La Fête Nationale du Singapour 2024

This black-tie event, jointly organised by several food and wine commanderies in Singapore, took place on 15 July 2024 at Riviera restaurant to commemorate Bastille Day, where the French Ambassador was in attendance. A broader agenda was to celebrate L’Art de Vivre, loosely interpreted as the French way of living where the arts, its exquisite cuisine and its wines are pivotal cornerstones of French culture. The food was good and the wines were drinking well, leading to a gradual swell in riotous banter punctuated by several rounds of ban bourguignon as well as proclamations of the slogans of each commanderie, proving beyond doubt that the French really know how to live it up. Many thanks, Nicola, for organising.

Champagne Nicholas Feuillate Réserve Exclusive Brut NV. Light golden, proffering a lovely complex of cool icing, vanillin, fig and melons with a plush crystalline quality, displaying excellent body and presence that impart refreshing zest. Not too dry, developing further overtones of lime with exquisite intensity.

2011 Jean-Marc Brocard Chablis 1er Vau de Vey. Poured from magnum. Pale luminosity. Notes of olives, nutmeg and baked apples on the nose, underscored by a trace of earthiness as well as early secondary characters. There is a sense of fizz on the medium-full palate, dominated by a fine presence of evolved citrus laced with a minerally edge.

2014 Domaine François Gaunoux Pommard 1er Les Grands Epenots. Darkish in tone and colour, marked by raspberries and dark wild berries. Medium weight. Quite fleshy and assertive, the robust acidity imparting a tinge of menthol with some bright spots within its rustic character, proffering a glimpse of its inner layers.

2014 Château Malarctic-Lagravière Rouge. Deep garnet. Ample presence of juicy black berries and dark fruits topped by a smooth sheen of créme de la créme. Developed further cool ripe plummy tones with an elegant supple intensity. Classically structured and integral.

2014 Château La Gaffélière. Deep garnet. Some restraint on the nose though the full palate is ample in black fruits, well extracted with terse acidity that add up to a structured tensile presence. A lot more reflective of the vintage after a couple of hours, settling down with better balance and cool elegance. Still infantile.

2018 Château Bastor-Lamontagne. Golden luminosity. Hint of petroleum on the nose. The firm palate is imbued with glazed citrus and peaches, displaying moderate sweetness and intensity with distinct ferrous undertones.

Domaine de Pellehaut Ugni Blanc Armagnac, 30 ans d’Age. Clean powerful lift on the nose, leading to a sharp attack of cutting intensity and acidity. Strictly for connoisseurs.