2025 La Paulée de Singapour

The ninth edition (seventh actually, excluding two virtual editions during the Covid-19 pandemic) of the La Paulée de Singapour took place at Capella Hotel, Sentosa, (where Trump met Kim in 2018) on 07 February 2025. It was good to meet up again with winemakers Jacques Devauges, Gregory Gouges, Vincent Bouzereau, Arthur Clair as well as Yannick Champ (who still remembered our last pre-pandemic meeting in Singapore at a private whisky library at Duxton Hill in the wee hours of the morning) whose Domaine Prieuré Roch must surely be a coup for Christophe Cazaux and his boys at Vintage Singapore. At the tasting promenade, almost everyone featured their barrel samples of 2023 which I found to be even better than the already excellent 2022: uniformly generous, integral and superbly balanced with lovely energy and freshness for both reds and whites throughout the Côte d’Or. Despite starting promptly at 1700h, it was still not possible to finish by 1930h, a testament to the quantity and quality available. With the new French ambassador in attendance, dinner quickly got off to a riotous start, punctuated by several rounds of ban burguignon and traditional songs, with a standing ovation for Stéphanie Rigourd’s rendition of Beyond’s Cantonese hit 海闊天空 (Boundless Oceans, Vast Skies). The Capella scored on several fronts: spacious, cool ambient temperatures, proper large stage and excellent stemware though the staff at last year’s Mandarin Oriental showed greater familiarity with wine service (they had decanters). The kitchen had some trouble keeping up with the pace but that failed to dampen the spirit. Vintage must be congratulated for another excellent La Paulée. The next edition in 2026 ought to be even more special, being its tenth, but the dismal yields of 2024 may be challenging for the tasting promenade. I suggest you load up on the abundant 2023s before prices skyrocket. Merci!

2023 Domaine des Lambrays Morey-Saint-Denis 1er Clos Baulet. Classic pinot tint, exuding restrained rosy hues. Open with fullish supple intensity and understated minerality. Great balance. Modest finish. This plot of brownish clay lies right outside the domaine.

2023 Domaine des Lambrays Morey-Saint-Denis 1er Clos Sorbé. Purplish core. Rosy fruit laced with substantial vanillin. Fullish as well, though a little more earthy. Warm and energetic, underscored by firm minerality. Good tension. Also lies directly outside the domaine next to Clos Baulet, comprising reddish iron-rich soils.

2023 Domaine des Lambrays Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er La Richemone. Good colour. The NSG terroir really comes through with distinct sandalwood and earth on the nose while the palate boasts cool ripe raspberries and dark cherries. Well-balanced with poised elegance. About 20% of the vines here were planted in 1924.

2023 Domaine des Lambrays Clos des Lambrays Grand Cru. Good colour. Aromatic perfumed lift amid overtones of malt and paraffin. Medium presence, boasting layers of cool ripe fruit and slick acidity, structured with supple tannins. Very well balanced, finishing with fine linearity and length. Showing a certain restraint now, but likely to flesh out further in bottle.

2022 Domaine Prieuré Roch Ladoix Le Cloud. Pale golden. Intoxicating nose of glue and diesel though only medium weight. Rounded with fine clarity and understated minerality. Exudes quiet energy.

2023 Antonio Quari Ladoix Les Briquottes Puro. Opaque pale red. Very lovely bouquet of red fruits and haw. Medium presence, displaying a relaxed clarity with fine acidity. Antonio Quari is the winemaker at Domaine Prieuré Roch under the tutelage of Yannick Champ.

2022 Domaine Prieuré Roch Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Clos des Varoilles. Purplish. Utterly beguiling bouquet of rosy floral hues and soft red fruits. Medium weight. Very seamlessly integrated with fine clarity and supple tension. Modest finish. Compared with the efforts of Philippe Chéron (the previous owner of this monopole), this wine is now more expressive and precise but much more expensive as well.

2022 Domaine Prieuré Roch Nuits-Saint-Georges Vieilles Vignes. Poured from magnum. Good colour. Aromatic lift of red fruits. Supple with lovely tension, underpinned by a dash of salinity within its slender profile. Modest finish.

2023 Domaine Bruno Clair Savigny-les-Beaune 1er Les Jarrons. Good colour. Nose of heated wet gravel and malt. Surprisingly generous, structured with sweetish tannins and slick acidity that impart good attack and focused intensity with a trailing note of tobacco.

2023 Domaine Bruno Clair Chambolle-Musigny 1er Les Charmes. Good colour. Distinctly feminine in its rounded contours of soft tannins with plush red fruits. Very elegant and focused. Modest finish.

2023 Domaine Bruno Clair Chambertin-Clos de Bèze Grand Cru. Good colour. Highly aromatic in red fruits, currants and floral hues, superbly integrated with imperceptible tannins. Impeccably balanced. Good finish. A feminine Clos de Bèze with distinct breed and pedigree.

2023 Domaine Bruno Clair Bonnes-Mares Grand Cru. Good colour, leaping out of the glass with effusive exuberance, boasting superb integration and defined focus with soft tannins. Superbly balanced. Modest finish.

2023 Domaine Henri Gouges Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er La Perrière. Pale. Effusive bouquet of malt and warm summer hay. The aromatic medium palate is layered with cool ripeness, displaying lovely tension and balance. Good finish. A great pinot blanc.

2023 Domaine Henri Gouges Nuits-Saint-Georges Village. Great colour. The excellent presence of fruit here is more forwardly balanced, laced with a tint of tobacco, lending superb energy and tension to the fullish palate. Good refinement and balance. Hard to believe this is village.

2023 Domaine Henri Gouges Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Clos des Porrets monopole. Good colour. Rosy hues dominate. The slender palate belies the nervous tension and energy that pervades throughout its sleek length.

2023 Domaine Henri Gouges Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Les Pruliers. Great colour. Highly aromatic with a tinge of tobacco. Fullish with very lovely fruit, showing good sophistication and balance. Modest finish. Has power and elegance in equal measure.

2023 Domaine Henri Gouges Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Les Saint-Georges. Great colour. There is a certain restrained fullness, well layered with refined balance and delicious cool ripeness in a most elegant manner. Modest finish. Rather understated on the whole.

2023 Domaine Yvon Clerget Volnay. Classic pinot tint. Aromatic lift of raspberries and roses. Medium-weight. Well integrated with refined tannins and acidity. Very naturally balanced. Doesn’t try too hard.

2023 Domaine Yvon Clerget Volnay 1er Clos du Verseuil monopole. Classic pinot tint. Very gentle on the nose, exuding a feminine rosiness tinged with tobacco. Absolutely enticing. Equally delicate on the medium palate, boasting great balance and integration with effortless grace and linearity. Modest finish. Highly successful. Even better than a previous tasting from barrel at the domaine six months ago. Totally de-stemmed, vinified in 30% new wood.

2023 Domaine Yvon Clerget Pommard 1er Les Rugiens. Good colour. Effusive with a focused deeper vein of delicious dark fruit. Highly integral, boasting impeccable balance between the fruit, acidity and imperceptible tannins, contained with restrained power.

2023 Domaine Ferrand et Laurent Pillot Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Vide Bourse. Pale. Intoxicating nose of glue and nail varnish. Open with excellent density of white fruits, displaying fine detail all the way to its glowing finish.

2023 Domaine Ferrand et Laurent Pillot Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Grandes Ruchottes. Very pale, exuding beautifully perfumed floral hues with a tinge of coconut matched by a linear density of fruit that impart excellent mouthfeel and clarity. Modest finish.

2023 Domaine Ferrand et Laurent Pillot Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Morgeot. Pale. Nose of morning dew, floral tones and dryish tropical fruits, extending to the medium-full palate where a sense of wet gravel persists amid a lovely density of distilled white tones entirely consistent with its terroir.

2023 Domaine Ferrand et Laurent Pillot Pommard 1er Clos des Verger. Good colour, proffering an aromatic rosiness that belie the dominant acidity on the terse tight vibrant palate. Modest finish.

2023 Château de Chamirey Mercurey 1er La Mission monopole. Pale. Heated wet gravel and summer hay on the nose. Medium-full, imbued with some salinity amid the fine density of fruit supported by a refined minerally spine. Understated and elegant.

2023 Château de Chamirey Échezeaux du Dessus Grand Cru. Good colour. Blueberries and raspberries dominate. Generously proportioned, layered with a deeper vein of dark fruit beneath the taut tension produced by masculine tannins and refined acidity.

2023 Domaine du Roc des Boutires Pouilly-Fuissé 1er Aux Bouthières. Densely perfumed on the nose. Well-balanced with a tight warmth on the medium-weight palate, displaying fine clarity with a dash of glycerin. Good refinement.

2022 Domaine Vincent Bouzereau Meursault. Warm dryish floral tones with a hint of wet gravel. Very good presence of fruit and acidity. Modest finish.

2023 Domaine Vincent Bouzereau Meursault 1er Les Poruzots. Pale. Explosive bouquet of complex citrus and dense floral hues matched by excellent density of white fruits, layered with sublime acidity and undertones of nutmeg, imbued with tremendous verve and power. Highly integral and certainly not the overtly reductive sort, producing sophisticated attack and finish. Outstanding!

2023 Edouard Delaunay Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Aux Argillas. Good colour. Cool ripe tones of cherries and dark currants layered with mint and fine acidity, its terse tannins imparting nervous energy.

2023 Edouard Delaunay Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Aux Combottes. Classic pinot tint. Cool ripe tones of cherries and raspberries. Fullish. Structured with taut intensity supported by a distinct minerally spine, imparting great verve and attack. Huge potential here but needs plenty of time to settle.

2023 Edouard Delaunay Clos Vougeot Grand Cru. Classic pinot tint. Highly aromatic. Medium presence. Fleshy with cool restraint, layered with understated tannin structure. Good power.

And at dinner…

2021 Jerome Galeyrand Gevrey-Chambertin En Billard, courtesy of Edmund. Great colour. Highly aromatic in delicious red fruits. Excellent presence, layered with soft tannins that impart lovely refined tension underscored by a distinct salinity.

2017 Château de Chamirey Mercurey 1er La Mission monopole, courtesy of Kieron. Poured from magnum. Cool glacial tones and floral hues dominate with overtones of nutmeg, boasting sublime acidity and distilled layers of pure white fruits. Excellent.

2019 Domaine des Lambrays Puligny-Montrachet 1er Folatières, courtesy of winemaker Jacques Devauges. Poured from imperial. Wet floral bouquet with some early chalky complexity. Somewhat restrained though the palate is open, very naturally balanced with lovely delineation, underscored by a deeper vein of fruit and chalky tension. Highly elegant.

2020 Domaine des Lambrays Morey-Saint-Denis 1er Les Loups, courtesy of Vic. Good colour, exuding cool ripeness with restrained elegance. Great balance.

2016 La Forge de Tart Morey-Saint-Denis 1er. Glorious deep ruby. Exuberant rosy fragrance of red fruits and cherries. Imbued with great verve. Lovely balance. Made from three plots of young vines within Clos de Tart grand cru (replanted in 1999, 2005 and 2011), declassified as 1er. Tasted together with winemaker Jacques Devauges.

2014 Domaine Jacques-Frédèric Mugnier Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Clos de la Marechale Rouge. Bright crimson. Rather closed though there is a medium presence of soft red fruits with gentle tannins, laced with some salinity. Good balance.

2022 Domaine Yvon Clerget Volnay 1er Santenots, courtesy of Juliette Wahl. Poured from magnum. Clear ruby. Good presence of red fruits, very beautifully proportioned with fine precision and excellent acidity.

2017 Domaine Yvon Clerget Volnay 1er Carelle sous la Chapelle, courtesy of Kieron. Strong note glycerin and varnish on the nose. The palate, though, is wonderfully full and supple, exuding lovely verve and freshness. Highly integral. Good finish.

2005 Domaine de Montille Puligny-Montrachet 1er Les Caillerets, courtesy of Stéphanie. Poured from magnum. Pale. Rather minerally with reductive tones amid a full presence of white fruits and nutmeg, imparting fine attack and glorious mouthfeel. This plot of de Montille lies immediately across the road from Montrachet Grand Cru Marquis de Laguiche.

2011 Domaine de L’Arlot Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Clos des Forêts Saint-Georges, courtesy of LF. Bright crimson, lit with ripe red cherries and earthy minerals, showing some age on the nose though still robust and youthful on the palate, slightly leafy (in the positive sense) with fine intensity. An early effort of Jacques Devauges.

2011 Domaine Prieuré Roch Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Clos des Argillières, courtesy of winemaker Yannick Champ. Opaque pinot tint, proffering an earthy nose of iron ore that came through readily. Medium-full. Seamlessly integrated with some salinity, laced with robust acidity. Quite masculine. Has character.

2014 Domaine Alain Hudelot-Noëllat Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Les Murgers. Bright crimson. Rounded with smooth velvety tannins with a bit of minerally shine around its darkish fruit. Highly integral.

2008 Domaine des Lambrays Clos des Lambrays Grand Cru, courtesy of Jacques Devauges. Poured from imperial. Beautiful colour, exuding an irresistible fragrance of rose petals, red fruits and cherries with some early complexity amid overtones of incense. Medium-full, boasting lovely fruit and sublime acidity, gently structured with lovely tension. A superlative effort from Thierry Brouin.

2017 Château de la Tour Clos Vougeot Grand Cru, courtesy of Liz Lin. Beautiful ruby. Feminine rosy hues dominate on the nose and palate, dressed in smooth tannins and sublime acidity. Highly integral. Absolutely beguiling.

2007 Domaine Dujac Vosne-Romanée 1er Aux Malconsorts, courtesy of Martin. Evolved pinot tint. Delicious fullish velvety presence though only medium-weight, boasting great refinement and clarity with impeccable balance.

2019 Domaine Henri Gouges Hospices de Nuits Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Les Saint Georges, courtesy of Kieron. Good colour. Good concentration of red fruits, exuding cool ripeness with lovely tension and youthful intensity.

2021 Domaine Henri Gouges Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Les Saint-Georges, courtesy of Gregory Gouges. Poured from magnum. Deep ruby. Restrained bouquet of red fruits and dark cherries that carried well onto the palate with lovely concentration, layered with understated minerality. Exudes tensile verve. Huge potential here.