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Wine and Spiritsi

News and trends in luxury wine and spirits 

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Kent is becoming the Wine Garden of England, with more and more vineyards offering tastings and tours. In Cliff Buddle’s early days in Hong Kong, a decent drop was hard to find – but worth the effort.

  • The world’s wine industry is feeling the effects of changing tastes, increased production costs, oversupply and depressed prices
  • Some winemakers who are unable to make a profit are ripping up vines and replacing them with alternative crops, or returning land to its natural state

As demand for Korean spirit soju surges at some of the World’s 50 Best Bars, we look at how a new generation of artisans is distilling craft versions and making waves from Hong Kong to New York.

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Baijiu, China’s ‘white spirit’, has long been seen as uncool by its young people, but hip cocktail bars specialising in the spirit, and a change in how it’s marketed, are altering that.

Some of the world’s biggest stars have invested in vineyards and winemaking businesses over the years – so who’s taking it seriously and who bought on a whim?

Expert wine fraud detector Maureen Downey has worked on high-profile cases including those of Rudy Kurniawan and Hardy Rodenstock, and will host authentication workshops in Hong Kong from March 2-4.

Serving great wines with a food menu to match, these three wine bars in Hong Kong and Singapore show the oh-so-serious business is finally shedding its elitist image and becoming more welcoming.

The country estate has farmland, forest and a river for trout fishing – with visitors invited to tour the brewery and distillery, or book a room at the pub

International wine club 67 Pall Mall has launched its first membership programme in Hong Kong, and for an annual fee of US$1,900, members can access high-end events and tastings in the city.

China is conducting a review into its tariffs on Australian wine, and expectations are rife that levies will be removed next month, with Treasury Wine Estates planning to reallocate stock from other global markets.

Fed up with drinking gallons of regular tea during Lunar New Year celebrations? Try mixing things up a bit while seeing in the Year of the Dragon with these sparkling tea cocktails.

The difference between single malt whisky and blended whisky lies in their ingredients and how they are distilled, a Chivas Regal master blender explains. They are what give each unique characteristics.

Soju, the popular Korean distilled spirit, is riding the K-wave overseas – including Hong Kong, where bartenders are mixing the rice spirit into cocktails and the drink has its own pop-up store.

‘Mood making’ alternatives from Three Spirit, Bella Hadid’s Kin Euphorics, Trip and Aplós are using hemp, mushrooms, botanicals and other ingredients to bring a cleaner high

Turkish winery Vinkara has been making sparkling wine since 2009, and its Yasasin, made with the ‘Turkish pinot noir’ grape, won a medal in France for the world’s best sparkling wine in 2020.

From trying China’s first home-grown durian to looking at Korea’s whisky crazy and the tributes paid to MasterChef Australia’s late host, the food and drinks stories most read by Post readers in 2023.

Single malt whisky distilled in India is shaking up the country’s multibillion-dollar spirits market and gaining recognition abroad. Global producers Diageo and Pernod Ricard are playing catch-up.

Emma and her younger brother Alex launched their gin company Renais earlier this year – and he said that she’s ‘always been a big source of inspiration for me’

World Cocktail Championship 2023 winner Leo Ko talks about putting Hong Kong on the map and how being trained by a sommelier helped him dodge ‘curveballs’ at the recent finals in Rome.

Game of Thrones and Peaky Blinders wines. Wine in a can, maybe? French winemakers are marketing their wares in new ways to reverse a 70pc drop in sales at home since the 1960s.

Navigating the world of wine can be confusing for a new collector or casual drinker, so we spoke to experts at the helm of some of Hong Kong and Macau’s best wine cellars to get an insider’s view

We are not kidding – Doritos Nacho Cheese-flavoured alcohol is real. Empirical Spirits, a distillery based in Denmark, have created a drink that ‘opens with umami and tangy aromas of nacho cheese’.

Midnight Sun by Red Sugar at the Kerry Hotel marks the award-winning Swedish Tjoget bar team’s entry to Asia. Bartender Niklas Forslin reveals what patrons can expect after its December 6 launch.

Canadian-Chinese food writer turned bartender Gavin Yeung talks about his Hong Kong bar, Kinsman, and why it serves cocktails made with rare Cantonese spirits: to revive the city’s ‘forgotten history’.

Go to the places where they make Parmesan cheese, Bordeaux wine, or Pu’er tea, and what’s there to do apart from eating or drinking their wares? Our sightseeing tips for 10 food and drink capitals.

The first winner from Southeast Asia of the Best Sommelier of Asia & Oceania award, Mason Ng reveals how wine became his life’s calling, and how he tutored himself through books and blind tastings.