Savour - Save Your 'Savour Dollars' for Something Better

The Savour Singapore 2012 festival was a mixed affair for me.  I loved the wine and whisky tastings, but I was constantly nagged by the vague feeling I was being ripped off.

Let's start with the positives.  There was a plethora of master classes to attend - choosing 30 minute slots of wine tasting, chocolate making, artisan bread, whisky tasting... it was so tough that I was forced to make a spreadsheet (yes, I'm that much of a dork) timetabling the classes to help me choose between them.  These master classes by and large free as well, which was excellent.

We were running rather late by the time we arrived (negating the need for half my timetable), but I hustled off to the wine tasting which turned out to be New Zealand sauvignon blanc - excellent!  Contrary to most New Zealanders, I'm more of a chardonnay fan, but slowly over the last two years I've found myself drinking more and more of New Zealand's most famous grape.  A perfect opportunity to learn more!

I joined up with the rest of our group in the wine tasting area briefly before whisking (ahem, excuse the pun) myself away to the whisky tasting (hmmm... I'm noticing a theme here).  Again, excellent.  Did you know that whisky drinkers are actually encouraged to add a drop or two of water to their whisky to release the volatiles and unleash the full aroma?  I had always thought 'proper' whisky drinkers disdained water. 

Single malt and single cask whisky

The other excellent drop from Savour was Somersby Cider (sigh, yes, definitely a theme).  Cider is definitely a Singapore-friendly drink, best served with lots of ice but are often overly sweet.  Somersby Cider was certainly on the lower end of the sweetness scale, with a good amount of 'tart', avoiding tasting like lolly water.

So now for my gripes.

Billed as an affordable event ("At Savour customers get to eat high quality food at affordable prices"), I found this to be blatantly untrue. Paying $60 for my ticket, I was given $30 Savour dollars on entry. This was enough to buy one drink and a small mouthful of food. This wagu beef pastry was delicious, but at $18 a pop, dinner becomes very expensive.

$18 for this?!

I was baffled by the wine tasting area - you couldn't purchase a glass of wine, let alone a bottle, for consumption. This meant that people were constantly popping back and forth between the seating areas and the stalls for a 'tasting' - not very good for carrying on a conversation. Yes, there were other areas in the festival where you could buy a bottle of wine, but no glasses or corkscrews meant that immediate consumption was distinctly discouraged.

So would I go again?  Probably not.  I had a good time, but it certainly didn't live up to the standard set by other food festivals I have been to.  Friends who went to the day time session seemed to enjoy it though.

Did you go?  Did you enjoy it?

Other Scenes from Savour

Ah, the Verve Cliquot tent.  If only I could be a permanent resident.

Not a sign you see every day...

I hope she didn't pay $18 for her egg

Apparently delicious, but the queue was about 20 minutes long!