Lunch at Les Amis

E and I had a nice little lunch to mark our third anniversary in Singapore before heading off for our holiday. The food and service were impecable as always, and the wines (ordered by the glass) matched the food perfectly. This is the way all nice little lunches should be!

• NV Equipo Navazos La Bota de Palo Cortado 21 "Jerez" 93 Points

  Spain, Andalucía, Jerez-Xérès-Sherry

  Excellent. This was from a bottle that had been opened for about a week, so it lacked some of the freshness and verve that so marked the wine the last two times I have had this. Stil though, it was a very soild sherry indeed. The nose was a beautifully complex melange of caramel and toffee, hints of mahogany and a nice wlanutty whiff, honeyed figs and boiled pears, lemony citrus notes and a nice drift of dried flowers at the edges. Really nice. On the palate, which had a rich, oily attack, I got deep flavours of yellow plums, pears and figs buttessed by a bit of spice. Lots of heavy, textured depth here, so thankfully there was a little lift of acidity towards the back-end that kept the wine on its toes. It ended with a lovely long finish that went on and on with distinct walnut and kumquat flavours filling the mouth in seemingly neverending fashion. A lovely sherry and very versatile too -it did well with Jamon Iberico as expected, but also with both a beef consomme and a poached egg with white Alba truffle dish. Best pairing of all though was with a wonderfully prepared roast suckling pig. It was a magical marriage, with the pork and the sherry serenading one another in a lovely harmony. A classic Spanish pairing that certainly lived up to its billing.

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• 2008 Domaine Rossignol Trapet Savigny-lès-Beaune 90 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Savigny-lès-Beaune

  This was a very nice village lifted to transcendental heights by a perfect food pairing. It had a beguilingly pretty nose, full of flowery perfume, bright strawberry and red cherry scents and a little touch of earth and spice underneath all that. The palate was nice too, about everything you would want in a young 2008 Savigny. Super fresh, very lively, it showed pure bright red fruited flavours on the attack and slightly earthier notes on the midpalate, all crowned by a lovely flowery top-note. Rather light, a bit simple, but charming nevertheless. This was, above all, an incredible pairing with a simply prepared pasta with a bit of cream and generous shavings of white Alba truffles, with the wine and the food drwaing out a wonderfully mushroomy perfume that just floated all around the mouth. The wine was very nice by itself, but the overall experience was to die for.

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