Misha's Vineyard

Misha and Andy recently had the pleasure of training almost 50 of the staff at Singapore’s Marina Bay Sands on New Zealand wines, Central Otago region and on our Misha’s Vineyard Pinot Noir. “It is always such a great experience to be able to talk directly to the staff who will be recommending and pouring the wines to guests in great establishments like this $6.5b casino, restaurant, bar and entertainment complex” said Misha.

Marina Bay by night

Misha’s Vineyard Pinot Noir and Sauvignon Blanc are served at the Premier Lounge – where the high rollers of the world come to gamble huge sums. A recent Channel News Asia special program on the planning and the development of Marina Bay Sands called “Paradise in the Sky”, showed Christine Kaelbel-Sheares, Director of Piaza, VIP F & B introducing the features of the premier lounge and the selection of premium wines. This program provided great exposure to the Misha’s brand and New Zealand Pinot Noir across Asia. Misha’s Vineyard wines are also served in several other fantastic bars and restaurants in the complex.

Marina Bay Sands Hotel Towers

This staff training session at the Marina Bay Sands follows similar sessions done at several other premium hotels and restaurants across Asia where Misha and Andy have been able to take management, bar and serving staff through a one hour training program which introduces the uniqueness of New Zealand wines, provides some background on the region of Central Otago, tells the stories of Misha’s Vineyard and then goes through a tasting of the wines. Much of the training material is supplied by New Zealand Winegrowers and shows both the focus on quality in New Zealand as well as the iconic environment that the wines are produced in. “You can taste New Zealand’s spectacular scenery and pure air in the wines” says Andy in his introduction of the presentation.

“The reception to this training has been wonderful” says Misha. “All of the places where we have conducted training have asked if we can come back on a regular basis to provide follow on training to new staff”.

Tags: Andy Wilkinson, central otago, central otago pinot, Central Otago Pinot Noir, Marina Bay Sands, Misha, Misha Wilkinson, mishas vineyard, new zealand wine, New Zealand Winegrowers, pinot noir

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Misha & Kevin (from Jebsen Fine Wines)

Andy, Olly and I all met up in Hong Kong airport having been on different flights but all arriving around the same time and then headed to our hotel in Causeway Bay. The next day was a Sunday so we decided to go to Stanley for shopping and sight-seeing. We took the bus which is a pretty interesting trip as it winds around the narrow streets of the island. That evening we had dinner at Jumbo’s in Aberdeen (something that I had never done in spite of many trips to Hong Kong over the past 20 years) and just the three of us dined on an entire Peking duck – delicious!

Our new distributor in Hong Kong, Jebsen Fine Wine, organised an amazing schedule for us. The first day started with training and a tasting for the whole Jebsen team and then an afternoon of retail store visits and then finishing with a trade dinner at Nicholini’s restaurant at the Conrad Hotel.

Over the course of the next two days we met with many of Hong Kong’s five star hotels and top restaurants and did product training at one of the top hotels who have already taken on Misha’s Vineyard wines. There was a great reaction the wines (especially the Pinot Noir) and you’ll soon see our wines in many key places in Hong Kong.

Desert at Cucina, Marco Polo Hotel

The schedule for the final day included a media lunch at Cucina at the Marco Polo Hotel. This restaurant has a spectacular location overlooking Hong Kong harbour, on the Kowloon side, and it happened to be a perfect day to enjoy the view! We had a marvellous attendance at the lunch thanks to the brilliant organisation by Florence Luk, who does PR & Marketing for Jebsen (and happens to be an amazing photographer as well!). The highlight of the lunch was the dessert which was created by Pastry Chef Ryan Zimmer, which we didn’t try to match with any wine. After admiring it for some time, we ate it and it was even more delicious than it looked! Ryan described it as “Strawberry rose capsule with greek yoghurt cheesecake, balsamic gelato, candied pistachio, honey, & cinnamon brioche”.

Later in the day we went to Rare & Fine Wines and held a wine tasting in their shop and then headed back to Hong Kong island for a customer dinner which was also hosted by Rare & Fine Wines at the Hong Kong Banker’s Club.

This dinner had some of the most delicious Chinese food I’ve ever eaten and each course was beautifully matched with one of our wines. One of the best matches was actually the chicken livers and The Gallery Gewürztraminer!

We’re so lucky to be working with Jebsen Fine Wines in Hong Kong. We may be their smallest vineyard but I think we’re their most enthusiastic! Thanks to Gavin, Donny, Kevin, Bonnie and the entire sales team for looking after us so well. We’ll be back soon!

Tags: Andy Wilkinson, Conrad Hotel, Cucina, Gewurztraminer, Hong Kong, Hong Kong Banker’s Club, Jebsen Fine Wines, Misha, Misha Wilkinson, mishas vineyard, Nicholini’s restaurant, Olly Masters, Rare and Fine Wines, Ryan Zimmer, The Marco Polo Hotel

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