A collaborative effort by Wine for Asia and Singapore Polytechnic, a course to be conducted by international experts and to cater to 100 regional wine importers

The first-ever professional wine course for regional wine importers will be conducted in conjunction with Wine for Asia 2006 (WFA2006), the biggest wine show in the region.

The Certificate of Performance in International Wine Import is a collaboration between WFA2006 and Singapore Polytechnic, a leading tertiary institution in Singapore highly regarded for providing professional training for the industry.  It will comprise two days of intensive classroom learning conducted by the Polytechnic from 31 October to 1 November 2006, followed by three days of "vineyard tours" at WFA2006, which will be held at Singapore Expo from 2 – 4 November at Singapore Expo.  WFA is organised jointly by Singex Exhibitions and Wine Resources.

WFA will provide an incentive of a 50 percent subsidy of the course fee of $600 to wine importers visiting Wine For Asia 2006.  Said Mr Loy Joon How, Director, International Sales, of Singex Exhibitions: "The International Wine Import course is a joint effort by WFA and Singapore Poly to draw regional participants to the course and WFA. We have set a target to bring in 100 regional importers to attend the course and we will provide subsidy to the first 50 applicants.  Any genuine wine importer from the region can apply for this subsidy."

The panel of lecturers will comprise international experts, including Mr Jeremy Oliver, a well-known wine guru from Australia, Mr Graham Hayward, an advisor of the Foster's Wine Group, Mr Ch'ng Poh Tiong, an eminent wine writer and publisher, Mr Edwin Soon, a well respected wine writer and oenologist, Mr Kirk Bauer, an oenologist from Europe, Mr Thomas Percillier, Marketing Director of CVBG, a leading Bordeaux based négociant, Ms Jacqui Murphy, NZ Oenologist and Mr Giorgio Ferrari of Giorgio Ferrari Pte Ltd, a leading regional wine distributor.

Said Mr Lim Peng Hun, Director of the Department of Industry Services, Singapore Polytechnic:  "We are very pleased to work with Wine For Asia to design a customized course for Asian wine importers and distributors. The course aims to help them to acquire sufficient knowledge skills in wine selection, as well as to understand wine trends, wine logistics and wine marketing so as to better manage their business of wine import and distribution."

Mr Oliver, who will lead the panel of lecturers, will share his knowledge with the course participants on "Understanding and Selecting Australian Wines".  This will help participants to understand the nuances in wine styles from the different Australian wine regions and to select the most appropriate labels for their own markets.  Mr Hayward, who will share his knowledge on Chilean and Argentinian wines, said: "Combining theoretical and experiential learning is definitely very clever. Skills in selecting wines cannot be acquired just by reading books or listening to a lecture. You just have to go out to try as many wines as possible. It would be fun going around Wine For Asia to pick up the best Malbecs from Argentina or Carmenères from Chile."

The response has been overwhelming.  Even before the launch of the course, there were more than 30 confirmed participants.  PT Danisa Texindo, a major wine importer in Indonesia will be bringing in a delegation while applications have also been received from Hongkong, China and Malaysia.

For information on the course, please log on to www.sp.edu.sg. For more information on the subsidy, please log on to www.wineforasia.com.