2026 La Paulée de Singapour

The tenth edition of La Paulée de Singapour took place at the Hotel Grand Hyatt on 06 February 2026, superbly supported by all the proprietors and winemakers who have partnered Vintage Singapore all these years: Jacques Devauges, Gregory Gouges, Etienne de Montille, Yann Durieux, Thibaud Clerget (who still remembered our visit to his domaine previous year), Vincent Bouzereau, Adrien Pillot, Arthur Clair and many more. The tasting promenade began promptly at 5.00 PM. In spite of the severely reduced harvest, a good number of producers still featured their 2024s which I found to be uniformly excellent: generous, integral and superbly balanced with lovely freshness and tension. Do load up on whatever 2024 you can find. With the 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 the lion dance gamely staged by the Vintage folks themselves, as well as Stéphanie Rigourd’s rendition of a Hokkien classic 爱拼才会赢, an anthem about perseverance and resilience during life’s ups and downs, highlighting that success requires hard work rather than just luck, which surely are the ingredients behind Vintage’s success story. This is only the second time that La Paulée has been held at the Grand Hyatt but it’s probably the ideal location: truly spacious with cool ambient temperatures and a proper large stage and excellent food, keeping pace with the evening’s events. Christophe Cazaux and all his wonderful people at Vintage must be congratulated for a really excellent La Paulée, truly befitting its ten years. Félicitations et merci beaucoup!

2024 Domaine François D’Allaines Rully Tête de Cuvée. Its pallor belies a profusion of tangy nutmeg that permeates the nose and racy palate, producing excelent mouthfeel. The commune of Rully is totally under-rated.

2024 Domaine Chanson Beaune 1er Clos de Mouches Blanc. Pale. Summer hay and tangy citrus dominate with exciting verve, though the finish is rather modest.

2023 Domaine Chandon des Brailles Pernand-Vergelesses 1er Ill des Vergelesses Rouge. Powerful plummy tones dominate with a bit of rosy tint even from the tiny pour, where a certain assertiveness is evident from its coiled tension.

2022 Yann Durieux DH Blanc. Cool delicate tones of grapefruit, preserved fruit and dried mango permeate with fullish tensile verve.

2022 Yann Durieux CDN. A Côtes-de-Nuits Village. Good colour. Lovely purity with a tinge of smoky savouriness. Medium-weight. Good integration.

2024 Domaine des Lambrays Morey-Saint-Denis 1er Clos Sorbè. Alluring nose of rose petals. Highly integral, structured with very refined tannins and acidity. Distinctly feminine.

2024 Domaine des Lambrays Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er La Richemone. Good colour. Highly alluring on the nose where the fruit comes through with excellent purity. Medium presence, where the classic NSG earthiness is discernible, superbly integrated with the fruit and acidity, producing a bit of terse mouthfeel. Only 599 bottles were produced for this vintage. Superb!

2024 Domaine des Lambrays Clos des Lambrays Grand Cru. Good colour. Rounded with evident depth, imbued with subtle detail and vibrant acidity, producing excellent mouthfeel. Very elegant and classy.

2023 Domaine Vincent Bouzereau Meursault. Very pale. Cool white tones dominate with lovely density and nuanced detail, along with a delightful exuberance.

2023 Domaine Vincent Bouzereau Meursault 1er Le Poruzot. Pale. Very lovely density of cool white tones, displaying elegant restraint within its controlled proportions. Not over-powering.

2024 Domaine Yvon Clerget Volnay. Good colour. Rather sexy in its alluring smoky savouriness where its potential exuberance is cushioned by soft tannins. Highly integral. Good finish.

2024 Domaine Yvon Clerget Volnay 1er Clos du Versueil monopole. Good density of plums and red fruits. Softly contoured and inviting with an alluring smoky savouriness. Structured with imperceptible tannins and subtle acidity, impeccably proportioned, producing a relaxed mouthfeel. Very lovely.

2024 Domaine Yvon Clerget Pommard 1er Rugiens. Bouquet of rose petals that belies the terse robustness of this terroir, offset by refined tannins.

2024 Domaine Fernand & Laurent Pillot Chassagne-Montrachet. White tones dominate with an oily density amid tangy nutmeg. Vibrant acidity.

2024 Domaine Fernand & Laurent Pillot Puligny-Montrachet Noyers Bret. Fullish with overtones of diesel. Rather incisive acidity, displaying good energy and attack.

2024 Domaine Fernand & Laurent Pillot Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Morgeot. Pale. Abundant in white fruits and yellow citrus. Terse, energetic and incisive.

2024 Domaine Fernand & Laurent Pillot Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Vide Bourse. Good lift. Quite airy, subtly nuanced with refined acidity. Elegant.

2024 Domaine Henri Gouges Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er La Perrière. Straw-coloured. Cool tones dominate with some tangy nutmeg tinged with a dash of salinity. Pinot blanc, not chardonnay.

2024 Domaine Henri Gouges Nuits-Saint-Gouges 1er Clos des Porrets St-Georges monopole. Good colour, showing some tensile energy in spite of its soft tannins. Good refinement.

2024 Domaine Henri Gouges Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Les Pruliers. A certain pebbly warmth is discernible, imbued with very fine fruit that’s tightly coiled, tinged with a bit of salinity.

2024 Domaine Henri Gouges Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Les St-Georges. Highly alluring in rosy hues and red fruits. Coiled at this stage with plenty of stuffing, its refined acidity imparting lovely tension. Has pedigree.

And at dinner…

2022 Domaine Jean-Claude Ramonet Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Boudriotte, courtesy of CHS. Pale. Rather restrained on the nose even though the full palate is generously endowed with glorious fruit with overtones of olives and nutmeg. Very lively with exciting acidity.

2012 Domaine Cecile Tremblay Vosne-Romanée 1er Les Beaumonts, courtesy of Edmund. Good colour. Somewhat funky on the nose. Generous fleshy darkish palate, imbued with slick acidity.

2017 Domaine Bruno Clavelier Chambolle-Musigny1er La Combe D’Orveax. Good colour. Fullish. Generous in darkish fruit but still rather tightly coiled, not helped by masculine tannins with overtones of bramble and bitter earth that added a touch of astringency.

2017 Domaine Henri Gouges Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Les Proces, courtesy of Sir Bob. Good colour. Fullish, bright and plummy. Well-balanced with good NSG character.

2013 Domaine Perrot-Minot Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru, courtesy of Kok Hong. Soft, feminine rosy hues dominate with refined verve.

2022 Château de Meursault Bourgogne Clos du Château. Pale. Overtones of lemongrass and nutmeg amid a summer warmth. Medium-weight, showing fine clarity with a bit of reductive detail.

2019 Domaine Pierre-Yvés Colin-Morey Saint-Aubin 1er Hommage à Marguerite, courtesy of Kieron. Pale. Medium presence. Only mildly reductive, offering good detail.

2018 Domaine Henri Gouges Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er La Perrière. Poured from double magnum, courtesy of Gregory Gouges. Brightly lit with fine presence of white fruits laced with a tangy salinity.

2020 Domaine des Lambrays Puligny-Montrachet 1er Les Folatieres. Poured from magnum, courtesy of Jacques Devauges. Classic Puligny nose. Rounded with sleek acidity, imbued with a discernible stony chalkiness. Very lovely.

2019 Domaine Fernand et Laurent Pillot Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Grandes Ruchottes. Poured from magnum, courtesy of Adrien Pillot. There is a fullish warmth within the density of white fruits and floral hues, beautifully balanced and proportioned.

2013 Domaine de L’Arlot Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Clos des Forêts monopole, courtesy of LF. Some earthy reduction is evident. Still wonderfully fresh and tensile with fine definition though only medium weight. An early effort of Jacques Devauges who was happy to be re-acquainted with it.

2018 Domaine Pierre-Yvés Colin-Morey Saint-Aubin 1er La Chateniere. Poured from magnum. Very relaxed mouthfeel, boasting great clarity with a placid elegance but a little too laidback, lacking distinction.

2016 Domaine Bruno Clair Bonnes-Mares Grand Cru. Poured from magnum. This has evident power and sweeping depth, structured with dryish tannins that yield fine definition.

2013 Domaine François Lamarche Vosne-Romanée 1er Aux Malconsorts, courtesy of Vic. Softly contoured. Well proportioned. Generously endowed with darkish fruit underscored by a deeper vein of sweet berries.

2010 Domaine des Lambrays Clos des Lambrays Grand Cru. Poured from magnum, courtesy of Jacques Devauges. The fruit is absolutely lovely, velvety soft with a juicy succulence, boasting plenty of verve from its vibrant acidity. Superbly integrated.

2014 Domaine Henri Gouges Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Les St-Georges. Poured from double magnum, courtesy of Gregory Gouges. Softly contoured with elegant restraint, probably a function of the vintage. Imbued with grainy darkish fruit. Well-proportioned but missing the extra dimension of the best Les Saint-Georges.

2011 Domaine Henri Gouges Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Les St-Georges, courtesy of Kieron. The fruit here is simply glorious, showing great refinement and elegant verve. Highly integral. Immaculately proportioned and balanced.

2010 Domaine du Clos de Tart Clos de Tart Grand Cru monopole, courtesy of Raymond. Great abundance of red fruits and cherries, producing lovely lift. Structured with supple tannins that impart tensile verve. Superb.