MANILA, Philippines?Novice wine drinkers, raise your glass: According to one wine expert, there?s no shame in choosing sweet and fruity to break in your virgin palate.
In the Philippines, there?s a preference for sweeter, near punch-like flavors, and this is quite common in young wine markets like Asia, according to Jock Tulloch.
Fruitier styles are most often found in white wines. Problem is, Filipinos won?t be caught dead drinking white. Red, Filipinos think, is more sophisticated.
?In most of Asia, people start drinking red before white, which is very opposite in Australia,? Tulloch observed. He is a fourth-generation winemaker, whose family has been producing wines for 113 years in Australia?s Hunter Valley, in the continent?s east coast, about two hour?s drive from Sydney. ?The tannins are dry for red wines, and for someone who hasn?t tasted them before, that can be quite overwhelming.?
Naturally, an unpleasant first would turn off a newbie from drinking wine altogether.
Tulloch said white is easier on the palate for wine amateurs, all thanks to that characteristic touch of sweetness. Besides that, white, owing to its crisp and fresh aromas, is better suited to the tropical climate and pairs well with the diet of the average Filipino.
?The fruity styles would make it easier for you to get into wines before reds,? Tulloch advised. ?In Asia, people ask me about sweet styles all the time.? No different from Australia some 20 years ago, he noted.
New-generation winemakers like him are now facing the challenge of making wine interesting and fun for a new breed of consumers?that is, converting beer and spirits drinkers into wine lovers.
?People get scared because they think there?s so much to know,? he said. ?I say, learn as much or as little as you want and still enjoy it. Some just want basic knowledge so they can go to a restaurant and know what to order. It doesn?t need to be a daunting task.?
Tulloch Wines, founded by Tulloch?s great grandfather, is still chiefly a family affair, run by Jock?s father, Jay. Jock?s twin sister, Christina, heads the operations; he is the business development manager.
The siblings have a different take on wine compared to their dad?s generation. They believe in stripping it off with all the perceived snootiness and seriousness; their aim is to make wine drinking accessible and fun to new converts. ?If you get one old guy giving you a lecture about the serious side of wine for an hour, eating a five-course meal, you will probably get turned off a little bit. It gets boring. You take the fun out of it,? said Tulloch, who represented his company in the recent wine and food festival, ?A Toast to Taste 2008,? at the NBC Tent.
He often limits his talks to wine-and-food pairings, and none of the convoluting technical jargon. ?Just say, ?This is a sweet wine, try it.? Keep it simple and casual. Once you convert them, nine out of 10, they?re converts for life.?
A lot to learn
Like most of greater Asia, the Philippines still has a lot to learn. ?In Australia, 20 years ago, people had very basic knowledge of wines, but now it has become part of the culture and lifestyle.? The enthusiasm of new markets to learn more is very encouraging, he added. There?s an eagerness among Filipinos, particularly those who often travel overseas or work with foreign companies.
As such, staff training in restaurants and wine outlets is imperative, Tulloch said, recalling one incident in China, where, while attending a banquet, a Tulloch importer instructed the waitress to serve six bottles of wine to his guests. They were aghast when the poor girl poured all the six different wines in one jug! ?They need to know the basics, like not to put ice in wine, to chill whites but not reds, and not mix white and red wines.?
Tulloch added, ?It?s not always good to tell people what they should drink. You have to listen to the consumer. A lot of the wineries just make wines they want to drink themselves,? often very dry and with a lot of acids and tannins.
His company, for instance, introduced a year ago through their exclusive local distributor, Wine Depot Inc., the Verdelho, a white wine made from the Portuguese grape variety of the same name. Fresh and easy to drink, it has been well received. At Toast, he introduced Late-Picked Verdelho, an even sweeter style made from vine-ripened grapes. (Vine ripening encourages the fruit to create more natural sugars.)
Not bound by strict traditions like the Old World wineries of Europe, Australian winemakers have espoused simple and easy wine processes, particularly popular in markets overseas. Australia has a foothold of the middle-class bracket; its wines have ?great flavor, consistent year after year, no big ups and downs like you get with some of the best French wines,? Tulloch said.
If newbies opt for cheaper stuff, this is understandable, he said. ?Once you get more wine knowledge, you learn that you get what you pay for. When you learn more, you would want to try more premium wines. You?ll know the difference.?
He said it?s a running joke in China that new-rich businessmen buy the most expensive bottles, bring them to a karaoke bar, only to mix them with Coke. They buy not so much to taste and experience the wines, but to show off that they?ve arrived.
Does it pain him?
?It?s better that they?re drinking than not at all,? he answered in half-jest. ?But on a more serious side, it?s like you?re creating a piece of art and someone comes along and adds more paint because they like it with more color? People get intimidated about learning wine. But some people find real passion in it and love it.?
