When leading foreign winemakers visit Hong Kong they can often easily be persuaded to sponsor tutored tastings of their prime vintages, especially if Chris Baker is doing the talking.
A tutored tasting is, simply, a session where people sit about a table or in chairs facing a speaker and, as they sip and think about the wine, taking notes of every different bottle, someone talks about what they are drinking.
Instead of going to a tasting where people chat about babies or the stock market as they slug back glass after glass, a tutored tasting can be a highly-structured and valuable learning experience.
With Mr Baker pouring and talking, it's usually as entertaining as it is educational.
I went to such a session last month organised at the Ritz Carlton Hotel. Around the table were lawyers and other well-to-do professionals, all of them who knew wine, but were keen to expand their knowledge. Seven bottles were opened of different Robert Mondavi of California wines.
In front of us were explanations of every wine, with weather conditions the year the fruit was grown, descriptions of the grape variety, how the wine was crushed and the treatment it received before being barrelled.
Wines for such events usually come from the distributor at a sponsored or wholesale price. Why this generosity? Simple, it's a sensible investment. Participants are potential customers.