Iggy’s: 2011 Leflaive Chevalier-Montrachet, 2012 Domaine Arlaud Bonnes-Mares, Château Haut-Brion 1995 & 1996

On the day that the Third Edition of the Singapore Michelin Guide announced that Iggy’s has retained its star, Iggy himself chose to spend the evening at his restaurant with his loyal friends and customers where he had customised a dinner degustation at a friendly tag of SGD 175++, paired with a specially curated list of wines to go with, all priced to sell. For those who have followed its fortunes since its time at The Regent, Iggy’s has always stood for unpretentious food prepared with thought and imagination but, like all successful dining establishments, staff retention is always an issue and Iggy’s has had to put up with its share of troubles. However, Iggy’s has persevered well with its new Spanish-Australian chef Aitor Jeronimo Orive to engineer a new Renaissance and it is gratifying to note that, for its efforts, Iggy’s has been awarded a Michelin star since 2017. The real winners though are lucky consumers like ourselves who are spoilt for choice nowadays and we must thank Iggy for flying the Singapore flag high in the culinary world.

We began with a glass of complimentary Champagne Laurent-Perrier Brut Reserve NV that boasts toasty oak with a generous spread of lifted yellow citrus, open and highly inviting with a rich creamy lovely expanse, excellent in concentration and detail that left a lasting impression.

We chose two wines from the list, all courtesy of Pipin. The 2011 Domaine Leflaive Chevalier-Montrachet Grand Cru lived up to our lofty expectations, shy and reticent at first though it developed rapidly enough to proffer lifted tones of concentrated clear citrus amidst a powerful minerally glow on an open palate that displayed rich chalky detail, oozing with sweet intensity and depth of fruit that recalled caramel and honeysuckle, eventually coiling up with exquisite tension and acidity like a shy debutante overwhelmed by the occasion. Highly enticing and excellent in every way with so much more to offer.

The 2012 Domaine Arlaud Bonnes-Mares Grand Cru boasts a fabulous deep bouquet of dark cherries, raspberries and dark roses tinged with earthy minerals, highly supple and fleshy, becoming slightly darker in tone with greater earthiness over time before blossoming beautifully with an explosion of bright flavours amidst overtones of smoky incense, displaying great linearity in its intensity of fruit. Little wonder that Domaine Arlaud is now on the radar of burgundy lovers.

Iggy thanking his team headed by chef Aitor Jeronimo Orive when news of his Michelin-star reached us

Kieron and I must really share some sort of oenophilic telepathy, for we’d brought two other reds of our own coincidentally from the same estate. The 1995 Château Haut Brion (courtesy of K) displayed a lovely deep bouquet of tea leaves and earth with traces of dried tobacco; very juicy, fleshy and supple on the palate imbued with ripe dark berries, blackcurrants and ferrous elements, subtly structured with gentle intensity, eventually exuding some of the Pessac signature of pungent earthiness. Drinking well, perhaps just a tad short. In comparison, the 1996 Château Haut Brion, though younger, came across like a bigger sibling, far denser and darker in tone with greater depth and structure, more minerally as well as it exuded a deep hallowed glow with an abundance of ripe dark fruit held in reserve. Very much like a clone of the 1986 caught at its peak, bringing an evening of very fine dining to a wonderful conclusion.