Dec 2023: 2019 Henschke Euphonium, Henri Gouges NSG 1er Les Vaucrains 2010, 2021 Ten Minutes By Tractor Chardonnay, 2019 Heitz-Lochardet Saint-Aubin Murgers, 2019 Domaine Pierre Gelin Fixin

2016 S de Suduiraut Vieilles Vignes. Popped and poured at Crab At Bay, 03 Dec 2023. Luminous gold. Faint icing and vanillin on the nose, met by restrained fruit and cool chalky tones on the medium palate, displaying good precision but short.

2020 Domaine Bruno Colin Saint-Aubin Les Charmois 1er, by the glass at 67 Pall Mall, Singapore, 04 Dec 2023. Luminous greenish gold, exuding restrained floral hues tinged with olives. Medium presence of fruit, structured with slick acidity and tonal clarity that exude excellent freshness amid a delicate chalky glow, developing a bit of understated austerity over time.

2020 Domaine Bruno Clair Marsannay Les Grasses Têtes, by the glass at 67 Pall Mall, Singapore, 04 Dec 2023. Deep crimson. Restrained fragrance of dark cherries and strawberries, though there is ample presence of fruit at just the right level of extraction. Very smooth and evenly rounded, boasting very refined acidity with a hint of earthiness. Unpretentious. Drinking well.

2022 Preface, courtesy of the winemaker himself Karl Todeschini at Kolabo, Singapore, 07 Dec 2023. White merlot by Château Mangot. Forward note of longans. Medium-full, displaying cool lean definition with dryish crisp acidity. Good balance. Fleshed out with austere intensity. Unwooded, vinified in concrete tanks.

2019 Château La Brande, courtesy of the winemaker himself Karl Todeschini at Kolabo, Singapore, 07 Dec 2023. From a 34-ha plot of red clay soils, comprising 75% merlot. This wine opens with a measured glow of ample red fruits, boasting excellent precision, verve and controlled intensity within a soft sheen of svelte tannins. Great balance.

2020 Château Mangot, courtesy of the winemaker himself Karl Todeschini at Kolabo, Singapore, 07 Dec 2023. Impenetrable deep purple, exuding a gentle warmth of mocha, black cherries and dark currants. Structured with supple tannins, boasting refined balance and transparency. Not imposing at all. Already approachable. Highly successful.

2019 Château Mangot, courtesy of the winemaker himself Karl Todeschini at Kolabo, Singapore, 07 Dec 2023. Deep crimson. Aromatic, ripe and masculine with an assertive quality, exerting sharp attack and rasping intensity but still finely balanced. Settled down with some transparency though the fruit is a little uneven.

2016 Todeschini Distique 9, courtesy of the winemaker himself Karl Todeschini at Kolabo, Singapore, 07 Dec 2023. Deep garnet. Restrained glow of chocolate and other darkish characters. Richly textured with tight intensity of fruit, shot through with a ferrous austerity that conjured a tone of brilliant graphite. Well balanced. Comprises 40% cabernet franc, 30% cabernet sauvignon and 30% merlot from six selected plots that vary year from year. Inaugural vintage in 2008. Only 10000 bottles produced, released after three years in bottle.

2021 Sandhi Central Coast Chardonnay, by the glass at 67 Pall Mall, Singapore, 08 Dec 2023. Pale greenish. Cool clean lift of delicate floral elements, citrus and lime. Highly cohesive, boasting excellent density of fruit with crisp acidity that impart tremendous verve. Glowing finish, oozing with sweet intensity before turning a little reductive and austere over time.

2014 Tahbilk Marsanne The 1927 Vines, by the glass at 67 Pall Mall, Singapore, 08 Dec 2023. Deep yellowish golden. Powerful nose of diesel, petroleum fumes and varnish. Only medium weight, the fruit appearing somewhat reluctant though there is a considerable presence of cool glacial tones and recessed chalkiness laced with sleek acidity and dryish textures that exert modest intensity and finish.

2010 Domaine Henri Gouges Nuits-Saint-Georges Les Vaucrains 1er. Popped and poured at Sol & Luna, 10 Dec 2023. Brownish crimson. Evolved bouquet of dark plums, rhubarb and mulberries with a sense of warm ripeness. Fleshed out with greater minerally presence and that classic NSG earthiness, gaining understated supple intensity with cushioned tannins that exert subtle but lively acidity. More rounded, lush and weighty over time, gaining a predominance and purity of red cherries. Not far from peak maturity.

2018 Domaine Louis Moreau Chablis Vau Ligneau 1er, by the glass at 67 Pall Mall, Singapore, 11 Dec 2023. Very pale opaque greenish, proffering a delicate lift of distant chalk and floral greens, showing good presence of fruit with slick acidity that impart a moderate teasing intensity underpinned by a gentle austerity of ferrous elements and lemon bitters. Came together very well. Modest finish.

2019 Domaine Pierre Gelin Fixin, by the glass at 67 Pall Mall, Singapore, 11 Dec 2023. Darkish tint. Rather restrained medium presence of raspberries and mulberries of moderate depth. A little lush and velvety, quite cohesive with smooth refined tannins that ooze a trace of sweetness along with ferrous elements in equal measure. Drinking very well. A real bargain.

2019 Henschke Keyneton Euphonium, double decanted for ninety minutes ahead of dinner at Asia Grand, 16 Dec 2023. Deep purple. Glossy density of rich Barossa shiraz that exude deep plummy fruit, cherries and mulberries with overtones of licorice. Structured with bold but supple tannins, seamlessly layered with cool ripeness and lively acidity. Very expertly blended and balanced. Confirms my initial impression during a tasting at Henschke’s cellar door last month. Possibly the best of cabernet-shiraz blends.

2021 Ten Minutes By Tractor Estate Chardonnay, by the glass at 67 Pall Mall, Singapore, 18 Dec 2023. Pale greenish. Utterly Burgundian lift of complex orchard fruit, floral scents and pomelo with a distant note of nectarine, leading to a fairly high-toned medium-full tensile presence. Well layered with a lovely concentration of lime and white citrus, not overly intense, supported by subtle ferrous elements that impart structured mouthfeel. Modest depth and finish. From Mornington Peninsula.

2018 Domaine Geantet-Pansiot Marsannay Champs Perdrix Vieilles Vignes, by the glass at 67 Pall Mall, Singapore, 18 Dec 2023. Rather deep in colour, proffering a minty glow of fresh cherries and star anise. The medium weight palate is well endowed in darkish fruit bordering on burliness but it feels somewhat compressed, laced with tensile acidity.

2018 Edouard Delaunay Morey-Saint-Denis, by the glass at 67 Pall Mall, Singapore, 18 Dec 2023. Deep plummy red fruits and wild berries dominate with a warm ripeness and terse concentration on a backdrop of dryish extraction. Gelled together very well after some time, developing open supple intensity with rounded refined tannins at just the right level of acidity, finishing with moderate length.

2014 “Y” d’Yquem, courtesy of Dr Ngoi at Imperial Treasure Great World, 21 Dec 2023. Pale golden. Recessed chalk, créme and brioche on the nose while the palate features an exquisite focused intensity of soft tropical fruit cushioned by velvety vanillin, underpinned by a high-toned acidity that shone with crystalline clarity, promising early complexity.

2017 Domaine Joseph Drouhin Chassagne-Montrachet Marquis de Laguiche Morgeot 1er. Aired for ninety minutes ahead of dinner at Imperial Treasure Great World, 21 Dec 2023. Pale golden. Shut initially with only glimpses of nutmeg strung with high-toned clear citrus and lemon. Gradually developed elegant expressive white tones with a hint of stoniness on the medium palate, imbued with subtle verve and lovely balance, underpinned by just a dash of ferrous elements.

2006 Château Lynch-Bages. Aired in bottle for two hours prior to dinner at Otto Ristorante, 23 Dec 2023. Deep garnet. Rhubarb, violets, blueberries and wild berries dominate with cool ripeness and excellent fullness, a little brightly lit (a characteristic trait of 2006) where the tannins and acidity tend to be somewhat assertive.

2020 Château Brandin. Popped and popped at Yann’s place, 24 Dec 2023. Forward balance of blueberries and black currants, surprisingly fresh and delicious with good presence of fruit without any hollowness, imbued with some minerally elements. Unpretentious.

2016 Laurent Ponsot Gevrey-Chambertin Cuvée de L’Aulne. Aired in bottle for two hours prior to lunch at Bedrock Bar & Grill, 25 Dec 2023. Lovely pinot tint. Distilled essence of red fruits and rose petals on the nose. Rounded and softly contoured with medium weight. Modest but unpretentious on the palate, subtly layered with terse acidity within a frame of refined supple tannins underpinned by ferrous elements.

2019 Domaine Jean-Philippe Fichet Bourgogne Blanc VV. Aired ahead of dinner at Liang Kee, 27 Dec 2023. Some development in colour, though the fullish palate is rather tense with a high-toned acidity from the abundance of lemon bitters, imparting a slightly reductive stance.

2019 Domaine Heitz-Lochardet Saint-Aubin Murgers Des Dents de Chien 1er, by the glass at 67 Pall Mall, Singapore, 28 Dec 2023. Greenish hue, exuding delicate floral and grassy elements with excellent presence of clear citrus fruit, wonderfully lithe and agile on the medium palate, finishing with a bit of steely resolve.

2017 Xavier Monnot Beaune Les Toussaints 1er, by the glass at 67 Pall Mall, Singapore, 28 Dec 2023. Darkish pinot tint. This wine opens with a distinct earthy pungency. The soft medium-weight palate is imbued with refined red fruits with a tinge of dark plums, structured with dryish tannins that yield excellent definition. Good Beaune character; has that hint of gruffness tempered by sublime acidity. Lovely integral glow.

2008 Château Maucamps. Tasted 28 Dec 2023 over dinner at Crab At Bay. Displaying an evolved deep crimson, this cru bourgeois is quite effusive in red plums, mandarins and ripe wild berries on the nose. Fairly well-integrated with lively acidity and good tannin structure, replete with a tinge of gruffness in keeping with its Haut-Médoc origin though it could do with a little more fruit presence, missing the lush succulence that would have placed it amongst the classified growths. But at SGD34 right off the shelf already with fifteen years of bottle age, I’m not complaining.

2018 Domaine Roulot Bourgogne Blanc, aired for two hours ahead of lunch at Imperial Treasure Great World, 31 Dec 2023. Clear luminosity. Delicate wafts of floral elements and clear citrus from a medium-weight palate, displaying subtle inner layering with a high-toned acidity that imparted reductive verve and precision. More tightly wound after an hour in the glass, developing intense overtones of lemon bitters and vanillin before settling down with relaxed transparent textures.