I'm convinced that the best wine cellars tend to fill one with a unique mix of equal parts anticipation and overwhelm when walking into it for the first time. I'm standing in the middle of the wine cellar at Clos Wine House and trying to play it cool. There's an eye watering number of wine bottles on display, ranging from Vin Jaunes from Jura to Cabernet Sauvignons from Bordeaux. Meanwhile, a Valrhona chocolate bar is casually set up to the side of room, which would surely have been tempting enough to distract if not for the magnum Lynch Bages on the shelf pulling my focus. 

Clos Wine House, formerly known as Clos Pasoh, is a French brasserie that recently reopened at New Bahru enclave. It's touted as being a wine lover's haven with over 800 wines on offer, with a focus on grower Champagnes (a.k.a champagnes made by the same hands that also grows, vinify and ages the grapes) and French labels that range from more easy and accessible to rarer, hard-to-find gems. An attached restaurant promises a menu of French comfort food designed to pair with the wines on offer. 

It's a Wednesday night, and my friends and I have come to Clos Wine House for some after-work drinks. The venue features a mix of brown and emerald green seating and tables bathed in warm mood lighting. Behind us sits a wall of tropical palm leaves that unassumingly demarcates the various tables, offering patrons just enough privacy for conversations that hopefully are as a smooth flowing as the wine. 

For appetizers, we start off with some bubblies. The wine sommelier recommends the Drappier Champagne Brut Nature Zéro Dosage ($24 per glass), which we paired with some Octupus Tempura & Espelette Pepper Mayo ($18), which features some octupus tempura dusted with hot paprika, served with piment d'Espelette mayonnaise. 

The Drappier Champagne Brut Nature Zéro Dosage is made from 100% Pinot Noir that leave its with a slight pinkish tint. The aromas on this were zesty and subtly sweet, with notes of green apples and freshly sliced pears. It's quite light-bodied and crisp on the palate, offering a subtle effervescence and light citrus acidity that helped cut through the richness of the octopus and the mild spice of the piment d'Espellette chillis. After letting it sit for a bit, the flavours opened up more with added notes of apricot, lime zest and light almond shavings. 

We followed this up with a feta and watermelon salad, paired with a François Cotat Caillottes Sancerre 2023. This Loire Valley Sauvignon Blanc leaned slightly dry, with notes of stone fruit, green apples and a touch of wet flint. Some sweetness does comes through on the finish though, and curiously, I also detect lingering notes of jasmine rice and apricots!

The watermelon is cold mint-infused, which the waiter clarifies means its been cubed, sandwiched between mint leaves and compressed for 36 hours. This works to intensifies the mint flavour in the watermelon, transforming the fruit’s texture and colour to be more dense and pronounced. While the ingredients seem simple, there's a great balance of this dish. It blends the nuttiness of the pine nuts, the saltiness from the feta and the menthol qualities of the mint-infused watermelon - all of which was accentuated by the subtle minerality in the Caillottes Sancerre. 

There's a common adage about red wines being paired with meats and white wines being paired with seafoods, but once in a while, it bears repeating that hard and fast rules do not and should not exist when it comes to wine and food pairings. And so, when the wine sommelier encourages to pair our mains, the Tagliatelle Spanner Crab & Bisque ($32) and a plate of Morisseau Mussels ($32), with a red wine for a change, we happily oblige. 

The red wine in question is a glass of Domaine Mayard Châteauneuf-du-Pape, a popular pick from Southern Rhône that surprised me with its vibrant liftedness and delicacy! Tons of red fruits, stewed plums, ripe cherries here on the nose, which carries forth onto the palate, thereupon they gain good company with added flavour accents of baking spices, star anise and cumin. There's a great balance here - despite having very robust, bold flavours, the body of this wine maintains a certain airiness, such that it doesn't overwhelm the briney characters of the lobster bisque nor the sweetness of mussels. 

At this point of the evening, we're feeling pretty full, but as self-professed sweet tooths, we never leave without dessert! We had a Hazelnut Praliné Choux ($13) and a Raspberry Tart Sable ($16) to share, both of which we took care to slice into exact pieces that ensured upmost equality in portion sizes. The Hazelnut Praline Choux was my favourite, with a light crispy exterior that housed a generous portion of Vanuatu vanilla cream, balanced with a hazelnut praline center!

For a parting glass, we tried the Bordelet Poire Cormé 2019, a pear cider produced in Loire Valley by Eric Bordelet - a shining star and acclaimed producer in the cider industry who had previously helmed the wine program at the Michelin Three Star restaurant l’Arpège. There's a great clarity and brightness on the nose with spiced poached pears, sour plums and a hint of honeysuckle. The Bordelet Poire Cormé envelops the palate with a nice zippiness and subtle acidity - tons of pears, green apples, preserved sour plums - before finishing with a delightful touch of thyme, menthol and preserved orange peels. Wow! This had such an expressiveness and complexity - I must admit, trying a cider today was not on my bingo card for the evening, but I'm glad it turned out this way! 

With a belly full of vino, we walk out of Clos thoroughly satiated. A big shout out to the team at Clos Wine House for their patient recommendations of the wines and the thoughtful food pairings they curated! Despite our proclaimations of how full we were, we still couldn't help but pause to browse the deli counters on the way out. If you're in the mood for a night in but still want a similar food and wine tasting experience, Clos Wine House also offers a selection of cheeses, truffles, pastries and other artisanal complements that you can purchase together with a bottle of wine at their deli.

Close Deli and Wine House (IG: @clos.sg)

46 Kim Yam Rd, #01-18 New Bahru, Singapore 239351

Restaurant & Wine Bar: Mon, Wed: 2pm-12am | Thur-Sun: 12pm-12am | Closed Tue

Deli: Mon-Sun: 10am-9pm

Reservations Online: Click here

@lotusroot518