 00:45:55.530
taste the earth. I can taste that this was probably

00:45:55.530 --> 00:46:02.150
harvested during spring. Oh, and I can also feel

00:46:02.150 --> 00:46:04.150
the dance that these people used to dance in

00:46:04.150 --> 00:46:09.650
their village. Come on! In very simple terms,

00:46:09.690 --> 00:46:13.289
terah is like the weather. The ground upon which

00:46:13.289 --> 00:46:16.809
the grapes were grown, right? But this person

00:46:16.809 --> 00:46:19.809
said that and it made me think. But isn't terroir

00:46:19.809 --> 00:46:23.510
the same for water? Some people call it that,

00:46:23.610 --> 00:46:28.510
terroir, but... T -E -R -R -O -I -R. If you guys

00:46:28.510 --> 00:46:32.550
want to go and say, Google it, okay? T -E -R

00:46:32.550 --> 00:46:37.530
-R -O -I -R. Terroir. It's French, by the way.

00:46:37.630 --> 00:46:43.219
Yes. I would not use... Terroir for water. You

00:46:43.219 --> 00:46:46.219
wouldn't use terroir for water? Would there be

00:46:46.219 --> 00:46:50.539
a term for it then? I think terroir is more suitable

00:46:50.539 --> 00:46:53.739
for wines. Okay. Yeah, I would not use it for

00:46:53.739 --> 00:47:00.559
water. There was a Pu 'er tea tasting. Pu 'er.

00:47:00.639 --> 00:47:03.679
Did I pronounce it right in Chinese? Pu 'er.

00:47:04.679 --> 00:47:09.539
Cha. Yeah. Where the water you use made a noticeable

00:47:09.539 --> 00:47:15.059
difference. What was that? Tell us all about

00:47:15.059 --> 00:47:19.219
that whole story about the Pu 'er tea. Oh, okay.

00:47:20.840 --> 00:47:26.239
It was with a group of people who loved their

00:47:26.239 --> 00:47:29.739
tea drinking sessions. And that particular day,

00:47:29.960 --> 00:47:34.619
they selected Pu 'er. And I brought along about

00:47:34.619 --> 00:47:39.139
10 types of water. Right. Just to see which water

00:47:39.139 --> 00:47:43.380
they liked. Right. to brew their pu 'er tea.

00:47:44.320 --> 00:47:48.260
Okay. Yeah. I brought along waters that were

00:47:48.260 --> 00:47:52.619
lowly mineralized to medium. Right. I remember

00:47:52.619 --> 00:47:55.199
all that. Don't worry. Yeah. And it will be suicidal

00:47:55.199 --> 00:47:59.380
if I brought something highly mineralized, you

00:47:59.380 --> 00:48:01.559
know, for their tea tasting. Because it will

00:48:01.559 --> 00:48:03.360
spoil the whole tea taste. Exactly. Too much

00:48:03.360 --> 00:48:06.860
mineral. Exactly. So when I arrived, they tasted,

00:48:07.079 --> 00:48:09.969
I mean, they used some of the water. Right. They

00:48:09.969 --> 00:48:14.570
told me their favorite. And then I brought this

00:48:14.570 --> 00:48:17.550
particular bottle and it became their new favorite.

00:48:20.250 --> 00:48:22.329
So they won't drink pu 'er tea without their

00:48:22.329 --> 00:48:27.030
water anymore. Yes. The next day, they went shopping

00:48:27.030 --> 00:48:30.989
for their particular water. They bought pallets

00:48:30.989 --> 00:48:34.130
and pallets of it. Wow. But now the water is

00:48:34.130 --> 00:48:36.690
no longer available in Singapore. Oh, no. No,

00:48:36.710 --> 00:48:39.159
no, no. Because of them. Not because of them.

00:48:39.280 --> 00:48:43.159
Yeah. But it goes to show, you know, these people

00:48:43.159 --> 00:48:46.159
really know their stuff. Okay. Yeah. And they're

00:48:46.159 --> 00:48:50.139
open to trying other waters because they believe

00:48:50.139 --> 00:48:55.519
that it is a very important part in brewing this

00:48:55.519 --> 00:48:59.539
kind of tea. Right. Now coming back to you again.

00:48:59.940 --> 00:49:03.139
So you went for the Water Sommelier course. And

00:49:03.139 --> 00:49:07.000
what happened after that? I came back, I got

00:49:07.000 --> 00:49:13.340
quarantined for two weeks. Okay, after that,

00:49:13.420 --> 00:49:22.239
I was very, very excited. I went to one Michelin

00:49:22.239 --> 00:49:27.019
-starred restaurant. I gave a proposal. I said,

00:49:27.119 --> 00:49:32.599
you know, if you list a wine menu, you will be

00:49:32.599 --> 00:49:37.559
the first one. Not only in Singapore, but I suppose

00:49:37.559 --> 00:49:41.320
Asia to have a water menu. A water menu? A water

00:49:41.320 --> 00:49:48.139
menu. Wow, okay. But, well, as you can see, it's

00:49:48.139 --> 00:49:52.539
not successful. That was in 2021, but I was all

00:49:52.539 --> 00:49:56.039
fired up because in Europe, they have water menus.

00:49:56.320 --> 00:49:59.460
Right. Not many, not many restaurants, but they

00:49:59.460 --> 00:50:07.199
do have. Okay, then, you know, still, it's a

00:50:07.199 --> 00:50:12.659
very tough and niche topic, water. Water is,

00:50:12.800 --> 00:50:15.800
everybody knows it, but as a water sommelier

00:50:15.800 --> 00:50:20.519
to impart knowledge or share. It's still very,

00:50:20.619 --> 00:50:23.059
very difficult. Yeah, I'm pretty sure. Very difficult.

00:50:23.780 --> 00:50:28.420
What happened after that? Did you proceed, progress

00:50:28.420 --> 00:50:31.400
somewhere with your new career after leaving

00:50:31.400 --> 00:50:34.440
SQ, after coming back from Switzerland, right?

00:50:34.500 --> 00:50:37.519
Germany. Germany. Germany. And then you got your

00:50:37.519 --> 00:50:39.880
wine certification up to level four. You got

00:50:39.880 --> 00:50:42.659
your auto sommelier one. You came back, you approached

00:50:42.659 --> 00:50:45.900
a Michelin star restaurant and they probably

00:50:45.900 --> 00:50:48.099
poo -pooed the whole thing off. And in Singapore,

00:50:48.099 --> 00:50:50.800
it's very hard. I know that the story about water

00:50:50.800 --> 00:50:55.159
has been done with Sam Wu last season. So now

00:50:55.159 --> 00:50:58.380
what happened with you right after all that?

00:50:58.420 --> 00:51:00.219
What did you do? Did you start a business? Did

00:51:00.219 --> 00:51:05.639
you start a company? How did you move on? I didn't

00:51:05.639 --> 00:51:09.380
start a business. Okay. I did not start a company.

00:51:09.500 --> 00:51:17.599
Okay. I just tried to get myself known. through

00:51:17.599 --> 00:51:22.199
social media, which I'm, to be very honest, not

00:51:22.199 --> 00:51:27.400
very strong presence. Okay. Yeah. So I have had

00:51:27.400 --> 00:51:31.159
some engagements whereby they found me through

00:51:31.159 --> 00:51:36.639
LinkedIn or Instagram, where I gave water presentation

00:51:36.639 --> 00:51:41.000
and talks. Right. Like this one called The Essence

00:51:41.000 --> 00:51:45.460
of Water. Ah. The one you were, it was held in

00:51:45.460 --> 00:51:49.340
collaboration with Shartek. Correct. That shall

00:51:49.340 --> 00:51:52.940
text no more, I think. Yeah. Sadly. How do you

00:51:52.940 --> 00:51:55.880
see the future of non -alcoholic beverages evolving

00:51:55.880 --> 00:51:59.440
to be on par with the sophistication of wine

00:51:59.440 --> 00:52:07.480
and spirit? To be very honest, it seems like

00:52:07.480 --> 00:52:11.199
this topic is having a lot of attention now.

00:52:12.699 --> 00:52:17.570
I don't know. In five years, is it going to accelerate?

00:52:18.590 --> 00:52:21.429
But right now, it seems like everybody is moving

00:52:21.429 --> 00:52:25.110
towards that. But people say everybody, I think

00:52:25.110 --> 00:52:28.809
they mean the younger generation. But I just

00:52:28.809 --> 00:52:31.269
came back from the Czech Republic and in Prague,

00:52:31.489 --> 00:52:33.949
this wine bar is full of young people. They are

00:52:33.949 --> 00:52:37.309
drinking their wines. Probably the Czech Republic

00:52:37.309 --> 00:52:39.849
compared to Central Europe is a little bit different.

00:52:39.949 --> 00:52:43.059
I don't know. Okay, what's up in Central Europe?

00:52:43.260 --> 00:52:46.500
Are the young drinking wine? Apparently drinking

00:52:46.500 --> 00:52:50.460
less. Really? Apparently. So they're getting

00:52:50.460 --> 00:52:55.900
as boring as Singaporeans. Okay. Come on. We

00:52:55.900 --> 00:52:58.599
are a boring lot. Come on. You want to go coffee

00:52:58.599 --> 00:53:01.300
clubbing? For goodness sake. Apparently they

00:53:01.300 --> 00:53:08.579
drink less or alcohol -free wine. Even in Italy,

00:53:08.780 --> 00:53:11.940
a winemaker... said to me that the younger people

00:53:11.940 --> 00:53:15.699
are asking for alcohol -free wine. What? Yeah.

00:53:15.940 --> 00:53:20.239
Eh, Ribena lah, they. Y 'all want alcohol -free,

00:53:20.280 --> 00:53:24.260
y 'all go and buy Ribena. Hello. Goodness gracious

00:53:24.260 --> 00:53:31.019
me. I hope it's just a fad because alcohol -free

00:53:31.019 --> 00:53:34.539
wine cannot be compared to... Okay, what difference

00:53:34.539 --> 00:53:39.099
does the alcohol make in a wine? Okay, apart

00:53:39.099 --> 00:53:44.579
from making you high, I don't know. But you believe

00:53:44.579 --> 00:53:48.500
that a purist should actually have wine with

00:53:48.500 --> 00:53:52.500
all its alcohol and stuff. The way it's made,

00:53:52.599 --> 00:53:55.199
you know, in fact, alcohol -free wine is more

00:53:55.199 --> 00:53:58.980
expensive to make. Yeah. Because there's an additional

00:53:58.980 --> 00:54:03.019
step. But for people to drink alcohol -free wine,

00:54:03.099 --> 00:54:06.920
I think they feel that it's healthier. That's

00:54:06.920 --> 00:54:09.440
definitely the reason. If it's healthier, then

00:54:09.440 --> 00:54:13.440
just take a regular fruit juice. Exactly. I don't

00:54:13.440 --> 00:54:15.539
know. Go and squeeze a papaya on your bloody

00:54:15.539 --> 00:54:20.159
juicy blender. I'm sorry for those who love alcohol

00:54:20.159 --> 00:54:23.739
-free wines, but this is just my humble opinion.

00:54:24.760 --> 00:54:28.019
I am not being humble about it. I'm telling you,

00:54:28.039 --> 00:54:30.420
go and get your damn juicer, put a papaya in

00:54:30.420 --> 00:54:32.840
there and go and bloody make papaya juice. Forget

00:54:32.840 --> 00:54:36.440
about your alcohol. make people go through so

00:54:36.440 --> 00:54:40.039
much trouble I want wine not the alcohol okay

00:54:40.039 --> 00:54:42.619
because when you when you drink wine I mean with

00:54:42.619 --> 00:54:47.340
the alcohol presence it gives that extra dimension

00:54:47.340 --> 00:54:49.920
of taste also because when you assess wines you

00:54:49.920 --> 00:54:54.739
also feel the alcohol level you know yeah I mean

00:54:54.739 --> 00:54:57.260
you can gauge whether or not there's one like

00:54:57.260 --> 00:55:02.719
40 % 50 % alcohol. So I don't know. Maybe it's

00:55:02.719 --> 00:55:05.500
a fad, which I hope. I hope it's a fad. We can

00:55:05.500 --> 00:55:08.039
look. This whole season, I've been talking about

00:55:08.039 --> 00:55:10.420
it like a parrot, you know, like all nightlife

00:55:10.420 --> 00:55:13.320
in Singapore is dead. And then this explains

00:55:13.320 --> 00:55:18.059
why people want to drink wine without the alcohol,

00:55:18.300 --> 00:55:21.719
get lost. Well, anyway, I got news for you, man.

00:55:22.219 --> 00:55:25.519
I tell you, I tell you too. I got news for you

00:55:25.519 --> 00:55:31.210
because, because I, Actually, don't like wine.

00:55:36.489 --> 00:55:40.809
The only person in this house of mine, this home,

00:55:40.969 --> 00:55:47.210
that drinks wine is my wife. And she, Cardinal

00:55:47.210 --> 00:55:50.650
Sin, Cardinal Sin, she will only drink red that's

00:55:50.650 --> 00:55:55.940
out in the fridge. That's fine. Really? I thought

00:55:55.940 --> 00:55:59.960
red supposed to be a room temperature. Ah, okay.

00:56:00.559 --> 00:56:03.519
Then we have to ask what is our room temperature

00:56:03.519 --> 00:56:09.820
now? Hot lah. Because when you read books, they

00:56:09.820 --> 00:56:11.659
tell you room temperature. They are actually

00:56:11.659 --> 00:56:15.860
referring to continental countries. Their room

00:56:15.860 --> 00:56:19.360
temperature. Which is cold. 18. Good point! 18

00:56:19.360 --> 00:56:22.099
normally. Wow, good point. Because all these

00:56:22.099 --> 00:56:24.500
books are written. Okay, then I'll tell you what.

00:56:24.559 --> 00:56:27.420
Thanks. I've got a certified water sommelier

00:56:27.420 --> 00:56:30.699
here who just said this, okay? You can drink

00:56:30.699 --> 00:56:33.820
refrigerated red wine, correct? Can. Okay, then

00:56:33.820 --> 00:56:36.719
I'll tell you. You all know who you are. All

00:56:36.719 --> 00:56:39.860
these atas friends of mine who go and frown at

00:56:39.860 --> 00:56:43.480
my wife and say that, hey, why would people drink

00:56:43.480 --> 00:56:48.559
red wine cold? Come out from fridge. to you can

00:56:48.559 --> 00:56:53.039
okay okay for example I just defended her for

00:56:53.039 --> 00:56:58.679
example you let's say your red wine is kept it's

00:56:58.679 --> 00:57:01.639
not in a chiller it's not kept in a chiller for

00:57:01.639 --> 00:57:04.480
example yeah okay right that means your wine

00:57:04.480 --> 00:57:09.059
could be 25 degrees Celsius yeah sure possible

00:57:09.059 --> 00:57:11.940
yeah But when they say, oh, drink your red wine

00:57:11.940 --> 00:57:14.260
at room temperature with reference to continental

00:57:14.260 --> 00:57:16.880
countries, it's 18 degrees. So you can chill

00:57:16.880 --> 00:57:18.900
it first. Basically temperate countries. Yeah,

00:57:18.940 --> 00:57:20.199
you can chill it first. I mean, you can drink

00:57:20.199 --> 00:57:22.079
wine in spring. You can drink wine in winter.

00:57:22.119 --> 00:57:24.539
You can drink wine in autumn. They're all bleeding

00:57:24.539 --> 00:57:29.179
cold. I have come across in the past when I order

00:57:29.179 --> 00:57:32.480
a bottle of red wine and I find that it's not

00:57:32.480 --> 00:57:37.679
hot, but it's veering towards warm. I will ask

00:57:37.679 --> 00:57:41.210
for a bucket. an ice bucket and chew it. Right.

00:57:41.389 --> 00:57:43.730
And then drink it. It's much more enjoyable.

00:57:43.969 --> 00:57:47.210
Now that you left SQ, as I said, you know, as

00:57:47.210 --> 00:57:50.590
I've asked you just now, and you brought the

00:57:50.590 --> 00:57:53.369
idea of water, of having a water menu to a Michelin

00:57:53.369 --> 00:57:56.110
star restaurant, wouldn't it be ideal then for

00:57:56.110 --> 00:57:58.570
you, since you're certified up to level four,

00:57:58.949 --> 00:58:04.480
to go, say, talk about or create a wine pairing

00:58:04.480 --> 00:58:07.679
thing and work with restaurants and hotels and

00:58:07.679 --> 00:58:09.900
stuff. Wouldn't that be a lot more profitable

00:58:09.900 --> 00:58:14.780
for you? More forward moving. It's a great idea,

00:58:14.880 --> 00:58:17.940
Chris. But first they need to accept that water

00:58:17.940 --> 00:58:20.980
has taste. No, I'm talking about wine. This is

00:58:20.980 --> 00:58:22.960
an easier road for you, isn't it? You're talking

00:58:22.960 --> 00:58:24.780
about water and wine pairing, right? No, no,

00:58:24.780 --> 00:58:29.170
water pairing. Wine pairing with food. Not with

00:58:29.170 --> 00:58:31.170
water. No, nothing to do with water because water

00:58:31.170 --> 00:58:33.269
is going to take a hell of a long time for anyone

00:58:33.269 --> 00:58:36.050
to accept that as a model, isn't it? But as a

00:58:36.050 --> 00:58:37.949
business model, wine would move a lot better

00:58:37.949 --> 00:58:40.389
for you, wouldn't it? I think a lot of restaurants

00:58:40.389 --> 00:58:43.590
have their own sommeliers and they can craft

00:58:43.590 --> 00:58:48.050
out recommendations. To be honest, I would not

00:58:48.050 --> 00:58:53.230
want to work in a restaurant. Okay. Yeah. I've

00:58:53.230 --> 00:58:56.760
done service. For a very long time. For a very

00:58:56.760 --> 00:59:01.420
long time. I very much enjoy being an educator

00:59:01.420 --> 00:59:06.079
now. Okay. Yeah. Or consulting for wines, how

00:59:06.079 --> 00:59:11.239
to have a wine list. That is fine. If people

00:59:11.239 --> 00:59:13.920
come to me, I would enjoy that very much too.

00:59:14.159 --> 00:59:19.719
Okay. But to be in a restaurant physically, I

00:59:19.719 --> 00:59:25.420
prefer not to. Right. Okay. Okay. So what's next

00:59:25.420 --> 00:59:32.840
for you? For anyone, one of the reasons why I

00:59:32.840 --> 00:59:34.800
ask you that question is because for anyone watching

00:59:34.800 --> 00:59:38.260
this episode who loves wine, but is thinking

00:59:38.260 --> 00:59:42.639
about a career change or a deeper dive into the

00:59:42.639 --> 00:59:45.219
world of being a wine sommelier, specifically

00:59:45.219 --> 00:59:51.480
wine sommelier, what's... what advice would you

00:59:51.480 --> 00:59:54.860
give? And what's next for you will also be that

00:59:54.860 --> 00:59:56.880
advice that you give as well. Do you know what

00:59:56.880 --> 01:00:01.079
I mean? Yeah. Go for it. Really? Go for it. Can

01:00:01.079 --> 01:00:06.219
I make money or not? Go for it because I say

01:00:06.219 --> 01:00:10.619
this because I don't know. It's just my own observation.

01:00:10.679 --> 01:00:14.099
During the lockdown, I see a lot of people signing

01:00:14.099 --> 01:00:17.219
up for the WSET course in Singapore. Right. And

01:00:17.219 --> 01:00:23.639
the awareness of being a sommelier as a profession,

01:00:23.800 --> 01:00:27.300
it has grown. People are more aware of that.

01:00:27.539 --> 01:00:31.000
Okay. Yeah. Go for it because it's a credible

01:00:31.000 --> 01:00:35.360
profession. Okay. Yeah. And then it's... a lot

01:00:35.360 --> 01:00:37.980
of learning and it's very specialised. Right.

01:00:38.219 --> 01:00:42.099
It's not easy. Okay. And I feel that anything

01:00:42.099 --> 01:00:46.260
that is easy is not very exciting to pursue because

01:00:46.260 --> 01:00:49.579
it's so easy, right? But becoming a sommelier

01:00:49.579 --> 01:00:52.960
is not easy. You need to learn, you need to taste

01:00:52.960 --> 01:00:55.860
and you need to really work very, very hard.

01:00:56.039 --> 01:00:58.780
Right. And I believe anybody can be trained.

01:00:59.820 --> 01:01:03.179
So, You're saying that people could actually

01:01:03.179 --> 01:01:05.860
have a second lease of life, a second career,

01:01:06.099 --> 01:01:10.280
you know, taking on a second career by doing

01:01:10.280 --> 01:01:13.840
this? I don't think for everyone. Yeah, I mean,

01:01:13.840 --> 01:01:16.460
well, anyone who has the interest, that is. Yes,

01:01:16.460 --> 01:01:19.679
if you have an interest, yes. I think, similarly,

01:01:19.820 --> 01:01:23.820
yes, you can. Okay. No, you can. I have also

01:01:23.820 --> 01:01:26.230
witnessed or read... There are some who pick

01:01:26.230 --> 01:01:29.550
it up so fast. It's just a couple of years, you

01:01:29.550 --> 01:01:32.090
know, they are able to really train the palate.

01:01:32.289 --> 01:01:36.309
It also comes back to how interested you are,

01:01:36.429 --> 01:01:40.869
how dedicated you are to what you want to learn

01:01:40.869 --> 01:01:44.389
and how far you want to go. Yeah, it is possible.

01:01:44.929 --> 01:01:49.489
One final question. What's next for Karen Tang?

01:01:51.550 --> 01:01:55.760
What's your plans? My plans? Continue to be an

01:01:55.760 --> 01:02:00.659
educator. And I would really, really like to

01:02:00.659 --> 01:02:05.519
see Singaporeans moving away from just picking

01:02:05.519 --> 01:02:12.000
up any bottled water. I mean, of course, this

01:02:12.000 --> 01:02:14.820
thing, becoming a water sommelier, is very new

01:02:14.820 --> 01:02:18.199
to me. But I see it every day, especially in

01:02:18.199 --> 01:02:20.980
the supermarket. I see people buying cartons

01:02:20.980 --> 01:02:23.750
and cartons of distilled water. really wish I

01:02:23.750 --> 01:02:26.449
could go up and tell them, please don't buy that.

01:02:26.750 --> 01:02:30.230
It's not good for you. But I can't say it. They'll

01:02:30.230 --> 01:02:33.750
think that I'm probably cuckoo or a busybody.

01:02:34.130 --> 01:02:38.329
So I would really like to see Singaporeans out

01:02:38.329 --> 01:02:41.090
there, not only Singaporeans, whoever is out

01:02:41.090 --> 01:02:43.750
there, be it in Singapore or anywhere else, if

01:02:43.750 --> 01:02:47.809
they're going to hold a bottle of water, let

01:02:47.809 --> 01:02:51.250
it be. Okay. Natural mineral water. Okay. If

01:02:51.250 --> 01:02:55.429
not, Carry a water tumbler, whatever it is, and

01:02:55.429 --> 01:02:58.809
make sure what's inside in Singapore is our good

01:02:58.809 --> 01:03:01.869
old tap water. Because it's of very, very good

01:03:01.869 --> 01:03:05.489
quality. Okay, really? Wow. Yes, very good quality.

01:03:05.809 --> 01:03:07.929
Okay, how about wine? Any last words you want

01:03:07.929 --> 01:03:15.210
to say about wine? Just keep on drinking. That's

01:03:15.210 --> 01:03:19.909
all you got to say about wine. I would reiterate

01:03:19.909 --> 01:03:23.420
what I said earlier on. that people moving away

01:03:23.420 --> 01:03:26.800
from drinking non -alcoholic wines would just

01:03:26.800 --> 01:03:31.679
be a fad because I would really like to see people

01:03:31.679 --> 01:03:34.340
enjoying the wines. Okay, Karen, I mentioned

01:03:34.340 --> 01:03:36.480
to you just now, I don't like wine. And that's

01:03:36.480 --> 01:03:40.920
true. Okay. I'm like, I'm a, can I, should I,

01:03:41.159 --> 01:03:42.860
am I allowed to say it? Okay, I think I can.

01:03:42.980 --> 01:03:46.099
I mean, I appreciate single malt whiskey more.

01:03:47.599 --> 01:03:52.659
rather than drinking wine. Yeah, okay. I don't

01:03:52.659 --> 01:03:55.579
mind the Beaujolais Nouveau because it's so grapey

01:03:55.579 --> 01:03:59.420
and so fresh in my palate. And that's about the

01:03:59.420 --> 01:04:02.159
size of it. I don't like Cabernet Sauvignon because

01:04:02.159 --> 01:04:05.099
I think it's too damn dry. So I don't like, per

01:04:05.099 --> 01:04:09.719
se, drinking wine. But before we go to the...

01:04:09.719 --> 01:04:13.260
You have to try and convince me. about wine,

01:04:13.340 --> 01:04:16.039
which is what we're going to be doing soon. But

01:04:16.039 --> 01:04:18.460
before we go there, just tell me the difference.

01:04:18.840 --> 01:04:21.260
White and red. The only difference I know about

01:04:21.260 --> 01:04:24.059
having a white or a red is that if you're having

01:04:24.059 --> 01:04:26.260
white meat, you have white wine. If you're having

01:04:26.260 --> 01:04:28.739
red meat, you have red wine. That's it. Period.

01:04:29.699 --> 01:04:31.559
What do you have to say about that? Difference

01:04:31.559 --> 01:04:34.750
in white and red. that's just very basic guideline.

01:04:35.070 --> 01:04:37.710
Okay, I know. I'm very basic. Yes. No, no, no.

01:04:37.889 --> 01:04:41.230
Chablis, Chardonnay, Cabernet, Pinot Noir. Okay,

01:04:41.289 --> 01:04:42.610
so which is which? You know what I'm saying?

01:04:42.929 --> 01:04:45.610
That's what every, I mean, most people will say

01:04:45.610 --> 01:04:48.409
white meat with white wine, you know, but then

01:04:48.409 --> 01:04:51.690
we have to take into consideration how it's cooked,

01:04:51.849 --> 01:04:57.469
the sauces that go with it. Huh? I give you an

01:04:57.469 --> 01:05:00.469
example of chicken rice. Right. So chicken rice

01:05:00.469 --> 01:05:04.590
is flavoured rice. Right. It's poached chicken.

01:05:04.909 --> 01:05:08.250
Right. But then you don't eat it like that. You

01:05:08.250 --> 01:05:10.769
will have your chicken rice with the dark soy

01:05:10.769 --> 01:05:14.989
sauce, chilli sauce, ginger. And these three

01:05:14.989 --> 01:05:17.750
sauces will play a part and impact the wine.

01:05:18.090 --> 01:05:22.309
It does? So that doesn't mean that you go white

01:05:22.309 --> 01:05:24.730
because you're having chicken. Correct. So you

01:05:24.730 --> 01:05:28.679
can go with your Beaujolais, a light red. Right.

01:05:28.840 --> 01:05:31.179
Yeah, because of the sauces. Beaujolais is considered

01:05:31.179 --> 01:05:35.880
as a light red. Yeah. Because you mentioned Beaujolais

01:05:35.880 --> 01:05:39.039
Nouveau and it's only released in November every

01:05:39.039 --> 01:05:41.980
year as a form of celebration. Correct. It's

01:05:41.980 --> 01:05:44.760
like a harvest celebration, right? Yeah. But

01:05:44.760 --> 01:05:47.320
well, you have a very specific taste because

01:05:47.320 --> 01:05:49.440
in Singapore, not many people know about it.

01:05:49.760 --> 01:05:54.420
Yeah. Also because you know why? I'm an MC too.

01:05:54.800 --> 01:05:59.679
So I use... For two or three years running, when

01:05:59.679 --> 01:06:02.539
the Beaujolais Nouveau launch happens here in

01:06:02.539 --> 01:06:04.659
Singapore, I'm the guy that hosts the launch.

01:06:05.500 --> 01:06:08.079
So I've learned a little bit about the Beaujolais

01:06:08.079 --> 01:06:09.739
Nouveau. And of course, naturally, since I'm

01:06:09.739 --> 01:06:13.699
hosting it, I have a glass in my hand. Yeah,

01:06:13.820 --> 01:06:17.460
that's why. And short of me saying, hey, this

01:06:17.460 --> 01:06:22.340
is a little bit high -class Ribena. Yeah, I kind

01:06:22.340 --> 01:06:25.360
of like it because it's so fresh. It's like fruit

01:06:25.360 --> 01:06:29.309
juice, man. Correct. And it kind of disappeared

01:06:29.309 --> 01:06:32.650
in Singapore already. Has it? I don't see. No,

01:06:32.710 --> 01:06:35.130
you're right. I actually haven't seen any. Even

01:06:35.130 --> 01:06:39.789
in the past, our humble fair price would be selling.

01:06:40.010 --> 01:06:43.690
Yeah, George Dubuff. George Dubuff? Dubuff. Yeah,

01:06:43.730 --> 01:06:47.889
George Dubuff. I think he's the guy, a very well

01:06:47.889 --> 01:06:49.909
-known one. Colourful bottles. Yeah, colourful

01:06:49.909 --> 01:06:53.269
bottles. Correct. George Dubuff. George Dubuff.

01:06:53.409 --> 01:06:57.230
Okay. I think in Asia, there is only one country

01:06:57.230 --> 01:07:01.050
that celebrates Beaujolais Nouveau to a great

01:07:01.050 --> 01:07:05.090
extent. And that is? Japan. Oh. Yeah. Wow. From

01:07:05.090 --> 01:07:09.869
what I know. You know, we Singaporeans, you know

01:07:09.869 --> 01:07:12.889
what I'm saying? Beaujolais Nouveau, you can't

01:07:12.889 --> 01:07:19.199
pronounce it. I think, I think. Beaujolais nouveau.

01:07:19.760 --> 01:07:24.719
Can pronounce that? Yes, okay. New wine. I don't

01:07:24.719 --> 01:07:27.900
know, but please don't be angry with me. I think

01:07:27.900 --> 01:07:32.780
a lot of us are mostly followers. Yeah, we're

01:07:32.780 --> 01:07:36.119
ignorant. We are followers, right? Mostly, yeah.

01:07:36.440 --> 01:07:39.880
We follow without really understanding. And that's

01:07:39.880 --> 01:07:43.090
true. That's the reason, you see, because a few

01:07:43.090 --> 01:07:45.110
years ago, you see the Beaujolais Nouveau. Yeah.

01:07:45.409 --> 01:07:47.349
But now you don't see it. You don't see it, yeah.

01:07:47.829 --> 01:07:50.630
You know, we're followers. As a country, yeah,

01:07:50.670 --> 01:07:53.010
okay, you're saying as a country, we follow,

01:07:53.190 --> 01:07:55.469
but then again, if the demand is there, why should

01:07:55.469 --> 01:07:57.250
we supply it? Isn't there, why should we supply

01:07:57.250 --> 01:08:00.809
it? Right? But we also have people who, you know,

01:08:00.829 --> 01:08:03.889
because I see this guy doing it, this guy doing

01:08:03.889 --> 01:08:05.550
it, this guy doing it, so therefore I also go

01:08:05.550 --> 01:08:07.889
do it. I see this guy go queue up for this, I

01:08:07.889 --> 01:08:10.360
go queue up as well. I don't even know what the

01:08:10.360 --> 01:08:12.219
hell I'm doing, but I go queue up, you know?

01:08:12.920 --> 01:08:16.539
We are like that. And if this guy is drinking

01:08:16.539 --> 01:08:18.199
a Cabernet Sauvignon, I will drink a Cabernet

01:08:18.199 --> 01:08:20.159
Sauvignon. If this guy is drinking a Pinot Noir,

01:08:20.239 --> 01:08:22.640
I will drink a Pinot Noir. Do you have a favorite?

01:08:22.739 --> 01:08:28.819
I don't know. Look, I'm not trying to insult

01:08:28.819 --> 01:08:31.180
anybody, but I think, let's be real here. I mean,

01:08:31.180 --> 01:08:33.859
this is what we are like. You know, very few

01:08:33.859 --> 01:08:36.380
people are like you. I won't even stake claim

01:08:36.380 --> 01:08:39.100
to that because I personally don't like wine.

01:08:39.359 --> 01:08:42.420
But there are many who pretend that they like

01:08:42.420 --> 01:08:44.340
wine because they want to get along with the

01:08:44.340 --> 01:08:48.479
Joneses. So there are people like that, you know.

01:08:49.500 --> 01:08:53.460
But, well, those who do appreciate it, kudos

01:08:53.460 --> 01:08:55.939
to you. You know what I mean? I mean, and then

01:08:55.939 --> 01:08:57.979
those of you who don't understand it, don't pretend

01:08:57.979 --> 01:09:00.460
to know it, wouldn't find out more, which is

01:09:00.460 --> 01:09:03.720
what we're going to do now. So we're going to

01:09:03.720 --> 01:09:07.539
say, Cut for the moment. But when we come back,

01:09:07.579 --> 01:09:09.859
this whole podcast table will have some wine

01:09:09.859 --> 01:09:11.640
on the table. And we're going to go through some

01:09:11.640 --> 01:09:16.039
basic rudimentary stuff about how we can appreciate

01:09:16.039 --> 01:09:20.840
that bottle of vino. We'll be right back. And

01:09:20.840 --> 01:09:24.939
we're back. We're back because it's time for

01:09:24.939 --> 01:09:32.920
Karen to make me a believer. For me to try to

01:09:32.920 --> 01:09:37.750
like vino. Believe it or not, guys, I hardly

01:09:37.750 --> 01:09:41.890
indulge, you know, honestly, in booze. I do know

01:09:41.890 --> 01:09:44.510
that I don't, but it's kind of rare. But when

01:09:44.510 --> 01:09:47.630
I do, it's not really much at all. And I've always

01:09:47.630 --> 01:09:52.510
found wine, Karen, to be a little bit more vinegar

01:09:52.510 --> 01:09:57.550
type. You know, it tastes like, yeah, like maybe

01:09:57.550 --> 01:09:59.229
because I had the wrong type of wine, but can't

01:09:59.229 --> 01:10:03.649
be. Can't be too. To me, it's like. This soury

01:10:03.649 --> 01:10:08.090
thing in my mouth, you know? Yeah. So school

01:10:08.090 --> 01:10:12.890
me, please. Okay, we need that soury thing. Yeah,

01:10:12.930 --> 01:10:19.130
we do. To begin with, because it makes the wine

01:10:19.130 --> 01:10:23.350
fresh. Okay. We would stay away from the word

01:10:23.350 --> 01:10:27.229
sour because it is equated to vinegar, like what

01:10:27.229 --> 01:10:30.250
you said. Yeah. But we would prefer to use a

01:10:30.250 --> 01:10:36.710
better word, which is acidity. Okay. Acidity.

01:10:37.510 --> 01:10:41.109
Fine. It's the same thing, but it's a wine term.

01:10:41.289 --> 01:10:44.149
Yes, ma 'am. Acidity. Okay. I don't like the

01:10:44.149 --> 01:10:48.750
acidity. How about that? Okay. I'm useless. I'm

01:10:48.750 --> 01:10:52.689
beyond redemption. No, no, no, no. So we got

01:10:52.689 --> 01:10:56.789
a red vino and we got a white vino. Chris, I've

01:10:56.789 --> 01:11:02.409
brought for you to taste a white wine. Yes, ma

01:11:02.409 --> 01:11:07.109
'am. and a red wine. I specifically selected

01:11:07.109 --> 01:11:12.090
one from the old world. The old world? And one

01:11:12.090 --> 01:11:14.210
from the new world. Okay, then I've only got

01:11:14.210 --> 01:11:15.949
to explain what you mean by old world and new

01:11:15.949 --> 01:11:18.750
world. So, you know, I don't know whether your

01:11:18.750 --> 01:11:21.810
friends will tell you things like, oh, from the

01:11:21.810 --> 01:11:25.109
old world. Old world meaning mostly from the

01:11:25.109 --> 01:11:30.170
Northern Hemisphere. Northern Hemisphere. The

01:11:30.170 --> 01:11:32.770
most of... Mostly European countries? Sure, sure.

01:11:32.989 --> 01:11:36.750
Then the Old World would be mostly Southern Hemisphere.

01:11:36.949 --> 01:11:40.409
Uh -huh. South Africa, Australia, New Zealand.

01:11:40.750 --> 01:11:42.510
Oh, that's considered Old World? New, new. Oh,

01:11:42.550 --> 01:11:47.729
New World. That's New World, okay. I chose such

01:11:47.729 --> 01:11:51.949
wines just to let you have an idea and also we

01:11:51.949 --> 01:11:54.430
could talk a little bit about it. Okay. So this

01:11:54.430 --> 01:11:58.289
is from the Old World. A wine from Austria. I

01:11:58.289 --> 01:12:00.449
thought so because it looks German to me. Yeah.

01:12:01.270 --> 01:12:06.109
And this one is from South Africa. Right. Yeah.

01:12:06.229 --> 01:12:09.630
We will start and then back on the topic of screw

01:12:09.630 --> 01:12:14.810
cap and with a proper cork. Yeah. Okay. Which

01:12:14.810 --> 01:12:17.770
one do we do first? We will try the white wine

01:12:17.770 --> 01:12:20.970
first. So let me just introduce to you, Chris.

01:12:21.649 --> 01:12:27.189
This wine is called Stift Gottweik. Okay, let

01:12:27.189 --> 01:12:32.270
me show it to the camera. Stift. Stift Gottweik.

01:12:32.449 --> 01:12:36.710
Stift Gottweik. Yeah, it's from a monastery.

01:12:37.149 --> 01:12:42.090
Okay, sorry, monks. The monks, I tell you, monks,

01:12:42.250 --> 01:12:48.869
they make great booze. So it's since 1083, the

01:12:48.869 --> 01:12:53.210
monastery is called Stift Good White. Stift Good

01:12:53.210 --> 01:12:55.390
White. Yeah. And they got a little cherub there

01:12:55.390 --> 01:12:59.430
as a logo. Yeah. So this wine is called Mess

01:12:59.430 --> 01:13:02.470
Wine. Mess Wine. Okay. What's that mean? For

01:13:02.470 --> 01:13:06.989
mass. For mass. Yeah. So this is wine for mass.

01:13:07.170 --> 01:13:09.529
Yeah. That's what they told me. They use this

01:13:09.529 --> 01:13:11.930
for mass. Yeah. Don't they use red wine for mass?

01:13:12.270 --> 01:13:14.149
Yeah. That's what I've been asked to. I asked

01:13:14.149 --> 01:13:20.470
them, but they say, yeah, we use this. So this...

01:13:20.470 --> 01:13:24.289
It's mess wine. Okay. So this mess wine is very

01:13:24.289 --> 01:13:27.510
young, 2024. Right. It's made from a grape that

01:13:27.510 --> 01:13:30.670
is not common. It's called Gruner Veltliner.

01:13:30.869 --> 01:13:32.689
How do you know that that's the name of the grape?

01:13:33.810 --> 01:13:36.670
We have to study. So that's how you actually

01:13:36.670 --> 01:13:38.630
see that the grape is called this particular

01:13:38.630 --> 01:13:40.869
grape. Yeah. And so did there are different types

01:13:40.869 --> 01:13:42.689
of grape that has got different kind of names?

01:13:42.970 --> 01:13:45.289
No, no, no. This is a grape name. Well, it is

01:13:45.289 --> 01:13:47.970
a grape name. It's a name of a grape. Okay. So

01:13:47.970 --> 01:13:49.829
that's why we have to study. Otherwise, you would

01:13:49.829 --> 01:13:51.930
not know whether this is the name of the wine

01:13:51.930 --> 01:13:54.369
or a grape. So there are different kinds of grape

01:13:54.369 --> 01:14:00.569
that are named differently? Yes. Okay. Yes. Example

01:14:00.569 --> 01:14:03.010
in Spain, the same grape can be called different

01:14:03.010 --> 01:14:07.189
names depending on which part of Spain. Right.

01:14:07.350 --> 01:14:10.689
You have the Basque area. The Basque, yeah. But

01:14:10.689 --> 01:14:15.930
not for most countries. Okay. It's confusing

01:14:15.930 --> 01:14:19.100
enough. Yeah, okay, let's not go there. Otherwise,

01:14:19.220 --> 01:14:22.500
you have to invoice me for my audience. No, no,

01:14:22.520 --> 01:14:25.800
no. But I've never seen Gruner Veltliner called

01:14:25.800 --> 01:14:30.020
in any other name anywhere. Oh, so it's a standard

01:14:30.020 --> 01:14:32.180
name across the board. Yeah. Although the fact

01:14:32.180 --> 01:14:35.199
that it sounds very German. But it is a native

01:14:35.199 --> 01:14:39.069
grape from Austria. Right. This grape is only

01:14:39.069 --> 01:14:42.430
12 % alcohol, so you won't... You can see the

01:14:42.430 --> 01:14:44.350
volume of alcohol on the back label. Yeah. Okay.

01:14:44.470 --> 01:14:48.189
Correct. So for... You need any help? Okay. All

01:14:48.189 --> 01:14:51.729
right. For any wine tasting, we will like the

01:14:51.729 --> 01:14:56.119
room to be, you know, free of any aromas. which

01:14:56.119 --> 01:15:00.079
is fine. There's nothing. Kai is our studio's

01:15:00.079 --> 01:15:08.279
manager. And then also before tasting the wine,

01:15:08.319 --> 01:15:11.180
make sure we have not taken any strong coffee,

01:15:11.460 --> 01:15:16.399
kopi kau, sambal, those. No, it was ages ago.

01:15:16.520 --> 01:15:19.939
Yeah. Okay. My palate's clear. Okay. Then the

01:15:19.939 --> 01:15:24.850
glass must be free of any smell, stains. Clean

01:15:24.850 --> 01:15:27.829
glass. Don't smell anything. Yeah. Okay. So I

01:15:27.829 --> 01:15:33.390
will pour you a portion. Yes, ma 'am. Okay. And

01:15:33.390 --> 01:15:36.289
then... Have yourself a glass. Yeah. Yes, please.

01:15:37.130 --> 01:15:42.569
Thai? No, no. Definitely not. Oh. Haram! Oh,

01:15:42.710 --> 01:15:49.289
sorry. Okay. So, for wine, to taste wine, we

01:15:49.289 --> 01:15:51.850
first look at the colour. Yeah, right. Yeah,

01:15:51.909 --> 01:15:55.369
it's very pale, pale yellow. Ideally, it would

01:15:55.369 --> 01:15:57.449
be over a white background. Eh, Kai, you got

01:15:57.449 --> 01:16:02.210
to move into the other camera now, Kai. Yeah,

01:16:02.329 --> 01:16:05.010
that one. Okay, let's go. Tell me all about this.

01:16:05.069 --> 01:16:09.069
Pale. Pale. Ideally, we should look at it. on

01:16:09.069 --> 01:16:10.810
a white background. Do you have a white piece

01:16:10.810 --> 01:16:15.189
of paper? Oh my, okay. Ideally, but if you don't

01:16:15.189 --> 01:16:16.710
have, it's okay. No, no, no. I don't think we

01:16:16.710 --> 01:16:18.609
have any ready at this moment. Yeah, doesn't

01:16:18.609 --> 01:16:20.250
matter. Sorry about that. Doesn't matter. Okay.

01:16:20.630 --> 01:16:23.909
It should be clear. Yeah, because if you put

01:16:23.909 --> 01:16:26.970
it against a white paper, you can see the intensity

01:16:26.970 --> 01:16:30.369
of the shade of the wine. I got a white screen

01:16:30.369 --> 01:16:36.500
here. But A4 size paper, that will be fine. Plain

01:16:36.500 --> 01:16:39.100
paper. Okay, now Kat is rummaging through to

01:16:39.100 --> 01:16:45.739
find some white paper. Okay. I have a white shirt,

01:16:45.800 --> 01:16:49.479
but... That would be very rude, so it's better

01:16:49.479 --> 01:16:52.180
not to get white paper. But you see, even here,

01:16:52.300 --> 01:16:55.000
your wall... This is white, yeah? Yeah, almost

01:16:55.000 --> 01:16:58.039
white. Because if you don't put it against something

01:16:58.039 --> 01:17:00.380
white, you cannot see the intensity of the colour.

01:17:00.899 --> 01:17:03.039
Okay, so the colour is supposed to be intense.

01:17:03.539 --> 01:17:06.600
No, this is pale. Oh, so this particular grape

01:17:06.600 --> 01:17:10.520
has to be pale. Because it's young. Ah, so young

01:17:10.520 --> 01:17:16.420
grape for white wine is pale. The older the grape

01:17:16.420 --> 01:17:20.060
for the white wine, it gets more darker. It gets

01:17:20.060 --> 01:17:26.300
darker. Ah. It gets darker, you have a golden...

01:17:26.300 --> 01:17:30.479
Golden hue. Okay, sorry, I don't think I can

01:17:30.479 --> 01:17:33.819
succeed in finding this white paper. So that's

01:17:33.819 --> 01:17:36.319
the color. The next thing, because it will indicate

01:17:36.319 --> 01:17:39.279
the age of the wine. The lighter it is, the younger

01:17:39.279 --> 01:17:43.899
the wine. So this is a 2024 vintage. Now we just

01:17:43.899 --> 01:17:47.119
take a quick whiff. Do you smell anything bad?

01:17:48.579 --> 01:17:51.479
What am I supposed to be looking out for when

01:17:51.479 --> 01:17:54.520
it comes to bad? When you take a quick whiff.

01:17:55.069 --> 01:17:57.109
If there's something wrong with the wine, you

01:17:57.109 --> 01:17:59.949
will smell bad smells. It's just negative kind

01:17:59.949 --> 01:18:02.789
of smell. Negative, you know, whereby you will

01:18:02.789 --> 01:18:07.270
just find it very revolting. But nothing. So

01:18:07.270 --> 01:18:09.670
there's nothing wrong with the wine. Why do we

01:18:09.670 --> 01:18:12.170
do that? It's because sometimes when you take

01:18:12.170 --> 01:18:14.090
a whiff, you smell something like rotten eggs

01:18:14.090 --> 01:18:18.350
or a strike of a match. Oh, really? Oh, like

01:18:18.350 --> 01:18:24.390
sulfur. Correct. Because if you smell that, You're

01:18:24.390 --> 01:18:27.069
not sure whether the wine has gone bad or is

01:18:27.069 --> 01:18:30.090
sulfur. Right. You will put it aside for 20 minutes.

01:18:30.550 --> 01:18:33.729
Okay. After 20 minutes, you revisit the wine.

01:18:34.050 --> 01:18:36.789
To aerate it, you mean? Yeah, you just leave

01:18:36.789 --> 01:18:41.649
the wine because if the bad smells persist, that

01:18:41.649 --> 01:18:42.909
means there's something wrong with the wine.

01:18:43.289 --> 01:18:47.350
Okay. But if it is sulfur, it will be gone. Right.

01:18:47.789 --> 01:18:50.909
Yeah, because it's a preservative. So do you

01:18:50.909 --> 01:18:54.029
use sulfur as a preservative for white wine?

01:18:54.329 --> 01:18:57.390
All wines. All wines. In the winemaking process,

01:18:57.569 --> 01:19:00.829
almost every step of the way. Okay. But you don't

01:19:00.829 --> 01:19:03.970
need to be concerned because the sulfur that

01:19:03.970 --> 01:19:07.689
they use for preserved fruits is even greater

01:19:07.689 --> 01:19:12.829
than wine. Okay. Yeah, so. So basically, asking

01:19:12.829 --> 01:19:15.930
me to have a whiff of it is to get its bouquet.

01:19:16.569 --> 01:19:19.010
Not yet. Oh, that's not bouquet? Not yet. Because

01:19:19.010 --> 01:19:21.390
you just want to, Make sure the wine is not corked.

01:19:21.390 --> 01:19:23.289
The wine is fine. So that's step one. Make sure

01:19:23.289 --> 01:19:26.590
it's not corked. It's not bad. So now, we want

01:19:26.590 --> 01:19:28.510
the bouquet. We're going to nose the bouquet.

01:19:28.689 --> 01:19:30.810
So you're going to swirl this around. So this

01:19:30.810 --> 01:19:34.390
is called nosing. Nosing. You can say smell,

01:19:34.569 --> 01:19:41.550
but smell will not sound as professional, maybe.

01:19:41.989 --> 01:19:45.470
Not sound atas. You nose the wine, you know.

01:19:45.800 --> 01:19:49.279
Okay, so swirl, swirl, and then you nose the

01:19:49.279 --> 01:19:50.619
wine. When you nose the wine, what do you look

01:19:50.619 --> 01:19:54.520
out for? Okay, white fruits. Sorry, citrus fruits.

01:19:54.920 --> 01:19:58.119
Citrus fruits. Yeah, citrus fruits such as lemon,

01:19:58.319 --> 01:20:05.399
lime, grapefruit. Sharks are great. Definitely,

01:20:05.479 --> 01:20:10.739
there's lemon. Grapefruit. Lemon for sure. Yeah.

01:20:11.279 --> 01:20:17.289
Hang on now. So these are what we call primary

01:20:17.289 --> 01:20:20.770
aromas. Grapefruit, grapefruit, grapefruit, grapefruit.

01:20:20.850 --> 01:20:25.409
If it is not there, it's not there. There's some.

01:20:26.050 --> 01:20:31.890
That's example. And any stone fruit like apricot,

01:20:31.890 --> 01:20:38.670
peaches? I don't smell that. So it's not there.

01:20:38.670 --> 01:20:42.289
Do you? What do you feel? Normally, if it comes

01:20:42.289 --> 01:20:45.289
from a warmer climate, Right. Even though it's

01:20:45.289 --> 01:20:50.890
from a cool country, but certain years, more

01:20:50.890 --> 01:20:53.829
sunshine, or it's planted in an area whereby

01:20:53.829 --> 01:20:56.649
they get more sunshine, then the fruit becomes

01:20:56.649 --> 01:20:59.729
riper, you might get this stone fruit. Okay.

01:20:59.909 --> 01:21:03.029
Or tropical fruits. So you can tell at which

01:21:03.029 --> 01:21:08.130
season that this was harvested. No, not the season.

01:21:08.640 --> 01:21:10.840
unless you're very familiar with which year,

01:21:11.000 --> 01:21:13.600
but whether it's stone fruit or tropical fruits

01:21:13.600 --> 01:21:16.579
would indicate the region, whether it's warmer

01:21:16.579 --> 01:21:20.640
or cooler. But this is definitely not... If I

01:21:20.640 --> 01:21:23.399
didn't see the label and doing a blind test,

01:21:23.520 --> 01:21:29.020
there's no tropical fruit. I can tell that this

01:21:29.020 --> 01:21:30.899
is definitely no, there's no tropical fruit.

01:21:30.960 --> 01:21:33.359
Correct. Yeah. Correct. Correct. Because this

01:21:33.359 --> 01:21:36.609
is from Austria. Yeah. So we can... Just describe

01:21:36.609 --> 01:21:39.609
it as a lot of citrus and do you smell any oak?

01:21:39.710 --> 01:21:55.229
That means any wood smell? No. Yeah, because

01:21:55.229 --> 01:22:00.640
there's no oak. Trick question. Oh, no, no. That's

01:22:00.640 --> 01:22:03.579
what we are looking for. Yeah, okay. So if you

01:22:03.579 --> 01:22:06.720
don't smell any oak, that means it was not matured

01:22:06.720 --> 01:22:09.279
in oak. It was not kept in any oak. Okay. But

01:22:09.279 --> 01:22:13.840
this particular grape has a very distinct feature,

01:22:14.020 --> 01:22:21.119
aroma, which is white pepper. You get that? White

01:22:21.119 --> 01:22:26.920
pepper? A little bit. On your palate, perhaps?

01:22:28.389 --> 01:22:33.789
Oh, that's another point of view. Hang on. This

01:22:33.789 --> 01:22:36.670
is the typical characteristic of a Gruner Veltliner.

01:22:38.090 --> 01:22:46.489
Typical. So we will... Yeah, there's a hint of

01:22:46.489 --> 01:22:50.550
it in my mouth. So we're going to take one sip

01:22:50.550 --> 01:22:53.529
and don't swallow it straight away. Make sure

01:22:53.529 --> 01:22:56.560
it just goes round your mouth. Swirl it in the

01:22:56.560 --> 01:22:59.720
mouth? No. Just make sure it covers every part

01:22:59.720 --> 01:23:21.819
like the top here, the sides. Okay. You'll find

01:23:21.819 --> 01:23:25.369
that the acidity really builds up. Yeah. It's

01:23:25.369 --> 01:23:30.130
high in acidity. Yep. It's light -bodied. Yeah.

01:23:31.310 --> 01:23:33.649
And after you swallow, you don't really feel

01:23:33.649 --> 01:23:36.130
the alcohol burn down your throat. No, it doesn't,

01:23:36.130 --> 01:23:42.229
yeah. Yeah, it's 12%. Light alcohol. Yeah. You

01:23:42.229 --> 01:23:46.869
can tell it's young. Yes. But would you say that

01:23:46.869 --> 01:23:50.189
this is so acidic that it makes your face cringe?

01:23:50.369 --> 01:23:53.850
No. Yeah, it's quite pleasant. It is, yeah. Refreshing.

01:23:53.850 --> 01:23:57.000
Yeah, quite. Yeah. Do you find that this wine

01:23:57.000 --> 01:24:01.859
is sour? No. Would you use the word sour? No,

01:24:01.880 --> 01:24:04.039
I wouldn't use the word sour. I would use...

01:24:04.039 --> 01:24:08.699
I would say, I mean, it's citrusy. It can definitely

01:24:08.699 --> 01:24:10.739
have... It's not even a hint of citrus. It's

01:24:10.739 --> 01:24:15.779
a lot of citrus. But it's not your vinegar kind

01:24:15.779 --> 01:24:20.439
of taste. It's the fruits. Yeah. It's the fruit

01:24:20.439 --> 01:24:24.739
sour. I can't think of it now that I've... talking

01:24:24.739 --> 01:24:27.000
after I just made that, I just swallowed, swore

01:24:27.000 --> 01:24:30.760
around my mouth and I get that hint of grapefruit

01:24:30.760 --> 01:24:34.319
somewhere. What about the white pepper? Yes,

01:24:34.500 --> 01:24:37.539
it's the aftertaste, you know, the white pepper

01:24:37.539 --> 01:24:43.239
thing. Yeah, it's that more towards the back

01:24:43.239 --> 01:24:46.779
of my mouth that I feel the white pepper. It

01:24:46.779 --> 01:24:49.739
only comes from this grape. Right. No other white

01:24:49.739 --> 01:24:54.920
grape. Yeah, it's hitting me now. That's why

01:24:54.920 --> 01:24:58.100
I chose this because it's pretty special and

01:24:58.100 --> 01:24:59.939
from the monastery. Oh yeah, I'm getting it now.

01:25:00.819 --> 01:25:04.439
Wow, this thing is like delayed reaction. Yeah,

01:25:04.539 --> 01:25:07.979
I'm getting white pepper wholesale. A lot? Yeah,

01:25:09.100 --> 01:25:14.840
inside my cheeks. Right here. And the back of

01:25:14.840 --> 01:25:20.319
my tongue. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. It comes in

01:25:20.319 --> 01:25:23.520
much later. But definitely, it's holding in my

01:25:23.520 --> 01:25:29.420
mouth. This is not a crazy expensive wine. It's

01:25:29.420 --> 01:25:34.300
about 10 euros. But of course, once it gets to

01:25:34.300 --> 01:25:37.180
Singapore, the price is different. It's different.

01:25:37.380 --> 01:25:38.520
Anything that gets to Singapore is different.

01:25:38.619 --> 01:25:43.720
I enjoy this very, very much because for our

01:25:43.720 --> 01:25:46.720
climate here. It just goes great with fish. Yeah.

01:25:47.439 --> 01:25:50.920
You can tell. Yeah. It goes great with... Yeah.

01:25:51.560 --> 01:25:56.399
Even if it's steamed fish. You're not correct.

01:25:56.539 --> 01:25:59.539
Steamed fish Thai style? You know where the sauce

01:25:59.539 --> 01:26:06.020
is a little bit sour? No, even if it's a simple

01:26:06.020 --> 01:26:09.460
steamed fish with ginger and you have this. There's

01:26:09.460 --> 01:26:15.279
a white pepper uptaste with fish. Yeah. I don't

01:26:15.279 --> 01:26:17.279
believe I just said all that. I sound so atas.

01:26:17.399 --> 01:26:20.989
Okay. But you... Kind of enjoyed this. Yeah,

01:26:20.989 --> 01:26:22.829
yeah, yeah. For someone who doesn't like wines.

01:26:23.069 --> 01:26:26.289
Kind of, yeah. Yeah. Now that you're telling

01:26:26.289 --> 01:26:30.489
me to go through that step, that process of getting,

01:26:30.630 --> 01:26:34.489
nosing it and what's the bouquet? The bouquet

01:26:34.489 --> 01:26:38.590
is fruity. Ah, so basically bouquet means, so

01:26:38.590 --> 01:26:41.729
the ultimate. The smell of the wine. Right. Smell

01:26:41.729 --> 01:26:44.750
of the wine. What's the bouquet? Fruity. Yeah,

01:26:44.810 --> 01:26:48.600
okay lah. Citrus fruity. I would call this a

01:26:48.600 --> 01:26:51.800
simple wine because it has no oak. It's very

01:26:51.800 --> 01:26:55.000
straightforward. Refreshing. Something for you

01:26:55.000 --> 01:26:57.880
to drink in the afternoon. Not just stop at one

01:26:57.880 --> 01:27:01.699
bottle. You probably could do two bottles. Yeah.

01:27:02.079 --> 01:27:05.899
And it's not a quaffing wine. Quaffing wine.

01:27:06.340 --> 01:27:09.979
Quaffing. To quaff. Quaff. Meaning just, you

01:27:09.979 --> 01:27:12.520
know. Oh. When you say quaffing, you know, I

01:27:12.520 --> 01:27:17.359
think about quaffer. No. My hair. Chris, you

01:27:17.359 --> 01:27:21.439
got coiffure. Yeah. Coiffing, coiffing is basically

01:27:21.439 --> 01:27:25.840
slugging it. Because this wine has got some character.

01:27:26.039 --> 01:27:29.619
It does, yeah. So it's not... I like it. Good,

01:27:29.720 --> 01:27:33.479
I'm glad. I like this, I like this. A lot of

01:27:33.479 --> 01:27:36.199
people do like it. It's a simple thing, it's

01:27:36.199 --> 01:27:39.800
a simple wine as far as I can... There's no big

01:27:39.800 --> 01:27:42.689
headaches, you know what I'm saying? You just

01:27:42.689 --> 01:27:44.689
open it up, you just pour it down and after that

01:27:44.689 --> 01:27:47.869
you have a good meal, you have this. But it has

01:27:47.869 --> 01:27:51.750
got some character. It's not just simple. It

01:27:51.750 --> 01:27:54.229
does, it does. When I say simple, I mean that

01:27:54.229 --> 01:27:57.750
there's nothing confusing about, you know, like

01:27:57.750 --> 01:28:01.409
what I would normally envision wine tasting to

01:28:01.409 --> 01:28:06.909
be. But just imagine this for Mars. I always

01:28:06.909 --> 01:28:09.489
like to look at the person's expression when

01:28:09.489 --> 01:28:13.859
they... taste a wine. Because it's very difficult

01:28:13.859 --> 01:28:17.079
to hide your feelings. Oh, really? Yeah. Whoever

01:28:17.079 --> 01:28:21.500
it is, whoever it is. Did I hide? No. Okay. Because

01:28:21.500 --> 01:28:24.920
if you don't like it, it shows immediately. Ah.

01:28:25.359 --> 01:28:27.319
There are some people, they take a sip and they

01:28:27.319 --> 01:28:31.500
go, you know, something is going to the negative

01:28:31.500 --> 01:28:34.460
direction. I can tell you one thing. More often

01:28:34.460 --> 01:28:36.340
than not, man, when I drink any wine, right,

01:28:36.460 --> 01:28:42.600
especially the reds, I go, oh. I've never had

01:28:42.600 --> 01:28:45.859
much of a good experience. Except once, though.

01:28:46.000 --> 01:28:53.439
With a Chilean wine. And my crazy wife, I think

01:28:53.439 --> 01:28:56.180
it was many years ago, she used to order boxes

01:28:56.180 --> 01:29:01.659
of this wine every month. Because a friend, a

01:29:01.659 --> 01:29:06.079
dear friend, who she just passed on, gave us

01:29:06.079 --> 01:29:09.260
the recommendation for that. And I enjoyed that

01:29:09.260 --> 01:29:13.319
one. Ask me the name now, I can't remember. It

01:29:13.319 --> 01:29:17.619
was so long ago. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. But I enjoyed

01:29:17.619 --> 01:29:21.699
that. But other than that, it didn't do it for

01:29:21.699 --> 01:29:24.520
me. You know what I mean? It depends because

01:29:24.520 --> 01:29:27.659
red wine also, if it comes from cooler climate,

01:29:27.760 --> 01:29:32.100
you might find it a bit too tannic, not so approachable.

01:29:32.579 --> 01:29:35.920
If it comes from the old world, like Chile, sorry.

01:29:36.510 --> 01:29:38.390
Chile is from the new world. New world, yeah.

01:29:38.609 --> 01:29:41.210
Yeah, slightly warmer. Yeah, the more tropical,

01:29:41.329 --> 01:29:44.770
humid countries. Yeah. South American products,

01:29:45.029 --> 01:29:47.449
perhaps. More fruit forward because a lot of

01:29:47.449 --> 01:29:49.989
people who are new to wine. Californian, maybe.

01:29:50.130 --> 01:29:56.130
Yeah, they like all this new world wines because

01:29:56.130 --> 01:29:58.189
they find it very approachable. Yeah, it's like

01:29:58.189 --> 01:30:01.649
the Beaujolais. But Beaujolais is French. It's

01:30:01.649 --> 01:30:03.609
so strange, but the Beaujolais is so damn fruity

01:30:03.609 --> 01:30:08.680
and it's... not offensive somehow i find it's

01:30:08.680 --> 01:30:11.260
also the nature of the greek yeah okay and then

01:30:11.260 --> 01:30:14.819
it's meant to be drunk within 12 months young

01:30:14.819 --> 01:30:17.399
okay and they are not allowed to sell it after

01:30:17.399 --> 01:30:23.460
12 months you're correct yes Announce that over

01:30:23.460 --> 01:30:26.180
and over again. After 12 months, that's it. We're

01:30:26.180 --> 01:30:27.659
all going to throw it out, the whole damn thing

01:30:27.659 --> 01:30:30.039
away. Correct. Yeah, I remember that. The third

01:30:30.039 --> 01:30:32.859
November of, no, the third week of November,

01:30:33.060 --> 01:30:35.020
the release. That's what they said. And they

01:30:35.020 --> 01:30:37.300
wanted all the bottles to be sold, which I did.

01:30:38.159 --> 01:30:41.060
Anything that, actually, I'm not bragging, but

01:30:41.060 --> 01:30:45.180
shows for any product, you know, that came into

01:30:45.180 --> 01:30:48.039
my hands and they get me to host an event, play

01:30:48.039 --> 01:30:49.840
games, ding dong here and there, sing songs and

01:30:49.840 --> 01:30:54.199
stuff. And I always have everything 100 % either

01:30:54.199 --> 01:30:58.880
sold off or auctioned or even if it's to raise

01:30:58.880 --> 01:31:01.300
funds for charity or benefit. Oh, believe you

01:31:01.300 --> 01:31:06.020
me, I get it done. Fabulous. Yeah. So, I always

01:31:06.020 --> 01:31:08.340
sell out the Beaujolais Nouveau. You know, yeah.

01:31:08.760 --> 01:31:11.960
No, no question. Yeah. You must have had a great

01:31:11.960 --> 01:31:16.579
time. Oh, well, it was memorable. It was memorable.

01:31:16.899 --> 01:31:19.359
I mean, I had quite a number of bottles to bring

01:31:19.359 --> 01:31:20.979
home. Thank you very much, Chris. I love you.

01:31:21.000 --> 01:31:22.399
I love you, man. You did a great job. Thank you

01:31:22.399 --> 01:31:24.560
very much again. Four or five bottles I bring

01:31:24.560 --> 01:31:27.000
home. But at that time, I was still single. You

01:31:27.000 --> 01:31:31.500
know? What do you remember about the wine? The

01:31:31.500 --> 01:31:36.119
nose? The nose? Bubble gum, right? Yeah. Yeah.

01:31:36.890 --> 01:31:39.109
Bing bubblegum. Yeah, yeah, that's it. Banana

01:31:39.109 --> 01:31:41.369
bubblegum. That's it, that's it. Right? Yeah,

01:31:41.510 --> 01:31:44.050
that's it. As a matter of fact, that description

01:31:44.050 --> 01:31:48.350
was quite common. Yeah. Even the client back

01:31:48.350 --> 01:31:50.630
then said that, you know, the nose is bubblegum.

01:31:51.109 --> 01:31:55.050
The bouquet is bubblegummy. And when you taste

01:31:55.050 --> 01:31:58.449
it, you can tell it's like probably just only

01:31:58.449 --> 01:32:01.130
came off the press or something. You know, and

01:32:01.130 --> 01:32:04.590
it's really, really young and damn fruity. Yeah,

01:32:04.590 --> 01:32:06.949
and I kind of enjoyed that because it wasn't

01:32:06.949 --> 01:32:10.890
offensive. It was something that anyone's palate

01:32:10.890 --> 01:32:13.750
could accept. Anyone, for that matter. Correct.

01:32:13.930 --> 01:32:16.409
It's open to the masses. Even if you don't enjoy

01:32:16.409 --> 01:32:18.850
it, you will enjoy it, you know? That kind of

01:32:18.850 --> 01:32:22.489
reception. So you see, grapes have got their

01:32:22.489 --> 01:32:25.090
distinct characteristics. Right. Yeah, like this

01:32:25.090 --> 01:32:28.090
one, if they gave it to you as a blind tasting,

01:32:28.170 --> 01:32:31.270
you will nail it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You will

01:32:31.270 --> 01:32:33.569
nail it. You will, yeah. You can tell it's Beaujolais

01:32:33.569 --> 01:32:36.920
Nouveau. Okay, shall we try the red? Let's talk

01:32:36.920 --> 01:32:42.000
about the red. If we want to do it really properly,

01:32:42.199 --> 01:32:46.619
we should just rinse the glass. But I don't think

01:32:46.619 --> 01:32:49.680
we need to. I will still be able to tell some

01:32:49.680 --> 01:32:56.939
difference, right? In the interest of time, we

01:32:56.939 --> 01:32:59.039
shall not be rinsing the wine glasses. So don't

01:32:59.039 --> 01:33:01.000
anybody cut them. Chris, just roll a bit of good.

01:33:01.619 --> 01:33:06.210
Nonsense. we have decided not to rinse the glass

01:33:06.210 --> 01:33:12.189
which is fine um this wine opener is uh have

01:33:12.189 --> 01:33:16.189
you seen this before that bit no okay yeah okay

01:33:16.189 --> 01:33:20.989
uh normally to cut the foil you will have a small

01:33:20.989 --> 01:33:24.789
short serrated knife attached right but this

01:33:24.789 --> 01:33:29.369
one doesn't have because here we do this even

01:33:29.369 --> 01:33:32.039
more fancy that one huh What's that down here?

01:33:32.180 --> 01:33:36.380
Easier. Okay, man. Yeah. Wow. Damn, I struggle

01:33:36.380 --> 01:33:38.840
with that shit all the time. Okay. Yeah, it's

01:33:38.840 --> 01:33:40.579
easier. Yeah, okay. You can move the mic. No

01:33:40.579 --> 01:33:43.720
worries. Yeah. And then we will... Okay, this

01:33:43.720 --> 01:33:47.020
is called the worm. Corkscrew. Yeah, this thing

01:33:47.020 --> 01:33:49.319
here is called the worm. Okay. This part. It's

01:33:49.319 --> 01:33:51.220
called the worm, huh? Literally called the worm.

01:33:51.439 --> 01:33:54.539
Find the center, push it in, twist the filler

01:33:54.539 --> 01:33:58.619
around. Yeah. So I just want to secure it. Yeah.

01:34:08.599 --> 01:34:18.119
Now... Okay... So this is... Wow, done just like

01:34:18.119 --> 01:34:21.479
a true expert, man. Okay, okay. Now, I know what

01:34:21.479 --> 01:34:22.619
you're gonna do. I know what you're gonna do.

01:34:22.640 --> 01:34:25.079
You're gonna smell a cock. No! Huh? No, no, no.

01:34:25.239 --> 01:34:28.420
What? No cock smelling. What? No, we don't...

01:34:28.420 --> 01:34:33.189
Hey, somehow this is so very right. Okay, people,

01:34:33.289 --> 01:34:39.649
no cork smelling. I kicked your heads out of

01:34:39.649 --> 01:34:44.430
the gutter once again. No. Why do people do that?

01:34:44.670 --> 01:34:47.710
I don't know. But okay, you know why? Because

01:34:47.710 --> 01:34:51.090
even when I go order a bottle of wine, you know,

01:34:51.170 --> 01:34:53.970
I don't, which I don't. The last time I did was

01:34:53.970 --> 01:34:56.590
like before I got married and then dating some

01:34:56.590 --> 01:34:58.569
girl somewhere and you take her to a fancy place

01:34:58.569 --> 01:35:01.670
and then you just... Just to show off, you order

01:35:01.670 --> 01:35:03.430
whatever, right? They'll be like, are you okay

01:35:03.430 --> 01:35:05.529
with this, sir? You uncock it, they put the cork

01:35:05.529 --> 01:35:07.289
there on the table right in front of you. Then

01:35:07.289 --> 01:35:09.390
I think their expectation is for you to take

01:35:09.390 --> 01:35:15.270
that cork and smell it. No? Eh. Why is it bloody,

01:35:15.409 --> 01:35:17.149
atas restaurants all telling you to do that?

01:35:17.270 --> 01:35:19.210
I don't know, I think they want to smell it to

01:35:19.210 --> 01:35:21.670
see if there's cork taint or what, but it's no

01:35:21.670 --> 01:35:24.210
indication until you actually nose the wine.

01:35:24.310 --> 01:35:28.289
So basically it's rubbish. Smelling the cork

01:35:28.289 --> 01:35:30.819
from the bottle. It's rubbish? I don't do it.

01:35:34.500 --> 01:35:37.039
I've never done it and we were not taught to

01:35:37.039 --> 01:35:40.840
do it. Really? Yeah. Oh, wowee. No. Okay, okay.

01:35:41.720 --> 01:35:45.079
Alright. So... Okay. Can you move the mic back

01:35:45.079 --> 01:35:46.479
a little bit so that we can pick you up some

01:35:46.479 --> 01:35:49.159
more? Thank you so much. Okay. Okay. And then

01:35:49.159 --> 01:35:50.920
we don't... Okay, great. So we don't have to

01:35:50.920 --> 01:35:57.319
really smell that thing. Okay. Yeah. Gosh. So

01:35:57.319 --> 01:36:00.630
this is... It doesn't look like a synthetic cork

01:36:00.630 --> 01:36:06.329
to me. It's not. Because synthetic cork is really

01:36:06.329 --> 01:36:09.649
plastic. Excuse me. Burping the wine, sorry.

01:36:13.729 --> 01:36:17.449
See, habit. You can't help it, right? Yeah, it's

01:36:17.449 --> 01:36:19.989
not synthetic. Yeah. Definitely not. Okay, this

01:36:19.989 --> 01:36:23.590
wine I have selected for the tasting is from

01:36:23.590 --> 01:36:27.850
South Africa. It's by Anthony Rupert. Anthony

01:36:27.850 --> 01:36:31.149
Rupert, okay. Yeah, he makes really nice wines.

01:36:31.289 --> 01:36:34.010
Optima, Optima. Can I just show it to the camera?

01:36:34.210 --> 01:36:40.430
Okay, here we go. There you go. Optima, Anthony

01:36:40.430 --> 01:36:46.270
Rupert. Here we go. All right. Okay. This wine

01:36:46.270 --> 01:36:52.130
is a blend of grapes. Yeah. The grape selected

01:36:52.130 --> 01:36:56.780
for this blend is similar to Bordeaux. Okay.

01:36:56.780 --> 01:37:00.779
Bordeaux, not Bordeaux. Bordeaux. Cabernet Sauvignon,

01:37:01.060 --> 01:37:05.720
Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Viado. So these

01:37:05.720 --> 01:37:09.399
are the four grapes that are generally used as

01:37:09.399 --> 01:37:10.979
a blend for Bordeaux wine. So this is blended

01:37:10.979 --> 01:37:13.939
wine? Blended. Right, okay. So they make it very

01:37:13.939 --> 01:37:16.579
close to a Bordeaux. Okay, hang on. So you have

01:37:16.579 --> 01:37:19.600
Cabernet Sauvignon. You have, what again? Merlot.

01:37:19.720 --> 01:37:22.890
Merlot. Cabernet Franc. The way you say... We

01:37:22.890 --> 01:37:25.909
say Merlot, you say Merlot. So is that the right

01:37:25.909 --> 01:37:28.369
way of saying it? I don't remember. Because you

01:37:28.369 --> 01:37:32.649
learn French. Yeah. So it is Merlot, not Merlot.

01:37:33.369 --> 01:37:36.729
But if we say Merlot, not many people will understand

01:37:36.729 --> 01:37:39.750
unless you say Merlot or some... But which is

01:37:39.750 --> 01:37:42.310
the proper way? Merlot, is it? I like to learn.

01:37:42.430 --> 01:37:44.989
Is it? Mielo. Okay, so let's say it. Mielo is

01:37:44.989 --> 01:37:46.510
the proper way. So we'll say it's Mielo. You

01:37:46.510 --> 01:37:49.590
don't pronounce the T and then the E -R. Mielo.

01:37:49.890 --> 01:37:53.430
Mielo. Yeah. All right. So, okay. Cabernet Sauvignon,

01:37:53.550 --> 01:37:56.850
Mielo and? Cabernet Franc. Cabernet Franc. That's

01:37:56.850 --> 01:37:59.489
new to me. Yeah. F -R -A -N -C. Yeah. And then

01:37:59.489 --> 01:38:02.890
Petit Viado. Petit Viado. Yeah. V -E -R -D -O

01:38:02.890 --> 01:38:07.590
-T. Okay, small weirdo. Petit weirdo, yeah. The

01:38:07.590 --> 01:38:11.890
small weirdo. Petit weirdo. Okay. But if you

01:38:11.890 --> 01:38:14.970
go to the UK, they will still call it a merlot.

01:38:15.170 --> 01:38:17.369
You know, they won't say merlot. Is it? Yeah.

01:38:17.449 --> 01:38:19.510
Because the Brits are not French. Yeah. Okay.

01:38:19.890 --> 01:38:21.729
The Brits will pretend to speak French, but they

01:38:21.729 --> 01:38:27.550
can't. Okay. For example, the champagne. In the

01:38:27.550 --> 01:38:30.020
UK, they call it Bollinger. Yeah, Bollinger.

01:38:30.159 --> 01:38:32.859
Yeah, the 007 Champagne. Yeah, I love it. Yeah,

01:38:32.859 --> 01:38:35.960
of course, I'm a big James Bond fan. But in France,

01:38:36.060 --> 01:38:39.420
it's Bollinger. It's what? Boulanger. Boulanger.

01:38:40.460 --> 01:38:43.159
So, you don't have to worry too much about the

01:38:43.159 --> 01:38:45.039
mellow, you know. It's just that it just came

01:38:45.039 --> 01:38:47.600
out like this. No lah, I like to be proper. But

01:38:47.600 --> 01:38:49.319
I've been calling it Bollinger for a long time.

01:38:51.479 --> 01:38:54.199
Boulanger. Boulanger, okay. But if you say Boulanger

01:38:54.199 --> 01:38:56.880
in English -speaking countries, they won't understand

01:38:56.880 --> 01:38:58.840
you. Of course they won't, yeah. Right? Boulanger.

01:38:59.520 --> 01:39:02.520
Boulanger. Boulanger. Boulanger, okay. I shall

01:39:02.520 --> 01:39:06.579
remember that. Okay, so I will pour you a little.

01:39:06.739 --> 01:39:09.159
Thank you, ma 'am. You're most welcome, Grace.

01:39:10.000 --> 01:39:12.359
Okay. So there's no particular way of pouring

01:39:12.359 --> 01:39:15.659
red wine. Well, I like... Oh, hang on a second

01:39:15.659 --> 01:39:20.739
before it drips on my table. Ta -da! Oh. I like

01:39:20.739 --> 01:39:24.960
what I learned from SQ. When you pour, you must

01:39:24.960 --> 01:39:28.479
show the label to the person you're pouring to.

01:39:28.640 --> 01:39:31.159
Right. And then because we are up in the air

01:39:31.159 --> 01:39:36.239
to steady our grip, we were told to hold it this

01:39:36.239 --> 01:39:39.520
way. and then the index finger to control. Right.

01:39:40.020 --> 01:39:44.300
And when we pour, you make sure that we do a

01:39:44.300 --> 01:39:46.760
little twist so that it doesn't drip, drip, drip,

01:39:46.760 --> 01:39:48.479
drip, drip everywhere. Yeah, you twist, yes.

01:39:48.539 --> 01:39:52.180
That one we know. But if you're not in the air,

01:39:52.199 --> 01:39:53.520
if you're on the ground, aren't you supposed

01:39:53.520 --> 01:39:56.319
to be having your thumb into the hollow or the

01:39:56.319 --> 01:39:59.939
base of the bottle? I suppose it depends on what

01:39:59.939 --> 01:40:01.439
you're... Like this, you know, when you pour,

01:40:01.500 --> 01:40:03.460
you pour like that. It's very difficult because,

01:40:03.539 --> 01:40:07.180
especially for me, I don't have much strength

01:40:07.180 --> 01:40:11.979
in my hand. The possibility of me toppling the

01:40:11.979 --> 01:40:14.399
entire bottle is very, very high. Right. So I'm

01:40:14.399 --> 01:40:17.140
actually at risk if I pour it that way. Sure,

01:40:17.140 --> 01:40:23.039
I understand. Yeah. But there is no... a steadfast

01:40:23.039 --> 01:40:25.819
rule how to hold the bottle. Right. Even the

01:40:25.819 --> 01:40:31.520
guys in the restaurant, they would have the white

01:40:31.520 --> 01:40:36.600
cloth around the neck of the bottle. Then they

01:40:36.600 --> 01:40:38.100
hold on to that and like this, they'll pour.

01:40:38.340 --> 01:40:41.020
Then they'll wipe so that the wine that drips

01:40:41.020 --> 01:40:44.260
down will be collected by the white towel. Yeah.

01:40:44.300 --> 01:40:48.079
But I suppose all these would depend on... The

01:40:48.079 --> 01:40:50.699
institution, the restaurant, the hotel that you

01:40:50.699 --> 01:40:54.579
work for and what the guidelines are. Right.

01:40:54.579 --> 01:40:56.800
Service guidelines that you need to follow. Okay.

01:40:56.899 --> 01:40:59.779
So mostly what I'm doing is what I have learned

01:40:59.779 --> 01:41:03.319
from SQ. Okay. No worries. No worries. Just a

01:41:03.319 --> 01:41:06.779
topic for conversation. Yeah. All right. So...

01:41:06.779 --> 01:41:13.760
Pour away, pour away. Yeah. Okay. Is it still

01:41:13.760 --> 01:41:18.270
spilling? Nope. Okay, great. Now we do the same

01:41:18.270 --> 01:41:20.569
thing since... Are we going to use your wall

01:41:20.569 --> 01:41:25.430
again? Yeah, we can use the wall. Because I have

01:41:25.430 --> 01:41:27.630
too much important printed matter on my other

01:41:27.630 --> 01:41:30.930
white paper that's available in the studio. So

01:41:30.930 --> 01:41:33.810
back to the colour, you can see, of course, it

01:41:33.810 --> 01:41:38.909
is... How intense it is. You hold it at an angle,

01:41:39.010 --> 01:41:43.310
always at 45 degrees. Why we do this? Because

01:41:43.310 --> 01:41:47.970
we want to see... the base here yeah compared

01:41:47.970 --> 01:41:51.890
to the rim okay yeah how deep the color is correct

01:41:51.890 --> 01:41:55.350
yeah this is not very deep yeah because because

01:41:55.350 --> 01:41:58.689
ah that's a very good observation because the

01:41:58.689 --> 01:42:04.710
wine has a bit of age so if if you pour a wine

01:42:04.710 --> 01:42:07.949
that is very very young it can be very dense

01:42:07.949 --> 01:42:11.939
and then darker yeah the pigment will go Right

01:42:11.939 --> 01:42:15.000
up to here. Right. It doesn't fade. So it's different

01:42:15.000 --> 01:42:17.100
from white wine. White wine just now we discussed

01:42:17.100 --> 01:42:21.239
was that if it's older, it's a lot more golden

01:42:21.239 --> 01:42:24.560
hue. Yes. Darker. Yes. But in terms of red, it

01:42:24.560 --> 01:42:28.140
works the opposite. Correct. Correct. So for

01:42:28.140 --> 01:42:30.420
red. So the older it is, the lighter the color.

01:42:30.600 --> 01:42:35.600
Yes. Correct. That is so interesting. I would

01:42:35.600 --> 01:42:37.939
have thought that the older the red, the deeper

01:42:37.939 --> 01:42:41.869
the color. Right. So now we're supposed to let

01:42:41.869 --> 01:42:45.109
this rest. Oh, no. No? We do the same thing.

01:42:45.289 --> 01:42:47.829
Okay, we... You take a whiff. Take a whiff. And

01:42:47.829 --> 01:42:51.989
any revolting smell? No, nothing. So the wine

01:42:51.989 --> 01:42:54.210
is in good condition. That's the only reason

01:42:54.210 --> 01:42:58.930
we do that. But the first whiff, you don't need

01:42:58.930 --> 01:43:03.449
to swirl it. But it's so much nicer after you

01:43:03.449 --> 01:43:06.109
swirl it. Oh, but... The first thing we do is

01:43:06.109 --> 01:43:08.350
just to make sure that the wine is in good condition.

01:43:08.550 --> 01:43:10.270
Oh, that one. The first one was... No, no, no.

01:43:10.310 --> 01:43:13.149
It was okay. Ah, okay. So we cleared that. That

01:43:13.149 --> 01:43:15.130
means we say the wine is in good condition. So

01:43:15.130 --> 01:43:17.489
now we swell it to release more of the aromas.

01:43:18.729 --> 01:43:25.770
A lot of red fruit. Don't know. Black fruit.

01:43:27.310 --> 01:43:34.000
Blackcurrant. Blackberry. Cherries. Those are

01:43:34.000 --> 01:43:38.260
the fruits. Mostly. Cherry, yeah. Mostly red.

01:43:38.479 --> 01:43:43.899
Blackcurrant. Blackberry. The blackcurrant is

01:43:43.899 --> 01:43:45.819
quite. Blackcurrant, yeah. Blackcurrant is quite

01:43:45.819 --> 01:43:47.979
pronounced. There's a predominant fragrance.

01:43:48.460 --> 01:43:51.579
Bouquet. That comes from the Cabernet Sauvignon.

01:43:55.439 --> 01:44:01.810
This wine is. I somehow get the cherry. The cherry

01:44:01.810 --> 01:44:03.909
hits me more. The notes of the cherry hit me

01:44:03.909 --> 01:44:07.149
more than the notes of the blackcurrant. So this

01:44:07.149 --> 01:44:08.789
wine, let me check again. Okay, this wine is

01:44:08.789 --> 01:44:11.609
five years old. Ah, 2020. Yeah, that means it

01:44:11.609 --> 01:44:14.810
has evolved. Yeah. You would be able to... How

01:44:14.810 --> 01:44:16.609
would you say that it's evolved? Because it's

01:44:16.609 --> 01:44:20.869
five years old. Okay, the age, the vintage is

01:44:20.869 --> 01:44:24.930
an indication. Right. But when you nose it, you

01:44:24.930 --> 01:44:28.590
will get not just the fresh fruits nose, you

01:44:28.590 --> 01:44:31.079
will get something else. Do you get... Leather.

01:44:32.079 --> 01:44:36.140
Wow, you're really going outside of organic stuff

01:44:36.140 --> 01:44:38.880
now, man. Leather? Actually, right now I'm smelling

01:44:38.880 --> 01:44:43.840
black pepper. Because the wine has been poured

01:44:43.840 --> 01:44:48.079
for 2 -3 minutes, it has contact with air. Black

01:44:48.079 --> 01:45:02.760
pepper. Now, you get a black pepper. So this

01:45:02.760 --> 01:45:09.439
has been aged in oak. Do you smell any oak? Chard

01:45:09.439 --> 01:45:20.340
wood? Smoke? Cigar box? Oh, smoke, yeah. Smoke,

01:45:21.899 --> 01:45:26.560
yeah. Coffee? Chard, yeah. Chard something. Chard

01:45:26.560 --> 01:45:36.109
wood. Chocolate? No, definitely not. God, I smell

01:45:36.109 --> 01:45:39.890
that, I get nosebleed. And if it is being aged

01:45:39.890 --> 01:45:45.710
even longer, you will develop even more... Secondary

01:45:45.710 --> 01:45:49.529
and... That would be tertiary, you will get mushroom.

01:45:50.029 --> 01:45:55.470
Huh? Yeah, those mushroom, earth. Yeah. Why,

01:45:55.649 --> 01:46:00.930
why, why would these... Why would these bouquets

01:46:00.930 --> 01:46:05.850
or noses come into play? I mean... It doesn't

01:46:05.850 --> 01:46:08.270
mean that the grape came from a ground that also

01:46:08.270 --> 01:46:13.510
used to harvest mushroom or leather or have leather

01:46:13.510 --> 01:46:16.529
somewhere involved. It's just the evolution of

01:46:16.529 --> 01:46:19.550
the wine. So basically, it's just subject to

01:46:19.550 --> 01:46:28.470
what you really smell, which is relative, isn't

01:46:28.470 --> 01:46:31.069
it? I mean, it's relative to anyone, individual.

01:46:31.960 --> 01:46:34.420
But you cannot go too far off, you know. This

01:46:34.420 --> 01:46:37.180
is the guideline, what we are looking for and

01:46:37.180 --> 01:46:41.039
you should be able to get this. But it's imagination,

01:46:41.319 --> 01:46:45.100
isn't it? No, no, no. No? Okay, maybe I'm better

01:46:45.100 --> 01:46:48.460
at white than I am at red. My aversion is actually

01:46:48.460 --> 01:46:52.779
to red, you know. Well, what I mentioned, the

01:46:52.779 --> 01:46:58.340
mushrooms and the earth. Yeah. This wine perhaps

01:46:58.340 --> 01:47:01.460
need another few years or maybe a few hours because

01:47:01.850 --> 01:47:08.489
It's just open. And this wine is... I won't say

01:47:08.489 --> 01:47:13.649
very complex, but it has some complexity. Would

01:47:13.649 --> 01:47:18.010
you like to taste it now? Yeah, I do. How about

01:47:18.010 --> 01:47:21.529
mint? Did you get mint? No. From the nose? Zero.

01:47:39.910 --> 01:47:45.270
Funny. Did the wine get to this part here, the

01:47:45.270 --> 01:47:48.850
gums? Yeah, yeah. The tannins are very soft.

01:47:49.649 --> 01:47:52.130
I can't tell whether it's soft or not. I can

01:47:52.130 --> 01:47:56.390
tell the tannins. Is it very drying? Yeah, yeah,

01:47:56.390 --> 01:47:58.609
yeah. But it's not that drying? Not that drying,

01:47:58.670 --> 01:48:00.789
no. It has that effect. Because it's not just

01:48:00.789 --> 01:48:04.590
entirely Cabernet. I think it's because there's

01:48:04.590 --> 01:48:07.510
more, probably the percentage of Cabernet in

01:48:07.510 --> 01:48:09.760
this blend is lesser than... The other grapes.

01:48:10.020 --> 01:48:14.300
30, 30, 30, 10. So which one is 10? Petit Viado.

01:48:15.060 --> 01:48:18.500
Okay. The rest are all 30, 30. Okay. For some

01:48:18.500 --> 01:48:20.260
reason, I think the Cabernet is a little bit

01:48:20.260 --> 01:48:21.960
more watered down because of the other blends.

01:48:23.479 --> 01:48:27.380
The Merlot, I can taste. I can taste more of

01:48:27.380 --> 01:48:29.319
the Merlot. As a matter of fact, right now, I'm

01:48:29.319 --> 01:48:33.020
getting the smokiness in my mouth. Yeah, pepper.

01:48:34.340 --> 01:48:37.869
Smoky. Pepper? A bit of mint? No, a bit of chocolate.

01:48:38.369 --> 01:48:44.829
Do you find that this wine is not, I would say

01:48:44.829 --> 01:48:47.890
it's medium bodied. It's not exactly very full

01:48:47.890 --> 01:48:50.649
bodied. It's not? Yeah, it's more to the full

01:48:50.649 --> 01:48:55.390
bodied, but it's definitely not light. It's got

01:48:55.390 --> 01:48:58.409
that good length. Length? What do you mean by

01:48:58.409 --> 01:49:01.069
length? You can still... taste the fruit the

01:49:01.069 --> 01:49:03.270
flavours in your mouth is still lingering oh

01:49:03.270 --> 01:49:06.069
that's called length yeah okay aftertaste aftertaste

01:49:06.069 --> 01:49:09.189
if it yeah you can say aftertaste but if it disappears

01:49:09.189 --> 01:49:12.090
straight after immediately then we call it you

01:49:12.090 --> 01:49:14.109
know the wine doesn't have a length it's a very

01:49:14.109 --> 01:49:16.869
short finish okay it's a very short wine but

01:49:16.869 --> 01:49:20.850
this is this is not this is not yeah yeah yeah

01:49:20.850 --> 01:49:22.369
this is not this is not definitely it's still

01:49:22.369 --> 01:49:25.449
lingering yeah do you think your wife would love

01:49:25.449 --> 01:49:29.619
this she would yeah do you like this You don't

01:49:29.619 --> 01:49:33.220
hate it? I don't hate it. I don't hate it, but

01:49:33.220 --> 01:49:36.460
I prefer the white. I prefer the white because

01:49:36.460 --> 01:49:40.539
it's happy. It's something that I can imagine

01:49:40.539 --> 01:49:44.880
sitting down on a lazy day on a Parisian sidewalk,

01:49:45.239 --> 01:49:47.939
sitting down in front, you know, in Saint -Michel,

01:49:47.939 --> 01:49:51.239
outside the bakery or cafe, and just sipping

01:49:51.239 --> 01:49:54.739
my wine and having my pastry and watching the

01:49:54.739 --> 01:49:57.119
world go by and a couple of cigarettes with it.

01:49:57.310 --> 01:49:59.750
You know what I'm saying? Yeah. Or cigar. Yeah.

01:50:00.210 --> 01:50:04.250
This one, I don't mind it. As a matter of fact,

01:50:04.289 --> 01:50:07.789
I like the aftertaste. Yeah. That is what stays

01:50:07.789 --> 01:50:11.869
with you. I think this goes so well with, it's

01:50:11.869 --> 01:50:14.729
going to sound so cliche. It goes so well with

01:50:14.729 --> 01:50:20.909
your beef. It goes well with, oh, say, something

01:50:20.909 --> 01:50:26.449
barbecued. Ayam buah keluar. Ayam buah keluar.

01:50:27.200 --> 01:50:31.000
Yeah, I can agree. Yes, I think it would be very,

01:50:31.039 --> 01:50:33.159
very nice because even though it's ayam, white

01:50:33.159 --> 01:50:36.720
meat, so we take into consideration the sauce,

01:50:36.800 --> 01:50:40.939
the method of cooking is a rich dish. But you

01:50:40.939 --> 01:50:43.060
don't want something too light like Beaujolais

01:50:43.060 --> 01:50:45.720
Nouveau. It will be drowned by the dish. You're

01:50:45.720 --> 01:50:49.119
right. I can agree. And you don't want something

01:50:49.119 --> 01:50:51.439
too heavy either. With my mother's ayam baklava.

01:50:51.720 --> 01:50:55.600
I think it would be lovely. Yeah. Oh yeah, this

01:50:55.600 --> 01:50:59.159
would go well. You're very right. Does your mother

01:50:59.159 --> 01:51:02.300
like wine? No, my mom can't drink. She's allergic

01:51:02.300 --> 01:51:04.699
to wine. She's allergic to alcohol. Okay, then

01:51:04.699 --> 01:51:07.920
maybe your wife can, or you can taste it. Maybe

01:51:07.920 --> 01:51:12.119
you may want to try this with your mother's ayam

01:51:12.119 --> 01:51:15.000
buah keluar. I wish my mom could cook again.

01:51:15.859 --> 01:51:21.220
No worries. I think it's a good pair. What do

01:51:21.220 --> 01:51:24.739
you think? Definitely. 100%. I don't think you

01:51:24.739 --> 01:51:28.520
mentioned iron ball kalua. Yeah, yeah. I completely

01:51:28.520 --> 01:51:31.779
agree with you. 100%. This is just to illustrate

01:51:31.779 --> 01:51:35.880
not white meat with white wine. Yeah. It could

01:51:35.880 --> 01:51:39.960
be anything. Because if things are cooked with

01:51:39.960 --> 01:51:41.960
different spices and different ingredients and

01:51:41.960 --> 01:51:45.760
seasonings and stuff. So it's not, that's quite

01:51:45.760 --> 01:51:49.060
a broad and quite mythical. These are myths.

01:51:49.359 --> 01:51:53.109
No, I'm convinced. Yes, I am. There are Some

01:51:53.109 --> 01:51:57.689
whereby it can only go one way for pure enjoyment.

01:51:58.390 --> 01:52:00.949
But there are some people who would like to just,

01:52:01.069 --> 01:52:05.250
yeah, go against it. This is a dinner wine. Yeah.

01:52:05.430 --> 01:52:10.569
This is like a windy table. It is? It is? No?

01:52:10.750 --> 01:52:14.649
No, it's like something you would have for dinner

01:52:14.649 --> 01:52:18.430
and dinner only, not even for lunch. I wouldn't

01:52:18.430 --> 01:52:20.489
want to have this for lunch. I would have it

01:52:20.489 --> 01:52:23.380
for dinner. You see, Vin the Table, right? Yeah.

01:52:24.359 --> 01:52:26.939
Actually, that's a classification for wine. So,

01:52:26.939 --> 01:52:30.359
Vin the Table means... Table wine. Yeah. That

01:52:30.359 --> 01:52:34.220
means... Low class one, huh? No, no. It means

01:52:34.220 --> 01:52:37.779
the... It means the... Entry level. So, if you

01:52:37.779 --> 01:52:40.520
order from... Yeah, entry level. Low class one.

01:52:41.260 --> 01:52:44.000
Basically, it's the house pour. For most places,

01:52:44.060 --> 01:52:47.300
a Vin the Table is a house pour. That is like

01:52:47.300 --> 01:52:49.100
the house pour wine that they will charge, you

01:52:49.100 --> 01:52:51.659
know, that everyone would have... be able to

01:52:51.659 --> 01:52:54.619
afford to pay. Right? And it's not going to be

01:52:54.619 --> 01:52:57.920
your atas classy ones. But this will not be sold

01:52:57.920 --> 01:53:02.479
as table wine. Because it's not a table wine.

01:53:04.159 --> 01:53:06.100
There's going to be a lot of wine connoisseurs

01:53:06.100 --> 01:53:08.460
out there that's going to go, how dare you, Chris?

01:53:09.380 --> 01:53:14.039
Do not insult that wine. Now, this one, you didn't

01:53:14.039 --> 01:53:17.020
tell me about the legs. Okay, I'm sorry to disappoint

01:53:17.020 --> 01:53:20.699
you, but we don't really talk about legs. Seriously?

01:53:21.220 --> 01:53:24.439
Not really. Okay. What were you told about lakes?

01:53:25.260 --> 01:53:28.760
That you, after swirling, do this, and then you

01:53:28.760 --> 01:53:32.300
take a look at the... The side. The remnants

01:53:32.300 --> 01:53:34.539
of the side that's running down the glass. And

01:53:34.539 --> 01:53:37.579
the slower it runs down, the thicker, the more

01:53:37.579 --> 01:53:40.359
sugar there is. And the faster it streams down

01:53:40.359 --> 01:53:42.140
the side of the glass, the less sugar there is.

01:53:42.600 --> 01:53:45.180
Less sugar, more sugar. That's about the size

01:53:45.180 --> 01:53:46.739
of it. About just telling you about how much

01:53:46.739 --> 01:53:50.140
sugar there is inside the wine. Okay, there's

01:53:50.140 --> 01:53:51.779
another school of thought would be, you know,

01:53:51.800 --> 01:53:55.899
indicate how much alcohol. Okay. Yeah, because,

01:53:55.979 --> 01:53:58.960
you know, it's the ethanol and also related to

01:53:58.960 --> 01:54:03.960
sugar. But the legs do not really indicate much.

01:54:04.420 --> 01:54:07.840
So people normally don't bother about the legs.

01:54:07.920 --> 01:54:09.859
Yeah, because the legs don't really indicate

01:54:09.859 --> 01:54:13.310
quality. It just talks about... Okay. Yeah. Yeah.

01:54:13.430 --> 01:54:16.409
Thank you. Once again, at this stage of my life,

01:54:16.449 --> 01:54:20.289
I have been re -schooled. No, no, no, no, no,

01:54:20.289 --> 01:54:24.609
no, no, no, no, no. It's great. Because at least

01:54:24.609 --> 01:54:27.109
now I learned something new. You know, I learned

01:54:27.109 --> 01:54:29.750
another perspective, which is fantastic. I don't

01:54:29.750 --> 01:54:32.789
get me the wrong way. I enjoy it. I will enjoy

01:54:32.789 --> 01:54:35.909
learning new things as I go along. And then maybe

01:54:35.909 --> 01:54:39.090
I may have been misinformed or. Maybe there was

01:54:39.090 --> 01:54:41.909
a stupid thing the guy tried to make himself

01:54:41.909 --> 01:54:44.689
look good and that I gullible enough to believe

01:54:44.689 --> 01:54:48.310
it. I was very young, you know. When you're learning

01:54:48.310 --> 01:54:50.750
courage, I get in life, especially when I was

01:54:50.750 --> 01:54:54.609
younger, right? And you hold on to certain beliefs.

01:54:55.689 --> 01:54:58.050
So sometimes some myths need to be broken. I

01:54:58.050 --> 01:54:59.750
mean, I didn't even know it could have been a

01:54:59.750 --> 01:55:02.210
myth. I wouldn't have known any better. So it's

01:55:02.210 --> 01:55:04.869
great. People like you telling me stuff, it's

01:55:04.869 --> 01:55:10.939
great. I learned. Well, some were also my opinion,

01:55:11.119 --> 01:55:15.460
which is, you know. Sure. Whether or not I take

01:55:15.460 --> 01:55:18.960
your opinion or don't take your opinion is up

01:55:18.960 --> 01:55:22.600
to the individual, right? Yeah. So I value everyone's

01:55:22.600 --> 01:55:24.680
opinion. I value yours. I value all my guests.

01:55:24.800 --> 01:55:27.439
They come here and tell me their stories and

01:55:27.439 --> 01:55:30.689
tell me what they think. I mean, you went through

01:55:30.689 --> 01:55:32.989
to level four, you know, I mean, hell, if I can't

01:55:32.989 --> 01:55:35.130
take your opinion, I don't know whose I can take

01:55:35.130 --> 01:55:38.310
it from. But, but, but again, you know, it's,

01:55:38.470 --> 01:55:40.130
it's, everything's a learning curve and, and

01:55:40.130 --> 01:55:43.430
this is, this is your opinion and I can value

01:55:43.430 --> 01:55:45.529
that. Some of these things like, you know, like

01:55:45.529 --> 01:55:48.409
being a wine sommelier and how you observe certain

01:55:48.409 --> 01:55:51.529
things is, there's also this part where it's,

01:55:51.529 --> 01:55:55.449
it's, it's really up to the individual to decide

01:55:55.449 --> 01:55:58.329
whether or not that is, it is what it is, you

01:55:58.329 --> 01:56:01.819
know? Yeah, so it's cool. It's cool. It's cool.

01:56:01.880 --> 01:56:04.359
It's quite cool. No worries. And I kind of enjoyed

01:56:04.359 --> 01:56:08.100
this little tasting thing. I've been burping

01:56:08.100 --> 01:56:10.619
wine from just now. But it's been great. I love

01:56:10.619 --> 01:56:13.500
the white. But the red still, not really, yeah?

01:56:13.739 --> 01:56:17.579
You know, I would agree with you if I know what's

01:56:17.579 --> 01:56:19.460
going to be served in front of me on my plate.

01:56:20.200 --> 01:56:22.960
Then yeah, perhaps. If I know that I'm going

01:56:22.960 --> 01:56:25.420
to have a gastronomical meal of something like,

01:56:25.479 --> 01:56:27.840
wow, that's what goes with that, then I will

01:56:27.840 --> 01:56:30.500
go for it. Then you get a full complete picture

01:56:30.500 --> 01:56:33.159
in your palate. You know what I'm saying? But

01:56:33.159 --> 01:56:38.260
if it's anything at all, it seems to me that

01:56:38.260 --> 01:56:41.199
I'm leaning more towards the white. Yeah. So

01:56:41.199 --> 01:56:43.539
this is not, this grape is different from a Chablis

01:56:43.539 --> 01:56:46.760
or Chardonnay, right? Yes, correct. Ah, okay.

01:56:46.819 --> 01:56:50.060
Because it's a different grape. Right. Chablis

01:56:50.060 --> 01:56:55.119
is also made from chardonnay. Ah. Okay. Sorry

01:56:55.119 --> 01:56:57.859
for another time. Lesson for another time. Because

01:56:57.859 --> 01:57:00.960
right now, you know why? We've been going on

01:57:00.960 --> 01:57:04.399
for almost two and a half hours. No kidding.

01:57:08.040 --> 01:57:12.300
No kidding. And if this goes on anymore, it's

01:57:12.300 --> 01:57:15.359
going to be a three -parter, man. But thank you

01:57:15.359 --> 01:57:17.399
so much, Karen. It's been so lovely talking to

01:57:17.399 --> 01:57:21.659
you. Thank you for really sharing your expertise

01:57:21.659 --> 01:57:26.979
on wine. Thank you also for bringing up the water

01:57:26.979 --> 01:57:30.399
bit, you know, as a little revision of what Sam

01:57:30.399 --> 01:57:35.220
spoke about on the show last season. And really,

01:57:35.380 --> 01:57:38.600
I wish you the very best. I hope whatever your

01:57:38.600 --> 01:57:41.699
passion is for water, I know that I can see that

01:57:41.699 --> 01:57:44.779
you're more into the water thing, really comes

01:57:44.779 --> 01:57:49.939
to its fruition in whatever goals you have in

01:57:49.939 --> 01:57:52.960
mind. Okay. And thank you once again. Really,

01:57:53.039 --> 01:57:54.500
it's been a real pleasure. Thank you for the

01:57:54.500 --> 01:57:57.199
vinos. Thank you for having me, Chris. Not at

01:57:57.199 --> 01:58:00.850
all. It's a privilege. No. It's our pleasure

01:58:00.850 --> 01:58:03.850
having anyone like you on the show. All of my

01:58:03.850 --> 01:58:05.890
guests and you especially. Thank you so very

01:58:05.890 --> 01:58:08.729
much, really, Karen. And okay, everybody. There

01:58:08.729 --> 01:58:12.770
we go. Wine. Wine and more wine. Am I turning

01:58:12.770 --> 01:58:19.489
red, Kai? I think so. Sorry. I wish you could

01:58:19.489 --> 01:58:23.130
share this with me, but you can't. Okay. Okay,

01:58:23.250 --> 01:58:26.029
everybody. Just a couple of things before I say

01:58:26.029 --> 01:58:30.510
goodbye for this episode. Please do us a favor,

01:58:30.590 --> 01:58:32.510
will you? Just a couple of things. It's so important

01:58:32.510 --> 01:58:36.390
for this show. Please do, when you come into

01:58:36.390 --> 01:58:39.890
our episodes, please help us on YouTube to just

01:58:39.890 --> 01:58:43.130
subscribe. Just hit that subscribe button and

01:58:43.130 --> 01:58:46.770
hit the notification bell. Why? Because we are

01:58:46.770 --> 01:58:49.529
coming so close to hitting 100 ,000 subscribers,

01:58:49.890 --> 01:58:52.989
and we really want to surpass that target, okay,

01:58:53.130 --> 01:58:56.300
to being amongst the top, top. podcast of its

01:58:56.300 --> 01:59:00.079
kind from Singapore, out of Singapore. And at

01:59:00.079 --> 01:59:04.159
the same time, while doing that, could you please

01:59:04.159 --> 01:59:07.220
also watch the full episode? Watch it to the

01:59:07.220 --> 01:59:10.140
end. If you prefer watching while commuting,

01:59:10.260 --> 01:59:12.819
you can always come back and watch it again and

01:59:12.819 --> 01:59:15.680
continue from where you left off. Because having

01:59:15.680 --> 01:59:19.899
watch hours for our show, clocking watch hours

01:59:19.899 --> 01:59:23.720
on YouTube is... all important for this show.

01:59:24.159 --> 01:59:26.399
We want to keep going. We want to make sure that

01:59:26.399 --> 01:59:29.300
we can eventually somehow monetize. I know it's

01:59:29.300 --> 01:59:32.560
not your problem, but I'm appealing to all of

01:59:32.560 --> 01:59:34.220
you. I urge all of you to please help us out

01:59:34.220 --> 01:59:36.560
so that, you know, after all the hard work that

01:59:36.560 --> 01:59:38.359
we put in, it's a lot of work we put into each

01:59:38.359 --> 01:59:41.520
episode, we could finally, finally find some

01:59:41.520 --> 01:59:44.699
kind of reward. Okay? So do us a favor, will

01:59:44.699 --> 01:59:47.000
you? It's just Kai and me working really hard

01:59:47.000 --> 01:59:50.020
at this, and we really need you standing by us.

01:59:50.640 --> 01:59:53.439
And to all almost 94 ,000 of you subscribers

01:59:53.439 --> 01:59:56.020
on YouTube, thank you so very much. We love you.

01:59:56.859 --> 02:00:01.000
Okay, please stay on, stand by to support us.

02:00:01.319 --> 02:00:04.880
We'll really be working very hard to bring you

02:00:04.880 --> 02:00:07.840
even more, more and more better episodes as time

02:00:07.840 --> 02:00:11.560
goes by. Season six is still at its very early

02:00:11.560 --> 02:00:14.840
stages. So a lot more to go, believe you me.

02:00:15.039 --> 02:00:18.340
And I'll see you again next week. Same channel,

02:00:18.420 --> 02:00:23.779
same time. Bye -bye. The Chris Hansen Conversation.

02:00:23.800 --> 02:00:27.300
Real talk, no filters and a growing community

02:00:27.300 --> 02:00:30.619
of more than 90 ,000 subscribers across ASEAN

02:00:30.619 --> 02:00:32.279
right here from Singapore.