TOP wine judge and connoisseur Raymond Chan is stepping down from his role at Regional Wines and Spirits after 16 years – with nothing lined up yet, you could say he’s making a leap of faith.
Raymond Chan is Regional’s wine advisor and a shareholder.
“I suppose you could say that I was the person with the most wine knowledge,” he says.
He’s quietly humble, but is a senior judge at all of the country’s top wine competitions, including the Bragato Wine Awards, the Royal Easter Show Wine Awards and the New Zealand International Wine Show but don’t ask him to rate his accolades.
“I can’t do that,” he says. “The big thing is to just help as many people [in wine] as possible. That’s what I’m really proud of.”
Raymond Chan had a cancerous tumour removed from his saliva gland 18 months ago and his specialist warned that he may lose his taste sensations. That hasn’t happened completely, although his taste sensations are reduced – but a bigger challenge is the nerve damage in his face.
“I can’t taste 200 wines like I used to. I can probably only do about 50 wines a day,” he says.
So, after 20 years of tasting wines he’s stepped down from judging and wants to give the younger ones a look in.
“I’ve been there, done that. I’m in my mid-50s. It’s good to see young people coming through. You’ve got to know when to step down. It’s the right time.”
Now he’s taking on a mentoring role for trainee judges, or associate wine judges, – something he’s been doing for the past two years - and hopes to have a bit more time to get more into the education and training side of the industry.
He toys with the idea of writing, not only because he enjoys it but also because he believes the crowded market place of the wine industry needs a strong voice amidst a glut of internet wine blogging and tough competition.
“Some of it is really good; some of it is really ordinary and quite misleading. There’s a place for good communications and education.”
Chan was the first New Zealand born from his Chinese family; his parents, both teachers, immigrated here to “escape the Communists”.
Now when he goes “home” to China, he’s the one on the outside – he says, “all the Chinese call us bananas, yellow on the outside, white on the inside”.
“I can’t read or write Chinese. I can talk like a child but that’s about it. I’m a Kiwi bloke.”
His family owned Chan’s Garden Restaurant in Dunedin and as a child he witnessed the early days of Central Otago’s vineyards when people were just starting to plant grapes.
“I saw the beginnings of the early wine world.”
Customers coming in and asking about the wine sparked Chan’s interest, although, he says. “Coming from an Asian country we didn’t drink much wine.”
Meanwhile, this wine man who has battled cancer - and still might be – is philosophical.
“People think you get cancer and it’s a death sentence. It’s not necessarily the case…there’s always hope.”