Wine and Art

Most wine tastings are held in hotels or restaurants so it was a welcome change when Summergate had its Life | Wine event in The Space, an art gallery in Hollywood Road, recently. The wines were arranged by country in three separate areas dotted with photographs and various displays. Guests could taste wine from one country then move on to others, or they could, like me, go back and forth tasting one variety first, then a second (I started with Sauvignon Blanc followed by Riesling and Chardonnay then the reds).

I was there for about two hours and, sadly, I didn’t see one person other than me looking at the art around them. I wonder if some of them even noticed the displays at all! Perhaps this was because it was a trade tasting. The event was to switch to a consumer tasting in the evening and I hope the art was more appreciated then. Personally, I think Hong Kong should have more of these ‘lifestyle’ tasting events. Hunter Valley has its wonderful Jazz in the Vines, so why can’t Hong Kong have a Jazz and Wine evening, or an Art and Wine Show?

I would love to see a Travel Photography and Wine Exhibition in the Hong Kong Arts Centre with each country's wine showcased along with photographs of that country. The pictures would speak for the wine, which is itself expressive of the culture of the country. Surely this would be one way to make the meaning of terroir more easily understood by consumers.