More restaurants are teaming up with vineyards to create customised blends to match their food, atmosphere and price points. These one-of-a-kind private labels not only give a sense of exclusivity, in most cases, they also allow restaurants to offer customers higher quality wines at lower cost. Here are five establishments in Singapore with private wine labels to make your evening out extra special.
Bar-Roque Grill
At Bib Gourmand restaurant Bar-Roque Grill, chef-partner Stephane Istel serves up hearty, family-style meals inspired by his growing-up years in Alsace, France. Think house-cured saucisson, salami and chorizo; rustic terrines and pates; creamy fresh cheeses, made from scratch. And the perfect quaff to accompany the spread: the restaurant’s in-house wine label, 6469, created in collaboration with Catherine Roche, a winemaker in Faugères, France. The red is a blend of grenache, syrah and carignan, fruity and aromatic with hints of violets and spices on the nose, the white bright and citrusy with notes of peach and pear, while the rose is a match for the menu’s seafood offerings with its red fruit aromas and fresh finish.
Hua Ting, Orchard Hotel
Cantonese cuisine with a contemporary flourish is the order of the day at MICHELIN Plate restaurant Hua Ting in Orchard Hotel. MICHELIN inspectors recommend signature dishes like sautéed prawns with avocado and salted egg yolk; stewed oxtail with garlic in brown sauce; and crispy roast duck — the latter best savoured with the full-bodied M Wine Cabernet Sauvignon, a special wine label launched by Millennium Hotels and Resorts, which runs Orchard Hotel, in June from the 2018 vintage of Australia’s Buronga Hill Estate in New South Wales. The cabernet sauvignon has a subtle oak finish of chocolate and vanilla that is particularly delightful with savoury meats, while the crisp and clean sauvignon blanc is excellent with seafood.
L’Entrecôte The Steak & Fries Bistro
L’Entrecôte turns 10 next year, a well-loved fixture in Singapore’s dining scene known for its simple yet satisfying plat du jour — steak frites, slathered in a secret sauce and paired with its house red, the Cuvée de L’Entrecôte. The light bordeaux, with its fruity, berry notes and lower tannin content, is easy to drink and enhances the flavour of the tangy, herbaceous sauce. “Good quality French wines in Singapore often come with a higher price tag. By having our own label of wine, diners are able to enjoy these quality wines at a more accessible price point,” says Olivier Bendel, founder and CEO of Deliciae Hospitality Management which also runs restaurants like Sabio By The Sea, Souffle and MICHELIN-Plated Forlino. The group owns several wineries in the south of France in Côtes du Rhone, Lirac, Pays d’Oc and Provence, and will be producing a new vintage of the Cuvée de L’Entrecôte from mid 2019.
Summer Pavilion, The Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore
Available as a house pour by glass or bottle at one-MICHELIN-starred Summer Pavilion and other restaurants at The Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore are fine private label champagnes by the iconic Champagne Barons de Rothschild. The Réserve Ritz Brut NV uses the finest three- to four-year-old chardonnays and pinot noirs to produce an aromatic wine of pear, almonds and hazelnut with fine bubbles and delicate nuances of white fruit. Brilliant with tints of pale pink, and notes of citrus and red berries, the Réserve Ritz Rosé is deliciously rich with springtime scents of rose petals and wild strawberries.
Dolce Vita & Cherry Garden, Mandarin Oriental Singapore
Mandarin Oriental Singapore’s private selection wines are available in its dining outlets such as MICHELIN Plate restaurants Dolce Vita and Cherry Garden. The first and only company thus far to have a private label with famed Margaret River winery Vasse Felix, the Chardonnay (Filius) boasts a fragrant perfume of apple pie and delicate spice with a ripe body of peach and mango and a fresh acidic crunch toward the finish. In a longstanding partnership with Chilean winery Montes Alpha, Mandarin Oriental’s private label cabernet sauvignon offers outstanding aromas of ripe black fruits and notes of crème de cassis, while peppery spices appear over a back of dark chocolate and an explosion of the fruit on the mid-palate.
