Affordable wine in Singapore – a gentle, lush Merlot for impatient drinkers

Today’s affordable wine in Singapore is a bottle of 2008 Esprit de Pavie from Bordeaux.  It is made by Gerard Perse, the owner of the famous Chateau Pavie, one of the top names in St Emilion, and 2008 was his first vintage for this wine.  It was being sold at NTUC Fairprice Finest and we bought a bottle to see how it tasted.

The Esprit de Pavie was being retailed at a “monthly special” price of $35 which  looked rather attractive.  A bottle of the ‘youngest’ Chateau Pavie from the 2012 vintage costs upwards of $500.  It was also the wine that had the largest price increase from the Bordeaux 2012 en primeur,  a result of their promotion to Premier Grand Cru Classe A status.  To be clear, this Esprit de Pavie is not really a second wine of the big brother Pavie. Instead, the grapes are harvested from other St Emilion and surrounding areas. Still, because of our Singapore taxes on wine, it is hard to get a decent bottle of Bordeaux at this price, let alone one from a producer with such impressive credentials. The important thing however is how does it taste.  We opened the bottle over a simple lunch of salad and pasta.

The wine was made from Merlot (70%) and Cabernet Franc (30%) grapes.  As is characteristic of merlot wines, the Esprit was easy on the palate with very soft tannins.  It has a very pleasant fruity, plummy taste.  It was drinkable almost immediately and goes well with the food.  The only negative aspect of the wine for us was the moderately high alcohol content of 14% which was slightly noticeable in the background.

The main attraction of this wine is its user friendliness. Probably meant to be drank young,  it is perfect for impatient drinkers like us, although it will benefit from having some time to breathe as it tasted much better midway through the meal.  It is a suitable wine to go with a casual meal like our pasta and salad lunch.  At $35, it was good value for money and a good find in our quest for affordable wine in Singapore.

You can read more about Esprit de Pavie on their website.  Cheers!