“The label contains a lot of information, including ABV, type of grape, region, winery location, special label design,” explains Wong. “Certain high-valued bottles are marked by iconic labels. Every label and logo has a unique story.”

Wong says he and his colleagues do extensive research to understand the history behind each label. With more than 10,000 bottles in the Restaurant Petrus collection, it is considered a vital part of the team’s training to memorise the wine map, and participate in weekly stock checks and tasting sessions.

At Amber, The Landmark Mandarin Oriental’s vaunted French restaurant, the 2,000-label wine list has a focus on French domains but is broad enough to cover most wine regions. Dirk Chen, the hotel’s director of wine, believes that this diversity is key.

“We want our wine lists to be versatile for everybody,” he says. “Our extensive list at The Landmark Mandarin Oriental ranges from some of the best wines in the world that fetch six figures to more affordable options [like ones at the hotel’s sommelier-led casual dining restaurant, Somm] that are under HK$100 a glass. The must-have criteria is that they are tasty and pair well with our restaurants’ signature and seasonal dishes.”

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A similar story of breadth and depth can be found at Galaxy Macau’s one-Michelin-star 8½ Otto e Mezzo Bombana. There, chief sommelier and general manager Marino Braccu curates a 1,600-label wine list.

“Our wine list goes very deeply into Italian wines, but also has a wide selection from regions all around the world,” he says. “The list never changes; it only gets developed – to extend our Italian wine selection, and also get the best from other nations.”

Curating a wine list also means maintaining a strong relationship with winemakers and keeping an open mind to what’s new.

Previously hailed by the 100 Top Tables guide for its excellent wine list, Embla, a contemporary Nordic fine dining restaurant in Sheung Wan, boasts a collection spanning popular wine regions and bottles from under-the-radar winemakers.

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“Our friends from the restaurant Äng [at Sweden’s Ästad Vineyard estate] brought with them some lovely wines from Kullabergs Vineyard in Sweden. We were so impressed, we decided to directly import from the vineyard,” says Embla’s manager, Andy Badua, explaining how certain niche bottles end up on the restaurant’s wine list.

Badua is particularly enthused by the wines coming out of Scandinavia. “Due to global warming, it’s one of the new vinification regions of the world to keep an eye on. Cool climate viticulture is the new black,” he quips.

For Hugues Rondouin, founder and director of the French wine bar and shop group LQV, asking the right people is key to a revelatory new discovery. “Every time we meet a winemaker we like, we ask them about a winemaker they’ve recently discovered,” he says. “This is how we’ve discovered many of the gems in our portfolio – by trusting people we like to work and to drink with.”

Rondouin adds that as many domains are inherited by younger generations, there’s an evolution towards organic, biodynamic, natural wines. Price increases for coveted regions have also pushed him to explore smaller regions like Jura and Savoie.

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For anyone looking to entertain at home this festive period, Rondouin recommends a wine fridge set to 14-15°C to protect bottles against the heat, and letting reds rest, and whites chill in your regular fridge before drinking.

For those poor souls without a wine fridge? “Store your wines in your regular fridge,” he says. “It’s always better that they’re a bit too cool rather than too hot.”