A Memorable Wine Experience with Wine Talk (Ep 1)

Wine Talk held a blogger event last 21st March at The Pressroom in Bangsar Shopping Centre. Upon entering the venue, guests were welcomed by an enticing display of wine glasses, waiting for sumptuous and aromatic wines (well, I'm forecasting).

The reception table was even more delicious. Wine Talk's wine selection for the event were nicely displayed together with crystal glasses, a bottle opener and their magazines. Upon signing your name, you'd immediately want to start uncorking the bottles (if you do know how!) since all the things you need are all there!



Makes you wanna start uncorking the bottles, right?

The Pressroom's ambience is just wonderful. You'd immediately notice several groups hanging out with friends and probably corporate managers having meetings over a delicious serving of food and drinks. It's really a perfect place for chatting with friends, hanging out, business meetings or even for some fun time with the family. The staff were also very friendly and attentive.

So the event starts with some greeting from the marketing manager. Then Wine Talk's managing director, Mark Simmons, talked about the company. Wine Talk is a collaboration between 2 reliable and trusted companies: Room Service Deliveries and Gastrodome. Room Service is an online food delivery service while Gastrodome is well-known for operating prestigious restaurants, La Bodega and The Pressroom, and Espressamente Illy, a warm and youthful cafe. Wine Talk is an online delivery service for wines and wine accessories like crystal glasses, decanter, wine cabinets...



Wine Talk's Managing Director, Mark Simmons, talking about the brand's story

Mark Simmons talked about the common challenge of a lot of people on searching for great wines. The truth is a lot of wine enthusiasts do not necessarily know what wine to pick from a supermarket or a wine shop. And if you're searching for good quality wines, you might not entirely rely on the shop staff as most of them do not know wines well (unless they are sommeliers!). So choosing great wines becomes complicated without someone reliable to give advice. And this challenge became an inspiration for the 2 companies to provide a solution to those who want to enjoy great wines but don't really know how to get hold of them. Wine Talk aims to make great wines easy for anyone who is interested to know more about wines or simply needs a good choice of wine to serve for dinner.

It is very interesting and enlightening to know that even those who have been consuming wines on a regular basis actually face the same challenge when it comes to buying or choosing wines. I thought that only wine newbies (like me) have this insecurity when it comes to wines. Mark Simmons stressed Wine Talk's simple tagline: Great Wines Made Easy. What makes Wine Talk unique and trustworthy is that they have an exclusive French sommelier, David Stephan, who personally handpicks the wines. So all the wines that Wine Talk offers have passed through David's tasting first to ensure that all are in good quality.

And then we started with the wine tasting which was wonderfully guided by their sommelier. David was born in France but he has been in Malaysia for a few years. David has been in the wine industry for more than 15 years.



Wine Talk's Sommelier, David Stephan, guiding us through each wine

David was fun and he was not boring at all. But, OMG, the amount of knowledge that he was pouring out about wines was amazing. Another blogger even said that he's like a walking encyclopedia of wines (haha!).



See all the 6 wine samples served by David for me to try? Yummm...

Will share more about the offers plus the exciting part of this event where we had 6, yes, 6 different wines --- white, rose and red in Ep 2. Gotta sleep soon as my son has school tomorrow!



Wine Talk's Sommelier, David Stephan

David Stephan's bio:

Wine Talk’s sommelier, David Stephan, grew up in a fishing village in the Bretagne region of Western France. He studied hospitality and sommelerie in professional school for 4 years, with internship including stints in various hotels & renowned restaurants of his region or in Paris. In late 1999, a good opportunity allowed him to move to the Caribbean, in the small, exclusive island of St Barthelemy, working in 5-Star Resorts. The island is famous for stunning beaches and locations, but also high-end hotels and restaurants, frequented by the rich and famous. Working two seasons in that hotel, and two more seasons in ‘L’Esprit Salines’, one of the island top restaurants at that time, where he managed a splendid premium wine list. He spent summers in France working in a catering company but also visited diverse wine regions across countries for personal development. In late 2003, he decided that it was time for a change, and started looking for new opportunity that brought him to an interview in Paris for a position in China, which he took. He managed one of the city’s first French Brasserie, and participated to open 2 new outlets. In 2006, he joined a local wine importer& distributor, selling and supplying fine wines to hotels, restaurants and private clients across the country. David fell in love with Malaysia at his 1st visit back in 2006, and if he and his wife were to leave China, it would be the 1st destination targeted. It happened in 2011, when they relocated to Kuala Lumpur, and are now calling it home.

Check out their website for more info:   www.winetalk.com.my