Bak Chang (Glutinous Rice DUmpling) Taste-off

Bak Chang season was around the corner, so we pulled together this little taste-off to find the best Bak Chang in Singapore, with the best wine-pairing possible. The winner was Kim Choo's Hokkien Chang, followed by Eastern's Hae Bee Hiam. Best pairing varied. The Riesling went best with the Nonya, Cantonese and Hokkien Changs, especially those with a salted egg yolk inside; the Brunello went best with the Brown-Rice Chang.

• 2007 Schäfer-Fröhlich Monzinger Halenberg Riesling Spätlese 92 Points

  Germany, Nahe

  Way too young, just about falling asleep, but still the quality on the wine was very clear. I learnt my lesson from a previous bottle, so this was decanted before serving. Still though, nose was still tight, but rather attractive, with some dried earth, white flowers, ripe grapefruit and little minerally bits. Lovely balance on palate, with rich, slightly sticky flavours of sweet yellow fruit, honeyed peach notes and flowers riding on some pretty good acidity. Finish started to open up and fan out with time. Very nice, but this will need a long time to come around.

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• 1986 Pertimali (Livio Sassetti) Brunello di Montalcino 93 Points

  Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino

  A lovely wine in a lovely place at the moment - we caught it at just at its upswing I think. Beautiful classic BdM nose, with sweet cherries wed to really savoury scents of earthy, umami, soy sauce accents, with lots of meat and ferrous bloody scents. On the palate, sweet dusky cherries made for a lovely attack, followed by dried earth, more bloody, iron notes, lovely dried herb notes, earthy tones, a bed of slakey mineral and more meaty goodness. I thought it was lacking a bit of substance at first, but it put on more weight after an hour in the decanter, so that there was a delicious fruit sweetness to it. Balance was spot on, with a nice freshness keeping the wine light on its feet in spite of some richness. The wine finished with more herbs and spice and some lip-smackingly salty preserved sour plum flavours. Lots of character, extremely enjoyable wine - will get even better with more time in the bottle.

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• 2005 Cape Mentelle Zinfandel 90 Points

  Australia, Western Australia, South West Australia, Margaret River

  Clearly a Zin, and yet very un-American, and pretty good at that - who would have guessed it as a Margaret River though? Nose opened with a whiff of oaky vanilla, then savoury scents of tomato and beef stew wafted out, along with some boiled herbs, briar and bramble. Palate was rich, with tons of weight in its tomato puree tones wed to mouthfilling flavours of spice and bramble. Finish was quite full-on as well. For all that though, it was never bloated or monstrous. Acidity was not particularly pronounced, but it was essentially in balance. Quite a pleasant drink indeed. Not a bad pairing with the meat dumplings, although it would probably be more at home at a BBQ.

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• 2004 Domaine la Réméjeanne Côtes du Rhône Villages Les Génévriers 90 Points

  France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Côtes du Rhône Villages

  I actually thought this was very decent. Enough for me to guess it as a Priorat Garnahca blend when served blind. Nose started out a little woody, along with scents of sweet dark cherries, almost a little kirsch like, a touch of spice and some bramble. Palate was quite big, with more sweet cherries, a little modern on this front, but it had a nice stream of freshness, lots of spice, and a nice seam of granitic mineral. Finish was nicely spicy as well, with more slatey, schisty notes rounding the wine off.

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• NV Martini Asti Spumante 87 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Asti, Asti Spumante

  Good fun party drink. Great pairing with Lawrence's otak, all flowers and gentle peachiness, with a little mineral playing around. Simple but no complains on that front.

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• 2001 Moondarra Pinot Noir Conception 92 Points

  Australia, Victoria, Gippsland

  Very impressive indeed. Lovely nose, with vanilla, crushed cherries, plums and flowers. Sweet, but not over the top, very pretty in fact. Lovely freshness on the palate with lots of acidity running through beautiful cherry flavours in the attack. This had a nice sturdy structure wed to plenty of elegance. Mid-palate had dollops of dark fruit, some spice and orange peel, finishing with just a little hint of bramble and vanillin. Nice length too. Clearly new world, yet with nice old-world inflections. A very delicious, enjoyable wine.

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