The Moomba Wine Shop (Singapore)

In this section, we speak to Mr. Augustine Kum, co-owner of the Moomba Wine Shop in Singapore. On how his wine beliefs, how he got involved in wine, and what continue to inspires the local wine scene and the consumer palate. The Moomba prides itself as a purveyor of fine Australian wines. Located along Circular Road where the Central Business District or the Financial hub is, this business has been around since the late 1990s. Accordingly to Augustine, the Moomba Wine Shop boasts of an interesting range of quality premium wines, priced affordably from S$30, S$60 onwards, for both new and established wineries. One thing comforting to know for consumers at large, despite escalating wine prices, The Moomba has a bottle return policy should your wine is faulty be it now, near or into the future. Consult The Moomba for further details.

Talk briefly about your philosophy of wine.

Personally, I always believe wine should be shared with good company, friends and loved ones. Well, we don’t need an excuse to open a ‘good’ bottle of wine or saving that ’special’ wine for a ’special’ occasion cos that occasion may not materialize or (may sound morbid) may not be around to enjoy when the day did arrive. Thus, I rather pay for wines that are ready to drink now then to buy a ‘vintage’ year at 1st released price but need to wait 10 to 20 years to drink it…by paying ‘premium’ prices from reliable sources and enjoy the wine is liken to ‘buying’ time that one may not have for the ‘young’ and ‘vintage’ year’s wines. Personally, I have a very small collection of wines in my wine fridge at home (less than 60 bottles and mostly champagnes). I am lucky to be in the trade and have lots of opportunities to taste with friends and customers or to buy ready drinking wines fellow friends in the trade and thus, doesn’t really see the need to have a big cellar, just bottles that I enjoyed and will drink on regular basis are in the fridge.

How did you start working in the wine industry?

It was an ‘accidental’ opportunity that I ended up in the wine trade. My brother and I with a few partners started ‘The Moomba’ restaurant in 1996 and I was put in charge to co-ordinate the shipment of wines from Australia and the sales of wines in the restaurant. When, the restaurant decided to set up a retail presence on the premise in 1998, I was put in charged of it and started my real journey into the world of wines.

What ’s your favorite wine and why?

I do not have a specific ‘favorite’ wine. But my ‘first’ love will be champagne. I enjoyed it even before I entered the wine trade and has been appreciating it more since. But I do have a few memorable ones : 1990 Cristal (Remembered having this as ‘one-for-the-road’ in Jacques Reymond Resaturant, Melbourne after many bottles of wines over dinner in 1998 while attending the Wine Australia and the taste is still vivid till today, it is probably my all time favorite if you forced me to name one), 1986 Dom Perignon Rose (Bought this in DFS Changi for $380 on trip back from honeymoon with my wife in 1994, shared it with friends on our 10th Anniversary at Crystal Jade Golden Palace, the youthfulness and finesse of this wine was just amazing - it has to be my all time favorite Rose).

For someone who doesn’t know anything about wine, but would like to start somewhere, what’s your advice?And to help him or her to deepen his/her appreciation of wine?

For the start, I feel that one must have at least the basic understanding (knowledge aspect) about wine. There are number of wine books for beginners and websites that teach one about the basics on wines and how to appreciate them. But most importantly is to taste and explore the diverse varieties and styles available by attending the numerous free tasting available throughout the year at wine exhibitions/shows or tastings at independent retail shops. One should be adventurous and taste ALL the wines at any given opportunity and should not have a mindset from the beginning (which I always come across during tasting, some will say :” I don’t drink white wines” or “Australian wines always give me hangover the next morning”) Our palate and senses on wines ‘evolve’ and ‘mature’ with time and tastings. We may eventually have a ‘preference’ style/make of a particular grape variety but this ‘preference’ should not be formed right in the beginning.

In your opinion, how can someone tell a “good wine” without being an expert?

The enjoyment about wines is because I believe that there is NO one wine in this world that ca please EVERY SINGLE wine drinkers. Each one of us has a preference/tolerance; some prefer acids, some like the alcoholic fumes and some has a higher tolerance for the tannins. These ‘differences’ in opinions provide an excellent ‘interacting’ opportunities between friends/strangers when a wine is served at a tasting/dinner. And such discussion may even be carried forth to forums online - just like Wine Kakis. Thus, ‘good wine’ is good to the person that enjoys it. We, in Singapore are very lucky, most of the wines that have been imported are generally well made - they are ‘technically’ drinkable. Apart from wine that have serious faults (cork taint, sulphur, oxidation) - which most drinkers will be able to pick up most of the wines you find in Singapore are generally ‘good’.

Lots of people think a good wine has to be expensive. Is this true, or is it a false myth?

That depends on how you define ‘good’. Well, for me a good wine is a wine you enjoyed. If it is a $25 wine, then you are lucky cos you probably can have it everyday. If it is a $250 wine, maybe once a month and if you like a $2500 wine, hopefully you get to enjoy it once a year less you are Bill Gates, then you can have it everyday. However, established wineries do put in extra efforts in the making of their ‘flagship’ wine. ‘Extra efforts’ in any forms have added cost to the production and thus a higher selling price for the wines. So, yes, you will have to pay more for their ‘flagship’ (aka Good) wine compared to their ‘2nd’ wine which are usually meant for early drinking. There is some co-relation between ‘good’ wine and price but it is not a fixed relationship.

Wines these days are becoming expensive. What are your views on this matter. In your opinion, what is a reasonable price for a “good” wine?

“Becoming expensive’ is again relative. It depends on when a person ‘enters’ (or start getting interested and start buying wines) the wine scene. When I started 10 years ago, some experienced collectors/customers think Penfolds Grange 1990 at around S$200 was expensive because they bought the 1982 for less than $100. But for me, that is a ‘benchmark’ price for Grange. So, when Grange 2002 was released last year at $450, it may appeared expensive to me but for someone who is ‘new’ and just discovered this wine, he will not have a ‘historical’ value to work on. For him, this is the price now and if he likes it, he will have to pay this ‘market’ price and obviously he will have to pay more if he wants the 1990 cos no way is he going to get cheaper than the latest new vintage. This ‘new’ person will probably think Grange 2012 is ‘expensive’ assuming that it may have to cost more than 1k per bottle on release in year 2017. And the cycle goes on. Also, don’t forget that wines of every vintage get depleted (consumption, spoilage or breakage) over the years, if there are still strong demands for the specific wine, price goes up. Since I always emphasize that a ‘good’ wine is a wine that you enjoy, a ‘reasonable’ price is the price that you are comfortable to pay for it within your means.

Can you tell us about some of the new ‘trends’ or developments in the wine industry?

There are more drinkers of champagnes these days. Champagne is becoming more as a ‘normal’ beverage like white/red wines instead of be ‘classified’ as a ‘celebratory’ drink that is only served on ’special’ occasions. There also seems to be a trend for ‘hard’ liquor drinkers getting more interested in Single-Malt Whiskey. The Stelvin closures are here to stay, probably will see more of it being used in the ‘Old World’ wines.

Last but not least. Tell us what The Moomba has in store for consumers.

The Moomba Wine Shop will continue to focus in providing wines at reasonable prices to our customers. There will also an increased in product mix and customers will get to see more ‘old world’ and older wines being offered on our wine list. Closed on Sundays and Public Holidays, the Moomba Wineshop is located at 52A Circular Road. For queries, please call +65 6438 2438 or visit their website here.