Zi Char Sparkling Wine Pairing - The Wines of Sugrue South Downs
Napoleon Bonaparte famously said: “In victory one deserves Champagne; in defeat one needs it!” As English sparkling wine continues to trounce big-name Champagnes in one blind tasting after another, that comment—unlike good bubbly—may not have aged all that well for the Champenois. And one English winemaker leaves the Champenois licking their wounds more often than most. Cult English winemaker and critics’ darling Dermot Sugrue (his eponymous winery, Sugrue South Downs) perfectly bridges that gap between the more autolysis-dominated profile of the Grande Marques and the acid drive and mineral verve of the trendiest grower champagnes—at least for our personal tastes, though the relentless slew of awards showered on his eponymous winery suggests we’ll be on the right side of history on this one.
Having treated ourselves to several vintages of Sugrue’s signature Trouble with Dreams cuvee over the past year, it’s become clear that this producer is going from strength to strength. Each vintage brings with it more precision and energy, but always maintaining that spine of chalky minerality that underlies the world’s finest sparkling wines. And importantly for Singapore Wine Club, his wines are extremely friendly with Singaporean food. Sparkling wine definitely has a reputation for being food-friendly, but even so, pairing sparkling wines with Singaporean food poses considerable challenges. Southeast Asian seasonings, with their mélange of spices, umami flavours and ubiquitous and liberal use of sweetness, poses headaches for even the most seasoned ;) sommeliers.
This challenge is particularly prominent when considering wine pairing with zi char, the beloved family favourite. For the uninitiated, zi char (or tze char) stalls serve a wide range of Southeast Asian dishes, mostly Chinese in origin, meant to be consumed with rice. Sounds vague? That’s because zi char menus are as amorphous as they get. It’s all down to the creativity of the chef, and anything from Coke-drenched pork ribs—that’s Coca Cola, for those not familiar with our notoriously strict drug laws—to deep-fried prawns drenched in butter and cereal is up for grabs. The biggest difficulty when it comes to zi char wine pairing, besides convincing the grumpy coffeeshop auntie to let you BYOB (pro tip: buy something, preferably a beer, from the drinks stall to smooth things over!), is finding a wine that’s versatile enough to go with that wide variety of dishes, and bold enough to stand up to their rich flavours.
We took three of Sugrue’s wines down to local zi char legend Keng Eng Kee, which counts among its fans the late and sorely-missed Anthony Bourdain and the Korean pop star Rain, to put them through their food-pairing paces. We ordered an array of zi char staples and in each case, the Sugrue wines performed brilliantly, cutting through the inevitable grease with their bright acidity while boasting sufficiently vibrant flavours to stand out in their own right. And while you really can’t go wrong pairing any Sugrue wine with pretty much any zi char dish, so long as it’s not extremely spicy, we also identified three top pairing picks for you try out at home.
(1) Prawn Paste Chicken x Ex Machina Rose – When pairing wine with prawn paste chicken, the most important consideration is to have a wine that is ample in fruit and body. The seafood fragrance of har cheong gai makes it one of the most intense dishes in any zi char chef’s repertoire, and you’ll need an equally gutsy wine to go alongside. Sugrue’s Ex Machina Rose fits the bill, jumping out of the glass with exuberant red fruit and blood orange aromas, and little herbal touches of pink pepper and bay leaf adding savoury complexity.
(2) Butter Cereal Prawns x Cuvee Boz Blanc de Blancs – Indulgent butter cereal prawns are the perfect opportunity for a contrasting pairing. Sugrue’s Cuvee Boz with its crisp tree fruit and citrus aromas, flinty minerality and laser acidity keeps this dish from getting too heavy and cloying, while the subtle nut and brioche notes (almost like an almond croissant) lift the dish’s sweet-savoury cereal notes!
(3) Spinach and Century Egg x Trouble with Dreams – Eat your greens, kids! It’ll make you feel less guilty about the onslaught of fried food and fatty meat that you tend to see with zi char. This creamy vegetable dish, amped up with a salty hit of century eggs, pairs perfectly with Sugrue’s Trouble with Dreams cuvee. The long aging on lees, with a dose of used oak, gives this wine a round, opulent texture.
As delicious as these wines were with zi char, any EPL fan knows that the English do way better with a home ground advantage. So if this Singaporean food and wine pairing shone, we’re really excited to see how Sugrue’s wines do when paired with cuisine from closer to their home! On 29 September 2024, we’ll be heading down to Angie’s Oyster Bar and Grill for a four-vintage vertical tasting of The Trouble with Dreams cuvee, providing a rare opportunity to taste some aged references of English sparkling wine and decide for yourself if all the comparisons with Champagne are merited. We’re also offering a rare taste of Brendan O’ Regan (Sugrue’s highly-allocated tête de cuvée). The wines will be paired with a 3-course lunch featuring England’s most famous culinary export, fish and chips. If you’re into bubblies, Britain or even just brunch, come down and join us!
