Grape Blessings

This Lunar New Year, pair bountiful feastings with these sommelier-approved wines that promise to impress your friends, family, and perhaps even the in-laws

- By Dawson Tan

LESLEY LIU

ODETTE

“Any Bordeaux-style wine works perfectly for a Chinese New Year reunion dinner. Bordeaux wines pair well with soy sauce, vinegar, spring onions, scallions and even gingers— all commonly used ingredients and condiments in Chinese cuisine. One of my favourite Bordeaux wines is Chateau Ausone from Saint-Emilion on Bordeaux’s Right Bank. It is rich and full-bodied with balanced tannins and concentrated flavours, yet it remains light and elegant. Its powerful aromatics feature ripe black, blue, and dark red fruits, complemented by notes of liquorice, floral undertones, and crushed rock scents. I usually enjoy it with my mother’s cooking; classic dishes, like Buddha Jumps Over the Wall and Lion’s Head meatballs, that are savoury and packed with spices, help give the wine a unique and lingering taste.”

JUSTIN WEE

RAFFLES HOTEL

“I love a good bottle of sake with Chinese food. Chinese dishes in general are richer in umami or feature a rich accompanying sauce. The familiar sweet and sour pork at every zi char stall in Singapore pairs nicely with sake that has a slightly fruitier finish like a junmai daiginjo from Izumibashi Sake Brewery. However, if the table is heavy on roasts, like the roasted duck served at Yì by Jereme Leung, perhaps consider pairing it with an excellent German pinot noir such as Thörle Hölle Spätburgunder.”

REUBEN KHEW

ZEN