Kavita Devi Faiella followed her passion, and her nose, into the wine industry and she hasn't looked back, writes P.Ramakrishnan.
KAVITA DEVI Faiella weaves her way through a busy Press Room in Quarry Bay, pulling out her favourite vintages and describing them like most people describe their idols.
"Alvaro Palacios is the rock star of Spanish wine. Not only has he made one of Spain's most iconic wines, L'Ermita, but he also makes great value wines from a number of indigenous varieties and regions," she says. "This wine is elegant and refined, and has some of the most powerful yet silky tannins I've tasted."
Faiella is one of the region's most savvy sommeliers. The intimacy with which she describes a bottle, the notes she pulls while describing a region: her passion for the job is obvious. "As a young female, new world sommelier, it's my responsibility to remove the stuffiness of understanding wine," she says of her role as wine director of the Press Room Group.
Having worked with influential chefs such as Steve Manfredi and Neil Perry, been head sommelier of the Hilton property in the Maldives, regional Cellar Master for Aman Resorts working with Miami-based wine consultant Alejandro Ortiz, in the Oenological world, she's a sparkling infusion in the mix of heavy hitters.
Faiella recently passed the theory component of her final Master Sommelier exam in London, and will sit the practical and tasting component at the end of the year, which will make her both Asia and Australia's first female Master Sommelier. "My dad, for the longest time thought I was a professional waitress. I had to explain that there was a lot more to it than serving fine wine by the bottle.
"It's a male-dominated industry and 15 years ago, it was mostly men," she says. "Why, I don't know, it's not like a manually or physically labour intensive. It's understandable that when it comes to wine makers, there's more male than female. But now, even that's changing as there are some female winemakers too."
Where women are leading the pack in wine country however, is at the table. "I've noticed this often in Asian countries that while most men seem to prefer their whiskeys and cognacs, women are a leading demographic when it comes to the selection of wine. You'd be surprised at how important women in Hong Kong in particular are to the wine market." she says. "And oddly, I just read a study that said women will buy a bottle according to the outfit they're wearing. How it's packaged and presented is just as key as the year and region. And I find women who are educated about their wine know what they want when they glance at a menu - maybe they didn't at first, but there are some informed decisions being made."
It's easy to spot the non-wine connoisseurs; they don't buy the cheapest or the most expensive bottle listed. "Yes, so many buy the second or third most expensive wine," Faiella says. "And if there's one thing that I've learned during my stay in Italy, is that if you know what you're doing, you can get an excellent wine that's reasonably priced."
But if reading a wine review has ever boggled your mind with their esoteric references and jargon, then being offered eight pages listing endless bottles from all around the planet can be equally disconcerting.
"When you read a breakfast menu, you know what you want by skimming through it: eggs, toast, croissants - there are no surprises," she says. "Similarly, when you look at a wine menu, with time, you can skim through it and know quickly whether you are up for a light white wine, a musky deep red. You can look at the region and think: yes, it's had a good season and make an informed selection - without being pompous about it. I see my role as a translator of sorts."
Which makes her last two destinations rather odd - now living in Hong Kong (there's no Chateux de Sheung Wan) and having lived in New Delhi for years, both places are not known for their corkage. "Well, I was mostly based in North India, which had a great interest in consuming whiskey more than wine," she says quoting The International Wine and Spirits Record report stating 137.4 million nine-litre cases were sold in India in 2010. "And although countries like China and India are not known for their vintages, it's there, slowly being developed. I hope to find a great Chinese wine during my travels, as it's unexplored territory."
Before we end our conversation, it begs to be asked: as a former medical student turned sommelier, from a professional point of view, what is the best hangover cure? "Lots of water and bitters, it will calm your stomach and flush out the toxins," she says.
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