“I’m the frontman,” he says eventually. We’re trying to establish how he acquired his palate for fine wine and nose for good business.
It sounds like a scurrilous admission in times of fake news and AI hallucinations, but Julian Poh is for real. The founder and CEO of Bordeaux Liquid Gold (BLG) fronts for his band and says it best when he says nothing at all; the record tells its own story.
BLG has raised the spirits of collectors with its series of dinners in Kuala Lumpur hosted by first-growth Bordeaux châteaux to resounding success, including the first by Château Lafite Rothschild, Château Mouton Rothschild (twice) and Château Haut-Brion. Of course, there was Château Figeac, and Château Margaux had already welcomed its guests with BLG before them.
Then there were the American firsts: Hundred Acre and Screaming Eagle’s late-2022 debuts were stellar moments from light years in the future. The last, a dinner for 25 guests with global director Thibaut Jacquet in attendance, featured the bonus introduction to these shores of the by-all-accounts beguiling Domaine Bonneau du Matray from Corton, Burgundy, also owned by American magnate Stan Kroenke (whom Arsenal fans will know).
BLG partnered with EQ’s fine-dining restaurant Sabayon to produce the memorable experiences, among which recently featured Château Angelus. Owned and run by an eight-generation family of winemakers, it was represented by the gracious and enlightening Hubert de Boüard, its seventh vigneron who after 40 years stills pulls on his boots to work alongside his daughter, Stephanie de Boüard-Rivoal. He conjured up a bottle of the sensational 1989 vintage from his personal collection, and a very special white he knew was in the terroir—the chenin blanc at last blossoming into its own to complete the first Grand Vin Blanc D’Angelus 2020.
Collectors of the drinking kind will also note that BLG is the sole representative here of Petrus, as well as Hundred Acre, Screaming Eagle and Domaine Bonneau du Matray, at last count. They say happiness cannot buy money and vice-versa, but wine enthusiasts only have reasons to be cheerful. Poh briefly mentions an event of utmost discretion that Robb Report Malaysia has also discerned through the grapevine. Suffice to say, it entails personal trust in BLG, its frontman, and will likely make ardent collectors feel happy and lucky, if not a little blessed.
For a more daily celebration of life, BLG is the only Southeast Asia distributor of Château Margaux du Margaux, exclusively in Malaysia. The on-trade third wine of Château Margaux is the winemaker’s bid to temper surging market prices and bring the experience of its perfumed terroir back to earth.
Write about BLG, he says, not about Julian Poh’s buckets and listicles. Gladly. The basic facts: he started the company in 2010 in Singapore and Hong Kong, having returned to the island state from Bali in 2000 to take up a friend’s offer of work. The Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET), travels and living in the international wine capital of Hong Kong left him with a thirst to know and do more.
BLG made its Malaysian entry in 2017, having identified a market opportunity to connect private clients with the finest Bordeaux producers and to supply a select list of restaurants and hotels with fine wines that were in short supply in the country, or simply practically unavailable.
Being given meaningful annual allocations by the châteaux, BLG facilitates clients’ acquisitions, storage and delivery of en primeur bottlings, ensuring perfect provenance. Poh’s relationships with the château owners are such that BLG’s clients are personally hosted by them for lunch and dinner should they choose to make a pilgrimage.
Bordeaux has by far the lion’s share of BLG’s business, but it has only made sense to offer its experience and services to a select group of wineries in another region whose work and terroir make for highly coveted bottles. From 2018, BLG began its foray into the Napa Valley, sourcing them directly from its most renowned boutique wineries.
Trust, like roots, runs deep in winemakers, Poh says, and they know the bottles they supply BLG will be drunk by people who appreciate them rather than end up as speculative commodities or put on display. In this regard, something must be said for the man. Much is being made now of blockchain technology and smart contracts that ensure only the intended parties receive the goods. Well, Poh’s old-school superpowers of honour, observation and ability to get it done obviate the need for tech that’s being hacked even as we speak.
Perhaps more than this, you sense a willingness to remain the last man standing for BLG’s clients, as attested to by the knighthoods he wears lightly. And we still don’t know who the frontman is. Maybe, Jason Bourne of Bordeaux.
Photography: Anna Rina
