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The first time I visited Macau in 1994, my parents begged me not to go. They were worried that as a South Korean I could potentially be kidnapped by North Koreans that operate in Macau. While these fears seem ludicrous now, Macau in the 1990s was a very different place. Alarming news stories supported my parents’ fears: Gun fights, bombings and murders linked with the triads were regularly reported and many large international corporations warned their employees about the dangers of visiting Macau.

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When the German Wine Institute approached me about a year ago to ask me if I was interested in writing a book pairing German wine with different Asian cuisines, I was hesitant at first. It is Riesling that first comes to mind when one thinks about German wines and although the styles of Riesling vary widely – from dry to very sweet – the options could potentially be narrow. But thinking through the potential pairings between Asian flavours and German wines, I began to get excited and agreed to write the book. 

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The only time I look at the Chinese zodiac forecasts is when I am waiting in my dentist’s office and there is nothing else new to read in the newspaper. This year, commentary about the upcoming Year of the Water Dragon seem to have crept closer to the front sections of the newspaper, even inviting international observations about the ferocious looking dragon stamps released in China in early January. It is a dramatic shift from the cute, red-eyed, gentle, bunny rabbit stamps issued to commemorate the Year of the Rabbit in 2011.

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Over the holiday break, I caught up on my reading and watched a lot of movies with my family. I love snuggling up in front of the television with a warm blanket, my family around me, a bowl of popcorn, a bottle of wine, watching one movie after another. I over-indulge in the things I don’t have time to do during the rest of the year like reading several books in one sitting or watching three or four movies back to back. While reading books is a solitary affair, watching movies are communal and in my house, we call it the ‘movie marathon’.

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We have some idea of the 2011 vintage in the southern hemisphere which was harvested around April but it is still very early to make any final assessments for the northern hemisphere. However, reports from producers and local commentators continue to stream in and now we are starting get a better picture of the quality of the 2011 wines from around the world.

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I was invited this week to speak at a luxury market conference in Florence called the Milano Fashion Global Summit, now in its 10th year. For the first time, I thought more about what I should wear versus what wines might be poured. How can one not be self-conscious when you are surrounded by heads of fashion houses, like Patrizio di Marco, Chairman of Gucci and Michele Norsa, CEO of Ferragamo?

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 This week, wine has just moved up another notch as an object of desire among the Chinese. Yao Ming, national basketball hero and homegrown celebrity, just launched ‘Yao Family Wines’. Recently retired from the Houston Rockets, Yao has been seen attending business management classes at Antai College of Economics and Management and launching a sports wear line with Paul & Shark.

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Here is a roundup of the most read articles by Jeannie in November.

Click here to read Jeannie's experience on how fake wines become a serious concern as the popularity of wine grows in greater China.

Jeannie is smitten with the 2010 vintage in Burgundy after tasting over 500 wines. Find out why.

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If you ask Jean-Charles Cazes of Chateau Lynch Bages who was recently in Hong Kong, what is their secret to the wine’s success in China, he will likely answer, “There is no secret.” Cazes, like his father before him, works the market and even holds a Hong Kong frequent travelers card, which allows him to avoid the long immigration queues at the airport. The criteria for obtaining the card? “A minimum of about three trips to Hong Kong per year and I meet this criteria easily,” says Cazes, who is in Asia nearly every month.

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This year was one of excessive travel and in the coming year, I hope to travel much less. The most memorable wines of this year were all related to the places I visited and it was extremely difficult to select my top ten; even top 50 would have been challenging. I did manage to narrow down my selection from the 3,000+ wine notes I took this year. The following is just a handful of my most memorable wine and travel highlights in 2011: