Family dinner for a celebration with red wine and cheers. (pic: iStock)

Family dinner for a celebration with red wine and cheers. (pic: iStock)

We turned to top wine merchants in Hong Kong and Mainland China for their Christmas wine suggestions. Find out what wine veterans from ASC Fine Wines, Torres China, Links Concept, Vivino, Enoteca and Northeast Wines and Spirits are drinking.

6. Morten Fillipsen from Vivino

Morten Fillipsen (pic: file image)
Morten Fillipsen (pic: file image)

Morten is Vivino’s Regional Vice President in Asia-Pacific. Launched in 2010, Vivino now boasts over 50 million users in 17 different markets and has evolved as the world’s most used wine app and online marketplace.

Growing up in Denmark, Morten recalled enjoying quite hearty meals on Christmas eve such as crispy pork roast, gravy and potatoes. As such, he would look out for a wine that can stand out from the strong flavours, which echoed with Nick’s selection, “I find that Syrah doesn’t back down when faced with such a meal, so I usually go for one of my favourites: A Côte-Rôtie from Northern Rhône.”

For “a fatty Nordic Christmas meal”, his secret would be mixing it up with a bone-dry Riesling from Clare Valley as he enjoyed the “kick of acidity”.

When it comes to sharing a wine with his beloved friends, he would choose the 2007 Sine Qua Non “To the Rescue” Vin de Paille Grenache, “I have one bottle left and it’s magical. Sine Qua Non haven’t made many sweet wines, but this Grenache-based is absolutely insane.”

As one of California’s most famous cult wine producers, Sine Qua Non specialises in Rhône grape varieties, with most of the red wines produced from Syrah and Grenache.

But having realized its rarity, Morten quips, “On second thought – maybe I’ll keep it for myself!”

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