Celebrity Life

A wine critic and now restaurant owner, James Suckling explains why he gave up one of the most enviable jobs in the world to set up on his own and move to Hong Kong.

Wine Critic James Suckling

Seated comfortably in his Soho wine bar and restaurant, which has been pretty much the centre of his world since the early months of 2020, James Suckling looks like an extremely happy man.

One of the world’s most respected and influential wine critics, he has the privilege of doing a job that he absolutely loves and seems delighted to share his great good fortune with everyone around him.

In almost 40 years in the industry, he thinks he must have tasted and rated a quarter of a million vintages; his JamesSuckling.com website gets around 600,000 unique visitors each year; he holds decorations from both the French and Italian governments, as well as honorary citizenship of the Italian wine-making town of Montalcino in Brunello; and he’s the only wine expert offering classes on Masterclass.com.

Appearances to the contrary, though, Suckling’s professional journey has been neither straightforward nor smooth. He readily admits his Staunton Street establishment, James Suckling Wine Central, which he and his Korean wife and business partner Marie opened in October 2018, almost went under before it was rescued, bizarrely, by the Covid pandemic.

And why he decided to throw in what must have been one of the most envied positions in the world of wine, as senior editor and European bureau chief of the oenophiles’ bible, the Wine Spectator, to move to a part of the world he hardly knew, is another story entirely. The way he tells it, though – accompanied by self-deprecating smiles and laughs – you’d think it had all been plain sailing.

Back at the beginning in 1981, when Suckling returned home to Los Angeles after taking a post-graduate degree in journalism at the University of Wisconsin, he’d found himself jobless until he answered an advertisement “for position at a tiny magazine called the Wine Spectator, run out of a garage in San Diego”. Not only did he get the job, but within four years he found himself in Paris, remaining in Europe for the next decade and a half, “learning on the job, travelling around and meeting producers”.

For a young man whose own wine epiphany began while at university (he’d shared a bottle of 1966 Château Lafite with his lawyer father and declared, “Wow, this wine stuff’s amazing”) it was, he says, “an amazing start to my career, and I learned so much”.

“I lived in Paris for three years and then moved to the UK. I was there for 10 years, then moved to Italy and then I came here. During that time the Wine Spectator had grown to become the biggest wine magazine in the world, and all that time I was tasting, travelling and building the magazine.” It was then, too, that Suckling first met Marie, who worked at the venerable London wine merchant Corney & Barrow, though the romance didn’t blossom till later.

The idea of upping sticks and moving to Hong Kong came shortly after the difficult decision to leave his comfortable and highly influential position at the Wine Spectator. “I’d been there for 29 years, and I just decided it was now or never. It was a crazy move – I was 50 and it probably was foolhardy in a way, because I had this really cushy job and was living in Italy. But then I was thinking, do I want to spend the rest of my life working for the same company? And I’d always thought it would be amazing to do my own thing. So I just did it.”

The following year, Suckling attended the 2011 Wine & Dine Festival in this city, alongside other noted experts from around the world. By that time, Hong Kong had already removed all government duties on wine, a move that almost overnight had turned the city into the region’s premier wine-trading hub.

“And that,” says Suckling, “was the main reason I moved.” Coincidentally, Marie had also left London for Hong Kong, where, she says, “We met at the Wine & Dine Festival’s big event at the Grand Hyatt. After two years, we got married in Korea.”

Suckling had decided that video was the way to go for his website, which would be the centrepiece of his solo operation. “My partner, James Orr, was a really close friend who was into wine and cigars; he still owns a small part of the company. He was a film director, producer and writer – he did Three Men and a Baby and Sister Act 2. We had this idea that the site would be just video – we were way ahead of our time because now everyone’s doing streaming video … And so he and I travelled around wine regions, and did videos of tastings with wine producers. And for about six months, it was going OK, though not as well as I’d hoped."

“I realised that I had to get back and start tasting wines, but also that people didn’t want to pay for video. I was running out of money. But then I happened to be with a friend of mine, Mike Diamond from the Beastie Boys, at his house in Malibu, and I told him, ‘Dude, I’m running out of money.’ And he just goes, ‘And why did you think people would ever want to pay for your videos? It’s like people wanting to pay for my music. You’re gonna have to do events, you should do wine events, just like years ago we’d go on tour to sell CDs.’

“So I started doing wine events. And the first place I did wine events – profitable wine events – was in Hong Kong. At the time, it was just me and an assistant. I knew collectors like Henry Tang, Peter Lam and George Wong, and a few wine merchants, but I wasn’t really that connected – though one of my best friends, Patricio de la Fuente, who own Links Concept, was really helpful. But I could see that with no taxes and [the proximity to] China – even though the market hadn’t really developed to what it is today – this was the international wine hub for Asia. And then I met Marie – and she took pity on me!”

The business, says Suckling, really didn’t start making sense financially until around five years ago. “It took a while – it was really touch and go, and pretty scary, to be honest. But now, as you can see, we have 15 employees and a restaurant, which has been a lot of work but now is really successful.

“We opened the restaurant in October 2018, and now it’s doing really well. It never did so well – last month was our biggest, 500 wines by the glass and we have a really cool local chef who studied in Paris. But it took a long time – and it’s interesting because if it hadn’t been for Covid, we probably would have closed. The demonstrations were very difficult and while Marie and I were away in Napa Valley a lot of people were leaving. When we came back in March 2020, it was on its knees, so Marie actually went into the kitchen and started cooking Korean food. [Asked whether Korean food goes with wine, Suckling says, “Of course it does. I eat Korean food every day and I drink wine every day.”] And in the first few months, I was even on the floor serving wine – well, I had nothing else to do!"

“During Covid, website subscriptions actually went up 50 percent, and people weren’t travelling. So ironically, Covid was better for our business. I remember talking to a friend from Boston Consulting Group, who said, “James, you’re OK, but you have to focus on the local economy. And that’s what we did with the restaurant – and we did events. So it actually worked out well, though it would be nice to travel again and do events around the world.”

The outcome is that Suckling now finds himself in the paradoxical position of running both a locally focused wine bar and restaurant, and an internationally oriented wine website, 50 percent of whose visitors are based in North America. “I was recently named one of the 100 most important members of the US wine industry. I’m not sure they know I’m a Permanent Resident of Hong Kong,” he says with a laugh. “Most people think I live in New York.”

Thanks to Hong Kong’s duty-free regime, running a wine-tasting operation here is simplicity itself, he says. “Because there’s no tax, people just ship the wines here. In Hong Kong this year, we’ve tasted about 18,000 wines. The logistics have been great – a producer in Bordeaux just gives his wine to DHL and it’s here in two days. It’s just like door-to-door. And that was one reason I thought that if one day I didn’t want to travel as much, Hong Kong would be great because there are none of these logistical problems."

“If you’re in the US, each state has different laws on shipping wine, and to import wine you need licences and all sorts – and I just thought this could be so easy. And it’s turned out to be a godsend, and wine producers are fine with it. We just tasted 1,500 wines from all over Spain … even barrel samples: this year I tasted 1,500 barrel samples. People pull a sample from a barrel, bottle it, cork it and then they ship it over. Isn’t that cool?”

Indeed, though they’d like to be able to travel for, say, a month to Italy or California, he and Marie have no desire to return to the old regime of being away for 225 days in a year, flying to San Francisco or Burgundy just for dinner. “What’s been exciting about this place was that being stuck here almost two years, I’ve really had the chance to see people and talk to them, see what they drink and what they’re interested in with wine,” Suckling says.

“And I realised that for years, as a journalist or with the internet, you don’t really get the chance to talk to people and understand what they enjoy, whether it’s food or wine. I’ve really enjoyed getting back to, you know, grassroots or basics. Because sometimes you get detached – ‘Oh, I’m this wine critic or I’m that important journalist or whatever.’ I read The New York Times, and sometimes I find the writing can be a bit elitist. And I think that’s just because, as journalists, you get detached from your readers sometimes.

“It’s been a lot of work, though. I think you’ve probably heard people saying, ‘Never, never start your own restaurant. Because you don’t make any money and it’s a lot of work.’ Well, everything they tell you about restaurants is true, but at the same time, it’s been really fun. And now it’s working well. So I’m pretty proud of that. It’s worked out.”

The post Critic James Suckling on a Lifetime in the Wine Industry appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.

Are you a wine connoisseur who appreciates a relaxing weekend at scenic vineyards? Or are you fascinated by the delicate processes that go into making your favourite glass of vino?

If so, we have curated a list of the world’s most exclusive wine destinations to plan your next trip. These vineyards are not only renowned for their reds, whites, sparkling, and rosé, but also for their picturesque estates nestled among rolling hills and lush green valleys.

Since it is not the best time to travel right now owing to the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, you can bookmark these places for a future adventure.

Most stunning vineyards in the world -

Montes Wines, Chile

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Located in the heart of picturesque Apalta, the Montes estate was designed using the principles of Feng Shui. Their goal is to produce luxury wines while being socially responsible, protecting the biodiversity in the region and supporting the local community. Viña Montes offers tours to explore the vineyards, and while there, we highly recommend dining at the Fuegos de Apalta restaurant (operated by one of Argentina’s most famous chefs, Francis Mallmann), located in the middle of the estate. Guests can also try their Montes Alpha Cabernet Sauvignon, the first wine they created here, which was also recognised as the first premium wine from Chile. Fun fact: You can also spot llamas and sheep grazing in their Marchigüe vineyards.

Find out more here

Montes S.A., Apalta Winery, Parcela 15 - Millahue de Apalta, Santa Cruz – Chile

Sula Vineyards, India

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Sula Vineyards is located in the grape capital of India, Nasik, where 80 percent of the country’s wine is produced. They produce one of India’s finest wines through sustainable viticulture and organise a vineyard music festival called SulaFest every year. Enjoy their delectable wines — red, white, sparkling, and rosé — at their own (and the country’s first) luxury vineyard resort called Beyond, which boasts an infinity pool, spa, gym, and restaurant.

Find out more here

Gat 36/2, Govardhan Village, Off, Gangapur-Savargaon Rd, Nashik, Maharashtra 422222

Zuccardi Valle de Uco, Argentina

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Named the “World’s Best Vineyard” in 2019 and 2020 (by The World's Best Vineyards Academy, comprising over 500 leading wine aficionados and sommeliers), this wine estate is nestled in the foothills of the Andes at a high altitude of 3,609ft (1,100m) above sea level. The ultra-modern winery is an architectural feat, made of natural stones and cement, where visitors can learn about the process of winemaking and take guided tasting tours. We also recommend enjoying the four-course lunch at the Piedra Infinita Cocina restaurant there, which offers a seasonal menu and wines for pairing, along with picturesque views of the Andes. Guests can also try the Emma Zuccardi Bonarda wine, made from the indigenous grapes of Argentina.

Find out more here

Costa Canal Uco s/n - Paraje Altamira, San Carlos, Mendoza, Argentina

Hatten Wines, Indonesia

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The first winery in Bali, Hatten Wines is famous for their fresh, signature rosé that’s served chilled. Their locally grown grapes are considered among the best in the region, owing to the warmth of the sun, soil rich in nutrients, and plenty of spring water. You can enjoy a wine tasting at the vineyard’s Cellar Door, a private dining room and wine education centre. Some other wines they produce are Two Islands and Dragonfly Moscato (made from Australian grapes), and Brem, a Balinese rice wine.

Find out more here

Jl. By Pass Ngurah Rai No.393, Sanur Kauh, Denpasar Selatan, Denpasar City, Bali 80228, Indonesia

Aythaya Vineyard, Myanmar

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Myanmar’s first vineyard is located in the Inle Lake area, and they only grow noble grape varieties for their wine. The high altitude paired with abundant rainfall is ideal for producing great quality wines, especially their house whites. Some of their signature wines include Aythaya Red, Aythaya Rosé, and Aythaya White. The estate is perfect for a romantic getaway — after a long day of touring the vineyards and wine tasting, you can book a room at the Monte Divino Lodge, and enjoy dinner with a beautiful view at the Sunset Wine Garden restaurant, which serves European cuisine.

Find out more here

Htone Bo, Taunggyi 11181, Myanmar

Bodega Garzón, Uruguay

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This is the first LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design)-certified winery in South America. They focus mainly on Uruguay’s flagship grape, Tannat (for reds), and also produce other grape varieties such as Albariño, Chardonnay, Merlot, Pinot Noir and others. You can be part of the exclusive Garzón Club to access special experiences such as winemaking seminars, private dining at the Bodega Garzón Restaurant, and privileged access to the Bulgheroni Family Portfolio wineries around the world. They also host some non-wine related activities such as hiking, equestrianism, hot-air balloon rides and picnics across the sprawling vineyards.

Find out more here

9 km. 175, Garzón, Departamento de Maldonado, Uruguay

Monsoon Valley, Thailand

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The Monsoon Valley vineyard in Hua Hin was once home to wild Asian elephants. As a result, today one can find some of these elephants roaming the vineyards — they help in the cultivation process. Some of the varieties of wines of note include the Shiraz, Colombard, Chenin Blanc, Dornfelder and Sangiovese. Apart from the usual wine tasting and tours, you can participate in unique activities such as mountain biking, a wine safari (which takes visitors wildlife watching at the Kuiburi National Park), and visiting elephants at the Baan Khok Chang Elephant Sanctuary. Onsite, they also have a flagship restaurant called The Sala Wine Bar and Bistro, which serves European cuisine as well as Thai dishes, paired with their vineyard wines.

Find out more here

1 Moo 9 Baankhok Chang Patana NongPlup HuaHin District, Prachuap Khiri Khan, Thailand 77110

Robert Mondavi Winery, US

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Situated in wine country Napa Valley, the To Kalon vineyard (planted in 1868) produces some of the world’s finest Cabernet, as well as Sauvignon Blanc grapes. Owner Robert Mondavi created his signature Fumé Blanc from the latter, which is known for its bright and fruity flavours. Guests can enjoy an in-depth winery tour and a walk through the vineyards and cellars, before the guided wine tasting. However, in order to get the best of the Mondavi experience, one must participate in the Four Decades Dinner, which allows you to taste vintage wines from each of the last four decades, followed by a four-course dinner.

Find out more here

7801 St Helena Hwy, Oakville, CA 94562, United States

(Main and featured image: Maja Petric on Unspash)

The post Where to Find the Most Stunning Vineyards Around the World appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.

Nic Vanderbeeken, the Belgian chef behind one of Bali’s most recent must-visit fine dining establishments, Apéritif, gets face to face with Joezer Mandagi.

Dinner at Apéritif in Ubud starts, appropriately enough, with a round of apéritifs - at the venue’s opulent bar. This is also where diners first meet and chat with the restaurant’s affable Belgian Executive Chef, Nic Vanderbeeken. But when Prestige arrived, the highly esteemed chef was quick to point out that it was not all about him.

“I’m actually happy that all the diners we get, they come here for Apéritif,” Vanderbeeken insisted. “They don’t come for me, they come for Apéritif.”

It’s not hard to see why. The restaurant, which opened its doors late last year, is the quintessential Ubud fine-dining establishment. It’s located not too far away from the centre of the district - next door to the Viceroy Bali resorts - but still tucked into its own remote corner, surrounded by terraced rice paddies and boasting expansive views of distant rainforests, with Bali’s sacred Mount Agung looming in the background.

Unique among Ubud’s top-tier eateries, Apéritif’s colonial aesthetics have proven to complement the aforementioned backdrop quite nicely. This visual theme is quite evident from the exterior, but it is when you actually step inside that the shift really sweeps you off your feet into a completely different timeline: black-and-white polished marble, era-appropriate paintings, chandeliers hanging overhead and black-and-white plumage on every table.

All that being said, it’s also quite evident that plenty of guests do come for Vanderbeeken.

Like so many of his contemporaries, Chef Vanderbeeken started his culinary career in his teenage years, working weekends and holidays as a steward. He moved up from washing dishes to making mayonnaise and other simple kitchen tasks when a friend of his parents took him in and later convinced his parents to send Vanderbeeken to culinary school.

“I worked in gastronomic restaurants almost every weekend and I really loved the atmosphere,” Vanderbeeken began. Then he added: “I don’t know anything else, actually.” So, after finishing his studies and taking an extra year to learn about pastries, when he was given the choice of studying management or going to work, he immediately chose the latter. So, like most new chefs, he moved from restaurant to restaurant, picking up new skills and knowledge until, at the age of 22, he found himself working at ’t Convent, a Michelin-starred restaurant in Belgium.

There, fate gave him a little extra nudge forward. “The sous chef had an accident,” Vanderbeeken recalled, his tone almost apologetic. “He fell asleep in his car and drove under a truck. He took three months off to recover. During the time he was gone, the chef appointed me as his replacement. When the sous chef came back, I was told I could keep my position while the sous chef became a chef de tournant.” Then he went on: “From there, I moved faster.”

Moving faster meant moving on again, to other restaurants. Moving faster meant delving into new trends, like molecular gastronomy. Moving forward, however, meant slowing down a bit. As much as he wanted to keep up with new things, Vanderbeeken was, at the time, also a new father. So, he switched to bistronomy, where the pay is better and the hours are friendlier. And then came the move to Bali. Or, at least, the beginnings of moving to Bali.

See, after his sixth vacation on the island, Vanderbeeken decided that he’d sell everything he had and move to Asia. “But not Bali,” he pointed out. “I wanted to move near Bali, like to Singapore or Bangkok, so during the weekends or when I had a few days off I could come to my favourite holiday destination.” His parents, however, weren’t too thrilled about this plan. They wanted him to move only after securing a job offer first – and one that would be a step up from what he was doing at the time.

This brought Vanderbeeken to the culinary scene of Vietnam. Thinking that maybe moving to Asia wasn’t exactly the best career move, he then set his sights on Australia, perhaps Melbourne. As fate would have it, however, before making yet another major move, Vanderbeeken took another long holiday in Bali. And while there, he sent his résumé to a number of restaurants.

Anthony Syrowatka of the Viceroy was the first to invite him to do a test menu. After successfully preparing a six-course degustation menu in an unfamiliar kitchen, he was offered a contract. The rest, as the saying goes, is history, and Vanderbeeken became the driving force behind Viceroy’s successful CasCades restaurant.

“I thought that CasCades was the end,” Vanderbeeken said as our conversation moved on to his current position. “I mean, I thought I could not go up any more.” But he did. Not that it was smooth sailing from day one, of course. For one, a new team had to be assembled, although he readily admitted that that turned out to be the easy part.

A more pressing matter was location. The problem with having a secluded fine-dining establishment was that it was, well, secluded. “People that come here have to travel here - they have to plan it,” Vanderbeeken elaborated. “Even if they are in Ubud, they have to think about transport, for example. You don’t just pass the restaurant and come inside.”

But perhaps here too he needn’t have worried. “Before we opened, there were two Japanese ladies who came here in July or August,”
Vanderbeeken recalled with a big smile on his face, noting once again that the restaurant only opened around October. “We were almost finished with the restaurant, but we were not open yet. But they were so interested to see what was going to happen and they wanted to be the first to dine here in Apéritif. So, these two ladies came back from Japan, stayed here in the Viceroy and dined at Apéritif. We gave them a certificate, because they were our first official diners and they were so happy with that.”

So far, feedback from diners has been overwhelmingly positive. The food is, of course, stellar and packaged into a charming experience that begins with the eponymous pre-dinner drinks and canapés, followed by a culinary tour de force prepared in the restaurant’s open kitchen which marries Vanderbeeken’s roots in pure culinary techniques, his deep understanding for the flavours found in the region and, most importantly, the passion that he imparts into his gastronomical creations.

Asked whether he was still as passionate about his chosen profession today as he was all those years ago when he was only just starting, Vanderbeeken turned contemplative. “Since I was 18 years old I was tempted to leave Belgium. But then I fell in love and this and that,” he answered. “But because I came to Asia, a whole new world was opened to me - cooking, ingredients, recipes. I became interested again.”

Running his own fine dining establishment also proved to be a much-needed change of pace for Vanderbeeken. Back in Belgium it was often just him and his sous chef, doing 50 covers a night with an à la carte menu; here he works with more than a dozen people.

“You can be more detailed, more creative ... and it’s again an open kitchen so you have good communication with the guests,” he goes on. “So I still feel the same passion now. Sometimes it goes away a little bit – and that’s why I always need a new challenge.”

Certainly, Apéritif still has room to grow; it’s only been open for about half a year and Bali’s hospitality industry is as exciting as it is unforgiving and constantly changing. Vanderbeeken, though, seems to be more than up to the challenge.
He concluded our conversation thus: “It can only get better.”

The post Executive Chef of Apéritif Restaurant & Bar Nic Vanderbeeken Cooks for the Love of Bali appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.

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