13% Gastro Wine

13% Gastro Wine
123A Telok Ayer Street

117 Killiney Road

14 Aliwal Street #02-01

https://www.13gastrowine.com/

5-Cheese Board & Mini Baguette Bread Basket

Good Range Of Wines

(Ratings: On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 = Worst and 10 = Best)
Overall: 6
Ambience & Setting: 5
Food & Beverage: 6
Service: 6
Value for Money: 6
Spent about SGD $75 per person.


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Established since December 2015 by wine connoisseur Bruno Vaillant and award-winning chef Geoffrey Weckx, 13% Gastro Wine is a wine and cheese bar that offers curated small label wines from family-owned vineyards, though they also have more commonly found wine labels as well. A small place meant for lingering meals and catching up with friends over light bites and wines, 13% Gastro Wine has seen its popularity decline in the face of more modern wine bars, and the menu has shrunk accordingly, especially affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ambience at 13% Gastro Wine is cozy and intimate. Warm dim lighting casts an orange yellow glow upon the sturdy wooden and metal furniture. Where the place once would have accomodated around 50 pax, with safe distancing, this has reduced to about 30 pax. Still, the old shophouse structure has poor acoustics, causing sound to echo, which amplifies noise from people talking... meaning as the night goes on, the place gets more noisy. It's difficult to have proper conversations without a little yelling here. Also, the place has a slight cooking odour lingering in the air.

Service at 13% Gastro Wine is friendly and casual. The staff are mostly French, and slip easily into conversation, but seem to have only basic product knowledge. This is evident in the broad general terms they use to introduce dishes (points for doing so though), and seemingly unsure of how best to pair wine and cheese (which is the point of a wine bar). Staff are efficient, regularly offering to clear finished dishes, and cleaning up quickly when diners leave. They proactively ask if diners require more drinks. Service recovery is decent, with an apology and alternative dish offered when our original order ran out of stock.

Food at 13% Gastro Wine started out focusing on French cuisine, but they've recently partially deviated to offer Mediterranean cuisine as well. The menu has been greatly reduced as a result of COVID-19, mostly consisting of finger food / snacks / tapas now. Quality remains slightly above average. The wine list has a good range, but it's less extensive than before, though still focused on French and New Zealand labels. Portions are sized for communal group sharing. Prices are slightly lower now, comparable to most casual wine bars. Budget about SGD $75 per person for snacks and drinks here.


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13% Gastro Wine Signage

Seating

Decor Wine Bottles

Us

The Wine Awatere River Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2019 (SGD $50) is a white wine, made from 100% Sauvignon Blanc green grapes, by the Awatere River Wine Company in Blenheim, Marlborough, New Zealand. It has a pale green white colour, with aromas of green apple, grass, honey, and grapefruit. The body is crisp, smooth, and light, with tastes of strawberry, honeydew melon, basil, and kiwi fruit. Has a soft fruity sweet herbal flavour, with a refreshing dry finish.

The Wine Chateau Tour De Pez Saint-Estephe Bordeaux 2012 (SGD $87) is a red wine, made with a blend of 48% Cabernet Sauvignon red grapes, 47% Merlot black grapes, 3% Cabernet Franc black grapes, and 2% Petit Verdot red grapes, by the Chateau Tour De Pez in Saint-Estephe, Gironde, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France. It has a deep red purple colour, with aromas of plum, oak, blackcurrant, and raspberry. The body is full, rounded, and velvety, with tastes of blackberry, leather, cherry, and liquorice. Has a robust earthy woody sweet flavour, with a tannic dry finish.

Wine Awatere River Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2019 (SGD $50)

Wine Chateau Tour De Pez Saint-Estephe Bordeaux 2012 (SGD $87)

Staff walk you through how to order the 5-Cheese Board (SGD $42). Choose whether you prefer hard or soft cheeses, taste profiles, or aroma (intense or mild). However, they don't seem to introduce each cheese by name as it's served, instead referencing them by their general characteristics.

5-Cheese Board (SGD $42)

The Cheese 1 - Gruyère De Comté, also known as Comté Cheese, is an unpasteurized cow's milk cheese that is firm with a hard texture, and a mild earthy sweet cheesy flavour.

Cheese 1 - Gruyère De Comté

The Cheese 2 - Fourme De Cantal Laitier, also known as Cantal Cheese, is a pasteurized cow's milk cheese that is semi-firm with a tender texture, and a vigorous buttery earthy sour sweet cheesy flavour. The cows are hay-fed, resulting in this having its distinct taste.

Cheese 2 - Fourme De Cantal Laitier

The Cheese 3 - Camembert De Normandie, also known as Normandy Camembert Cheese, is an unpasteurized cow's milk cheese that is semi-soft with a creamy texture, and a pleasant milky salty sweet cheesy flavour.

Cheese 3 - Camembert De Normandie

The Cheese 4 - Chaumes L'Original, also known as Original Chaumes Cheese, is a pasteurized cow's milk cheese that is semi-soft with a rubbery texture, and a robust earthy nutty sweet savoury cheesy flavour. Made using traditional monastic techniques.

Cheese 4 - Chaumes L'Original

The Cheese 5 - Munster Géromé, also known as Munster Cheese, is an unpasteurized cow's milk cheese that is soft with a gooey texture, and a pungent earthy sour salty cheesy flavour. Stinky but not overly so, it almost acts like a spread on bread.

Cheese 5 - Munster Géromé

The Mini Baguette Bread Basket (SGD $Complimentary) is served with every order of a cheese board, and is refillable at no cost. The Mini Baguette bread has a crisp pourous crunch to texture, with a light bready sweet flavour, making it great for pairing with most anything.

Mini Baguette Bread Basket (SGD $Complimentary)

Mini Baguette

The Duck Rillette (SGD $15) has always been a signature item here, and this tapas size appetizer pairs well in any meal. Served chilled, the duck rillette is stringy with a light moist chew, and holds bold meaty salty savoury smoky flavour. Great on bread, great with cheese, good on its own or paired with olives.

Duck Rillette (SGD $15)

Duck Rillette On Mini Baguette

The Belgian style Fries (SGD $13) are chunky and large, with a soft fluffy interior and a slightly crisp exterior. Nice salty starchy sweet flavour when you bite in, with decent potato flavour.

Fries (SGD $13)

Fries

The Octo (SGD $51) features large grilled chunks of octopus (usually the octopus tentacles), served with a side of fresh wild rocket leaves / arugula that is crisp with vegetal bitter herbal flavour. The octopus is chunky and bouncy in texture, with a lovely smoky sweet savoury flavour. Good!

Octo (SGD $51)

Octo

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