Business Class with Singapore Airlines, September 2010.

The Business Class experience begins first, of course, at the Silver Kris Business Class lounge at Changi Terminal 3. The range of wines is nothing to shout about, really, but nonetheless, they mandate routine assessment. The 2007 Yalumba unwooded chardonnay is not unfamiliar, being the solitary white at the lounge for quite some time. Pale lemon color, showing some decent fragrance on the nose with steely minerality on the palate, simple and straightforward, ending in a slightly peppery finish. I didn’t bother with the Chilean red, going straight for a small pour of the 2008 Rubio San Polo Montalcino, showing a fairly deep red but not revealing much on the nose. Medium-bodied, soft, obviously made in an easy drinking style with just enough fruit to cover the alcohol without any lasting intensity.

On board SQ352/351 (Boeing 777-200, which doesn’t carry the ER Business Class seats) return trip to Copenhagen, there was a choice of champagne between the ubiquitous Charles Hiedsieck (which I avoided) and the Bollinger Special Cuvee NV, which I took. Light golden. Enticing nose of malt, rye, vanilla, maple and toasty oak, rich in minerality, conveying a sense of depth. Almost has a creamy texture. But it was disjointed on the palate, being too dry. A letdown. Next, I had the 2007 Clos Philippe Le Hardi Bourgogne Hautes Cotes De Beaune Monopole to go with the scallops. Pale yellow. Highly promising on the nose, suggesting a medium-bodied wine with vibrant acidity and substantial minerality, but it was rather slender on the palate. No doubt quite elegant, but it could do with more fullness on the fruit, coming across as rather one-dimensional. The alternative white, a 2008 Dr Loosen riesling, was rather restrained on the nose, a light-weight wine with just adequate levels of fruit with tropical notes and just a hint of sweetness. This wine could certainly do with more body, I feel. 

I had both reds to go with the beef short-rib (and the penne pasta on the return trip). The beef was nice, but you wouldn’t have known that it was conjured specially for SIA by Gordon Ramsay. The 2005 Ch Lacombe-Noaillac, from the Medoc, was dark red, showing lovely fruit, ripe dark berries laced with a tinge of sweetness and layered with cassis and cedar, carrying reasonable weight. Surprisingly good. No doubt the outstanding vintage accounted for much of the quality. It seems the lesser growths of 2005 are beginning to enter their drinking windows. The 2007 Allegrini Valpolicelia Superiore, from Verona, very deep red, was substantially heavier than the Bordeaux, fairly dense with a gravelly quality, with elements of earth, licorice and plums. Lacking in real depth, and not quite interesting enough, I’m afraid. The 2005 Offley LBV Port that concluded the wine selection, deep purple in color, contained a strong medicinal quality with some hollowness towards the finish. It could do with more stuffing and certainly cannot be compared with a Warre. What happened to the good ol’ Dow?