How it all Began
After more than twenty years of visiting the prestigious chateaux of France and tasting their finest wines - as well as fostering a love of good food - the people behind Singapore’s leading fine wine merchants genuinely do it for the love of it. Now, after more than a decade of business, that passion is still very much alive.
Vinum Fine Wines was conceived long before its actual inception in 1995. Founding chairman, Mr Desmond Lim, has always had a passion for good food thanks to his grandmother’s Nonya cooking. Her complex dishes left an indelible mark, which led Mr Lim on an endless quest for the best food around the world. And with that came an inevitable passion for fine wines, made even more apparent during the 1980s, when Mr Lim toured the region of Bordeaux, visiting many of its famous chateaux. He returned twice just a few years later to visit the Rhone valley, Burgundy, Chablis, and Champagne. With these tasting tours behind him, not to mention evenings at various Michelin-starred restaurants across Europe, Mr Lim’s much-loved hobby was soon to become a business venture.
The first step was to open a fine dining restaurant in Singapore, one that replicated the great European restaurants that Mr Lim and his partners had visited. Les Amis opened in March 1994. Its unique position as the first independently owned fine dining restaurant in Singapore gave it a certain edge - at that time, any other restaurant of a similar calibre was part of a hotel. From the beginning, the wine cellar at Les Amis was considered a key element, not just because Mr Lim needed more storage space for his burgeoning collection, but also because a first-class wine list was an integral part of Les Amis’ fine dining concept. The overwhelming synergy between fine food and fine wine was evident right from the beginning, and it would spark the beginnings of a new Fine Wine Merchant.
The economic climate of the late 1980s and early 1990s meant demand for top wines was rising, and Les Amis’ success - thanks in part to its packed-out and reputed wine cellar - meant Vinum was a natural progression. When Vinum first opened its doors in November 1995, it did so just at the right time; there were very few merchants operating in Singapore, and none that paid careful attention to the shipping and storage of fine and rare wine. The damage the tropical climate can do to wine should not be underestimated, and from the very beginning Vinum was careful to use methods that kept wine in its optimal condition. This would prove invaluable to the company as it built a reputation based on perfect storage and trusted provenance, a reputation it still values today.
Only the Best Will Do
Vinum supplies only the best quality wine, at whatever price. It guarantees that any wine a client buys and receives through Vinum will be of the best possible provenance, in the finest condition and kept and delivered in perfect storage facilities. Not an easy task but an absolute must when it comes to fine and rare wine.
After more than a decade of wine trading, Vinum has attained an excellent yearly allocation of all high-end, classified growths and other top labels from well-established producers. Ninety per cent, or indeed more, of Vinum’s stock is made up of French wines. And even when Vinum ventures outside of France, the focus is on top producers in each region, such as Egon Mueller of Germany and Vega Sicilia of Spain.
Knowing its market has always been Vinum’s forte and by responding to market demands, Vinum has supplied the wine of choice for each client sector since it first opened. Trends have come and gone; at first Chateau Mouton Rothschild was a favourite in Thailand and Chateau Margaux in Hong Kong. However, as the market has developed, these peculiarities have somewhat dissipated and the Vinum team have serviced their clients from an ever-increasing portfolio of wine. In China, on the other hand, Chateau Lafite Rothschild is a clear favourite among Chinese wine-lovers; Vinum is watching this trend closely to see how it develops.
Not only buying independently and specifically for its client base, Vinum also acts as an agent for a selection of top-end wines. Agencies include Domaine Leflaive, Leroy, Comte de Vogue, Jean Louis Chave, Anne Gros, Dujac, Thibault Liger-Belair, Jean Jacques-Confuron and the Moueix portfolio, which includes such illustrious names as Chateau La Fleur Petrus, Chateau Trotanoy and Chateau Petrus.
Alongside agency wines, Vinum has traditionally had a large stock of chateaux second labels, which offer a more affordable option to the Grand Vin, but still with a consistency in quality.
Vinum’s First Offspring - Caveau
To cater for the wine novice and to usurp its growing list of mid-range, but still top quality wines, Vinum extended its reach with Caveau. It acts as the perfect channel for distributing more affordable and approachable wines that are separate from Vinum’s wine list. Introducing the newcomer to classic wines, or indeed reminding wine connoisseurs of what they may have forgotten, Caveau is dedicated to cultivating wine appreciation across the board.