KOT Selections adds Mosel Rieslings to its portfolio

Producer: Daniel Vollenweider, Weiser-Künstler

(Pictures from Weingut Vollenweider and Weingut Weiser-Künstler)

Fate can have a serendipitous effect. Seventeen years ago, when Ong YiXin was a cellar hand at Dr. Loosen, it would have been a long shot to imagine that the friendship he struck with fellow intern and budding winemaker Daniel Vollenweider would evolve into a business partnership today. In his current role as Managing Partner of wine merchant KOT Selections, YiXin reminisces about those early days. “We both young, crazy and didn’t have girlfriends back then, so all we could talk about was wine and more wine,” quipped YiXin. Subsequently YiXin worked several vintages with Daniel, starting off in a small one room apartment that doubled as a makeshift winery.

Nakata Scores a Hat-trick with “N” Sake

Producer: "N" Sake by Hidetoshi Nakata, Takagi Shuzo

Clad in a dark blue Tom Ford denim jacket with matching jeans, Hidetoshi Nakata cuts a precise figure as he enters the private room at French fine dining venue Les Amis to promote his latest venture. After achieving worldwide fame in the arenas of football and fashion, Nakata’s third big venture focuses on promoting something closer to home and heart – Japanese sake. After a pilgrimage through various Japanese prefectures that saw him visiting over 250 producers, Nakata discovered one that could help him realise his vision of producing a premium sake. The chosen brewery, Takagi Shuzo, has been making sake since 1685 and already produces the much sought-after Juyondai label, one of the few internationally recognised brands. “To me Takagi Shuzo was the best, because of the sake master’s knowledge,” said Nakata.

Austria's Wine Specialties

Producers: Wieninger, Loimer

The famous Danube river provides the backdrop to this vineyard in Wachau

In souvenir shops around Austria it is common to find T-shirts light-heartedly proclaiming “No kangaroos in Austria.” It’s a self-deprecating reference to how the small Central European country (pop. 8.5 million) is often overshadowed by the fame of its barbeque loving namesake. But this country, which holds a wealth of Baroque architecture and birthed talents such as Gustav Klimt and Johann Strauss could not be more dissimilar. A recent trip there unearthed further secrets unique to the Austrian wine landscape.