A NEW CHAPTER FOR 67 PALL MALL

London’s most talked-about private wine club is set to open its doors to the first Asian outpost. The founder and CEO, Grant Ashton, talks about the Singapore branch’s offerings, his quest for the right location and international expansion.

- NIMMI MALHOTRA

The last two years have kept 67 Pall Mall’s founder and CEO Grant Ashton busier than expected. As the pandemic lulled business in London and delayed the Singapore club opening, Ashton found time to fine-tune the nuts and bolts of the Singapore outpost, deliver online wine tastings to his 4,000 strong London members, and make strides towards international expansion.

He recently opened a new branch in the ski town of Verbier, Switzerland and set plans in a few other cities – Burgundy, Bordeaux, Mumbai, New York, Berlin – in motion. Melbourne, Shanghai, and Tokyo are next on the expansion plans. In the little time he had to spare, he launched a dedicated wine TV channel. As he says, it’s not been a cheap year, but “it’s not been a disaster.”

THE FIRST OUTPOST, DELAYED

Perched on the 27th floor of Shaw Towers on bustling Orchard Road, 67 Pall Mall Singapore is now slated to open mid-February, and Ashton is in town to oversee the final takes on the expansive 15,000 sq ft penthouse property. I caught up with him amid a flurry of yellow hats industriously setting up the gargantuan 17-tonne wine tower, the grand feature of the main bar.

“Big is what we do,” Ashton says. “The biggest wine by the glass list in the world will be in Singapore.” In addition to 1000 wines by the glass (courtesy of Coravin technology), the wine list will also feature a selection of 5,000 wines sourced from over 42 countries showcasing close to 250 grape varieties.

Where he does not want to go big is the markups. “This is just not how our pricing policy works,” he says.