Wine collecting in Singapore today

WHAT vintages of which wines does one start one's collection with? A tough question but an absorbing one to deal with.

When I started in 1983 I was very fortunate. It was already early summer of 1983 and the 1982 en primeurs had just been released. I scurried around by telephone - there was no Internet then! - so it meant long-distance telephone calls to London fine wine merchants (those were the only ones I knew then) or relying on faxes!

I was fortunate to be able to acquire a few cases of the 82s, including the First Growths. Château Latour 1982 was £250/- a case en primeur! I quickly snapped up a couple of cases, similarly with the rest of the Firsts and as many of the Seconds and Thirds as came my way via faxes and long-distance phone calls. Today, with Internet communication available, it is very different. One keeps on receiving offers via the Internet all the time.