KUALA LUMPUR, Aug. 20 -- As a country, Malaysia is what you would call a "dry culture".

It has nothing to do with rainfall or water supply, but everything to do with alcohol.

In a wet culture, drinking is routine, woven into daily meals - a pint at a pub lunch in the UK, a glass of wine with dinner in France.

In a dry one, it gets pushed to the edges: weekend parties, big celebrations, the after-work beer, the occasional brandy binge at a wedding.

Wine has come a long way here since the days of Jacob's Creek and Wolf Blass. Restaurants now carry proper wine lists, some with dedicated sommeliers, and there are even specialty wine bars - a few push some truly tawdry natural wine, however.

But outside that, and beyond avid wine geek cir...