Our Wine

Our promise on price is simple. If you buy a wine from us, we want you to get value for the money paid. We believe that if you pay more, quality should be higher, if you want a ‘quaffer’ wine for Tuesday night in front of the TV, we want to provide you with something more affordable, but equally of value for money. We don’t believe in sourcing big ‘brand’ name wines, many of whom just trade on their name. Instead when you buy from us, you can be assured that I’ve tasted it and you’re getting great quality for the price – it wont be in our range if it is not.

Our philosophy
Buying wine is a murky business. Product quality is subjective – and you don’t know if you’ll like it until after you pay your money. Every seller claims to have a high quality, delicious range – but the claims rarely match the price. There is very little link between price and quality: you can find garbage wine sold at high prices, and real gems often trade at low prices. It takes time, effort and money to become an ‘informed’ wine drinker.

I started Wine by Chris Urbano to help Filipinos many who are just getting into wine for the first time – to have a better experience. To find wine they really know and love, not a wine pushed on them by a clueless waiter for a commission. For too long, importers have bought in cheap, bulk wines and hard sell them to inexperienced restaurateurs and purchasing managers, leading to poor quality wine lists and supermarket shelves. Not anymore. At Wine by Chris Urbano – we work for you the consumer. If you value quality, transparency, honest advice, and fair prices when you buy wine, you’ve come to the right place.

Our wine
All_Saints_DirufOur wine is handpicked for the Philippines climate and food. You won’t find many heavy, full bodied red wines in our range. While many distributors source wine based on low prices, or what is readily available for export – we have started with the Philippine customer in mind. What wine works on a hot humid night? Love eating Bicol Express? We have the wine for you.

We source premium wine from smaller family and boutique producers in Australia. Lacking the big marketing teams, these suppliers tend to focus their efforts on producing high quality wines, and letting the wine speak for itself to attract new customers. Like them, at Wine by Chris Urbano, we focus on sourcing superb quality wine, not big sales teams and promotions. We can pass our savings on to you.

We only partner with winemakers personally known to me, where we can attest to the winemakers quality focus and wine making philosophy. Nothing in our range comes from industrial scale producers, or is ordered from a catalogue. We know our winemakers, their regions and their wine story. We know and manage the whole supply chain – from Australian farm gate to Manila dining plate. And we can share the story of place and origin with you.

Our wine regions
The Philippines is an emerging economy. I knew when building a range for this market, that while we wanted outstanding quality wine, price was always going to be a challenge. As a result, we source from emerging, remote wine regions of Australia which are “under valued” by Australian wine consumers – meaning we can get better prices for wine export for the Philippine consumer.

Our current regions include the King Valley and Rutherglen, just inside the Victoria and New South Wales border in Southeastern Australia ~800km from Sydney and ~400km from Melbourne, it’s a long trip out there for Australians and the wine is excellent value for money as a result.

The King Valley was settled by migrant families from Italy, who bought much of their wine making traditions with them. The climate is akin to Tuscany in Northern Italy and Sangiovese, Pinot Grigio and Prosecco are all outstanding in this region.

Rutherglen is Australia’s premier location for dessert wines and heavier red wines and fortified wines – the muscat from this region is world class, and if you’re eating a steak, the Cabernet Sauvignon or Durif from this region is the perfect pair.

We’re now sourcing in Orange as well. Located in the Central West region of New South Wales, where we’ve been super impressed by the cool climate range of shiraz, merlot, pinot gris and chardonnay. Lighter style wines and more reserved, they are a clear winner in style for the Philippine climate compared to their peers in South Australia that are more typically exported.