A bottle of Penfolds Grange Shiraz 1953 is priced at $17,000 and on sale at our local liquor outlet

In the first week autumn which starts today, wine districts in Australia get very busy to be ready for wine festivals, which in Australia are many, supplying great wines and fun. Sydney jumped the gun and kicked off last weekend with the hugely popular and biggest wine event, aptly called Sydney Cellar Door, which allowed Sydneysiders to discover the wide range and the depth of winemaking in the state of New South Wales without leaving the city.
Like many Singaporeans, beer, not wine, is the beverage that calls out whether in restaurant or at home, though wine can be drunk with lunch and dinner, beer is often the best accompaniment for a Singaporean meal.Nevertheless, wine drinking in recent times has become popular with the younger and much travelled Singaporeans.

Singapore has traditionally imported its wines from France, Germany and Italy. And since signing free trade with many countries around the world, it has taken even more wines from the less well-known producing countries such as Austria, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Greece and Chile.
Although much have been said about the rules on storing, serving and drinking by many wine connoisseurs, on how to treat wine and when to serve it to their best advantage, it is not set in stone and they can be changed to suit individual tastes.
I once heard someone’s remark “life is too short to drink cheap wine and money is too short to buy them”. It may be true, in a philosophical and economical sense. But the price of wine no longer reflects the quality of the product. For many Singaporeans, it was taken for granted that imported French wines would command the highest prices, but now many vineyards from well known districts in Australia command equally high prices. A bottle of Penfolds Grange Shiraz 1953 is priced at $17,000 and on sale at Dan Murphy our local liquor outlet. It is bottled by Australia's most famous winery, which began life with humble beginnings in the early 1950s and has become the icon it is today.
However, at the lower end of the scale are many palatable wines to be had at a moderate price. Just follow the advice of the wine merchant and anyone wishing to learn more about wine should sample as many as possible whenever there is a wine tasting offer at the store. If a good discount can be obtained on a case of new vintage release, it might turn out to be a sound investment.