Every Saturday TheChampagneSommelier will ask 5 questions about 5 coeur de bouteilles to friends and Champagne lovers from near and far. This Week we took a bubbly chat with Singaporean Champagne lover Jonas Ng from GxChampagne. Merci Jonas !
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
BIO
Jonas from GxChampagne
This is Jonas from GxChampagne base in Singapore. I started with my wife the IG account to keep a journal of the champagnes we have tasted over the years.
Back when we started in 2013, Singapore were mostly predominated by mainstream brands.
We felt that we could do more and wanted to learn what importers are bringing in to Singapore.
We are not in the industry but started our journey when we visited a good friend who owns vineyard in champagne region.
Our very first interaction with Champagne was to eat an unripe chardonnay grape on the vineyard and taking the heritage tours of the region by a local. With endless tasting every visit, we hear stories from big or small makers, learn more about their terroir, and recently viniculture.
[follow Jonas on Instagram here]
Which Champagne would You treat your parents or in-laws?
‘Champagne Couvreur Prak PROSPÉRITÉ VINTAGE 2010 Millésimé – Brut. Coming from Asian heritage with Chinese descent, this is probably first or of few to have a Chinese character on the bottle. Coincidentally, it’s our family name 黄. We decided to investigate and found out that the maker is of Chinese descent sharing the same family name. This bottle is rich and sweet spices along with citrusy notes, that works well with my mother-in-law’s spicy Indonesian dishes.’
Which Champagne would You treat your lover?
‘Both of us are hipsters at heart. Possibly a trying a different 2009 vintage for any producer will be great. Considering 2009 wasn’t a popular vintage and even harder to get over the years, we realise each bottle delivered surprises, more complex notes and maturity [Just like our marriage over time] We are currently eyeing Jacquesson Champagne Ay Vauzelle Terme 2009 to see if we can get our hands on them.‘
Which Champagne would You treat your boss?
‘Honestly, the person I work for doesn’t really drink, but general bosses wont not decline a bottle of Krug that comes with a wooden box. Looks great in the office with our without the bottle inside.‘
Which Champagne would You treat yourself?
‘Right now we are crazy about Fût de chêne. So any MV or Argonne from Henri Giraud would be a treat, thou happy to taste from any maker we haven’t tried.‘
Which Champagne would You treat a dream guest, and why?
‘I have never thought about a dream guest as I believe people cross paths by fate. Being a good host we are open to drink anything he/she desires. Come to think of it, I would love to meet Richard Juhlin and having a drink with him on his hiking trips!‘
[ what piece of music would you listen to drinking wine with Your dream guest ?]
‘Comptine d’un Autre été: L’Après-Midi by Yann Tiersen – Amelia [OST]
Somehow the melody is hypnotic while starring at the trails of bubble in the glass. Funny enough, this was the reason why we created a Spotify album‘
