This week, we want to present something a little different. We are always proud and delighted to bring you fantastic wines and present new and classic estates from all over the world, but who are our loyal and passionate customers who enjoy them so much?
We sat down with Melvin Yeo, an iDealwine member since 2020, recently. He’s based in Singapore and regularly buys French wine from our website. Before we got stuck into his current tastes, he shared how his wine passion started and then flourished.
During a homestay at a restaurant near the Rhone Valley, the host family generously opened many northern Rhone Syrahs that made Melvin fall in love with the region’s wines. But on the last day, they generously opened a 1999 Jean Pierre Mugneret Vosne Romanee Premier Cru. This was the wine that caused an epiphany about Burgundian wine and took him down the rabbit hole of wines from this iconic region.
From this followed a continuous thirst to discover wines from all around the world, all the while focusing on the northern Rhone and Burgundy, his first loves. His favourite estate visits have been to Domaine Pierre Gonon and Franck Balthazar which Melvin continues to visit almost yearly.
Being far away from his beloved French wine growing regions led Melvin to iDealwine. Thanks to the door-to-door air-conditioned shipping, he can be assured that the wines will be just like they were when they left the winery. For him, iDealwine is the perfect place for “discovering regions that are less popular in Singapore like the Loire, Jura and the Rhone – I have gotten the best producers from these regions like Ganevat, Boudignon, etc. at an affordable price”.
He strongly believes that wines should be shared and are a means to connect with people, for which he regularly organises blind tasting dinners all around Singapore, inviting friends of friends, mutual acquaintances which he met through wine events, and anyone willing to discover the way of the wine glass!
During these dinners, a fixed theme is decided by Melvin and the group, often around the northern Rhone/Burgundy and mature vintages, while Bordeaux, the Loire, Jura, Champagne, Piedmont and the New World are also explored, of course. This is when he enjoys gathering the recent bottles he won at iDealwine auctions, allowing him to experiment with mature vintages.
His rarest find to date is a “Dominique Laurent ‘93 Clos Sorbes which is rumoured to be a Jacky Truchot!’’
To study wine more deeply, Melvin recommends some key authors and publications such as William Kelley for Burgundy, Peter Liem for Champagne, John Livingstone-Learmonth for Rhone and old publications of Remington Norman. He keeps himself aware of up-and-coming producers and changes throughout the wine world with the help of CellarTracker and forums such as WineBerserkers.
Now that you know more about Melvin, you can understand why he loves iDealwine. “The provenance for the wines is always very good, corks are in good state. It’s the perfect place to find wines that are ready to drink, especially old and mature ones.”
Melvin shares his discoveries and recent wine tastings on his Instagram account, @bringthewines. It serves as the perfect tool to connect with other wine lovers in Singapore and further afield in places such as Hong Kong, London, and Paris, while also establishing links with wineries in France.
He will continue his wine journey with travels to France to get to know more about the wines he discovers in iDealwine’s fixed-price sales and auctions from the producers themselves. And Melvin’s tip for taking part in an auction on iDealwine? “Just put in as many first bids as you can on wines that interest you and hope for the best!”
Try your hand at iDealwine auctions or discover what treasures can be found at a fixed price
