Singapore’s wine market is a crowded room where the conversation is often restricted to a familiar geography. Most cellars are anchored by the predictable heavyweights of France, Italy, and Australia—estates that define "quality" through a very specific lens of clarity and consistency. For Bao and GPS, the founders of The Amphora Project, breaking into this saturated landscape wasn't about finding a better version of the status quo. It was a pivot toward what they call the "Other World."
"In Slovenia, I truly realised how underrated their wine scene was, and the sheer abundance in amazing orange wine options there. In fact, in Slovenia they know orange wines as white wines."
Their entry into the industry is defined by the perspective of the informed outsider—a vantage point that allows them to approach curation with the eye of an obsessive consumer rather than a career traditionalist. GPS, a former civil servant of 17 years, and Bao, a branding professional formerly with the Singapore Tourism Board, represent a new wave of cultural entrepreneurs. They found their "bottle of no return" during a culinary trip to Slovenia, meeting their current in-market partner, Boris, and discovering producers whose mindset of "clean and pure produce" resonated with their own search for authenticity.
"I had a bit of an obsession exploring wines from lesser-known regions... which I thought were often fantastic but so unknown and underrated," Bao explains. "In Slovenia, I truly realised how underrated their wine scene was, and the sheer abundance in amazing orange wine options there. In fact, in Slovenia they know orange wines as white wines. You can say the rest is history."
The Logic of the Skin
While conventional white wine is often an exercise in subtraction, Orange Wine is defined by extraction. By fermenting white grapes with their skins, seeds, and stems, producers build a liquid with a tangible "backbone" and structure that sits comfortably in the grey area between a white and a red.
"Whites can feel too light, while reds are often too heavy. Orange wines, which taste like bigger whites, naturally fill this gap. They have the shape and length to pair with everything from smoky char siew to intense mala."
For the founders, this is a functional solution for the Asian table. They observed that the classic red-or-white framework often "doesn’t sit comfortably" with cuisines like Chinese, Peranakan, Indonesian, and Indian, which possess bigger, bolder flavors. "Whites can feel too light, while reds are often too heavy. Orange wines, which taste like bigger whites, naturally fill this gap," they note.
The fermentation process allows for the extraction of tannins, introducing texture and length after aging. "This gives the wine shape and length... which also why we think makes it very versatile," they explain. "Typically, in orange wines there will be tropical flavours such as pineapple, mango, peach, apricot; as well as notes of honey, nuts and tea." It is this profile that allows the wine to sustain a dialogue with everything from "smoky char siew to intense mala."
The Technical Surrender
If orange wine provides the structural foundation, the Pét-nat (pétillant-naturel) represents the project’s more spontaneous energy. Made via the méthode ancestrale, these wines are bottled before primary fermentation finishes, trapping natural carbon dioxide to create a refreshing, vibrant, and unfiltered fizz.
There is a high-stakes "chaos" to this style that requires a specific kind of technical surrender. "This method asks producers to let go of complete control and not force a precision and uniformity, allowing the wine to finish its journey in the bottle," GPS explains. It is an intentional move away from the "polished consistency" of traditional sparkling wine. "That openness to variation is what makes pét-nat exciting as each bottle feels expressive of a specific moment, that brings energy and a sense of discovery."
The "North Star" of Curation
The project is a tripartite collaboration, balanced between the "maker's eye" and the realities of the Singaporean market. Boris, a veteran in the Central European wine scene, acts as the project's "North Star," sourcing a portfolio of well-made wines from Slovenia and its bordering regions, including Italy and Croatia.
"On our end, we also then filter the wines that we think could do well in Singapore, including factors such as consumer preferences, our weather and packaging," the founders say. This is supplemented by independent producers they encounter during their travels—bringing in bottles from Pantelleria and Sicily in Italy, to Burgenland and Styria in Austria.
Their "litmus test" is simple but rigorous: "First and foremost, we have to personally love drinking these wines ourselves!" Quality and flavor are paramount, but accessibility remains a core pillar. Their portfolio spans from approachable bottles at $48 to complex, aged wines at $160. "We also believe that drinking wine should be inclusive," they state, focusing on selections suitable for Singapore's warm weather, like "pet-nats which should be drunk very cold, and chillable reds that are lighter to medium bodied."
Beyond Nostalgia: A Progressive Return
The project takes its namesake from the Amphora—the ancient clay vessel—but the founders are quick to clarify that this is not a retreat into the past. Instead, it is a "deliberate, forward-looking practice" that addresses contemporary concerns around health, sustainability, and transparency.
"Many of our producers consciously adopt this philosophy not out of old-fashioned nostalgia, but because it allows for more purity in expression, love for the earth and adaptability in a changing world," Bao notes. This modernity is reinforced through "culturally forward programming," such as pairing classical music with wine flights in the eclectic setting of a furniture showroom.
When these bottles are opened at Journey East, the synergy is immediate. In a space that celebrates the materiality of heritage wood and physical craftsmanship, the wine is seen as an extension of that same philosophy. "Journey East feels like a cosy, eclectic yet elegant living room... a treasure trove of artfully designed and crafted furniture," they say. "The space invites people to slow down, gather, and appreciate the wine as part of a shared, lived experience."
In the hands of The Amphora Project, the act of drinking moves away from a transaction and becomes a study in "Other World" authenticity—stubborn, unfiltered, and entirely relevant to the way we live now.
HANDS ON! featuring The Amphora Project:
Join us at the Journey East showroom on Saturday 28 February 2026 for an exclusive masterclass exploring the technical depth of artisanal, low-intervention wines. This guided workshop moves beyond the standard tasting to examine how the tannic structures of orange wines and the spontaneous energy of pét-nats interact with six Asian-inspired bites. Tickets are $60 per pax at our Tan Boon Liat space and include a curated flight of six wines (6 × 50ml). Purchase tickets here.