I can take wine enthusiasts and writers pontificating about something they know but a little, but not when it is a complete waste of time. This morning at the 2008 Central Otago Pinot Noir Celebration I witnessed just this. Singapore wine writer Ch'Ng Poh Tiong did just this. He wasted everyone's time with a mildly humorous but totally superficial speech on terroir. To make it worse, in speaking to a room that was 50% female, the speech was far too sexist, in a really immature way (that sometimes Singaporeans are guilty of). What a shame. The rest of the proceedings, particularly the tasting this morning of five wines from Romanée-Saint-Vivant 2004 vintage has been excellent. I do hope the organisers Central Otago Pinot Noir did not have to pay airfares or a participation fee for this guy to attend. To make matters worse, he failed to attend the lunch today he was supposed to participate in - "he had other work to do".
What a contrast with the Burghound Allen Meadows. I know he charged $5,000 plus travel and accommodation, but he is a real expert.
More on the celebration when time allows.
