A Drink With: Mike Signorelli, Founder, Signature Wine Club
For this month's A Drink With we sit down with Mike Signorelli as he educates us about how Beijing would taste bottled, and the rise of wine popularity in China.
If Beijing were a wine, what notes do you think it would evoke?
I had help from our expert Fongyee Walker answering this one. We think if Beijing were a wine it would be a rich opulent red, to reflect the Forbidden City’s wall, with complex layers showing both aged and new characteristics, and expensive! Something like a 1990 La Chapelle Hermitage.
Who would you most like to go out drinking with?
Elon Musk. I want to know, how does he manage his time? He has three companies, five children, and two ex-wives, how does he do it?!
When did you first start to appreciate drinking?
In college I had a few friends who became bartenders, and they opened up a world beyond beer for me. They took it as a profession, not just a college job, and would experiment and make interesting drinks far from what I was doing, which at that time was just beer. Wine just came over time, especially when I started going to more business events.
Has your favorite drink changed over time?
Sure, and it’s always changing as I try new wines and spirits. One thing I’m really enjoying right now is Hendricks gin with cucumber and a splash of soda water, not just tonic water, it cuts the sweetness down.
What’s your most outrageous drinking experience?
At a wedding in Nagano, Japan, drinking sake ladled directly out of giant oak casks that had been smashed open. Quite a cultural experience, and the sake was like sweet water, so delicious! From what I remember overall it was a fantastic night!
You’re hosting a dinner party, what’s on the menu?
We’re an East-meets-West family at the dinner table, so you will find mini versions of Chinese dishes like hongshaorou and yangrou chuan’r paired with red wines, and then you will find Italian antipasto that I think work well with everything! I especially like to invite friends to see what their reactions are to pairing Chinese cuisine with wine.
What is influencing the development of wine appreciation in China?
Knowledge and experience found outside of China. Many returnees come back with good exposure to wine from countries like Australia, Chile, and New Zealand, which they then look for in China with friends and family - but often buying those wines here is a challenge. You go to a (generic supermarket) store and the people are nice, but not knowledgeable about wine. You don’t know how the bottles are stored, and you can’t let wine freeze or get too hot. Beijing has massive extremes of both weathers, which people don’t pay attention to when thinking about wine. All in all though, the knowledgeable consumer is on the rise.
Signature Wine Club brings a hand-picked selection of new and undiscovered wines to your door every month. Two bottle subscription packages start from RMB 299 per month.
Photo: Uni
