Extending an online business to a brick and mortar store isn’t a new thing (Naiise, Amazon), you just gotta extend the experience as well. It the case of wines it totally makes sense – people like to taste wines before they buy ’em. (Otherwise you’re just another sucker in Premier Cru’s ponzi scheme.)

Wine retailer 75cl Singapore Online Wine Store, known for their wide range of premium yet affordable wines, has just opened a tasting lab – the biggest in Singapore with 56 bottles for sampling (via enomatic machines). Buy credits from them and just saunter around and help yourself to small wine portions priced from S$3-5. The wines you’re tasting range from premium ones (S$80-100) to offers starting at $25.

The wine selection on offer is changed every two weeks.

And there are 56 bottles to try on each trip…Any excuse to return, right?

You can sample a varied selection from key regions like Bordeaux, Burgundy (above) and more. Featured Bordeaux wineries include 2^nd Growth Chateau Gruaud-Larose, and 3^rd Growth Chateau Cantenac-Brown, from St-Julien and Margaux respectively. Also available are wines from Oz, Italy, Portugal, Brazil, New Zealand and Spain.

Here’s what I enjoyed:

Regio Cantina – Aglianico del Vulture Donpa 2010

From southern Italy (where Primitivo is most famous), this is near a volcanic area, so the soil is somewhat different – which adds to the friendly chalky flavour. It’s fruity with plums, licorice and has firm tannins. Easy to pair with most foods, especially a Mediterranean pasta dish. This is a real smooth value-for-money Aglianico.

Gladstone Vineyard Jealous Sisters Pinot Noir 2012

From Wairarapa, this has lovely aromas of cherries and plum, and on the palate it’s smooth, with oak and red current flavours and a long finish.

[From Gladstone: The story behind our Jealous Sisters range comes from local Maori legend of beautiful twin sisters Retutai and Tangimoana who lived on the stony banks of the Ruamahanga River. A handsome local warrior named Rautoroa heard of their beauty and came bearing gifts. Their hearts went out to him and soon the sisters became jealous of each other. Tangimoana cruelly tricked her sister and married Rautoroa. Heartbroken, Retutai climbed up into the mountain mists and was never seen again.]

Somewhat appropriate that pinot noir (the heartbreak grape) was created from this legend.

We could pick a few more but that’d be missing the point, since this is a friendly place where you can go experience the wines yourself. The staff is friendly and knowledgeable, and the lab has a welcoming vibe (kudos to the cool corporate yellow as well). It’s technically a tasting outlet, not a cafe, so no food is allowed, but nothing to stop you from hanging around all afternoon with your laptop, sipping on a lovely range of good wines. Maybe you’ll get some work done as well – we did.

75CL Tasting Lab, 8 Jalan Kilang Barat, #01-06; Tel: +65 6479-4506. Closed Sunday.

Like this? This wine service will deliver your stash in under one hour

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