It’s been a busy set of weeks for winelovers. Between the various pairing dinners and festivals, there was no shortage of places to be.
Yet the thirst for the fruit of the vine can prove insatiable, especially so close to the holiday season. If you still have wine on your mind, our roundup has some tips for you.
To Indulge
An Afternoon Tea for the Senses by Ruinart
We have champagne brunches, but the champagne afternoon tea is quite another matter. While the dry, crisp flavours of bubbly go well with the savoury brunch food- eggs, ham and toast, anyone?- it’s not particularly easy to put cake and wine together.
Well, the people at The St. Regis Singapore are game to try. They’ve partnered with Ruinart and Dior Parfums to launch An Afternoon Tea for the Senses, running all the way through October and November.
Ruinart Rosé is the drink of choice, and the entire concept revolves around the softer, more feminine things in life. It’s not too dry and has much of the berry flavours that one misses in the normal blanc champagne. The Dior Joy perfume, emanating scents of bergamot and mandarin orange, echo this.
The food, one will find, follows the colours and flavours of the Rosé. A gorgeous two-tiered stand filled with (pink) morsels will form the centerpiece. Sweets such as Rosé Bavarois with Gula Melaka Cream on Raspberry Tartlet, Strawberry Éclair, and Pistachio and Sakura Mousse with Confit Kumquat will form one tier.
The savouries include Lobster Mayonnaise Soft Bun Sandwich with Herring Caviar, Foie Gras Mousse Tartlet with Fig Compote and Mango, Beetroot and Goat Cheese Sandwich, and Salmon and Cucumber Cream Cheese Sandwich. Scones and a dessert will follow, as will a choice of teas.
It’s not a bad way to spend afternoon, actually. Champagne, perfume and high tea; a luxury, to be sure.
An Afternoon Tea for the Senses at The Drawing Room will be available at the St. Regis from 1st October to 30th November 2019. It will run from Monday to Friday, 3pm to 5pm and Saturday and Sunday from 1pm- 5pm (2 seatings). A set is $78 per person, including a glass of Ruinart Rosé. For reservations, you can email bls@stregis.com.
Wine Down Wednesdays at Summerlong
For something totally different, we can look to Summerlong, a Mediterranean restaurant in Robertson Quay. By Mediterranean, it’s not just about Italy either, but the other countries in the basin; Greece and Spain, too.
The wines from Greece and Spain aren’t quite as well known as the Italians, but they’ve been making wine in those countries for literal centuries. Summerlong has a good range of those wines, which they’ve chosen to showcase during their Wine Down Wednesdays.
We’ve had acidic, mineral-driven Assyrtikos and robust red Xinomavros from Greece and herbal, green Vermentinos from Sardinia. They’re well worth a try, for variety’s sake if nothing else. If one feels the need for something more familiar, wines from Burgundy and lesser known regions of Italy are also available.
If none of those appeal, the restaurant also offers a free flow of either house red or white wines at $39++ for two hours, or $45++ for three hours. That’s one heck of a good deal, considering the price of an average bottle of wine is in the mid-thirties.
For more information or reservations, check out Summerlong’s website.
To Buy
Wine and Whisky Week No. 8
Yes, it’s that time of the year again. 1855 The Bottle Shop will be offering its large range of wines and whiskies at good prices over their semiannual two-week event.
While many of the wines from its previous sales will still be available, and in our view, still worth looking at, some new stuff is available that we think will be the picks of the fair.
The Kung Fu Girl Riesling 2017, from Washington State in the US, is not your typical Riesling. While possessing the characteristic fruit-and-petrol bouquet of its Alsace cousins, it has a richer, more rounded flavour; one can see it as the Napa Cab to the Bordeaux Blends. We get citrus, honeysuckle, and lychee; and it manages to be both crisp and rich at the same time. Pretty good.
Our other wine pick is The Prisoner Red Blend 2017, a Californian red considered to be a cult wine in the States. Atypical of the Sunshine State, the wine is not labelled as a single-varietal wine- and has a jammy, fruity flavour courtesy of its Zinfandel-Cab Sauv- Petite Sirah- Syrah- Charbono blend. It’s certainly interesting, to say the least.
If one bends to whisky rather than wine, Johnnie Walker will be putting up its new A Song of Ice and A Song of Fire (based on the Game of Thrones HBO drama) whiskies, and its new Blue Label Ghost & Rare Glenury Royal.
Successors to the original White Walker blends, A Song of Ice is based heavily on Clynelish and A Song of Fire finds its roots in Caol Ila. To be perfectly frank, we think that the fiery, smoky “Fire” fits the Targaryen theme a lot better than even the single malt. One might even appreciate a heavily peated blend on its own merits! “Ice”, however, seems rather sweet and mellow- quite unlike how we envision the frosty Stark theme.
The Ghost and Rare Glenury Royal is probably the best of the lot. While the distillery is lost, it hasn’t reached the cult status of Brora and Port Ellen. Nonetheless, we find that there’s plenty to like in it.
Unlike its siblings, it is not smoky, tending to a sweeter and lighter Highland/Speyside style. One can find tons of dried fruit and cinnamon aromas, particularly pear, peach and apple. On the whole, we find it quite pleasing to the taste.
If you’re not sure what to get just yet, the fair will have more than 100 labels available for complimentary tasting, and 500 labels on offer. We think it’s worth the time just to take a look-see.
Wine and Whisky Week will be held between 11am and 10pm from 6th and 17th November 2019 at Suntec City East Atrium, Level 1.
McGuigan Wines
Coming from Australia is set of wines from McGuigan, a producer from Southeastern Australia. In the vein of Penfolds, the winery offers wines from all over the varietal and budget spectrum.
We had a taste, and while the budget-conscious Black Label range offers some decent wines, the real stars are in the middle and upper tiers. The Shortlist and Single Batch Project wines are much more restrictive in volume produced and have some real stars on the list.
In particular, we enjoyed the McGuigan The Shortlist Semillon. For those unfamiliar with the French grape varietal, Semillon is actually one of the most important white grapes in France. Much like the Sauvignon Blancs, it has green herbal and citrus notes – in the McGuigan those are lime and lemon notes. The Semillons temper that rich acidity with a waxy mouthfeel and flavour, giving a sort of roundness in the mouth that we quite enjoy.
Naturally, being Australian, the reds are pretty ripe and ready as well. The Single Project Cabernet Sauvignon and The Shortlist Cabernet Sauvignon are both full, powerful wines, bursting with black and red berry flavours and the aromas of the forest floor. With strong tannins, both have potential to age for ten years or longer, and develop with time.
If only the best will do, we can recommend both Handmade and The Philosophy red wines. The Philosophy in particular, was teeming with all the rich flavours of the Cab, but combines that with nuance, balance, and an interweaving of wood, spice, and earth flavours. Easily in the top tier of Aussie wines that we have tasted.
You can check out the wines at www.cellarbration.com.sg and www.asherbws.com, as well as various restaurants, including The Dempsey Cookhouse and Bar, Restaurant JAG and Chef’s Table by Chef Stephan. If you buy in October 2019, you can get 10% off at asherbws.com by using the promo code ‘ASHMG10’.
Accolade Wines: Mud House, Hardys and Grant Burge
If you’re still thirsty for Australian and New Zealand wines, Accolade Wines’s portfolio include some pretty good ones from Mud House, Hardys and Grant Burge.
In particular, we quite like the Mud House Single Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc 2018. While the typical green flavours of the Sauvignon Blanc are present, this one has a mild, perfume-like aroma of blackberries. Imagine having a picnic on a grassy field- with berry jam and sandwiches.
We also liked the Grant Burge Filsell Shiraz 2016, and the 10-year old tawny port-style fortified wine.
While the Filsell is likely to age very well, the strong, bold tannins required to do will make drinking it now fairly challenging. If you appreciate the age-able wines, buy a couple of bottles and age it for 7-10 years or longer, allowing the tannins to soften and complement the rich black and red berry flavours.
The tawny, however, is drinking quite well at this point, and has flavours equal to the tawnies of Portugal- though we detect a slight spiciness in there, too.
You can check out the wines at www.cellarbration.com.sg, eamart.com and www.paneco.com.sg, as well as various restaurants, including Rabbit Carrot Gun, Wolfgang’s Steak House and Bistecca Tuscan Steak House. If you buy them in 2019, you get 10% off one the online platforms.
Château Monlot
Some years back, the wine world was abuzz with a new phenomenon: celebrities, flush with cash, started buying vineyards all over the world- but particularly in Napa Valley and Bordeaux.
One of those celebrities was Chinese actress Vicki Zhao Wei, of My Fair Princess fame, who now produces wine under her label, Château Monlot. While Singapore has had a healthy wine market for decades, it has never been a hotbed for celebrity wines.
Perhaps we should count ourselves lucky that she has partnered with Grand Cru Wine Concierge at Fullerton Hotel to launch Château Monlot in Singapore.
As for the actual taste of the wines themselves, we can offer an opinion. We tasted Monlot No. 3 Bordeaux Supérieur 2016 ($75 a bottle; $19 a glass), and Château Monlot 2012 ($177 a bottle), and found them palatable.
The former, designated as a housepour wine, is rather fruity with raspberry flavours, while the latter, designed for more serious drinkers, has tones of blackberries, plums, and a dusting of chocolate and spice. Neither will top the best wine lists, but they’re certainly drinkable. The hotel seems to agree, and the wines will be available at Fullerton’s restaurants as well.
We’re interested in seeing how the wine continues to evolve, and tasting the other vintages as well. The Château La Vue ‘Cuvée Spéciale’ 2015($69) and Château Monlot 2015 ($198).
