The corkscrew: the chattering glasses

It's not often that I am left speechless, but recently I have been overwhelmed and overawed by a number of people, all of whom have been very influential in my journey to becoming a wine geek.

I was very fortunate to meet the editor of Decanter magazine, John Abbott, at the restaurant where I work as a sommelier. He was so easy to chat with that he completely torpedoed my assumption that wine editors are a snooty lot. In fact, when he said that he'd leave it up to me to do the wine pairings for his dinner, I was tickled pink - even more so when he complimented my choices.

Abbott was in Hong Kong to launch the first Decanter Asia Wine Awards. I offered him my services as a wine slave (someone who will do anything just to be involved). And he accepted.

I arrived at the venue during the briefing session, where each of the head judges was introduced. These experts came from across Asia - Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, Japan and the mainland. They were indeed a most illustrious lot.

Hong Kong's very own Jeannie Cho Lee, the first Asian master of wine and author of the book Asian Palate, was one of the co-chairs.

Another judge, Gerard Basset, is the only person in the world who is simultaneously a master sommelier, a master of wine and the holder of a wine MBA.

It was Decanter columnist Andrew Jefford's first trip to Hong Kong and he was full of enthusiasm and praise for the vibrancy of the wine scene here, saying the selection and range of vintages available is comparable to that on offer in Britain.