Some 60 people showed up for an unusual wine-tasting session last Saturday. It took place in wine cellar Caveau which was chilled to a brisk 15 deg C.
Most enjoyed the setting, which offered 18 wines produced in Bordeaux, France, priced from $88 to $2,350 a bottle.
Guests each paid $180 for entry and by the end of the event, three bottles of each label had been consumed and 28 cases sold.
The reason for the cool setting, Mr Aby Tan, 34, explained, was because 15 deg C was the preferred temperature to serve wine and enhance its flavour.
The one-time cellar master at Raffles Hotel and present marketing manager of Caveau and Vinum Fine Wine Merchants, who organised the event, said: 'Too cold a temperature simply masks the wine's merits.
'A wine too warm is prematurely evolved, and its alcohol content is accentuated, thus dominating the other complex subtleties like its aromas and flavours.'
The temperature might have been less than tropical, but the crowd that showed up and mingled included some brave souls sporting bermudas, although most came with a light jacket or shawl.
Caveau has held four such events since its unofficial opening in Pacific Tech Centre in November. Mr Tan said the last three were classroom set-ups, each attended by about 30 people.
Mr Victor Wee, 45, a managing director at an investment bank, thought the cellar at its temperature and with pallets of wine lining the walls gave the atmosphere an edgy feel.
He said: 'It felt practical, grungy and raw, sans pomp and pageant which can distract from the tasting experience.'
Legal counsel Joyce Chang added: 'It approximates the room temperature of cellars in colder parts of Europe.
'Here, you get to make new friends and meet old ones in the wine-savvy crowd.'
