HIS name is Simon; the family name is Tam, like the black and white label on the wine bottle. But don't waste your time shopping for Tam's shiraz. He produced only 200 cases in 1991 and those are history in Australia.
Simon Tam is an advertisement for denims and pierced ears, the reflexes of youth and its boundless energy.
A former fencer and avid tennis player with a degree in marketing, he has put hobbies aside to focus his attention on his mission: teaching wine.
The 27-year-old is the newly appointed chairman of the Wine Institute of Hong Kong. He teaches classes in wine appreciation and courses leading to higher certificates from Britain's Wine and Spirit Education Trust.
A graduate of Roseworthy College in the heart of South Australia's wine-making region and a winemaker at Kroemer Estate in the Barossa Valley, Tam makes his own wine which he sells under the Tam label from 100-year-old shiraz vines, a gift from a mentor.
The avid food lover and cook insists he has no time to be a host. His bachelor pad in Central is merely a crash site, outfitted with pasta, a freezer of homemade stocks just in case he needs to throw a sauce together, and around 20 bottles of wine.