Wine Class Graduation Dinner

Date: Sep 20, 2011

It is an unforgetable night.

Today, we are gathered here because Singapore Poly wanted to congradulate us for passing our 30 hours class, i.e. "The Business, Science & Art of Wine".  And hey, not to bet, I got a Merit certificate (not sure what does it mean though...).

We have the dinner at the Seafood International @ Big Splash there.  The food is not too bad.  The lamb is very good, and we had lots of good wine to pair with it.  The Peking Duck was nice, and the Thai Curry Cod Fish is nice too.

Also, you got to see the wine tonight...  This is the Caballo Loco, Number 8.  This is the Chilean wine that the wine maker keep secret on what they blend the wine with.  So, it is a multi blended enjoyment.  This wine actually goes well with the lamb.

We then had the Chianti Rufina, which is very good.  We do not have anything to pair with, but it was a pleasent drinking this wine.

This Chateau La Tour Carnet, Grand Cru Classe Haut Medoc 2006 was on sales for $65+ @ Carrefour.  So, I bought a bottle and it goes very well with the lamb.

As for the dessert, Patrick brought a bottle of Port.  And it goes well with the Kueh Kueh.  It becomes a bit acidic when you taste it will the mango sago though.

Can't remember what I take ... But I don't have any memory about this wine.  Very unique indeed.

Such a good environment at the "Elite" table, how can we don't "Ta" or "Yum Seng" our wine.

We had a great time, especially with the only 2 distinction (i.e. Wallace & Celine) and the best taster (Patrick).  I am proud to be in their team.  :)

Lots of wine tonight.  I think we counted about 15 bottles of wine with 2 table of people, I think only 16 of us.  So, we drank a lot today.

Our young and handsome Doctor, Roland, played with the two wine bottles.

Very tasty Moscato, sweet and nice.  It goes OK with the Roasted Duck too.

This Xanadu is also not too bad.

Yum Seng!

Wow... so cheapor.  At first we do not know what wine is this?  i.e. Coastal White.  Next we found out that they actually reuse the 2008 label and stick a new vintage sticker on it.

Most importantly, we got great company.

good company makes us all happy.

By the time we about to finish, it is almost 11:30pm.  Wow, that is a bit late.

I am very happy with what I have learned from the course.  And I am not that easily be conned by people at the wine fair now.  And I do really learn a lot.

The wine class is now at the 23th in take.  so, next week, they will go on with the 24th in take.  And for 4 years non-stop, Malcom and Karen and gang has been teaching us how to appreciate and understand wine.  And we all are greatful with them.

 

 

What is the best way to study?

Date:  Sep 9, 2011

As you know, next monday is the exam day for "The Science, Art & Business Wine" class I took at Singapore Poly.  There are so much materials, so, what is the best way to study?

Of course, using technology.  Introducing Evernote Peek.

What is that? It is an Apple iPad2 App.

What does it do? It allows you to create quizes from your study materials.  Here is the coolest thing.  It make uses of the magnetic cover to show you the question, and then answers by simply flipping the cover to unveal the answers.

What do you need?

- You need an iPad2

- You need to have the Apple Magnetic Cover

- You need to have Evernote to create your note

- You need to have Evernote Peek to run your Quizes

Here is how to create a simple quiz for my wine course. In Evernote, create a New Notebook.  Give it a "Wine Quizs" as the name.  I do this on my iMac Evernote app, is easier.  Or you can create it using your Evernote app on iPad or iPhone.

Then, you start creating your notes which is the Questions and Answers pair for the quiz.  So, the Title is your Question, and you type your answer in the Note area.  As simple as that.

Run the Evernote Peek on your iPad2.

So, when you run it?  You simply flip the cover...

If you want the answer, flip up more to reveal the answer

So, here is the question

And there is your answer...

So, when you go to sleep, just flip the cover few dozen times to help you memorize the notes.

Amazing technology.  Practical Use.

One tip, turn off the auto-brightness and set the brightness into what you like to see.  so that you dont have this auto-dimming problem every time you unveil the question and answer pair.

Class Presentations: Vineyard @ Hort Park

Date:  Sep 7, 2011

We have done our presentations of a case study of a new restaurant called Vineyard @ Hort Park.  Here are the full presentations.

We like the restaurant as the ambience is very nice.  I recently make another trip back to this restaurant, with my 2 young sons, and they love the children section.  So, we just leave the boys there playing with all sort of toys, and the grown ups just enjoyed our food.

We simply wanted to find out whether we love or hate this restaurant.  Whether you will bring your husband/wife, boy/girl friends to this restaurant.  This is a snapshot I took from a IOS game.  I think is called "Dinner Rush".

The tag line is "Wine, Bistro and Soul Food.  Hmmmm… "Soul Food"...

It should have lots of office crowds after the office hours as it is near Science Park, HP, Technopark, IDA, Amex, DBS, are all here.  It is also close the the University too.

Some nice photos of the bistro.  Also, it is located within a park/garden.  Very green.

The ambience is nice.  It serves Italian, French and Thai food.  And they seems to like the number 99, as there is only a maximum of 99 type of wine sold here, and sold at the maximum price of $99 per bottle.

It is an excellent location for restaurant.  If the owner did it properly. You cannot setup the restaurant based purely on Feng Shui, and then wait for customer to come.  Basically Feng Shui will ensure the location, the chi are all good in this area.  And then, you must have good food, good wine, and good marketing to make the business sustain.

There is a good article regarding "Dine and Whine"… so we make sure that this restaurant does not have too dim the light, to narrow the walk way, too tight seatings, too uncomfortable seatings, or too cold air-con and so on.

It is a place that sell wine.  Of course you can bring in your own wine, but they will charge $40 corkage.  Also, it has a variety of asian and western food.  So, you can have good pairing with the wine.

The food is OK.  But the best is "Snake River Wagyu Beef".  Must eat.  It is the most expensive dish.  $35.  What?  YES!  only $35.  Very good steak.  Melt in your mouth.

The dessert is really nice.  The lava cake and hazelnut crunch.

OK.  The service is something that they have to improve.  I think they are lack of man power.  Some are good, some are not so good.  These are some feedback from my wife as well as the 3 times I am there.  If the restaurant manager is there, i.e. Mr. Keshavan Nair.  He is good, he can recommend quite good wine pairing with your food.

The wine list is very simple.  It classified according to the red/white, wine style/taste and in ascending order for the prices.  It range from $41 to $99.

We started with this Chianti Riserva.  Taste it with our appetizer.

Then, the most expensive dish ($35) pair with the most expensive wine ($99).  Good pair.

Lastly, the dessert with a sweet Riesling Sauvignon Blanc.  They do not have dessert wine, but they have 3 sweet wines.  Not too bad.

The case study comes with a SWOT analysis.

As a result, we enjoy the food, the company, the wine and we approved this.

All have huge smile on our face.

Some extra info...

Creative Eateries Group and their restaurants.

 

The way how they do marketing… They will try to do a wine tasting every 2 weeks.

This is our Chianti...

Then, we ordered this from Scarpantoni Vineyard...

The Cab Ssuv.

Lastly, our Riesling Sauv. Blanc.

Enjoy...