In short
If you read nothing else: choose bottles with an 8 or a 3 in the vintage and none with a 4, favour red and gold labels, open with Champagne, serve the reds cool, and for a gift pick a bottle whose name, label or year says something lucky. The rest of this page is the long version.
Why the table is red
Red is the colour of the festival. In Singapore it is regarded as auspicious, worn on New Year's Day and splashed through the home.
So the wine on the table is red, even when the food leans towards fish. That is no problem if the red is chosen well: mature or naturally soft, light on new oak, and served cool rather than at Singapore room temperature. A mature Pomerol sits happily beside steamed fish; a young, oaky Cabernet does not. Our Chinese food guide explains the method dish by dish.
The colour rule reaches the bottle. Look for red and gold on the label and the capsule.
The numbers in the vintage
Numbers matter at Chinese New Year because of how they sound. Eight is the most welcome of all: in Cantonese it sounds like the word for good fortune. Four sounds like the word for death and is avoided. Then there is the rule most Singaporeans grew up with: the money in a red packet is an even sum, because odd sums belong to funeral money.
We apply the same thinking to the year on the label. A vintage with an 8 or a 3 is welcome; a 4 anywhere in the year is out, so no 2004, 2014 or 2024 on the festive table, however well they drink. Our customers also ask for years ending in 9, so those are in. The lucky vintages on our list today are in a list further down.
The bottle of the year: a ram, a Chinese painter and an 8
The ram is the emblem of Château Mouton Rothschild. The château says so itself: mouton is French for sheep, and Baron Philippe de Rothschild, born under the sign of Aries, had two good reasons to make the ram the symbol of his wine. The new lunar year, Ding-wei, is the Year of the Goat, a sign the château has itself called the Year of the Ram. In Chinese the château is 罗基德木桐酒庄, and the 木桐 in the middle is simply mouton, said in Mandarin.
Since 1945 Château Mouton Rothschild has asked a different artist to paint its label each year. For 2008 the artist was Xu Lei, a Beijing painter trained in the Chinese ink tradition, and his drawing takes up the theme of the ram: a white ram perched on a delicately drawn rock, in a wash of deep blue, above the château's gold crest on a white label. A ram, a Chinese artist, an 8 in the vintage and the Year of the Goat. We know of no other bottle that fits the year so neatly, and we have the 2008 in stock.
Names that sound lucky
Many great estates have official Chinese names, and some are auspicious in their own right. An auction house spent a year translating all 61 names of the 1855 classification into Chinese, with the written agreement of all but three or four of the châteaux, and unveiled them to the Bordeaux trade in 2012. The names below are from that list or from the estate's own Chinese website.
The reunion dinner, course by course
The reunion dinner is the feast of the year. The food is served in abundance whether the family is rich or poor, because plenty on the table is believed to bring wealth in the year ahead, and the dishes are the ones Singapore still cooks: abalone soup, chicken, mushrooms, duck, fish, roast pork and steamboat. Here is how we would pour through that table.
To open, and for the yusheng: Champagne
Start with Champagne; we think every meal should, and a festive one most of all. Yusheng, the raw fish salad tossed for abundant life, with its plum sauce, oil and crisp bits, is the hardest dish of the night for wine, and a blanc de blancs Champagne is the one thing that enjoys it. We would pour Taittinger Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs 2008: Chardonnay from the five grand cru villages of the Côte des Blancs, aged ten years in Taittinger's Gallo-Roman chalk cellars in Reims. Taittinger's own pairings for the cuvée include sea bream ceviche and sea bass tartare, which is yusheng by another name, and it says to serve it at 11°C. The vintage is an 8 and the label is white and gold.
The whole fish: a white with no heavy oak
A whole steamed fish is on the table because the word for fish sounds like the word for surplus, and the greeting nian nian you yu wishes you a surplus every year. The wine for it is a white with freshness rather than oak. We would pour Aubert Chardonnay Powder House Vineyard 2019, from Aubert's fourth estate vineyard in the old town of Forestville in Sonoma, planted in a natural bowl that Aubert credits for a Chardonnay that is elegant yet powerful. The year ends in a 9 and the label is plain cream.
The braise and the pen cai: a Pomerol with an 8
Pen cai, the layered braise of abalone, sea cucumber, fish maw, roast pork, prawns, scallops and dried oysters, and the braised abalone and mushrooms around it, want a red with savoury depth and soft tannin. We would pour Château La Fleur-Pétrus 2008: a Merlot Pomerol from the plateau between the localities of La Fleur and Petrus, on gravel and deep clay over an iron rich subsoil, and the first estate Jean-Pierre Moueix bought, in 1950. The estate describes it as generous and expressive, with a touch of violet. The label is cream with a small red flag, and the year is an 8.
The roasts, for a table of eight to ten: a magnum
Roast pork, roast duck and char siew arrive late in the meal, and that is where a bigger bottle earns its place. We would pour Montevertine Le Pergole Torte 2018 in magnum: Sangiovese and nothing else, from vines planted between 1968 and 1999, aged twelve months in barriques and twelve in large Slavonian oak casks, and served, Montevertine says, at 17 to 18°C, cooler than most Singapore dining rooms. The label is cream with a drawing, as every vintage's is, the year is an 8, and a magnum pours ten proper glasses, which is a table.
The sweet end: Champagne again
No Singapore Chinese New Year is complete without pineapple tarts and bak kwa. Pineapple is ong lai in Hokkien, the coming of fortune, and the red of bak kwa is itself a sign of good luck. Go back to the Champagne: Taittinger pairs Comtes de Champagne with a poached apricot tart, and buttery pineapple tarts are the same idea with more sugar. Sweet, smoky bak kwa is a Champagne pleasure too. A red at this point only tastes thin.
Setting the table: four to six, and eight to ten
For four to six people, two bottles do it: the Champagne and the Pomerol, with the white added if the fish is the centre of the table. For eight to ten, open all three and make the red for the roasts a magnum, which saves opening a second bottle halfway through the meal.
Open the reds two hours before the guests arrive and stand them upright the day before so the sediment settles; Cos d'Estournel, for one, advises two hours of air without decanting for its vintages from 1982 to 2015, served at 15 to 16°C. Chill the white and the Champagne fully before the first guest rings the bell. Serving and Keeping Wine explains how to hold the temperature through a long Singapore evening.
The fifteenth day, chap goh mei, brings another reunion dinner, with lanterns and oranges. In 2027 that is Saturday 20 February. Save one bottle for that dinner.
Giving a bottle at Chinese New Year
Custom is firm on one point: it is rude to visit anyone's home at Chinese New Year empty handed, and a pair of mandarin oranges, whose name sounds like luck and wealth, goes to the head of the household. If you bring a bottle beside the oranges, the rules of the table apply to it. Choose a red or gold label, a vintage with an 8 or a 3 and never a 4, and red or gold wrapping. For a gift that says something lucky before it is opened:
For gifts at any other time of year, including Christmas and the year end, our Wine as a Gift page covers what to give a client, a boss or a wine lover, what suits a birthday, wedding or anniversary, how much to spend, and when cognac or whisky is the better choice.
Lucky vintages on our list
Every wine below is in stock today, grouped by the lucky number in its vintage.
An 8 in the vintage
A 3 in the vintage
Ending in a 9
Wines from Goat years
2027 is a Goat year. Before it came 2015, 2003, 1991, 1979, 1967 and 1955, so a bottle from any of those vintages is a fitting gift for someone born under the sign, or a toast to the year itself. These are the Goat year wines in stock today, by vintage, region and colour.
2015
2003
1991
Your questions answered
When is Chinese New Year 2027?
Chinese New Year 2027 falls on Saturday 6 February 2027, with the second day on Sunday 7 February; both are public holidays in Singapore, and Monday 8 February is a holiday for anyone whose rest day falls on the Sunday. The reunion dinner is held on the eve, Friday 5 February. The lunar year is Ding-wei, the Year of the Goat, and the celebrations run fifteen days to chap goh mei on 20 February.
What wine should I serve at a reunion dinner?
Two or three bottles, opened in order: a Champagne for the yusheng and the cold dishes, a fresh white without heavy oak for the whole steamed fish, and a mature red with soft tannin for the braised dishes, pen cai and roast meats. Serve the red cool, at about 15 to 17°C. For eight to ten people, make the red a magnum. Choose bottles with an 8 or a 3 in the vintage, and no 4.
Is red wine lucky for Chinese New Year?
Red is the auspicious colour of the festival, so red wine suits the table and a red or gold label suits a gift. The wine's colour does not have to fight the food: a mature or naturally soft red, served cool, goes well with fish and braised dishes, while young, oaky reds clash with soy sauce. Many hosts open Champagne first and bring the red out for the braise and the roasts.
What is a lucky vintage for Chinese New Year?
A vintage with an 8 in it is the luckiest, because eight sounds like the Cantonese word for good fortune; even numbers are favoured for the same reason hongbao hold even sums. A vintage with a 4 is avoided, because four sounds like death. We also welcome a 3 and years ending in 9. For 2027 that means 2008, 2018, 2013, 2023, 1983, 1988 and 1989 are in, and 2004, 2014 and 2024 are out.
What wine goes with yusheng?
A dry blanc de blancs Champagne. Yusheng is raw fish with shredded vegetables, crisp bits, oil and sweet plum sauce, tossed together, and the sweetness and vinegar flatten most still wines. Champagne's acidity and bubbles cut through the oil and sugar and have no tannin to clash with the fish. Taittinger itself pairs Comtes de Champagne with ceviche and sea bass tartare, which are close cousins of yusheng.
What wine should I give as a Chinese New Year gift?
A bottle with a red or gold label, a vintage with an 8 or a 3 and no 4, wrapped in red or gold. A name that means something lucky helps: Penfolds is 奔富, rushing towards riches, and Château Haut-Brion is 侯伯王, three ranks of nobility. Bring it with the customary pair of mandarin oranges; visiting empty handed is considered rude.
Which wines have lucky Chinese names?
Château Haut-Brion is 侯伯王, marquis, earl and king, on the estate's own Chinese site. Château Léoville Las Cases is 雄狮庄园, the estate of the mighty lion, and a lion stands on the gate pictured on its label. Penfolds is 奔富, rushing towards riches. Château Mouton Rothschild, 罗基德木桐酒庄, takes the ram as its emblem, and its 2008 label shows one, which suits the Year of the Goat. Château Cos d'Estournel chose not to take a Chinese name when the official list was drawn up.
The Grape Vinery is a Singapore fine wine merchant and importer, established in 2014. For the right bottle for your table, read our Highly Rated Wines page.
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Fine wine merchant and importer, Singapore