Posts Tagged Cuisine & Wine

The feature story in this week’s Cuisine & Wine Asia is an interview with Lim Hwee Peng CSW about his involvment in the Landmark Australia Tutorial:

Telling Australia’s Fine Wine Story

There just isn’t another better name for this wine conglomeration. Remarkable in all aspects, the recently concluded Landmark Australia Tutorial is truly a landmark event. Consider this – the event’s executive committee is made up of the who’s who in the wine world (the likes of Andrew Caillard MW, Michael Hill Smith AM MW and Gordon Gebbie, among others), then there’s the whole list of master tutors (Max Allen, Tom Carson, James Halliday and a host of others) and not forgetting also the panel of twelve international guests from the UK, US and Singapore, just to name a few. To further prove the vastness of this event, from the picture above, it’s beyond doubt a sight to behold – 248 wines were tasted in a span of five days!

Held in Barossa Valley, this wine event is the most significant investment to date in telling Australia’s fine wine story to the world via these twelve international guests. Singapore was represented by Lim Hwee Peng CSW. He is the partner of WineCraft Marketing & Services, a registered wine marketing company. He is also an award-winning wine journalist and a regular contributor at Cuisine & Wine Asia. About the event, Lim had this to share, “I personally find this tutorial a rare and prestigious one and it could well be one of the wine programmes in the wine world that a serious wine professional should participate as part of their wine learning journey.” It truly is a once-in-a-lifetime learning experience for the participants as the event allowed them to learn first hand from many renowned Australian vintners and wine professionals.

Though it was only held for five days, according to Lim, there were many highlights and it was almost impossible to pick just one that really stood out. For him, what stood out were the three wise and knowledgeable wine tutors – Michael Hill Smith MW, Andrew Caillard MW and Dr Tony Jordan. He had this to offer, “The lubricant of the tutorial, Smith kept the momentum of each session progressing smoothly. Caillard, the calm and steely tutor, is a walking historical reference of Australian wines and its industry. Last but not least, Jordan is the down-to-earth vintner who provided all the technical information of Australian viticulture and vinification.” Moreover, he also said that having some of Australian wine greats such as James Halliday, Brian Croser and Ian Riggs being part of the event was a surreal encounter.

To have an article devoted to a wine event but not have anything to say about the wines tasted would be a travesty. Thus, it’s only apt for Lim to share with us some of the 248 wines that he tasted along with the other international guests at the event….“The Riesling segment showcased the purity and elegance of what Eden Valley and Clare Valley can produce. Australian dry Rieslings are definitely a force to be reckoned with.” He went on to say, “The Pinot Noir segment is a personal favourite. It displayed a huge potential for this grape variety. I particularly enjoyed the wines from Mornington Peninsula, Yarra Valley and Macedon Ranges.”

Click to read the full article.