Editor's Letter

I have been waiting nearly three years to write a truly positive, hope-fueled Editor’s letter. That day has finally arrived, with the Covid-19 barriers currently crumbling down around us. So, rather than reflect here on the challenges that we’ve faced (well – we have shared a round-up of Hong Kong’s recovery in a feature article inside!) – because we have done enough of that to cover a lifetime – I am excited about the broad and bright horizons that we are all racing towards.

In this issue we venture into some new territory – across the South China Sea, to the Little Red Dot, Singapore. While Singapore and Hong Kong have long had a friendly rivalry, things have heated up recently with the divergent Covid-19 policies meaning the cities took vastly different paths out of the pandemic. This has unsurprisingly had an impact on the wine scene. And now, with Vinexpo Asia jumping ship to Singapore in 2023, we have dug deeper into the wine scene to see what is making it tick and what is trending these days.

Speaking of trending, orange wine has seen immense growth globally in the past few years. Now, it seems our Asian shores are opening their glasses to this old-but-new phenomenon. There is much confusion around this category though, so I thought I’d take the chance to mythbust and define some of the key characteristics of the International Organisation for Vine and Wine (OIV)’s 8th and latest category in its official list of Special Wines.

As always, the results of the Cathay HK IWSC form a large and exciting part of this magazine. I hope you will enjoy meeting our new judges, as well as getting reacquainted with our immensely experienced long-serving veterans. Judging Week 2022 was a true celebration of our local spirit and the huge talent pool that exists in our city! With every passing year, we come to admire and respect the deep wisdom and honed judgement of our “family” of judges even more.

Again, we were fortunate to welcome sommeliers, wine and spirit writers, educators and critics, importers and F&B professionals. What a wonderfully diverse cross-section of voices and expertise to crown the best global wine, spirits, sake and beer for the Asian market. Check out the winners and grinners across the drinks sector for inspiration for your new-year lists.

As always, enjoy this edition of SPIT Journal and I wish you health, happiness and success in the year ahead!