Ang Magiting - The Official Web Site of Rotary Club Makati North

Wine and Golf

Our guest speaker was a well-known Manila wine expert who came well supplied with two examples of good-value wine. The reports of the Governor’s Cup 1st Leg golf on September 7th were all good. “RCMN was competitive” said Pres. Joe, which was almost as good as winning something. More important, we helped District Governor Ato Magadia to get the Governor’s Cup going again. It looks as though event standards will also be higher in the future – we will be a hard act to follow. Pres. Joe thanked all who helped, particularly mentioning PE Klink Ang, PN Chito Frondoso and Robert Syjuco.

Wine consumption is much greater at Christmas, and the wine industry starts its main promotional efforts at this time of year. Our guest speaker, Stewart Dovey, of the wine merchants Forth & Tay is a true expert. He started his presentation by making the case for wine as a healthy drink which is particularly good value in the Philippines because of lower import duties than most neighboring countries.

The health case for wine is based on the antioxidant properties of the bioflavonoids, particularly in red wine, but also found in white wine. Stewart mentioned the French paradox – the low level of cardiovascular disease in French people despite a fatty diet, smoking and limited exercise. Wine, it seems, makes up for that.

Wine is made by the natural fermentation process of yeast on the skin of the grapes which reacts with the sugar and water inside, to produce alcohol and carbon dioxide. This also happens in nature with other fruits, which is why bees get drunk sometimes.

There were two wines for our tasting – Hardy’s Oomoo Shiraz from Australia and Monkey Bay Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand. Both were in bottles with a screw cap rather than a cork. Stewart said that a screw-cap is an advantage in the tropics, as wine interacts negatively with the cork in high ambient temperatures. “So unless you have a proper store, screw-capped wines are sensible.”

How much should we pay for a wine? If you buy the cheapest wines, they don’t taste very good and you’re paying mainly for the packaging, we were reminded. At about P600 at least you are paying for the wine. Asked later whether or not he would pay P19,000 for a bottle of wine, Stewart admitted that he would not. Costs of expensive wines are related not only to vintage but also cost of land, and labor costs, particularly in high-cost countries such as Switzerland. The best source countries for the Philippines are Australia and New Zealand because of the efficiency of their wine industries and because the transit time is less than that from Europe or the Americas.

We enjoyed the talk and the wine. We’ll remember Hardy’s and Monkey Bay at Christmas.