Singapore’s wine scene has come a long way. The world is taking notice

Experiences Once a small market with limited selection and challenging storage conditions, Singapore has grown into a destination for international wine events, auctions and a thriving community of enthusiasts. Singapore's wine scene has evolved considerably over the past two decades, with a growing community of collectors, sommeliers and enthusiasts helping to raise its international profile. (Photo: 67 Pall Mall) New: You can now listen to articles. This audio is generated by an AI tool. 02 Nov 2026 05:20AM (Updated: 02 Nov 2026 05:27AM) The flagship event of Singapore Wine Week was a blind tasting called the Judgement of Singapore. It drew inspiration from a historic tasting held half a century ago in Paris, one still remembered for upending the established wine hierarchy.In 1976, British wine merchant Steven Spurrier and his American colleague Patricia Gallagher organised the original tasting. They pitted leading California wines against top white Burgundies and red Bordeaux, inviting influential figures from the French wine world to judge. No one, including Spurrier, expected California to win. But California triumphed in both categories. The 1973 Chateau Montelena Chardonnay won the white wine category, while the 1973 Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon claimed the top spot among the reds.The results caused an uproar. Odette Kahn, editor of La Revue du Vin de France, demanded her scorecard back. Spurrier later wrote that he was thrown out of a Burgundy cellar over the results. George Taber of Time magazine, the only journalist present that day, dubbed the tasting “The Judgment of Paris”. The event, later loosely dramatised in the movie Bottle Shock, punctured the idea of French superiority and transformed California’s standing. Fifty years later, the aim in Singapore was not simply to re-enact the Paris tasting, but to give it a contemporary perspective in Asia, a region attracting growing attention in the wine world. Lisa Perrotti-Brown, a Master of Wine and former editor-in-chief of The Wine Advocate, co-led the Judgement of Singapore tasting. (Photo: Lisa Perrotti-Brown) At Resorts World Sentosa, an international panel of 15 judges assessed 24 wines blind on Oct 2, with the results announced on Oct 4. The selection comprised 12 Chardonnays and 12 Cabernet Sauvignons, mostly from the 2019 vintage and sourced from producers around the world. Each wine was scored on balance, intensity, complexity, ageing potential and singularity, or how distinctive it was.The tasting was co-led by Ronan Sayburn, Master Sommelier (MS) and CEO of the Court of Master Sommeliers Europe, and Lisa Perrotti-Brown, Master of Wine (MW) and former editor-in-chief of The Wine Advocate. The panel included several Asia-based judges, including Singapore’s Dr Jackie Ang MW, Taiwan’s Kevin Lu MS, China-based Julien Boulard MW MS and India’s Kamal Malik MS.The Singapore results weren’t nearly as dramatic as those in 1976. Still, the red category produced a surprise when the relatively little-known Vine Hill Ranch VHR Cabernet Sauvignon 2019 from Oakville, Napa Valley, took first place. It beat the second-growth Bordeaux Chateau Ducru-Beaucaillou 2019 and first-growth Chateau Margaux 2019. Chateau Lafite Rothschild 2019, another first growth, failed to make the top five. The Judgement of Singapore’s top five Cabernet Sauvignons, from left: Vine Hill Ranch VHR 2019, Chateau Ducru-Beaucaillou 2019, Chateau Margaux 2019, Harlan Estate 2019 and Chateau Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande 2019. (Photo: Singapore Wine Week) The Chardonnay results were more predictable. Burgundy swept the top five, with Bonneau du Martray Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru 2019 taking the top prize. According to Sayburn, the judges could still distinguish Old World from New World wines, even as their styles increasingly converge.For Soo Hoo Khoon Peng, founder of Impeccable APAC and Park90, the decision to hold the tasting in Singapore reflected a broader shift in the wine world. “Fifty years ago, the wine world was an exclusive club, but today, great wine belongs to global culture. Hosting the 50th anniversary tasting here in Singapore is proof of that tectonic shift.”SINGAPORE’S WINE COMMUNITY: THEN AND NOWPerrotti-Brown is well placed to reflect on Singapore’s emergence as a regional wine capital”. She lived here for seven years, from 2008 to 2015, after spending several years in Tokyo as a wine buyer.The city’s wine scene was small but curious. Even in those early years, people were eager to learn. “They were really hungry for wine knowledge. They wanted things to improve,” she recalled. The five highest-ranked Chardonnays at the Judgement of Singapore. From left: Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Chenevottes 2019, Domaine Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Combettes 2019, Domaine Bernard Moreau et Fils Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru La Maltroie 2019, Coche-Dury Puligny-Montrachet Les Enseigneres 2020 and Bonneau du Martray Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru 2019. (Photo: Singapore Wine Week) But the limited selection of wines and inconsistent storage conditions posed challenges. Perrotti-Brown recalled having relatively few wines to choose from and only a handful of importers who took care to ship and store them under refrigerated conditions. “I very quickly understood why people were mostly drinking red wine, mostly Bordeaux, because they were less susceptible to being baked in the heat,” she continued. Red wines generally proved more resilient, while white wines were often maderised and had turned brown.She bought from Crystal Wines and wine collector and importer N K Yong. “He became a very dear friend of mine,” she recalled.Returning years later, she found the market had transformed, with more knowledgeable drinkers and collectors, a strong professional community, and better standards for storing and serving wines. Singapore’s wine expertise has grown alongside consumer interest, she said. “I was the only Master of Wine when I first moved here. There are a lot more MW’s here now.” Where Singapore's wine market was once dominated by Bordeaux, a wider selection of wines is now opening up new possibilities for exploration and discovery. (Photo: 67 Pall Mall) Today, she sees a much broader range of wines and excellence in wine logistics. “Everyone’s so aware of the impact of heat on the wines, and the condition that drinks wines in now is just impeccable.” Not everything has changed, however. “There are still a lot of label chasers. People who want to impress their friends with their cult Burgundies and grower Champagnes. That existed even when I was here, and it hasn’t changed much from what I’ve seen.”Singapore “is becoming one of the big markets for fine wine”, said the Napa-based wine critic and author. But its growing importance is not simply about selling more bottles. It reflects the city’s transformation from a market with limited selection and inconsistent wine storage to one with a more knowledgeable and sophisticated wine community.SINGAPORE’S GROWING INFLUENCE Founded by Soo Hoo Khoon Peng, Park90 is among the establishments helping to shape Singapore’s contemporary fine wine scene. (Photo: Park90) Justin Yong, director at Impeccable APAC, attributes this transformation to the democratisation of taste. “Access to fine wine has broadened, global curiosity is at an all-time high, and consumers everywhere feel empowered to define their own palates.” He believes Singapore is well placed to influence global wine trends.There is substance behind the claim. Singapore’s wine culture is supported by wine clubs like 67 Pall Mall and bars like Temper and Park90, plus a strong line-up of restaurants and qualified sommeliers. International auction houses have also taken notice. In May 2026, Acker held a live auction in Singapore, underscoring the city's appeal to serious wine collectors. Singapore is also beginning to make its mark through homegrown innovation. One example is SKLO Evolution, a locally designed wine glass developed with Asian wine drinkers in mind, with its proportions taking into account differences in facial anatomy.Yet wine remains largely the preserve of collectors, professionals and enthusiasts, rather than a part of everyday culture. Jackie Ang MW, who served on the panel, believes it needs to move beyond the lifestyle pages and into mainstream media with a TV personality who could do for wine here what Oz Clarke did in the UK. Whether the shift is tectonic, as Soo Hoo puts it, depends on whether the wider public follows.