I almost swore off wine after I tried it for the first time - in the form of an extremely tannic red. As my friend poured, he explained that wine represents the blood of Christ. That was Easter fourteen years ago.
I then swung momentarily to the other end of sweet-as-juice varieties.
The gateway wine for a reason
You can disdain Moscato as a wine for non-wine drinkers. But you can also regard Moscato as the gateway wine. The low alcohol content blesses it as an easy-drinking pair for meal sessions stretched over long conversations.
Great with spicy, fragrant Singapore food
The highly aromatic Moscato also stands up to Singapore food with strong smells. The sweetness fights off the spiciness - the same reason sugar is a standard condiment found on Thai tables. The slight fizz eases the burn off the tongue too.
Try Moscato with different food
But thankfully I then left that comfort zone of claiming "Brown Brothers Moscato" or "Ice Wine from DFS" as my wine of choice. I was ready for wine 'siu dai' (Singapore term for 'less sweet').
The first easy step is to vary the food you have while drinking Moscato. It becomes clear that Moscato's oily texture doesn't cut rich food - a cheesy ravioli or pork crackling becomes sickeningly fatty and sweet. Instead, match them with a glass of crisp, acidic Champagne or Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc like the readily available Cloudy Bay, Oyster Bay or Monkey Bay.
On the beach, by the pool
Step two is to vary where you drink your wine. At a picnic, rosé wines combine the refreshing qualities of white wine with the fruit flavours of red wine. Chill a light red like Gamay - and pair it with a summer day.
Try Moscato's cousins
German Rieslings are proudly sweet. But there's a range of sweetness. Start off from the sweeter end (Auslese), then taper off to the drier side (Kabinett). Or perhaps Moscato d'Asti - the Italians instead of the usual Australians.
The best part of trying wines labeled in a language other than English? You make mistakes and end up on wonderful adventures.
Underdogs
I often play a game when I browse wine - I look for wines I don't quite understand. That eventually led me to the beautiful Torbreck's Roussanne Marsanne Viognier blend. Over a seafood dinner, no one quite knew why that wine tasted so good, or what that wine was - but everyone loved it.
That's also why I host a 'Underdogs' wine party, where you can't drink the most popular varietals. Brown Brothers Moscato is yummy, but there also is a whole other world out there.
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