Uncorked: Ying Hsien Tan MW

The first Singaporean Master of Wine, Ying Hsien Tan sits down with db HK and speaks about conquering the infamously tough MW programme and which bottle first piqued his interest…

Ying Hsien Tan qualified as the first Singaporean Master of Wine (MW) in 2015.  He won the Institute of Masters of Wine Champagne Trinity Scholarship 2010 and was nominated to attend the Master Napa Programme in September 2013. He also won a French Wine Society scholarship for the Sud de France Master Level Program in 2013 and the 2013 AXA Millésime Scholarship for MW students.

Ying is also owner of the Taberna Wine Academy, a wine school in Jalan Bukit Merah.

“I embarked on the programme in 2009 at the prodding of Lisa Perrotti-Brown who had recently moved to Singapore.  I never expected to get into the programme because I had had no prior wine business or professional experience having been a banking lawyer who happened to be an over-enthusiastic wine geek up to that point of time.  To my surprise my application was accepted and I have to thank Lisa for having encouraged me to go for the programme and for being my mentor in the first few years.  It was probably the hardest thing I had ever attempted – I’ve completed 28 marathons and 2 ultra-marathons and those were a piece of cake compared to endurance process of acquiring the MW qualification.

“There were plenty of stumbles along the way and in 2013 I thought I would flunk out of the programme, but as luck would have it, I passed the Theory part of the examination followed by the Tasting the following year.  It is difficult to convey how tough the whole experience is and in many ways the only people who appreciate it are those who have attempted it.  I owe an incredible debt to the number of people who supported me through the process including family, friends, wine professionals and my MW mentors – Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, Annette Scarfe MW and Jane Skilton MW – as well as Jasper Morris MW who gave invaluable advice on my research paper “Clos de la Roche – The Creation of a Grand Cru”.

What vintage are you? 

1961.

What bottle sparked your love of wine?

There wasn’t a single specific bottle that got me interested in wine – it was more like an accumulation of experiences when I was a university student in the UK studying law.  What did pique my interest was a bottle of 1976 Château Mouton-Rothschild which was kindly provided by a friend at a dinner in the UK in 1983.  I’d never tasted a First Growth Claret before and I couldn’t understand what the fuss was about – to my very amateur, uneducated palate at the time, I was getting more enjoyment out of inexpensive Bulgarian Cabernet Sauvignon!  I decided that I needed to learn more and that was the start of a long journey down a slippery slope.  Two other wines were seminal experiences – a 1955 Krug (drunk in 1984) which must still rank as one of my best wine memories ever and my introduction to good quality Burgundy in 1986 – a 1980 Louis Jadot Corton-Pougets.

What would you be as a wine?

If the question is what would I like to be as a wine, it would have to be a silky, refined, rare Musigny. But if you’re asking what wine would best describe me – it’s probably a dry, closed, sometimes grumpy wine that takes a long time to come round – perhaps a Barolo.

Ying’s greatest loves: books and Champagne (and successions thereof)

Where are you happiest?

At home, amongst my books clutching a glass of Champagne.

What’s your greatest vice?

Clutching a succession of glasses of Champagne.

Best advice you ever got?

From Jasper Morris for passing the Master of Wine blind tasting examination: “Don’t over-intellectualise the wine”.

Most overused word?

That I hear: “I”. That I use: “Umm”.

Your cellar’s underwater, which bottle would you dive in and save?

I wouldn’t dive in because I probably wouldn’t survive the experience. I’d hire a salvage company to save the whole lot for me otherwise I’d die of thirst agonising over which bottle to save.

What’s the best and worst thing about the wine business?

The best thing: plenty of good wine in good company.

The worst thing: too much bad wine, even in good company.

What’s on your wine bucket list?

I’m not sure there’s a bucket big enough to accommodate my list.

Who would you invite to your dream dinner party?

I think that J S Bach, Buddha, Albert Einstein, Socrates, Caravaggio, Arthur C Clarke, Alfred Hitchcock, Sun Tzu, Martin Luther King, Mary Shelly and Elizabeth I would make for a very lively symposium, if not necessarily a dream dinner party – Google Translate might have a tough time!

Personal satisfaction (Parker points – out of 100)

100+.

Which wine would you like served at your funeral?

Whatever is left in my cellar.  My aspiration would be to emulate the famous food and wine personallty, André Simon, well known for his wonderful and extensive cellar who, when he died, left behind only two Magnums in the cellar.