If you judge gastro wine bar Ma Cuisine just by the numbers, it makes for impressive reading: 600 labels of wines and spirits, totalling 3,000 bottles. It’s a diverse wine list, culled from various terroirs of wine-producing regions in France and beyond.

Co-owners Anthony Charmetant (the wine guy) and Mathieu Escoffier (the food guy).

But number don’t tell everything. Design, concept, ambience and the unassuming service of co-owners Anthony Charmetant and Mathieu Escoffier complete what is a unique type of wine experience in Singapore.

The raw austere look of Ma Cuisine (their original is in Beaune) is meant to replicate an idea of a cellar door, no fuss, no frills, just good old wines and food. The latter is simple, uncomplicated yet top-notch, with quality cheeses, salmon and bites served with confidence – French classics and Burgundian specials to match the wine.

The wines are something altogether.

A lovely detail you don’t see is the floor, which is covered with lava pebbles to absorb the impact of a dropped bottle.

You can only order wines by the bottle at this gastro wine bar (nothing by glass), and it’s not really a retail shop. You’re meant to enjoy the drinking experience in the convival setting and, as Anthony rightfully observes, “wine from the same bottle will develop as the night moves on” and you will be tasting something different. “We’re trying to transmit a new kind of drinking experience,” he adds. “We drink because we are curious, we are open to discovery, and we have an open minded approach to wines.”

The menu is updated fortnightly, as wines are consumed (they might only have a bottle or two of a certain label) and the stock changes regularly.

All the wines on the menu are listed according to appellation first, which forces punters to explore a bit more of the listing, and the range is irreverent. You might start with a $65 bottle from a boutique winery in France and easily hit four digits if you’re looking for something more, ahem, celebratory (above).

Other acclaimed finds include Meursaults Les Luchets Domaine Guy Roulot 2012 ($380), from the legendary producer of some of the finest Meursaults, a “Les Casse Tetes” 2015 Domaine Tessier ($132), a great value Cotes du Rhone “Khayyam” 2015 Domaine Mas de Libian ($78), or a rare and hard-to-find Bordeaux vintage, the Sauternes 1958 Château d’Yquem ($1,522).

Expect Anthony and Mathieu to surprise you with finds from less-explored regions such as Lebanon, Hungary, and Portugal.

The Port cellar looks like a bomb shelter, as it rightfully should – it’s guarding some serious spirits.

Ma Cuisine also has The. Biggest. Collection. Of. Port. In. South-East Asia.

E’nuff said.

Lucky us, eh?

We’ve mentioned ‘gastro wine bar’ a few times, and aptly so. Ma Cuisine is a bar in the sense that it’s casual and convival, and it’s gastro in that the food isn’t just ordinary bar bites and snacks – there’s an elevated level to their offering, but without the stuffiness of a high-end restaurant.

And the wine part? Well, that’s the most obvious and best part.

Ma Cuisine, 38 Craig Road, tel: 65 6224-1838, resv@macuisinesg.com

Monday to Saturday 5.00pm – 12:00am (11:45pm last order).

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