The Aether Journal

Mala and wine might not sound like an obvious match. One is fiery, numbing, oily and intensely aromatic. The other is still too often associated with cheese boards, steaks and leisurely European dinners. But choose the right bottle and wine can be surprisingly good with mala, Sichuan hotpot and many of the spicy dishes we eat regularly in Singapore.

Thirty years after the release of Reasonable Doubt, Jay-Z is back on stadium stages in 2026, celebrating a career that has continually crossed the boundaries between music, culture and business. But another anniversary sits quietly alongside it. Armand de Brignac turns 20.

Every November, Burgundy’s wine world gathers in Beaune for an auction unlike any other. The Hospices de Beaune Wine Auction brings together some of the region’s most celebrated vineyards, centuries of history and one of the most distinctive ways to acquire Burgundy: by the barrel, before the wine has even been bottled....

Wine price and wine quality are related, but they are not the same thing. In France, some of the largest differences in price are driven by appellation prestige, vineyard scarcity and global demand. This creates an opportunity: drink just outside the most famous names and it is often possible to find serious wines at considerably lower prices. Aether's current French Wines Under S$100 selection illustrates this particularly well. It includes wines from the Rhône Valley, Burgundy, Alsace and Corsica rather than relying on generic entry-level labels.