Summer 2012 | `900 Fall 2012 | `900 Douro • Barca Ve lh a •• Italy’s Ruin a r t Musketeers • De c a d e De stiny Gaja • F 1• Biondi-Santi Ch a m p a g•n e •Story Stei nway FINE Ambassadors’ & High Commissioners’ Table Four of of Wine • Angelo The of Champagne • Maserati –G F LE IF DP A DN IR EP T 1I 0N 0E B SE T AWA C H AR M EK S N FIO RO 2O 0R 12

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Phantom Drophead Coupé A New World Rolls-Royce Motor Cars introduces Phantom Series II. The new generation of Phantom Drophead Coupé epitomises relaxed open-top motoring. Each hood is tailored by hand, and when raised offers a whisper-quiet intimate cabin. At the touch of a button it retracts, embracing the elements for an exhilarating ride. Contact us to experience a car with endless possibilities; a car built for today and designed for tomorrow. Fuel economy figures (l/100km): Urban 22.8 / Extra urban 10.2 / Combined 14.8. CO2 emissions: 347 (g/km). Energy efficiency category: G www.rolls-roycemotorcars.com © Copyright Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Limited 2012. The Rolls-Royce name and logo are registered trademarks. 04/04/2012 17:46

CLIVE CHRISTIAN BEDROOM IVORY AND WALNUT CLIVE CHRISTIAN PANELLED ROOM IVORY AND WALNUT CC_FineWine_Magazine_Ivory_DPS_NF.indd 1 05/07/2012 12:47:07 CC_

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F I N E W I N E & C H A M P A G N E I N D I A F A L L 2 0 1 2 PAGE 14 PAGE 24 FINE Life Award PAGE 34 FINE Event PAGE 40 FINE Region PAGE 62 8 FINE Gallery FINE History PAGE 74 FINE Legend FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA

W I N E & C H A M P A G N E I N D I A F A L L 2 0 1 2 FINE Contents F I N E PAGE 104 FINE City PAGE 112 FINE Celebration 11 Fineeditorial Haloed Wine Circles 14 FineGallerY Wine Advertising - have you seen any? 22 FineliHtonen The Significance of the Saint-Émilion Classification 24 FineliFe aWard Dirk Niepoort 34 FineeVent FINE Life Award Felicitation Dinner 38 Finenair Wine Lists in India are Better than Ever 40 FinereGion Douro - The Smiling Inferno 56 Fineeditor’s PiCK The Yeatman - Porto 16 Reincarnations of Barca Velha 68 FinenUiKKi It’s the Journey, not the Destination The Story of Champagne Part ii 74 FineleGend Ruinart - the World’s First Champagne Brand 86 FinesUCKlinG Vintage: 1982 Bordeaux 88 FinesCienCe In the Search of the Perfect Closure 94 FinedeViCe The Secret of Everlasting Champagne 96 FineaUCtion FINE Weekend 62 FineHistorY 70 FineHistorY PAGE 116 The Decade of Destiny 102 FineroBinson 104 FineCitY PAGE 124 FINE Lifestyle 1368 Varieties Helsinki - Bubbling Design Capital 112 FineCeleBration Champagne Dom Perignon Rose 1959 116 FineWeeKend Thrills, Spills and Bubbles 122 FineJUHlin Guided by the Nose 124 FineliFestYle 88 Keys to Heaven FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 9

WRITERS FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA VOLUME 2 ISSUE 3 Q3 2012 Editor Rajiv Singhal Publisher Rajiv Singhal for Fine Publishing India Private Limited Chief Executive Ritu Singhal Rajiv Singhal Rajiv Singhal is an entrepreneur who pioneered activities in the luxury sector in India. He studied Economics at Yale, and since then has been simplifying access to the Indian market for international clients. Among other path breaking initiatives, he helped set up the market for wine in India over the last 16 years. Mr. Singhal is the Ambassador of Champagne to India, who loves to challenge himself. Pekka Nuikki Pekka Nuikki is an author and one of the leading experts on fine wines in Europe. He is the founder of FINE Magazines and has published over twenty acclaimed international wine and art books. He is an award winning photographer, who has exhibited his artwork all over the world and has worked as creative director of an advertising agency group. Mr. Nuikki is also the luckiest man in the world, having hit seven hole-in-ones. Juha Lihtonen Juha Lihtonen is the manyfold Finnish sommelier champion and was the best sommelier in the Nordic countries in 2003. He is the quintessential Finn, but loves to chat - which earns him a reputation with his 4 a.m. friends. He has worked as a wine educator, a wine host on radio and the wine buyer of a major cruise line. Besides his day jobs, Mr. Lihtonen studies for the Master of Wine qualification. Director of Editorial Pekka Nuikki Contributors Meri Kukkavaara Edward Kaukoranta Petri Nevalainen Marketing Jannat Dhingra Distribution Amrita Bhageria Art & Creative Sandeep Kaul Photographs Akshat Arora Administration Avneet Kaur Editorial & Business Offices 6F Vandhna, 11 Tolstoy Marg, New Delhi 110001 E: contact@fine-magazines.in W: www.fine-magazines.in Subscriber Information T: +91 11 23359874-75 RNI no. DELENG/2010/35861 ISSN 2231-5098 Edited, Printed and Published by Rajiv Singhal on behalf of Fine Publishing India Private Limited. Published from 6F Vandhna, 11 Tolstoy Marg, New Delhi 110001 India. Printed at Aegean Offset Printers, 220-B, Udyog Kendra Extension I, Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh 201306, India. All rights reserved. No part of this publication maybe reproduced, stored in any retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the publisher. The opinions of the contributors or interviewees presented in this magazine do not necessarily correspond to nor reflect the opinions of the publisher or the editorial team. While the editorial team do their utmost to verify information published they do not accept responsibility for its absolute accuracy. Fine Publishing does not keep nor return illustrations or other materials that have been sent in unsolicited, and hold the right to make any modifications in texts and pictures published in FINE Wine & Champagne India magazine. We reserve the right to refuse or suspend advertisements. 10 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA Essi Avellan MW Essi Avellan is the first Master of Wine from Finland, second ever from the Nordic countries. She was awarded the Lily Bollinger Medal as the best taster and the Tim Derouet Memorial Award as the best overall student in the Master of Wine examination. Ms. Avellan judges at several wine competitions and was inducted as Dame Chevalier into the Ordre des Coteaux de Champagne. Jancis Robinson MW Jancis Robinson is one of the most influential wine communicators in the world. She has a worldwide syndicated column and many acclaimed books to her credit. An award-winning TV presenter, she is invited all over the world to conduct wine events. She was the first person outside the wine trade to pass the Master of Wine exams in 1984. In 2003, Ms. Robinson was awarded an OBE by Her Majesty the Queen, on whose cellar she now advises. Martin Williams MW Martin Williams is a Yarra Valley-based winemaker and consultant. He studied Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Sydney before embarking on an extended journey into the world of wine. He became a Master of Wine in 1999, and won CIVC’s Vin de Champagne Award in 2008. Mr. Williams continues his wine consultancy, education and writing, while exploring his passions for flying, motorcycle touring and the Australian landscape. Aishwarya Nair Aishwarya Nair is Corporate Food and Wine Consultant with The Leela Hotels, founded by her grandfather. She graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in New York and wants to take the company’s culinary philosophy to reverential heights with a truly global offering of culinary arts, particularly with wine lists that reveal her intense passion for fine wines. Currently based in Mumbai, Ms. Nair is the youngest member of the FINE Inside who is intrigued by film-making. James Suckling James Suckling worked for 28 years as Senior Editor of The Wine Spectator, which he left in July 2010 to start www.jamessuckling.com and a wine events company. He enjoys tasting and discovering wines from all over the world, his specialty being Italy and Bordeaux. His most recent great wine adventure was a tasting of 57 vintages of Petrus. Mr. Suckling is the wine editor of the Asia Tatler group. Richard Juhlin Richard Juhlin is a champagne specialist who holds the world record for the number of champagnes tasted. Up until today 6946 champagnes have passed his lips. He has also written several books - 2000 Champagnes (1999), 3000 Champagnes (2002), 4000 Champagnes (2004) and the Richard Juhlin Champagne Guide (2008). In 2002, Mr. Juhlin received the Merite de Agricole from the French Ministry of Agriculture. Stuart George Stuart George is an awarded English freelance wine writer, who is known for his writing for The World of Fine Wine. He studied English and European Literature at the University of Warwick, and has worked as a wine merchant, travelling widely in different wine regions, before turning to wine writing. In his free time Mr. George listens to music, plays the guitar and follows cricket. Jukka Sinivirta Jukka Sinivirta is a very well-known Champagne book writer in his homeland, Finland. The book he co-authored with his wife was awarded the world’s best cheese book 2005 by Gourmand International. A maths and physics teacher, Mr. Sinivirta has been a passionate wine lover for 40 years and spends most of his vacations travelling around the wine regions and visiting wineries in Europe.

FINE is all about offering complete fine wine 16th century fortress of the Sun dynasty experiences. To share the everlasting moments associated maharanas and its rays shimmer on the pristine waters with rare, iconic and hard-to-get wines, FINE Inside of Lake Pichola in Udaipur, I sip on my favourite was created as one of the most exclusive, invitation-only Champagne in the shahi jharoka of the Kohinoor at the wine circles in the world. Aishwarya Nair has just been Oberoi Udaivilas. It is a modern day palace, customised enrolled as the youngest member of the FINE Inside, for the modern day maharaja, and this is a Lily Bollinger joining Dhruv Sawhney, whose interest in wine is inspired moment - I drink Champagne whenever I can, legendary and to whom I owe my introduction to fine so why not now? FINE Editorial A s the sun goes up from behind the parapets of the wines and FINE. They are the first of many from India, who might want to partake in historic wine experiences. I reflect on the probability of fine wines coming of age My unforgettable first was the Grand Tasting of 21 in India. At FINE, we believe that this will be the vintages of Chateau d’Yquem, going back to 1880, defining decade. FINE has been sharing fine wines with alongside 24 bottles of first growths including Clos de Indian oenophiles, but in doing so we have been Goisses 1999, Cos d’Estournel 1924 and Petrus 1994 confronted by the massification of this wine classification. from magnums, Hermitage La Chapelle 1988… par for To create a market for fine wines in India, many years the FINE course for 16 people in one evening! of misleading and iterative marketing campaigns by overzealous companies would have to undone. The festivities, that Indians have acquired a global reputation for, begin. This time of the year, the My fears that this task would be herculean are somewhat celebrations are about the triumph of good over evil. I mitigated by some wine encounters in the past few dare say the wine market in India would do well to weeks. The management team of a global wine receive similar divine intervention. conglomerate assured me that their portfolio of New World (including Indian) wines are intended for the I take this opportunity to extend FINE greetings for the aam aadmi (common man) - indeed, a very savvy and festive season - drink well! politically correct statement in India today. At the same time, a couple of fine wine estates affirmed their commitment to the Indian market and presented vertical tastings of fine wines that made for good drinking - the articulate Giorgio Fragiacomo of Querciabella, presented the Batar, Chianti Classico and the Camartina; and the age defying Leonardo Frescobaldi of Marchesi de’ Frescobaldi, showcased the Luce and Mormoreto, wines that imbibe seven centuries of history. Rajiv Singhal Rajiv Singhal FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 11

some of the world’s most extraordinary chefs are now among Blackberry Farm’s most anticipated guests. Situated in the Tennessee foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains, Blackberry Farm’s Relais & Châteaux property — recently named #1 for Service in the Continental U.S. and Canada by Travel + Leisure — is celebrating its 35th anniversary by bringing back some of their favorite guest chefs, vintners and artists for this year’s schedule of unforgettable events. From its 180,000-bottle Grand Award-winning wine selection and renowned cuisine to countless opportunities for wellness and adventure across 4,200 protected acres, Blackberry Farm is home to enriching, one-of-a-kind experiences all year long. To reserve your place at one of our special events, contact our Reservations Team, or visit us online for a complete calendar of upcoming events. Walland, Tennessee 00.1.865.984.8166 blackberryfarm.com joi

Sean Brock Join Chefs Mike Lata, Vivian Howard, and Tyler Brown along with Vintner Jamey Whetstone and Newest Fellow, Chef Sean Brock for the 2013 Taste of the South Jan uary 10-13, 2013 Michael Accarrino joins us along with Vintner Jasmine Hirsch of Hirsch Family Vineyards Jan uary 20-23, 2013 Wine in the Fly join Blackberry Farm Chef Jospeh Lenn, along with vintners Jim Barbour of Barbour Wines, Justin Stephens of DR Stephens Wines and Brian Lamborn of Lamborn Family Vineyards a pril 7-10, 2013 Hospice du Rhone join Vintners Yves Gangloff, Vieus Donjon, Alban Vineyards, Epoch Wines and Herman Story Wines M ay 2-5, 2013

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FINE Gallery Text: Pekka Nuikki Wine Advertising – Have You Seen Any? How many wine advertisements do you remember seeing in magazines and newspapers? How many mottoes or slogans do you recall? Probably not many. In fact, remembering even one will place you above the average. This is no surprise. In a fiercely competitive wine industry, valued at an estimated 18 billion euros in 2011, the majority of wine producers have no marketing budget whatsoever, not to mention any advertising budget. Consumers generally do not like to spend money on things they do not know. It is hard to get to know someone without communication, and advertising forms a part of the communication between a product and its customer – a step forward on the path of getting to know each other. Therefore, one of the best ways of standing out from among more than 300 000 wine brands is still traditional marketing and advertising. This basic fact became clear to the Inglenook Winery forty years ago, and in a very simple way: through dialogue. Showing Up Woody Allen once said that eighty per cent of success is showing up. Advertising works pretty much in the same way. Show up in popular media and you stand a chance of people remembering your product when they are making a purchase decision. Simple, but time-consuming and expensive. Still, it is essential if you want to make your brand a success. Good communications, like good advertisements, always have an inexplicable attraction – a strange, almost supernatural or magical pull that stays in your mind. Depending on your attitude towards commercial communications, you might approach this attraction with either spontaneous admiration, cool detachment, childish enthusiasm, straight-laced seriousness or preconceived judgement. One thing is for sure, though: good advertising garners a response and awakens interest from buyers. Let Your Product Speak for Itself Browsing the latest leading wine publications, I find plenty of interesting, sharply written and beautifully illustrated articles, but no advertisements fulfilling the same criteria. It is just one beauty shot of a bottle after the next, without any relevant or memorable statements. Today, companies have to provide more information about themselves and their products than ever before. There are an increasing number of places for customers and products to meet. Therefore, I contend that in the wine industry, more than in any other similarly sized industry, advertising offers the easiest and most cost-effective way of standing out from the crowd and having a positive impact on consumers’ purchase decisions. For those who make a living out of it, wine is a very mundane product. Working with it daily, they can easily start to view the world and the market purely from their own perspective; they see only their own product and its technical or functional excellence and forget what it is that actually makes people buy it. This is why we need advertising, copywriters and media: to act as interpreters between the product and its buyers. FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 15

For consumers, wine is far from mundane. It contains many fascinating, appealing and valuable elements – things that should be brought out and presented to potential buyers. This requires advertising that can highlight the product’s best aspects without undermining its credibility. Good advertising is always based on solid fact. Its energy comes from verifiable properties of the product or service on offer. Wine, perhaps more than any other consumer good, contains a huge number of aesthetic and ethical factors on which to build a positive message. Consumers are smart. Anyone can distinguish an excellent advertisement from a mediocre one – just like a good wine from a bad one. Anyone can interpret and mentally process a message that is punchy, different, positive and fresh and which tickles our imaginations. That is the definition of a good advert. Although it is crucial to remember and accept that the most important task of advertising, besides imparting information, is to enhance sales – not to act as a free news or entertainment channel for viewers. The main difference between factual communication and advertising lies in the presentation or tuning. In this way, advertising can seduce its audience more effectively than 16 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA a purely rational message. It is thus the approach, rather than the medium or even the content, that differentiates advertising from other communi­ cations. The changes in society since the 1960s, arising from information and communication technology developments, economic globalisation, increasing prosperity, liberalisation of ideas, weakening of traditional behavioural norms and growth of market supply, have led to a situation with completely different daily routines and well-being levels. Advertising and marketing were also in turmoil at the time, looking for their place in the new communication channels and modes that were becoming available. The result was partly a lot of trivial nonsense but partly also the sharpest and most insightful communications of their time. Diversity was not feared, it was turned into art – and not just any art, but sellable art. Inglenook conducted an extensive and attention-grabbing advertising campaign, which did not, however, rely on the colourful and penetrating phenomena of its time. Its success was not based on flamboyant, imaginative pictures or on ostentatious promises concerning the product’s superiority. Quite the opposite. The advertisements consisted of small black-and-white pictures with a relatively large amount of text. It is difficult even to discern the real essence of the product – its so-called unique selling argument. In Inglenook’s adverts, the philosophy of enjoying wines has been broken down into small pieces and ingeniously regrouped into an explosive whole, which is meanwhile very modestly framed. Despite their apparent plainness, the messages are a beguiling reinterpretation of the marketed product and all of its values. I consider this reinterpretation to be skilfully constructed and pretty clever. I believe that at the time it led to almost instant changes in the minds and behaviour of the recipients of the message. The advertisements’ directness and honest, fact-based humour were a strong weapon in vying for positive, action-inducing attention from consumers. Good advertising consists of timeless aesthetics, well-timed entertainment, multidimensional culture and straightforward product information, all at the same time. Advertising is interpersonal communication, without which our environment would be much impoverished – both spiritually and materialistically. >

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COLUMN JUHA LIHTONEN The Significance of The SainT-Émilion claSSificaTion? B ordeaux’s Saint-Émilion is, once again, in crisis. Producers in the region are again in dispute over a new classification of their wines. Last time the matter went as far as a Parisian court of law, which resulted in the attempted classification being shelved. The parties involved in the dispute should try to see the wood for the trees, however, and understand that the core of the problem is not in the classification criteria but in why and for whom the classification was made. Considering the significance of the SaintÉmilion Classification. The main reason for its existence is to help consumers form an idea of the quality of the wines from the region, and currently most consumers have no understanding of this. While it is of course important for the SaintÉmilion producers to reach consensus on the internal standards of the classification, it is also essential to contemplate the relevance of the classification to consumers and how it could help to ensure sufficient demand for wines from the region, both on the domestic market and around the world. Usually, a classification is an excellent tool for this purpose. So, would it finally be time to market the 1955 Saint-Émilion Classification to 34 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA consumers? It is useless to imagine that consumers will find out about it on their own, especially if they do not sense its relevance. Changes to the classification are necessary, and the naming of the classes should be simpler and more transparent. Friends of Bordeaux wines are used to common classification terms such as first growth and second growth, and within Saint-Émilion wines they encounter peculiar designations such as Premier Grand Cru Classe A and B. Whoever would want to buy a class B wine, anyway? The best thing about the disputed new classification is that an additional two châteaux have made it to the highest class. A small number of wines in the top ranking could easily communicate to consumers that not many top

FINE Lihtonen wines are produced in the region. Now, four is better than two, but there would still be a possibility to extend the list by at least one or two further names. In any case, the success of the Saint-Émilion Classification depends on its significance – not only internally but especially for the rest of the world. For this kind of significance to arise, communication efforts must be made. Producers should finally begin to view the marketing of the classification as an opportunity rather than a costly burden. The region’s producers should join forces when it comes to marketing this shared concern to the wider public; after all, marketing and advertising are not just privileges that belong to the largest wineries. In fact, they are still the only way to stand out in a crowd of more than 400 000 wine brands. Saint-Émilion produces excellent fine wines – and not only those that have now been awarded the top title in the classification – such as Cheval Blanc, Ausone, Angélus and Pavie. However, their producers are winemakers rather than admen, and they need help marketing their wines. Surely that should be the primary task and purpose of the organisation that created the classification in the first place? > FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 35

Handmade Timepiece by Sarpaneva 24 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA

F I N E L i f e Awa r d The FINE Life Award is presented by FINE Magazines to individuals whose long-term contribution has been of outstanding significance to the greater cultural field of wine. With this award FINE Magazines wishes to both recognise the recipient’s achievements and encourage them to continue on the path of developing the culture of wine. FINE Life Award This FINE Life Award takes the form of a bespoke handcrafted Sarpaneva timepiece, which operates using kinetic energy, made by Finnish watchmaker Stepan Sarpaneva. Symbolising the ethos of the FINE Life Award, in order to run, the timepiece requires its master to move. FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 25

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F I N E L i f e Awa r d The FINE Magazines editorial team rewards people in the wine industry who have acted philanthropically and persistently in order to share their passion for the finest wine experiences with wine lovers around the world. In doing this, they have raised the profile of an entire region’s wines by paving the way for better quality wines and wine experiences. The accolade is not given annually, but only when there is reason for it. It was first awarded in 2009 to Bill Harlan of Napa Valley for his ambitious work setting new standards for Napa Valley wines and building opportunities for catering to high-end tourism in the area. The FINE Life Award is now being awarded to the Portuguese fifth-generation winemaker Dirk Niepoort. Dirk Niepoort FINE Life Award 2012 Text: juha Lihtonen Photographs: Akshat Arora We know no other person in the wine business who would spend as much time working on increasing the renown of their country’s wine industry around the world. Fluent in seven languages, Dirk spends more than 250 days per year travelling, talking about his region’s wines and organising events and tastings. With his unprejudiced endeavours he has raised Portuguese red wines to a completely new level, and he is now the best-known wine personality in the country – not to mention being responsible for some of Portugal’s best port wines, which carry his name. He is also involved in several new wine projects around the world. As a person, Dirk is unselfish and humble but also full of positive energy, spirited and frank discourse and intellectual excellence, in subjects ranging from winemaking to generating new marketing solutions and contemporary winerelated design. Anybody who encounters Dirk on his travels around the world is bound to remember the caring, warm and positive, yet sharp-tongued and challenging, Ambassador for modern Portuguese wines. His excellent wines speak the same language. FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 27

Dirk Niepoort – You can if you really want to! Dirk Niepoort, 48, is a familiar sight at top wine events around the The afternoon sun is beating down on an exotic garden. A large banyan world. In the last six months I have met the man at several fine and rare wine tree casts its shadow over the white stone building in the centre. On the events, including a Romanée-Conti tasting at Lake Como in Italy, a Cheval building’s terrace sits a curly-haired man, dressed in a carefree and relaxed Blanc tasting in Wiesbaden, Germany, the Century Tasting in Helsinki, outfit and holding a cooled bottle, off which the condensation is dripping Finland, and now here in New Delhi at the Harlan Tasting. onto hot paving stones. The flank of the bottle bears the large text Ruby He is an exception among wine producers in many ways, travelling Port, and above that is the man’s own name, Niepoort. Dirk Niepoort, who around the world for 250 days a year marketing not only his own but also has distinguished himself as a pioneer of modern winemaking in Portugal, his competitors’ products. Additionally, he takes part in rare wine tastings welcomes us with a playful smile, to his lodgings – in India. whenever possible. His favourites are port wines, as well as light, nuanced “This is actually the Portuguese Ambassador’s residence, where I am staying while passing through. I promised to look after the house for a few days while he is travelling with his family, before I go on to Japan. I decided wines from Burgundy and Mosel. Beside his own wines, his cellar contains 6000 fine wines from the world’s top producers. to stop by New Delhi to survey the market, as I also received an invitation to Don Quixote of the Douro a wine dinner given by my friend Bill Harlan and Dhruv Sawhney.” “Wines are my life. I love them. Travelling around the world has been a central part of my life in the wine industry. By seeing, experiencing and tasting other people’s wines I can learn, and I apply the best of what I learn to improving my own products. While travelling I can also fulfil my great dream of marketing the fine wines from my country. The fulfilment of this dream “I’m a dreamer. I dream about things. I see and feel things that others don’t. I visualise my dreams and live them in advance in my mind. At the same time I consider different ways of fulfilling them.” matters more to me than the success of the wines of my family business, so I have worked towards it more than my Portuguese colleagues. Perhaps for that reason I have sometimes been called the Ambassador for Portuguese wine. It is difficult to make a single voice heard in the world, however, so to succeed we will need many more wine ambassadors – at least one per country,” Dirk says. By his own admission, he is an oddity among Portugal’s wine producers, and his actions are seldom understood. In the eyes of many of his colleagues, Dirk Niepoort is like Cervantes’s Don Quixote: a lone warrior fighting invisible giants. “I’m a dreamer. I dream about things. I see and feel things that others don’t. I visualise my dreams and live them in advance in my mind. At the same time I consider different ways of fulfilling them. People around me often have difficulty understanding my quick decisions; to them they may seem risky actions that I have taken impulsively. In reality, I have thought them through very carefully and matured them over time in my head. In my winemaking affairs I live twenty years ahead of the present time and I base all my decisions on that time. That may explain my stubbornness when it comes, for instance, to certain wine production methods.” Without Dirk Niepoort and his dreams, the Portuguese wine industry might look very different. Although he considers ports to be some of the world’s best wines, he also sees his home region as one of the best red wine areas in the world, and has dedicated twenty years of his life to demonstrating it. In his view, Douro has a two-thousand-year history of producing poor-quality wines except ports. No highquality red wines had been made in the region before Nicolau d’Almeida’s Barca Velha in the 1950s, and none were produced after it until Dirk made his first Dirk with his girlfriend Nina and son Marco 28 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA red wine in 1990.

F I N E L i f e Awa r d Languages and inventions Dirk Niepoort, who was born in 1964, says that his family never forced him to work in the family business or even in the wine world. His German mother encouraged him to learn languages and to travel, as language skills are something no one can ever take away from you. Now fluent in Portuguese, German, English, Spanish, French, Italian and Swiss-German, Dirk is grateful for his parents’ support, as his language skills help him communicate his dream. Dirk’s interest in winemaking grew as he followed both his father and grandfather at their career in port wine production. It was also inspired by his grandfather’s accomplishments as an inventor who continuously carried out fascinating experiments at the winery, far removed from commercialism. One of his wildest attempts was a device built to mimic the effects of the gravitational pull of the Moon. The apparatus was placed in the cellar and used as an aid when timing the bottling of wines. Until making the decision to dedicate himself entirely to wines, Dirk studied economics at university. Later, he studied wine production in practice by observing other producers’ cellars and harvests. He followed his parents’ advice and travelled the world, working in Switzerland and the United States, among other places. “In 1986 I travelled to Napa Valley to take part in harvesting at the Cuvaison Estate. After the harvest “In my winemaking affairs I live twenty years ahead of the present time and I base all my decisions on that time.” I stayed on for a year to get to know the area, its producers and their wines. serve to his employees. He had been so enchanted with the wine that he had I learned to understand the concept of fine wines and how high-quality red had one barrel bottled for himself. The bottle found in Germany came from and white wines are produced. As I analysed my wine tasting experiences that barrel, and eight further bottles were discovered in the Niepoort cellar. from around the world, I was happy to realise that Niepoort wines were “The wine was unbelievable. It led me to think that if such a great wine better than I had thought. My new knowledge and my appreciation for the could be produced in the area already then, what amazing potential lay in it work of my father and grandfather prompted me to return home to try my with today’s techniques?” hand at winemaking.” Dirk’s decision to start producing red wine was spurred on by his friend Upon his return to Europe, Dirk visited Mosel, Germany, where he João, the son of Nicolau d’Almeida, who worked as a winemaker for Ramos met winemaker Wilhelm Haag in 1987. While his preferences were for Pinto. João was instructed by the management of the French Roederer sweet wines, with Haag’s guidance Dirk learned to value dry, nuanced and Group, which had bought the family business, to come up with new ways harmoniously acidic wines. He realised that greatness and strength are not to increase the desirability of their wines. Portugal was in the throes of a the most important things about wine, but rather balance, acidity and nerve. recession and sales of port wine were hiccupping. Dirk and João put their “Along with Wilhelm Haag, another person who was very important heads together to consider what actions could be taken if the demand for for me was Angelo Gaja. He influenced me in one particular way: whenever port plummeted. They got to work quickly. Dirk produced his first red wine, I had dinner with him at his house, he served some great wine other than Robustus, in 1990, and João made his own one year later. his own. This is something I always do now at my place. I have great “Others followed our example – slowly at first, and only a few small respect for Angelo. He always made time to talk to me and he is also a producers. The revolution that we started in 1990 did not properly pick up very good listener.” speed until 2001, when many of Douro’s now well-known new-wave red A revolutionary wine wines saw the light of day.” While some friends of port wine have expressed concern over the future The following year, 1988, Dirk was presented with a wine that was to prove of port wines now that the popularity of Douro still reds is growing, Dirk a turning point not only for his own life but for the future of the whole consoles them by saying that there is plenty of room for all wine types. Douro region. The German importer of Niepoort wines gave Dirk a bottle After all, the vineyards that are best for growing the grapes used in port are of Niepoort-labelled red wine from 1938. The strange bottle turned out to not ideal for red and white wine grapes. In other words, Douro has diverse be a wine bought by Dirk’s grandfather from a small quinta in Douro to opportunities for all kinds of wine production. FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 29

“If you are going to produce fine wines, you also have to enjoy them. You have to have an idea of what a fine wine tastes like, and be able to discuss it. By tasting and evaluating, everyone can learn about wines and their production. This helps every one of us to improve our own wines.” What have been your top wine experiences? Château Climens 1924 Taylor’s Vintage Port 1948 Krug Vintage 1964 Niepoort Garrafeira 1945 Leroy Richebourg 1991 All Romanée-Conti wines 30 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA

discuss it. By tasting and evaluating, everyone can learn about wines and their Dirk’s greatest challenges as a winemaker are the heat and drought of the production. This helps every one of us to improve our own wines.” Douro region. They often result in heavy, unbalanced wines characterised by Dirk says he is happy to have brought about some changes with the jammy fruitiness, flat acidity and strong tannins. His solution to the problem Douro Boys, but he is also frustrated that there are a further 2000 producers was initially a source of wonderment for other producers. F I N E L i f e Awa r d The secret to success is insanity in the region that are doing nothing for the cause – in fact, quite the opposite. “People thought me insane for buying grapes from the top of north- “Although I am by nature very disorganised and by no means a facing slopes. Whereas the temperature of the sun-drenched slopes’ lower and perfectionist, I do notice a big difference between my actions and those central parts is around 45 degrees in the daytime and 28 degrees at night, of many of my colleagues. With my minimum input I can achieve greater the top parts of the shady slopes reach 41 degrees during the day and only results than they do with their maximum input. That is frustrating. It’s not 14 degrees at night. This great daily fluctuation in temperature gives my that I work harder than them, but is more to do with the fact that even as a wines a better acidity, more balance and a lower alcohol content. This disorganised person I am able to focus on fixing the critical issues rather than makes for very elegant wines that can withstand decades of ageing and, once wasting time on inessentials.” matured, live up to their full potential while embodying the unique terroir of our region,” Dirk explains. At the moment, he is concerned about the views of the region’s other producers regarding what makes a modern red wine. Many locals believe that a wine is modern when it has an immediate rich, jammy and fruity palate and a full-bodied mouthfeel. These wines may do well in wine critics’ blind tastings when they are tested in small mouthfuls, Despite What are the best wines you have made so far? Niepoort Vintage Port 2005 “I don’t believe in a perfect wine, but this one is the closest to perfection that I have ever been able to produce. It has tannins like Romanée-Conti, it has more Burgundy aromas than port. You feel the tension in it but it does not hit you. It is 100% stems, foot-trodden, 12-14 hl/ha. I like to make the basic blend during the harvest at the winery in Douro. Many times it is just an experiment but in 2005 we used the same blend in the final wine. For me, this is perfect. It is so subtle and smooth, with the perfect quality of the tannins and a perfect length.” his frustrations, however, the eternal optimist in Dirk is able to see the bright side of things. “My work has in no manner been wasted, because in just a few decades our company has turned into one of the top names in Douro. I have been able to put together a team that has brought about successful growth – we are now fourteen times bigger than when I started working for the business. but in Dirk’s view they can only Batuta 2001 We have also built a new winery, be enjoyed one glass at a time. He “In 2001 I made the best still wine I had ever made: Batuta. It was only 12.5% proof and the critics doomed it because of its lightness and told me that I should never release it. Ten years later one of them had a big 2001 tasting, where it was chosen as the best wine.” which has made our wines far also does not believe that they will age well, because they lack an acidic backbone and therefore are flat and cannot take bottle ageing. superior in quality to what they were. I will also dare to say that our ports from the last ten years are better than any other producer’s. Our red wine Charme, is the highest-ranked “These wines could be disastrous for Portugal, because if they cannot and most desirable still red wine in deliver on promises they make in the long term, they will let down the Portugal. Furthermore, we have launched the highest-quality white wine consumers, who will turn their backs on Portuguese red wines,” Dirk from the Douro region, the Redoma Reserva Branco. And when you add the denounces. He continues: “Enough of these castrated, jammy juice-wines, FINE Life Award to all this, I have good reason to be very happy,” Dirk says. which are saturated with oak flavouring and impossible to enjoy in quantities greater than one or two glassfuls at a time, are produced around the world. Recession: the saviour of character We must focus on making wines from our own native varieties, using modern As for his future plans, Dirk says he will take part in more and more diverse technology combined with traditional methods. Only that will make us stand winemaking projects around the world. He will do this to investigate ways out from the crowd in the long run.” of refining the wines from Douro to make them even better, together with Dirk Niepoort has been trying to set a good example for his colleagues. He has also been involved in establishing an active group of ambitious Douro the other Douro Boys. With regard to Niepoort’s current wines, all that is required is fine-tuning. wine producers, whose aim is to prove to the world the region’s potential as “Thanks to our new state-of-the-art winery we can produce better and the birthplace of fine wines. Known as the Douro Boys, the group works better wines. The products we have made since 2007 have been finer than hard to increase the region’s esteem. They meet regularly to discuss projects ever before. We are also satisfied with our production volumes and have no and share their views on wines. Inspired by Dirk, the Douro Boys also have desire to increase them.” blind tastings at their meetings. Niepoort currently produces around one million bottles of wine and “If you are going to produce fine wines, you also have to enjoy them. around half a million bottles of port per year. If the last few years’ growth You have to have an idea of what a fine wine tastes like, and be able to in volume, at a rate of 25 per cent per annum, continues, the company will FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 31

32 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA

increase its production quantities significantly. This would mean streamlining and optimising operations while increasing the number of personnel. “I don’t want this company to grow any further, because excessive growth is an easy way to erase our personality.” Dirk the optimist is thankful for the recession currently afflicting Europe and, especially, Portugal, as without it he might not have noticed the company’s excessive growth and the related problems. “It is time now to assess our wine portfolio more carefully. We might produce few new wines. I have, for many years, thought of starting to produce wine from Bairrada, a very tough area “The secret to a good life and good wines lies in the balance. Balance requires both success and failure.” F I N E L i f e Awa r d have to make huge investments, and to fund those investments it will have to that nobody likes; for me, the region has yielded one of the best wines of Portugal. And maybe some wines from Dão. This is also the right time to invest in Niepoort’s future markets, which in my view include India. We have to consider in how many countries beyond the current 55 we Pondering your dreams also makes you consider any obstacles that might want to have a presence. I also have to think lie ahead and figure out ways of overcoming them. Then, if and when about Niepoort’s future as a family business. the obstacles one day materialise, they are easier and quicker to conquer. This has been my whole life and I have sworn Of course, dreaming can also isolate you. People often consider it abnormal, to do my utmost to safeguard its continuity. and not many understand the making of quick decisions based on dreams. I want to hand over a healthy company to my To fulfil your visions you have to be decisive – even stubborn – and successors. I have been proud to both see it grow logical. You must also be dynamic and brave, prepared to change direction to its current dimensions and enable Niepoort as if necessary to achieve your aims. A dream is like an incomplete jigsaw a brand to reach its current renown. However, puzzle, which you have to be able to see as a whole, and also understand the I see us achieving our real breakthrough only consequences of its completion. You have to be prepared to pay for both once our most elegant wines reach their optimum the good and the bad outcomes. In one’s dreams it is easy to see oneself as drinkability. There is some time to go before that, the best in whatever one does. This is encouraging and empowering, but in however. That will be the final judgement day for reality you cannot aim just to be the best. Being the best is a vague concept the work I started two decades ago championing determined in relation to others, which changes depending on your point of Douro’s red wines. Perhaps then my dream of view. Reaching it only expends energy and upsets your balance, and it is not Portugal being recognised as a producer of top- even rewarding. The secret to a good life and good wines lies in the balance. quality fine wines will also be fulfilled.” Balance requires both success and failure.’ Dirk Niepoort and the importance of dreams ‘My greatest dream is to find balance in myself, my surroundings and my wines. On my office wall there is a small sign with a big message: ‘You can if you really want to’. And I have always wanted to!” > The next generation of Niepoorts is beginning to reach the age where they will soon be able to consider working in the family business. Dirk’s sister, Verena, has two sons who have shown interest in stepping into company and Dirk’s three children, of whom the two sons, Daniel (19) and Marco (16), have expressed an interest in Facts about Niepoort S.A. Niepoort S.A. Established: 1842 continuing in their father’s footsteps. It is still too early to speculate on the involvement of daughter Anna (8) in the family business. Whatever the children go on to do, Dirk hopes that they will Production: Still wines: 1 million bottles Port wines: 450,000 bottles follow their dreams. He says he recently wrote a letter to his kids reminding them of the importance of dreams. “I wanted to make sure they remember the significance of daydreaming. Contact information: www.niepoort-vinhos.com It is a way of seeing into and positively affecting the future. It guides your actions and it can help you see diverse solutions to many challenges. FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 33

FINE Life Award Felicitation Dinner at The Leela Palace, New Delhi Text: Rajiv Singhal Photography: akShaT aRoRa 34 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA

FINE Event I n the winter of 2011, FIne Magazines identifies another (and only the second) rightful owner of the handmade timepiece by Sarpaneva, that embodies the spirit of the FIne Life Award. It is decided that this award is to be conferred in 2012 upon Dirk niepoort, the innovative and revolutionary fifth generation of the Dutch family dedicated to the Portuguese estate that bears their name, niepoort that has been independent since 1842. Pekka nuikki of F I n e Magazines believed that India would be the perfect location to honour this globe-trotter. FIne is convinced that India is a market for the notso-distant future. Dirk thinks and acts ahead of his times, and it was probably the India bait that got him to open a tiny window in March on an otherwise chocka-block agenda. The stage is set for a FIne dinner on the 15th of March around the presentation of this special award at the spectacular Leela Palace new Delhi. Portuguese wine heritage will be showcased to Indian oenophiles Ports, to orchestrate a symphony with the elaborate seven course menu that is being put together by the ever-so-kind Aishwarya nair. The Ambassador of Portugal in India, His excellency Jorge Oliveira and Counsellor Filipe Ho n r a d o have patiently weathered the fr ustrating procedures of Indian bureaucracy, and the booty is handed to Rajesh namby's wine at this unprecedented presentation. Dirk proposes 11 gems from his team in the nick of time. Dirk's attention to detail is his much talked about Douro still wines range (both red and white), interspersed signature - the wines have been forwarded with some of niepoort's acclaimed with special handling instructions. And FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 35

arrive at the appointed h o u r. T h e group is drawn from FINE friends - wine connoisseurs, wine critics and wine lovers - and they come from far and wide. during whatever part of the day he is not spice shopping in the walled city, he checks and prepares each bottle alongside the next generation under training, his teenage son, Eduardo Marco van der Niepoort and the very able sommelier Manu Manikandan. The opulent Grand Ballroom at The Leela Palace has been transformed into a glittering candle-lit dining room. The arrangements have the personal touch of the General Manager Tamir Kobrin, who has promised a jaw dropper. Under the magnificence of the pair of breathtaking chandeliers, as wax drips from the Victorian candelabras, each stem in the sea of glasses is star struck - they have been paired to share the evening with a celebrity wine! Our 47 guests honour the reputation of the chic Swiss watches they wear, to 36 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA For the aperitif, Dirk has chosen a very old dry port - it is white – it’s unusual! In between ageing in pipes, in demijohns (from the 18th century) and in its current bottle, the port is about 100 years old. It is very expressive and generous, but very balanced. The excitement is palpable as the fine wines of the Douro take centre stage. Dirk proudly presents the white wines from the Douro - the deliciously crisp and impressive Tiara 2010 and Redoma Branco Reserva 2006. The reds that follow are elegantly nuanced and fine-grained far from being heavy and rich, which is what a hot region like Douro should yield. Redoma Tinto 2001 impresses with its dark chocolate character. Batuta 2004 is a Beauty and the Beast wine, showing finesse and opulence through its layers. Dirk's flagship wine, Charme is so Burgundy-like. It has an appealing perfumed, floral and red fruit character

FINE Event with spicy minerality. The 2006 is a bit tight and reserved while 2008 is more expressive with intense fruitiness. our guests are privileged to discover these sophisticated icons of Portuguese still wine. The FinE life award 2012 is formally presented to Dirk niepoort by Saana kukkavaara, the next generation at FinE Magazines. To make this moment so much more special, Dirk and his accompanying significant other, the vivacious nina gruntkowski, toast with a very very rare port made by his grandfather, that nobody else has tasted except his father (in the early eighties) and him (in the late nineties). This is a unique opportunity to share this vibrant, very aromatic and elegant port ? the indian independence vintage 1947 ? with india. it is so typical ? delicate, expressive and a very long aftertaste!! in his humble acceptance, Dirk outlines his passion for his wines and the Douro region, his respect for tradition, his collective approach, his innovations to power the future, his strategy beyond his present markets and his taste for challenge. as if to allow the glorious, steeped?in? tradition ports to take a bow, the 30 years old Tawny is served with the Stilton and Cheddar. The most complicated blend at niepoort showcases the master blenders ? the 5th generation of the niepoort family is in parallel with the 5th generation of the nogueira family. Dirk describes it as a love?hate port ? it is amazingly balanced, austerely dry, very seductive and grows on the palate. The impeccably served wines from a hitherto unknown region vie for guests' attention as much as Dirk's bright blue kurta and his ultra?curly locks. The masters' genius is evident as he effortlessly guides the guests through this culinary journey ? he's got their tongues blue and palates wet. FinE events have earned a never? done?in?india?before reputation. glass by glass, we are laying the foundation for fine wine in a very difficult landscape in india...> FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 37

COLUMN AISHWARYA NAIR WINE LISTS IN INDIA ARE BETTER THAN EVER I n the last five years, we have seen a radical change in the way wine lists have been planned in India. Gone are the days when the wine lists could be short and feature only the popular or most widely available labels. The information initiatives that hotels planned in this period helped to grow the number of wine drinkers. The rising curiosity of wine collectors and knowledgeable wine enthusiasts have inspired the custodians of wine lists to be more adventurous in their wine offering across India today. Beverage Managers stepped out of their shells to acquire more coveted labels. The broad selection of wines at their disposal allowed them to showcase their talent in creating the perfect wine list. Today, they try to build their wine lists around specific themes that involve special cuvées, wine styles, grape varietals and/or special vintages. The most creative lists showcase wines that are suitable for different moods! The ultimate prize for them is the possibility of being recognized with the prestigious Wine Spectator Award for outstanding wine lists. To present an internationally recognized, prize-winning wine list in India is not easy. Let us not forget that the wine market in India is difficult with its regulations 38 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA and taxes on wine. The main distribution channels for wines are luxury hotels and star restaurants, and the system prohibits the acquisition of any wine label unless the vendor has registered it by paying a whopping fee, every year. This added fixed cost makes the process of constantly updating a wine list more stringent and cumbersome. But fortunately, it does not stop determined sommeliers from putting together a note worthy list. The radical change in wine lists that I refer to occurred just as the economic crisis hit the world, and the western markets started to collapse. This blossomed into a new found interest in value wines from the New World and the dynamic producers, especially in Australia, saw their chance to

FINE Na i r grow their presence in India. The restaurants that had always relied on traditional wine countries (mainly France, Italy and Germany) could not ignore listing them. Thus, the options offered in the wine lists became more interesting for the guests. As the Corporate Wine Consultant at The Leela Palaces, Hotels and Resorts, I am responsible for wine acquisitions that help create great and unique wine lists. Our wine offer is guided by what our patrons expect, and we examine the pattern of wine sales during the year by season. We challenge ourselves – The Leela are the first to offer in India the Le Pin 1986 and the two clos variants of Krug - Mesnil and Ambonnay. And in our regular offer at the Leela Palace in New Delhi are the large bottle formats - Château Gruaud Larose 1978 is in a Magnum (1.5 litres bottle) and Champagne Pol Roger in a Balthazar (12 litres bottle). We are rewarded by our patrons as a result, and have the privilege of being chosen as the favoured wine establishment of wine connoisseurs. In the past years, there has been a seismic progression of almost 300 per cent in the sales of Champagne and Fine Wine in our hotels – that keeps our book keepers happy and gives us a longer leash to evolve our wine lists. > FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 39

RUGGED PEAKS and steep terraced slopes spread as far as the eye can see. A magnificent sight. Just one hour from Porto lies a peaceful wine district, through which the river Douro flows calmly, dotted with the odd boat. There is hardly any traffic, and the locals’ slow pace is unaffected by today’s hurried lifestyle. I feel as though I had just travelled 50 years back in time. The wines from the region, however, have nothing calm about them: they exude power and are permeated by a long and lively history. Although for visitors the wine estates present a warm and unreserved front, there is turmoil in the background as the future makes its inevitable way forward. The port wine industry has been in tumult for years. The consolidation of companies into larger corporations, a familiar phenomenon in the wine world at large, is the talk of the day here, too. As Jacqueline Dias from Symington ironically says: “Visits to Douro are starting to be rather short, as there are fewer and fewer producers to call on.” We had booked an entire week to unravel the secrets of the valley, however. In fact it was barely enough to scrape its red-hot surface – for we had arrived in Hell, and it wanted our souls. Text: Pekka Nuikki & Essi Avellan MW Photos: Pekka Nuikki 38 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA

F I N E Region The Smiling inferno FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 39

The port trade is just as much a battle of brands as that of, for example, champagne. This causes a challenge in term of producer mergers. The products must be properly set apart from each other, both in image and in taste. The Symington family accounts for around 18 per cent of port wine sales, being the leader of the fine wine category with a market share of around 30 per cent. The thirteenth generation of the Symington family manages three major port brands and owns a handful of smaller ones. Dias explains: “Dow’s is our big-volume seller, Graham’s is a traditional-style premium classic, while Warre’s represents a more unique style of port.” Portugal’s largest wine producer, Sogrape, owns three houses of port: Ferreira, Offley and Sandeman. Vasco Magalhães, who is in charge of the firm’s communications, summarises the different brands’ roles as follows: “Sogrape entered the port business only recently, having acquired Ferreira, which is known and loved for its elegant, traditional wines, in 1987. Offley, which appeals to the younger target group, joined Sogrape in 1996. The latest acquisition from 2002, Sandeman, offers a lighter, more aromatic style.” Escalating costs Besides mergers, port producers face the challenge of rising production costs. Visiting the area gives a good idea of Vasco Magalhães just how labour-intensive the process is. The steep terraces require manual work, and there are fewer and fewer people willing to do it. Despite the burgeoning port wine trade, the Douro Valley is still a poverty-stricken, undeveloped area. The wines are aged and sold in Porto, so the valley itself is denied a share of the 40 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA The wines from the region, however, have nothing calm about them: they exude power and are permeated by a long and lively history.

F I N E Region FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 41

wealth. Young people are keen to make and forth, accompanied by music, from developing mechanical crushing. How- it in the city, which means that the cost eight until midnight. In the morning, the ever, autovinification and Vinimatics of labour is constantly rising. treading would start again at half past have been unable to match the quali- The same applies to winemaking. Tra- eight, and now women were allowed to ty achieved through treading. Syming- ditionally, the grapes were crushed by take part. The work continued until five ton created the Robotic Lagares to im- foot in stone lagares. Rute Monteiro in the afternoon, fuelled by dance, mu- itate the manual process as far as pos- from Quinta do Noval recalls the origi- sic and wine.” sible. Jacqueline Dias shows us the ro- nal fabrication method: The lack of workers has forced pro- bot at Quinta da Cavadinha: “On the first evening, eleven men “The robot has silicone feet, whose in rows would tread the grapes back 42 ducers to implement technical advances. Symington has been the pioneer in pressure against the grapes is adjusted FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA

F I N E Region to match the weight of a 70-kilogram “Because ports are heavily season- man. The Cavadinha robot is one of the al products, discount campaigns have most modern in Douro. It can handle six eaten away at the average price and steel vats simultaneously. The vats can competition is unreasonably harsh. No be turned individually in order to re- port producer can benefit from this. move the crushed grapes in just a few More than 70 per cent of port wines are minutes, whereas in the stone lagares sold between September and Decem- it was a question of manual shovelling. ber. In many places this valuable sea- Currently, 8–10 per cent of our produc- sonal trade has been ruined by discount tion is still treaded by people, meaning selling of standard ports, when it would that our finest wines are produced 100 make more sense to focus on the spe- per cent manually.” cialist categories. Demand for standard wines is constantly falling, and production is shifting towards retailers’ ownbrand ports. This is why all the produc- PricEs Drag BEHinD ers and the Port and Douro Wines In- The technical arrangements in the vine- stitute (IVDP) are focusing their ener- yards and the cellars have improved the gy on developing and marketing spe- cost structure, but the biggest problem cialist categories, such as Vintage, Sin- faced by port wines is still unsolved. gle Quinta, LBV and Colheita.” Christian Seely from Quinta do Noval is worried about price development, or “On the first evening, eleven men in rows would tread the grapes back and forth, accompanied by music, from eight until midnight.” The IVDP wants at all costs to avoid the situation that is common in many rather the lack of it. After all, these are other wine districts, where production some of the world’s top wines, but their by far exceeds demand. This is why the prices are very low, especially in the authorities have been restricting port aged category (for example LBV and wine production to below the current Tawny). Monteiro explains: sales volume for the last five years. The IVDP trusts that this will help to raise prices and improve the area’s reputation, quality and vitality in the long term. Port wine is one of the few sectors in the world in which the supervising organisation would have the courage to make such a drastic decision. One can only hope that this gamble will produce the desired results with regard to increasing interest and prices. FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 43

ligHt at tHE EnD of tHE tunnEl A recent Drinks Insight survey pointed out some interesting opportunities for development in the port wine category. The survey showed that consumers do not consider ports too expensive, and that both men and women are suitable target groups. Women’s interest in ports is growing, and there is increasing variation in overall buyers’ age ranges and social classes. However, the product group is considered too complex with all its categories. Therefore increasing knowledge is of primary importance for developing port sales and prices. Christian Seely of Quinta do Noval believes in the United States, Canada and Scandinavia as growing markets firmed at least by the largest wine buy- cHallEnging anD rEwarDing tErroir but in 2001 we had a huge 1200 mm. er in the Nordic region, Alko, which re- The Douro Valley must be one of the The biggest problem was that one half ports a growth in sales of over 10 per most astonishing wine districts in the of that fell within one month. This was cent per annum in the last five years. world. It is a country of extremes in cli- disastrous for the terraces, which are Thus, some signs of change are dis- mate, soil and topography. The journey susceptible to erosion. This year, on the cernible in the market after years of from Porto to the western part of the other hand, many vineyards were de- stagnation. IVDP, which focuses on district takes one hour. Within that jour- stroyed by a hailstorm.” quality, appears to have a clear direc- ney, the temperature can rise by ten The Douro soil is characterised by a tion in mind. Reputed winemaker João degrees Centigrade in summer. In win- thin surface layer of slate and clay. The Nicolau de Almeida from Ramos Pinto ter the valley can be beset by sub-zero lower soil strata are predominantly slate agrees: temperatures, while in summer the mer- and creating new vineyards is a huge ef- “The quality of ports and all Douro cury often exceeds 40 degrees. As the fort. Manso says: wines in general has significantly in- locals say, it’s 9 meses de inverno e 3 de “Dynamite and bulldozers are essen- creased. But despite the good aver- inferno: nine months of winter and three tial. The large rocks must be blasted, age quality at the moment, there is still of hell. Rainfall varies from a typical while the smaller ones can these days room for improvement. I believe we 1200 mm on the seashore to a low of be buried underground. Traditionally, should produce less quantity and high- 400 mm inland. There are huge dif- the rock was used to build the patama- er quality. There is always demand for ferences between areas and between res (terraces).” good wines. The hardest part is chang- years. José Manso, who is in charge of The rockiness of the soil has many ad- ing attitudes – those of producers and wine-growing at Barros, recalls the ex- vantages. During the rainy season, it consumers alike.” ceptional year of 2001: helps the water to be absorbed deep for port wine. This appears to be con- 44 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA “For us the usual rainfall is 600 mm,

F I N E Region “I don’t feel that we need new varieties. We should focus on the traditional Douro ones – there is plenty to do with them.” Dirk niepoort dry quicker. It also curtails erosion. Dur- closE to organic ProDuction ing the growing season, the stones heat Douro is infernally hot in summer. In up during the day and reflect warmth 2006, record heat waves at harvest on to the roots long into the evening, time had a detrimental impact, espe- which furthers ripening. cially on white and red wine production. into the earth, allowing the root layer to The Douro soil is characteristically A heavy hailstorm early in the summer acidic, with very low pH values. This was another sign of exceptional climate can easily cause a scarcity of certain conditions. Almeida comments: macronutrients. Low levels of potassi- “The climate is clearly changing. It um and phosphorus are typical prob- may become indispensable to allow irri- lems in Douro, and they lead to reduced gation beyond Douro Superior. We may yields and slow ripening. Manso adds: also have to change the ways in which “Our parcels are also poor in organ- vines are cut and hung, in order, for in- ic matter. The soil is estimated to con- stance, to provide increased shading for tain less than two per cent organic mat- the grapes.” ter, which is problematic, for example, in Dirk Niepoort is a believer in organ- times of drought. Many producers take ic cultivation. José Manso thinks along steps to increase this percentage.” the same lines: FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 45

“Douro only has a few dozen hectares torically, there have been four distinct each. This method brought lower con- of vineyards classified as organic, but in ways of tackling the issue. The most tra- struction costs and facilitated mechani- practice almost all wine-growing here ditional building method was patama- sation. Magalhães explains: is close to being organic. This is not an res terraces, made by piling rocks from “The problem with this model is une- end in itself for us; it guarantees better the soil into thick walls. Depending on ven ripening. The first rows ripen much quality and sustainable development of the angle of the slope, each horizon- faster than those in the middle, but the area. The best quality comes from tal patamare could fit 1–3 rows of vines. picking them at different times would a harmony of soil, climate and grapes, Sogrape’s Magalhães describes the tra- be too difficult. And with many of without chemicals.” ditional method: these old terraces planted with a mix- “This is the ideal way of growing vines ture of varieties, the end result can be tHE Million-Dollar QuEstion in Douro, because with only 1–3 rows on each landing, most grapes will ripen The arrival of bulldozers allowed for Douro’s steep, rocky hills cause diverse evenly. In the late 1800s, however, there the development of second-genera- problems for planting vineyards. His- was a plague of phylloxera, after which tion patamares from the 1960s. Again unpredictable.” containing 1–3 vine rows, these terraces were built without supporting stone walls. This makes them prone to erosion during heavy rain. However, they are much cheaper to build, which also makes them easier to repair when necessary. The newest terraces are typically parcels of a single variety. This also applies to the latest cultivation method, vinha ao alto. These are vertical vineyards planted without terraces, which allows for a much higher planting density than on the patamares, at about 2400 vines per acre. Ferreira and Offley have many vertical parcels. Magalhães lists some of the pros and cons: “I am not against singlevariety wines and the use of international varieties in Douro. I am only interested in quality. If this can be achieved through varietal wines or foreign grapes, then why not?” Ferreira “Initially we feared problems with erothe necessary workforce could not be sion, but in the end there have been found for extensive replanting. That is fewer problems in those terms than why you can still see mortarios in the with the new patamares. It is all a ques- valley – old terraces with dead vines, re- tion of the incline. A 30 per cent gradi- planted with olive trees.” ent is optimal for the vertical system, FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA with 40 per cent as the absolute max- followed by socalcos, with fewer terrac- imum. Mechanical farming is easier on es and several parallel rows of vines on 46 The old-fashioned patamares were the vertical parcels, but then the man-

variety is its small yield. He investigat- ting and tying, are more difficult.” F I N E Region ual tasks, such as picking and vine cut- ed 178 different clones and chose the six All of the abovementioned methods best ones. Previously the average yield are still in use, and opinions vary con- per vine was just 500 grams, but with cerning the superiority of one over an- these select clones we can reach 1500 other. With such a varied topography, grams per vine without compromising the best method depends on the exact on quality.” location and gradient of the vineyard. For example, sunlight will hit vertical- Touriga Nacional’s reputation is based ly and horizontally planted vines in dif- on its aromatic nature and its ability to ferent ways. tiME for rEsEarcH Research into different cultivation methods and varieties, let alone clones and rootstocks, is only recent in the area. However, now every major house is feverishly doing it. Warre’s experimental vineyards at Quinta da Cavadinha, for example, have endowed the company with data on the behaviour of different varieties and clones. The region permits the cultivation of 36 red and 24 white grape varieties. Almeida of Ramos Pinto says: “The old know-how regarding the traditional varieties has been lost. We now have to work hard in order to learn to symington family understand and to grow each one in the right way. For me, Douro wines are pri- produce subtle, strong wines. It is char- in all but certain exceptional years. Tin- marily blended wines. Each variety is acterised by blackcurrant and blackber- ta Barrocca is a low acid variety, whose just one variety, and it can never bring ry notes and a scent of violet. A good alcohol content can rise to 16 per cent. the complexity of nuances of a blend. port grape should have tannins, full- It comes out well almost every year and That is especially due to the number of bodied colour and a strong fruity na- it can be cultivated in wetter areas, even mesoclimates we have here.” ture. The naturally high acidity of Touri- right on a river bank. Sousão is an un- Touriga Nacional is considered the ga Nacional also gives it ageing poten- dervalued variety that provides good number one grape for port. Magal- tial. As for some of the other varieties, colour. Tinta Cão is low in yield but hães describes some of the ongoing Magalhães says the following: produces elegant and peppery wines. “Tinta Roriz, a.k.a. Tempranillo, is more Amarela, on the other hand, is grown “My brother wrote a whole thesis on difficult here than on the Spanish side thanks to its high yield, acidity and per- Touriga Nacional. The problem with the of the border. Its acidity tends to fall flat fume-like quality.” research: FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 47

Traditionally, different varieties were grown all together on the same plots. ternational varieties in Douro. Ferreira started: The move to single-variety parcels was “I am not against them. only made in recent decades. Now the I am only interested in qual- trend is back in the other direction; at ity. If this can be achieved least Niepoort and Almeida have ended through varietal wines or up mixing varieties in many vineyards, foreign grapes, then why although this time based on scientific not?” Roquetta agrees: research data. “Portugal has dozens of “Portugal has dozens of endemic varieties with huge potential. But global competition is hard, and Portugal is still looking for its place on the wine map.” Tomás Roquetta , Quinta do Crasto’s International varieties have also found endemic varieties with huge their way into the Douro Valley. This is potential. But global com- no wonder, because, for example, Syr- petition is hard, and Por- ah and Cabernet grow very well there. tugal is still looking for its But many producers want to hold on to place on the wine map. This is why Ca- their national treasure – the wealth and bernet and Syrah, which actually grow diversity that comes from dozens of lo- very well here, can help us.” cal varieties – and this includes João Nicolau de Almeida. Olazabal also takes a positive approach: “I don’t see why we couldn’t use oth- Douro Boys: against conVEntionality Douro Boys is an internationally re- er varieties, although there is still a lot of research to be done on our own.” Niepoort is a bit stricter: nowned marketing partnership between five wine estates, whose purpose is to make the traditional wine district a bit more dynamic and to generate international interest in small producers’ wines in the face of corporate consolidation. Dirk Niepoort is the bestknown Douro Boy; the others are Quinta do Vallado’s Francisco Ferreira, Quinta do Crasto’s Tomás Roquetta, Quinta do Vale D. Maria’s Christiano van Zeller and Quinta do Vale Meão’s Francisco Olazabal. For the sake of equality, one should mention that there are also two Douro girls: Susana Esteban of Quinta do Crasto and Sandra Tavares of Vale D. Maria. “We grow 41 varieties on our estate. The Douro Boys have the reputation ties. We should focus on the tradition- What a spectrum of options and of ground-breaking innovators, so I al Douro ones – there is plenty to do nuances!” had to ask what they thought about with them.” Christiano van Zeller also single-variety wines and the use of in- 48 “I don’t feel that we need new varie- believes in blends and local varieties: FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA It is a pleasure to listen to the Douro Boys, each of them having such a

F I N E Region strong personality. They occasionally not been accepted since 1999, and it notably friendly and positive atmos- have rather sharp differences of opin- would in fact be too difficult for them to phere on the estates, and the astonish- ion, just as they should. The group make an entrance into the long friend- ingly high quality of the port wines in formed almost by itself some fourteen ships and enduring history.” general. Of the hundreds of ports we years ago, through various connections tasted, only a handful were bad and between all the different companies. As Our week in the red-hot Inferno is soon several were excellent. We managed to van Zeller says: over. We managed to visit dozens of keep our souls. “Forming the Douro Boys was not any estates, although our car only travelled kind of selection process, but a natu- at an average speed of 30 kilometres only one question remained: how ral continuation of work that had al- per hour due to the difficult roads. Two come the wines made in the inferno ready been done. New members have things in particular impressed us: the tasted of Paradise? > FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 49

FINE Vintage Port tasting FINE organised a fascinating Port event in Berlin last year, with ports dating back to 19th century. There was great crowd of port lovers, journalists and port producers, who shared the ten-hour tasting and dinner adventure at renowned Restaurant Margaux. The cheerful event was hosted by famous producers Dirk Niepoort, David Guimaraens and Paul Symington. There were no disappointments within the wines and all were in good condition. Port Points Port Points 2007 Dow’s Vintage Port 93p 1963 Quinta do Noval Vintage Port 96p 2003 Taylor’s Vintage Port 85p 1960 1960 Ferreira Vintage Port 66p 1994 Warre Vintage Port 90p 1958 Sandeman Vintage Port 85p 1992 Taylor’s Vintage Port 94p 1955 Graham Vintage Port 86p 1989 Offley Vintage Port 88p 1952 Ramos Pinto Vintage Port 85p 1985 Fonseca Vintage Port 91p 1945 Croft Vintage Port 89p 1980 Dow’s Vintage Port 86p 1942 Niepoort Vintage Port 91p 1977 Fonseca Vintage Port 90p 1927 Offley LBV 89p 1970 Niepoort Vintage Port 93p 1924 Ramos Pinto Vintage Port 95p 1967 Quinta do Noval Nacional Vintage Port 97p 1899 Ferreira Vintage Port 94p 1966 Graham Vintage Port 90p 1840 Vintage Port 91p Tasting notes in chronicle order: 2007 Dow’s Vintage Port 2003 Taylor’s Vintage Port 50 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 1994 Warre Vintage Port

1989 Offley Vintage Port 1985 Fonseca Vintage Port 1980 Dow’s Vintage Port 1977 Fonseca Vintage Port 1970 Niepoort Vintage Port FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA FINE Region 1992 Taylor’s Vintage Port 51

1967 Quinta do Noval Nacional Vintage Port 1966 Graham Vintage Port 1963 Quinta do Noval Vintage Port 1958 Sandeman Vintage Port 1960 Ferreira Vintage Port 1955 Graham Vintage Port 52 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA

1952 Ramos Pinto Vintage Port 1945 Croft Vintage Port 1927 Offley LBV 1924 Ramos Pinto Vintage Port FINE Region FINE Vintage Port tasting 1942 Niepoort Vintage Port Unknown 1840 Vintage Port FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 53

•P Edi tor’s ick • 56 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA

F I N E E d i t o r ’s Pi c k Yeatman The Porto Portugal Text: Stuart George Photos: The Yeatman At Vila Nova de Gaia, on the south side of the Douro at Porto, the river flows under the Ponte de Dom Luis towards the Atlantic, 550 miles from its source in northern Spain. Dazzling light and ferocious heat bounce off white stones. Other than access to the river (and the lower taxes that brought Port producers here in the first place) it seems an unlikely place to make and store wines. It is an even more unlikely place to find what is being billed as Portugal’s finest hotel and restaurant. Owned by the Taylor-Fladgate Port group, which owns the Croft, Fonseca and Taylor brands, The Yeatman had a “soft opening” in September 2010 before its official launch in January 2011. I was one of the “friends” invited to stay (at my own cost, I should mention) during the “soft” period when the finishing touches to the hotel were being made – which is to say that there was a lot of building work still going on. The €32 million budget was funded mainly by Taylor’s, with €7 million from the Portuguese government (no wonder they’ve gone bust), though the final cost was €40 million. The hotel sits high above the Port lodges and rabelos (boats) that lie along the riverfront. Taylor’s has built 82 bedrooms (all sponsored by a “Wine Partner”), 11 event rooms, a wine shop, a 20 000-bottle capacity cellar, overseen by Beatriz Machado, and The Caudalie Vinothérapie® Spa, where those who have overindulged can purge themselves. I was given a 50-minute massage here by the lovely Sonia, who FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 57

­ onsidered me to be “stressful” (I think that c she meant “stressed”) and “toxic” (in the best sense). Too much work and wine has apparently shortened my life. The Yeatman’s chef Ricardo Costa was formerly at the Relais & Châteaux Casa da Calçada hotel in Amarante, 40 miles north-east of Porto, where he obtained a Michelin Star. Taylor-Fladgate’s MD Adrian Bridge persuaded him to come to Porto, perhaps by showing him the magnificent view from the Yeatman’s dining room (and most of the guest rooms) of the river and the Ponte de Dom Luis. The hotel exists to promote Portuguese wines, especially Port. I ate from the five-course “Express Menu” with some additional amuse bouche. The aperitif drink was Murganheira Grande Reserva Bruto Assemblage 1995, a sparkling wine from Beiras in north Portugal. Largely made from Malvasia Fina, with the red grapes Touriga Nacional and Tinta Roriz also in the blend, it smelt “skinny” – of grape skins, that is – with little of the yeastiness found in Champagne and some o ­ ther sparkling wines. The hotel exists to promote Portuguese wines, especially Port, but a wide range of classics from other countries is available from the 1500-strong wine list. The Murganheira was pleasant, as was the Taylor’s Quinta de Vargellas Extra Virgin Olive Oil, which I was told has a low acidity of only half a per cent. The first amuses bouche were foie gras with caramelised apple, scallop salad with Avruga caviar and steak tartare. They were delicious and decadent. The dishes kept 58 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA coming – they must have known that I had been to the Spa that afternoon. The flatbread was scrumptious. Beef carpaccio topped with a cheese balloon with a tunatto sauce – a Portuguese version of vitello tonnato – with ruccola leaves and white asparagus was the first starter. The cheese balloon was achieved brilliantly but it looked better than it tasted – it was rather rubbery in texture and flavour. The beef was tasty but a bit chewy. Having downed the Murganheira, I was offered a white wine from Bucelas – Companhia das Quintas’s Santa Catherina Reserva 2007, made from the obscure but well-regarded Arinto grape. It had a creamy, almost yoghurt-like nose, with pear flavours and snappy acidity. It was very good with the shrimp, which was served with a celery sauce. However, the few chunks of celery that were floating in the dish really were not necessary.

F I N E E d i t o r ’s Pi c k FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 59

The main fish course of monkfish roasted with tomato chutney had some sort of sweet and sour caramelised ‘thing’ on top and some very earthy tasting carrots. I liked it very much but there was too much calamari pasta with it. The Atalaya 2008 – a red table wine from the Douro – served with the mountain lamb had a colour as dark as the river outside and was made in a modern, lush style, with oak make-up and high alcohol. The lamb had been “double cooked” – boiled twice, apparently – and came with a rather sickly almond and orange cream. For dessert, the hazelnut mousse and carrot, coconut and curry cake needed to be cut with the ice cream to sweeten and soften it. The fresh strawberries and raspberries that decorated the dish were very 60 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA moreish. A nutty and nicely chilled Fonseca 20-year old Tawny Port followed, and it was delicious. I can think of few things more enjoyable than sipping Port while enjoying a view of the River Douro. After such a splendid dinner, breakfast the following morning was a little disappointing. I suppose pasteurised milk and evil-tasting coffee are to be expected in Portugal – I got used to it when I was backpacking round this lovely country ten years ago. But the cold meats and fresh fruits were fine. Even though parts of the hotel were still a building site, my visit to The Yeatman was superb; the accommodation, food, wine and service were just about flawless. Once the hotel is completed it will doubtless be an essential experience for gourmands, oenophiles and ‘Portugalphiles’. > The Yeatman Rua do Choupelo Vila Nova de Gaia 4400-088 Portugal +351 93 200 3916 www.theyeatman.com

Join Jancis Robinson’s Purple Pages for a daily taste of wine online As a Fine reader, you can now secure 12 months’ unlimited access to the award-winning Purple Pages of JancisRobinson.com, source of so much valuable inside information on wine, for just £59 (approx €75) instead of the usual £69 (approx €88). What Purple Pages, updated daily, offer: • More than 70,000 wine reviews, from Penfolds Bin 51 Riesling 2012 back to bottles dating from the 18th century • More than 9,000 articles good enough to win JancisRobinson.com the inaugural Louis Roederer International Wine Website of the Year award • The world’s only online Oxford Companion to Wine (RRP £40/€51) • Exclusive online access to all the maps in the World Atlas of Wine (RRP £35/€45) • ‘The most courteous wine forum on the planet’ (according to La Revue du Vin de France) To secure your special Fine discount, go to www.JancisRobinson.com, click on the Join now button and insert promotional code FINESAVE in the box top right. Offer expires 31 Dec 2012

Fernando Nicolau de Almeida 118 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA

F I N E Hi s t o ry THE 16 REINCARNATIONS OF BARCA VELHA Text and photography: Pekka Nuikki “Have I gone mad?”, wondered Fernando Nicolau de Almeida out loud, running his tired gaze over an endless row of lorries that was slowly inching its way along the bridge above. The bridge’s wooden frame creaked and swayed under the heavy vehicles, which were loaded with ice. Surrealistically large drops of water dripped from between the thick planks down to the dried-up riverbed in which Fernando stood. The temperature was already nearing 40C (104F), although the highest peaks surrounding the valley were still shrouded in morning mist. Even the shadow of the bridge could not relieve Fernando’s discomfort as he shook his head incredulously at his achievement. Behind him lay a gruelling six-day journey from the coast to the mountain town of Pocinho. Even his drivers thought he was crazy. As several tonnes of ice were loaded into the vehicles at the port of Matosinhos, many drivers had bet that the trucks would make it to their destinations, but that they would be empty. Although a large part of the ice load had evaporated under the cruel sun blazing down from a clear sky, Fernando Nicolau de Almeida had not lost faith – as this was a faith founded on a distant dream named Barca Velha. FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 119

FROM PORT TO TABLE WINE Barca Velha is Portugal’s best-known and most desirable red wine. Its success story began more than sixty years ago, when Almeida, then Head of Winemaking at the Ferreira Port Wine cellar, decided to create a top-quality Douro red. The task was particularly challenging, but after several study trips to Bordeaux, he believed he was ready to tackle it in 1952. He had seen how high-quality wines, suitable for ageing, were made in Bordeaux, and he decided to test his learning on local varieties and grapes from the Quinta do Vale de Meão. First he must select the right grapes. Almeida decided to rely on the local varieties that were most familiar to him; he therefore chose the best and most traditional cultivars of the region, namely Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca and Tinta Roriz. However, the success of Barca Velha would not depend solely on using the best varieties, but on the patience of Almeida and his team, and their skill in solving the numerous problems that they would come to confront. Their greatest joy and, simultaneously, biggest headache, would be the region’s particularly dry and hot climate. On the one hand, it allowed for perfect ripening of the grapes, but on the other it created difficulties for producing and ageing the wine. In particular, controlling the fermentation temperature, which is necessary to guarantee high quality, was practi- 120 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA cally impossible using local techniques. The situation was made even more complex by the fact that almost none of the estates in the Douro valley had electricity at the time. Almeida solved this problem by adopting the pumping-over technique he had learnt in France, which allowed for efficient colour and tannin extraction. Continuous stirring of the grape pulp and the fermenting juice also helped to control the fermentation temperature. Almeida used the freighted ice to bring the temperature down to 28–30 degrees celsius. The ice was transported by lorry from the port of Matosinhos, close to Porto. The journey from there to the Meão vineyard in Pocinho, where Barca Velha was produced, took several days and caused a great deal of wonder and amusement among local farmers. The heat of the Douro region also caused another problem. The grapes can quickly become overripe, reducing their acidity and increasing their sugar content. This is suitable for fortified wines such as port, but it is a challenge for normal red wine production. After many tests, Almeida found a natural solution to the problem. He blended completely ripe grapes with a high sugar content and low acidity, which had grown on the best south-facing slopes, with varieties that grew higher up on cooler north-facing slopes; these conversely had lower sugar contents and higher acidity. In this way he achieved a natural balance in the wine.

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PORTUGAL’S ORIGINAL FIRST GROWTH Fernando’s long-term vision of a finest-quality Douro red begun to materialise of 1952. The very first vintage was excellent in quality, even though in terms of weather it had been one of the hottest years of the 1950s. Harvesting took more than a month, and, after careful selection, only seventeen 225-litre barrels were filled with the wine named Barca Velha. The name came from an old barge that had ferried workers to the estate over the river Douro for decades. Barca Velha became an instant classic – the uncrowned Portuguese “first growth”, which received a great deal of international attention from the beginning. Higher prices were paid for it than for many vintage ports. TWO MEN, 16 VINTAGES Despite growing competition, Barca Velha has maintained its position as Portugal’s foremost red wine. I believe there are two reasons for this. Firstly, throughout its fifty-year history, only two winemakers – Fernando Nicolau de Almeida and José Maria Soares Franco – have been in charge of producing Barca Velha. This has ensured the wine’s consistent quality and character. Secondly, Ferreira has respected 122 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA Almeida’s original idea that Barca Velha should only be produced in really good years and released to the market after a minimum of seven years’ bottle ageing. That means only 16 vintages have been produced in the last 58 years, making Barca Velha one of the rarest wines in the world.

F I N E Hi s t o ry OPTIMAL AT FULL MATURITY In the last decade I have on many occasions had the opportunity to taste all the vintages of Barca Velha, and my experiences of them have been nearly identical. Barca Velha appears to attain its perfect maturity at around twenty years of age. At that point it is rich, well-balanced and multidimensional. After that it begins to quickly lose its best characteristics, turning light and one-dimensional over time. Unfortunately, many of the older vintages have often been severely oxidised and almost undrinkable. Naturally it is possible that I have just been unlucky with older bottles. The best Barca Velha I have ever tasted was a 1983 (94pts). Random bottles from 1952 (90pts) and 1957 (93pts) I have also found to be excellent. Barca Velha is almost impossible to find outside Portugal, especially when it comes to the older vintages. It is lower in price, but also has lower ageing potential, than the similar Grange – created by Max Schubert at around the same time –or the otherwise comparable Vega Sicilia Unico or Biondi Santi Riserva. At its best, Barca Velha is a fabulous and rare purchase. While enjoying its rich and full-bodied aromas, it is easy to lose track of time and place. With its own, modest voice, Barca Velha tells a story of its creators’ inventiveness and patience. It is a story of a distant, hot valley, the richness and generosity of mutually complementary grapes, the sacred silence of the Vila Nova de Gaia cellars, the immeasurability of time, and, above all, the love and passion for wine of the people of the Douro valley. > THE 16 VINTAGES OF BARCA VELHA: 1952 BARCA VELHA 90 2005/now x3 D 30 min/G 30 min 1953 BARCA VELHA 84 2006/now x2 D 30 min/G 30 min 1954 BARCA VELHA 80 2005/now x2 D 15 min/G 15 min 1957 BARCA VELHA 93 2008/2015 x3 D 30 min/G 1 h 1964 BARCA VELHA 83 2006/now x4 D 30 min/G 30 min 1965 BARCA VELHA 88 2005/now x3 D 15 min/G 1 h 1966 BARCA VELHA 83 2006/now x2 D 30 min/G 30 min 1978 BARCA VELHA 87 2009/2015 x5 D 30 min/G 1 h 1981 BARCA VELHA 89 2006/2015 x2 D 1 h/G 1 h 1982 BARCA VELHA 90 2005/2020 x3 D 1 h/G 2 h 1983 BARCA VELHA 94 2008/2025 x6 D 2 h/G 2 h 1985 BARCA VELHA 88 2007/2015 x3 D 1 h/G 2 h 1991 BARCA VELHA 87 2006/2020 x2 D 2 h/G 1 h 1995 BARCA VELHA 88 2006/2020 x4 D 3 h/G 2 h 1999 BARCA VELHA 87 2010/2025 x2 D 2 h/G 3 h FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 123

COLUMN PEKKA NUIKKI It’s the Journey, not the DestInatIon M any of my friends and acquaintances have recently begun to collect wines. At least, that is what I can assume from the numerous questions that flood my inbox almost daily. The first question is usually “What wines should I buy?”. My plain and simple answer is: buy wines that you like and that you want to enjoy. What is the point of wines you’re not going to drink? Are you sure you want to spend your money on them? Unfortunately, very few follow this simple advice. I believe that too many people buy good wines for profit, as an investment, while wondering, “What’s so special about this wine business? What makes sensible, successful people fall in love with wine?” I have nothing against investing in wines; on the contrary, I have done that myself. But pure and simple investing is a fairly onedimensional and solitary undertaking, far removed from some of the basic principles of wine: sociability, enjoyment, sharing, and so on. Because enjoyment increases through sharing, I want to share with you a few more in-depth bits of advice for the wine collecting novice, based on my own experience. 68 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA BUY WINES YOU CAN ENJOY IMMEDIATELY – by either drinking or selling them. Don’t buy wines that won’t reach their sensory or financial peak for decades. Don’t blow your entire budget in one go; buy the best wines that you can find that fit your budget. Leave some money for later, as there are always even better offers around the corner. DON’T BE TOO UNCONDITIONAL. Do you really have to have the best of the best from the start? Wait a while, sleep on it and perhaps instead of the 1947 Cheval Blanc, buy the 1990 vintage. It is likely to make you just as happy and will leave a little room in your budget. It is more enjoyable and will help you figure out what you really like.

FINE Nu i k k i BE BRAVE. Buy at least one half of the wines in your cellar on a gut feeling rather than by reasoning, and be prepared to pay a little more for them. You can always rationalise the purchase of wine, but nothing beats the satisfaction of a purchase made by following your heart. It’s almost half the enjoyment of the wine. BE YOURSELF. Don’t follow the latest winebuying trends. The fashionable wines, such as Château Lafite now or garage wines a few years ago, are usually overpriced, overrated and difficult to get hold of. You wouldn’t buy the same car as your neighbour, would you? Usually, the success of trendy wines is not based on quality. BE DILIGENT AND PATIENT. It is easy to buy wines at large stores and auctions. The selection is huge and tempting and buying is simple. But in these places you will seldom find real gems or bargains. Put some effort into it. Look online, ask your friends and mention what you are looking for in your Facebook status, for example. Be patient and don’t agree on a deal until you feel it has the right balance of reason versus gut feeling. Last but not least: FILL YOUR BOOKSHELVES BEFORE YOUR WINE CELLAR. The importance of knowledge cannot be emphasised enough when buying wines. Without knowledge you will not form a proper sentimental attachment or lifelong love stories with wine. Knowledge is also the basis for all rational activity and helps you to form goals. Without a goal, the journey feels worthless. My own goal is simple, and it is to enjoy moments, people – close friends and strangers – and myself, right now. One of the best ways for me to achieve this is to open a good bottle of wine and tell others about it. > FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 69

c The Story of hampagne Part 2 Text: Jukka Sinivirta The ascent of champagne to become the preferred drink of the world’s powerful, rich and famous was long and tortuous; it was challenged at many points, for example by wines from Burgundy. After the dizzying success of champagne, for a moment it seemed that all other French wines were keen to adopt its sparkling nature. The great champagne revolution, which originated in France but had roots in Britain, was engineered by two very different men, who came from two very different sides of the social divide. A powerful monarch dressed in an ermine cape and showing off his long, silk-stockinged legs in a dance could hardly inhabit a more different reality than a monk garbed in a rough habit, whose life’s work was to collect funds for his monastery so that the brothers 70 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA could pray. But it was two such different men who laid the foundations for the development and reputation of champagne. They were exact contemporaries, both having been born in 1638 and dying in 1715. However, they never met.

FINE History Centre of the world t he Sun King, Louis XIV, was the epitome of autarchy and the centre of the civilised world in a way which is difficult for us today to comprehend. He was known as Louis-Dieudonné (Louis God-Given), and one benevolent word from him would be the high point of a person’s entire life. To be allowed to ride in his hunting party, one had to have a rank of nobility reaching back more than three centuries. The Sun King got a taste for champagne at his coronation. Over the next five decades, he would seldom drink any other wine. Everything Louis XIV did and, especially, all he ate and drank during his grand, theatrical dinners was keenly watched. Any food or drink he happened to favour was soon known to all of Versailles, and instantly all those who could afford to – all the way to the royalty of other countries – would emulate the celebrated king. This is what happened to champagne. At a certain reception the centre of the world’s attention stated, presumably on his private physicians’ advice, that champagne was the only conceivable drink. Champagne was no small matter for the Sun King. Once, when fighting William of Orange in the Franco-Dutch War, it was noted that the French king was not responding to cannon fire, although he was at a disadvantage. Suddenly, fire from the French side ceased altogether and a messenger appeared at William’s tent to inform him that the Sun King was out of wine. The messenger asked for safe passage through the lines of battle to fetch more champagne for the royal table. He was granted it. FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 71

no spArkle for the monk I n 1668, at the age of 29, the monk Dom Pierre Pérignon was appointed treasurer of the 1000-year-old Abbey of Hautvillers. During his time at the Abbey, he would become the single most influential developer of champagne. Through 47 years of unstinting, systematic effort, Dom Pérignon amassed a large amount of know-how on champagne production, most of which is still applicable today. In addition to having its own vineyards, the Abbey of Hautvillers had the right to receive tithes, which it did its best to obtain as grapes or wine. The vineyards also grew in size through bequests and confiscations. This gave Dom Pérignon the key to the blending of wines, which still lies at the heart of champagne-making. Some of the achievements of the hard-working monk included advanced harvesting methods and a way of pressing that made black grapes give white wine instead of the vin gris, or grey wine, which was common at the time. At a later age Dom Pérignon acquired stronger bottles and improved their sealing by replacing wooden plugs surrounded by oily rags with pliant corks. He is not, however, the inventor of sparkling champagne. Champagne spar- 72 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA kled naturally before Dom Pérignon’s tests in the northern parts of the wine-growing region; the cold winter would halt fermentation and as temperatures rose in the spring the wine would bubble in its container. Dom Pérignon wanted to prevent this, as he considered it a fault. Dom Pérignon was a first-rate winemaker with a great reputation that was already cemented during his lifetime. According to his contemporaries, he had an amazing ability to determine the origin of grapes just by tasting them. Dom Pérignon knew the value of his knowledge and competence. Only two letters written in his own hand survive; one of them is addressed to the Mayor of Épernay, and accompanied a champagne delivery. In it, Dom Pérignon does not hesitate to affirm: “Monsieur, I have sent you twenty-six bottles of wine, the best in the world.” In the very last years of the good monk’s life, sparkling champagne was becoming the fashion in Paris and London. The man who knew how to prevent champagne from sparkling also knew how to do the opposite if required.

FINE History Help from tHe enemy S ome of the major impulses for the development of sparkling champagne came, surprisingly, from Britain. In 1661, the Sun King banished a renowned epicurean, Charles de Saint-Évremond, from France due to his sharp tongue. He lived in exile in London for forty years, an influential man and an expert on France and all that was fashionable. He was also a true spokesperson for champagne. In a letter to his friend, Count d’Olonne, in 1671, he enthuses: “No man of good taste values Burgundy wines any longer. They only manage to preserve their old reputation thanks to traders. There is no other region like Champagne that can produce such excellent wines for all seasons.” All wines consumed in Britain were imported, and not all wines at the time withstood transport very well. Without exception, the wines had to be doctored in many ways for them to be saleable. To achieve a sparkling wine, sugar had to be added in the form of either juice or syrup, as Christopher Merret demonstrated to the Royal Society in December 1662. The British decided to bottle the wines to keep them fresh for longer, and when they were opened a few months or years down the line, fermentation had caused them to sparkle. The British fell in love with sparkling wine, which St-Évremond and the other true experts despised. They considered sparkling champagne to be suitable only for the many wanton courtiers and dandies in the palaces. Unfortunately, the pressure caused by bottle fermentation led to exploding bottles. However, the solution came from an unexpected direction. The admiral Sir Robert Mansell had expressed concern to the King of England over the depletion of the country’s forests; there would soon not be enough wood to build warships. Some of the culprits of large-scale wood consumption were glassblowers, who were ordered by royal decree to melt their glass using coal fires, rather than the more tra- ditional wood alternative. Conveniently, the higher temperature that was achieved in this way gave the glass a better quality and made the resulting bottles more durable. tHe BirtH of cHampagne HouSeS t he popularity of champagne among the world’s great and good really took off after it began to sparkle; the first champagne house, Ruinart, was established in 1729. Formerly a fabric trader, Ruinart had previously given wines as business gifts, but he now began trading in them. Today’s largest champagne house, Moët & Chandon, was established in 1743. The house’s illustrious clientele began with Madame de Pompadour, who each year ordered 200 bottles of Moët champagne for the Palace of Compiègne, where Louis XV and his court spent the summer. The Marquise had her own extensive wine cellars in Bellevue and Paris, where she kept Aÿ champagne among some of the most highly regarded wines in the world. At a time when elocution was considered an art, the intelligent, beautiful and highly influential mistress of Louis XV stated that “champagne is the only wine that leaves a woman beautiful after drinking it”. The road for champagne was paved with gold. On one occasion, the French postal service received a letter addressed to “France’s greatest poet in Paris”. Vacillating at first between delivering it to Victor Hugo or Lamartine, the post office clerk finally opened the letter and read: “To France’s greatest poet, Monsieur Moët, maker of champagne, with the greatest regard.” It was signed “Prince Zirov of Russia”. The royals had discovered sparkling champagne. > The Story of Champagne will continue in the next issue of FINE Wine & Champagne India FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 73

34 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA

F i n e Legend Ruinart The World’s FirsT Champagne Brand – only For experTs? Text: Juha Lihtonen Photos: Maison Ruinart I n the world of luxury products, the brands that were the first to launch their exclusive items onto the market have often been able to maintain a leading position and pioneering image to this day. Examples abound, such as Mercedes-Benz in the automotive world, started by the father of modern cars, Karl Benz. Louis Vuitton did the same for luxury bags, being the first to market designer bags, and Breguet, whose founder and developer Abraham-Louis Breguet is known as the father of the automatic clock winding mechanism, did it for watches. Champagne is different. The world’s first champagne brand, Ruinart, is still relatively unknown to the greater public. However, for top sommeliers and champagne experts, Ruinart represents the choicest of champagnes. How has it achieved this position among connoisseurs while failing to obtain a market-leading position like other luxury pioneers? FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 35

T he over 280-year-long history of this champagne house is unknown to the greater public, and seems to be appreciated mainly in sommelier circles. Those who know Ruinart and its champagnes swear by it, especially its prestige label, Dom Ruinart, and its rosé version. Many top sommeliers and oenophiles agree that these are two representatives of the champagne elite. But why is the house so little known outside of professional circles? To discover the answer, one needs to look over the great history of the champagne house, its key persons and the actions they have taken in their quest to achieve global success. Nicolas Ruinart 1728 is known as a revolutionary year in the history of the Champagne region. It was then that word was received in its capital, Reims, known as the centre of France’s textile trade, that Versailles had opened up the export market for champagne by allowing sparkling wine intended for exports to be packaged in bottles. It meant that vendors could now sell their sparkling elixir in bottles rather than barrels. The 32-year-old Nicolas Ruinart, heir to a long-standing family of textile traders, was the first to spot the new market opportunity. He believed that champagnes, offered on the side of his clothes and labelled with his own brand, would set him apart from competitors and help him get his textiles sold to the royal courts of Europe. Little did he know when establishing the Ruinart house of champagne in autumn 1729, that in just a few years his business idea would replace the family’s centuries-old textile manufacture and, in fact, revolutionise the whole world. Champagne vs. CloThes T he idea of starting a champagne house was not completely fortuitous for the young Nicolas; after all, he had observed the French court’s delectation for the sparkling drink produced in his home region. Secondly, his family owned some vineyards close to Reims, whose fruits were going unused. Thirdly, the alleged stories told by Nicolas’s uncle, the Benedictine monk Thierry Ruinart, about the Abbey of Hautvillers, where his fellow monk Dom Pierre Pérignon dedicated his efforts to champagne, might have made the young man consider the new profession. When the new bill was passed in 1728, Nicolas wasted no time, establishing the first commercial champagne house in Reims in late 1729. Thanks to the success of his champagnes, he was able to develop his textile sales, but in the next few years he realised that demand for the former surpassed that of the latter. Nicolas reacted swiftly and significantly increased his champagne production from a meagre 170 bottles in 1730 to 3,000 just one year later. Ruinart’s profitability improved dramatically, as the margin on champagnes was many times higher than that of clothes. In 1735, Nicolas Ruinart gave up the textile trade completely in order to focus on producing and selling champagne. He marketed his products in France and its neighbours, Belgium and Germany. It was impractical for the father of four to take his marketing further, as these markets already kept him away from home for seven months of the year. In 1764, Nicolas was finally joined in the business by his son Claude. Three years later, Claude was managing the business so well that Nicolas was able to retire. Having lived to the age of one hundred, Nicolas was able to observe his son leading Ruinart to success and great esteem, not only amid Europe’s royals but also among the public. 36 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA sTiCking WiTh TradiTion W hen Claude took over the company, the estate’s annual production of nearly 40,000 bottles demanded larger storage facilities. Claude realised that Reims’s large underground limestone caves, called crayères, offered excellent opportunities for aging wines, so he moved the business closer to the caves on the edge of the city. Claude’s son Irénée Ruinart joined the company at a young age. He focused on international exports, and, having married the Briton Marie Elisabeth Brigitte, obtained access to the British market. Irénée led Ruinart in the early 1800s, while also dedicating himself to a political career. He had close relations with Europe’s royal houses and aristocracy, and although he was more active as a politician than as a champagne producer, he did a good job Claude Ruinart leading Ruinart and making the brand known around Europe. Of Irénée’s nine children, Edmond Ruinart was the one to assume responsibility for Ruinart after his father. Like his father, this fourth-generation leader of the champagne house relied on increasing exports. He decided to focus on the as yet undiscoverd, more distant markets of Russia and the United States. Edmond spent a lot of time in St. Petersburg and Moscow marketing his champagnes to the Russian court, and in 1842 and 1846 he received large orders from there. He also spent time in the United States laying foundations for Ruinart’s sales in the west. Here his efforts were less successful, and the US market never really opened for the house. Edmond’s focus on the Irénée Ruinart more distant markets proved fateful for Ruinart, as with less attention, orders from the European market faded and sales struggled. Then, when the Russian market collapsed as a consequence of the Crimean War, Edmond Ruinart retired, embittered, handing over the business to his sons Charles and Edgar. The younger son, Edgar, called the tune and was able to reconquer the lost European market. Edgar led the house successfully but passed away prematurely at the age of 52, leaving the company in the Clos de la Maréchale – Vin exceptionnel and the world’s first single-vineyard champagne A quality classification system was already in place before Ruinart was established, dividing Champagne wines into the categories vin vieux, vin nouveau and vin ordinaire. As the popularity of champagne grew, a new top quality level was added: vin exceptionnel. Of Ruinart’s products, this title was awarded to a champagne produced from Nicolas Ruinart’s own parcel in the village of Sillery. The wine was named after the parcel, Clos de la Maréchale, and it can be considered the world’s first prestige single-vineyard champagne.

F i n e Legend FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 37

Dom Thierry Ruinart (1657–1709) It is the year 1696. A slim, lightly built monk wanders in the gardens of the Benedictine Abbey of Hautvillers. It is Dom Thierry Ruinart, who has stopped by on his way past. He observes with great interest a monk working in the abbey’s vineyard; it is Dom Pierre Pérignon, of whose accomplishments in developing champagne Dom Ruinart has heard already on his first visit to Hautvillers, a decade earlier. He introduces himself, and the men exchange a few words on vine-growing. Later that evening, Dom Pérignon discloses to Dom Ruinart some of his insights into the secrets of making wine. The next time the men will meet is in the chapel of the abbey in August 1709. Dom Ruinart has stopped by on his way to Paris. The visit proves fateful, however, as Ruinart falls ill with a terrible fever to which he eventually succumbs. He is buried at the abbey and a tombstone is engraved in his memory. Only six years later it will be joined by another stone, reading Dom Pierre Pérignon. Apart from the tomb stones of the monks in front of the altar in Hautvillers abbey, there is no factual evidence of any meetings between Thierry Ruinart and Pierre Pérignon. Stories of their conversations are pure speculation. However, the history books show that Dom Ruinart visited the Abbey of Hautvillers three times – in 1686, 1696 and 1709. At that time, the abbey’s resident Dom Pierre Pérignon enjoyed great esteem thanks to his efforts in developing winemaking. It is very likely that the brothers met in Hautvillers, and considering that Thierry Ruinart’s family owned vineyards close to Reims, it can be assumed that they spoke about wine-growing and champagne production. This would have led to Dom Ruinart receiving valuable information from Dom Pérignon concerning the secrets of champagne; information which he later passed on to his family in Reims. hands of his brother Charles. Living in Paris, Charles had little interest in running a champagne house, and he coached his son André for the task. André did not take charge until the age of 20. Full of energy and enthusiasm, he made large-scale investments into production facilities and new equipment. To fund these, he sold off property, including the famous parcel of Clos de la Maréchal, which had long been in the family. neW allianCe R uinart had a leader in André whose like there has not been in the rest of the company’s history. André had decided further to strengthen the important European market, while also making room for new contacts in the now more difficult competitive situation. He focused on the southern German market, which was significant for the company, on reinforcing demand for his champagnes within the Belgian court, and on ensuring distribution to eminent Russian officers, who would open doors to the court there. In addition to these central and northern states, he turned to the south – Spain and Italy – where he worked actively to improve Ruinart’s prospects. Contrary to his predecessors, André Ruinart considered communication to be an essential factor for success. He advertised his brand and was also willing to sponsor events in exchange for visibility and image. When the Wright brothers rocked the world in 1903 with their first flight, André decided to create an event centred around aviation that would give Ruinart plenty of publicity. It led to the birth of the Ruinart Père & Fils Cup, which was a competition for flying across the English Channel. In addition to active marketing, André strengthened his delivery agreements around the world André Ruinart 38 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA to ensure that Ruinart champagnes could be found at all the premium holiday destinations, such as the French Riviera. It all seemed very promising, and by 1915 the 53-year-old André had created a strong market for Ruinart, reaching as far as Sweden and South Africa. The First World War dealt a fateful blow to the most innovative leader of the champagne house, however. Having avoided fighting all of his life, André’s destiny was sealed in the cellars of Ruinart, where he lived and conducted the company’s affairs for four years during the war. The cold, damp cellar conditions destroyed his lungs and he died in 1919. Crash landing A t the time of André’s death, his son Gérard was only 17, and would only take the helm six Bertrand Mure years later, in 1925. Until then, and even afterwards, the company’s operational management was in the hands of long-term managing director J. Max Leroy. He played a major role in the continuity of Ruinart’s operations, because Gérard lacked both the leadership and the business vision of his father. Ruinart’s difficulties began in the 1930s, as the country sank into depression. The American Prohibition, the stock exchange crash and the oil crisis accelerated the downward spiral, and finally the Second World War seemed to seal the destiny of the world’s world first house of champagne. Gérard Ruinart was at a loss. Managing director and Ruinart’s advocate, Leroy, fought to keep the company going, but Gérard could see no future in the operation. His cousin Bertrand Mure came to the rescue.

F i n e Legend Bertrand had grown up in the champagne business. Related to Charles Ruinart through his mother, Bertrand’s father was at the helm of the Roederer champagne house. Gérard and Bertrand shared a flat and became close in German-occupied Reims during the Second World War, and Gérard decided to ask Bertrand to consider taking over Ruinart. Bertrand thought about it for eight years. When J. Max Leroy died in 1947, Bertrand finally decided to take the step. ruinarT – mouTonroThsChild’s Champagne B ertrand Mure faced a huge challenge. He had to travel around the world to rebuild distribution channels for Ruinart champagnes. In addition, the estate, mutilated by the war, needed urgent repairs and finding financing was essential. After extensive negotiations, the owner of the esteemed house of Mouton-Rothschild, Baron Philippe de Rothschild, bought half of the shares in Ruinart in 1949. This relieved Ruinart of its financial plight and allowed it to get back on its feet. For the next fourteen years, Ruinart chugged forward under the leadership of Mure, who worked to make the brand popular among the elite. One strategy was to hold numerous luxury dinners for select celebrities. Mure also decided to cement the brand’s popularity by launching two prestige champagnes: Dom Ruinart Blanc de Blancs and Dom Ruinart Rosé. When Rothschild expressed his wish to abandon the company, Mure offered the shares to Moët & Chandon director Robert Jean de Vogüé. Vogüé accepted the offer and took charge of the house in 1963. With Moët & Chandon merging, first with Hennessy Cognac in 1971 and then with Louis Vuitton in 1987, Ruinart ended up as part of the LVMH Group. The Champagne oF The World’s BesT sommeliers U nder its new ownership, Maison Ruinart has been overshadowed by the other large champagne houses in the group, such as Moët & Chandon and Veuve Clicquot. Ruinart has been seeking its niche on the champagne market. From 1979, when the house was celebrating its 250th annversary, the Trophée Ruinart sommelier competition became a way to increase the brand’s esteem among sommeliers around Europe. This was achieved, first in France and from 1988 onwards also in the rest of Europe. Experts such as Serge Dubs, Gérard Basset, Enrico Bernardo and Andreas Larsson, who were crowned as Europe’s top sommeliers in the competition, have later become some of the most renowned authorities in their fields, and have spread the word about Ruinart. However, decades of investment into the competition, striving to turn Ruinart into the “sommelier’s champagne”, did not have the desired effect and the international Trophée Ruinart was discontinued in 2006. neW direCTions I t is Ruinart’s incomplete image that seems to stand in the way of success. This is evident in the product’s advertising, which has failed to create mental pictures around the brand. Consumers find it difficult to position Ruinart in relation to other brands. While Veuve Clicquot enjoys the prestige of a champagne directed at women, Moët & Chandon is known as the party champagne, and Krug is the drink for the true connoisseur, Ruinart has no clear message about its target audience. This lack of a profile has been seen as a problem for the brand throughout its history. For centuries, Ruinart was led on the principle of creating the “everyman’s champagne”. The various generations at the helm of the house have focused on one market or another, forgetting to build a brand with a long-term vision. The house has also been short of strong personalities who would have been able to create an image for the brand through inventions or campaigns. Since the company’s establishment, only André Ruinart stands out as a man who sought to set apart the house from its competitors. Taking into account the high quality of Ruinart’s champagnes, the company’s history as the world’s first champagne brand, and the fact that it is owned by the world’s leading luxury goods group, LVMH, Ruinart certainly possesses all the ingredients for cooking up one of the world’s most desirable luxury champagnes. > References: Ruinart – Patrick de Gmeline (1996) & Archives Maison Ruinart FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 39

Ruinart’s champagnes Ruinart is known for a creamy, champagne style, characterised by the generous use of Chardonnay in the blend. R de Ruinart Brut NV Appearance: Aroma: Ruinart Blanc de Blancs NV Appearance: Aroma: Taste: Taste: Aftertaste: Aftertaste: Character: Serving glass:: Temperature: Drinkability: Price/quality ratio: Recommended with: Character: Serving glass:: Temperature: Drinkability: Price/quality ratio: Recommended with: General description: General description: Ruinart Brut Rosé NV Dom Ruinart Blanc de Blancs 100% Chardonnay Appearance: Aroma: Taste: Aftertaste: Character: Serving glass:: Temperature: Drinkability: Price/quality ratio: Recommended with: General description: 40 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 65% of the grapes come from Côte de Blancs Grand Cru parcels and 35% from Montage de Reims Grand Cru parcels For the best vintages, see Richard Juhlin’s tasting notes on page 42. Dom Ruinart Rosé 84% Chardonnay 16% Pinot Noir For the best vintages, see Richard Juhlin’s tasting notes on page 44.

F i n e Ve r t i c a l Text: Richard Juhlin R uinart launched its first prestige cuvée from the house’s 230th-anniversary vintage, 1959. Named after the famous Benedictine monk Dom Thierry Ruinart, it was produced from Chardonnay grapes grown in the estate’s grand cru vineyards. The wine was presented in an old-fashioned, broad-beamed bottle with a narrow neck, which was practically identical to those used by the monks. It has been accompanied by Dom Ruinart Rosé since the 1966 vintage. The fantastic Dom Ruinart and Dom Ruinart Rosé, based on the same blanc de blancs cuvée, are born in stainless steel tanks, protected from oxidation. The approximate 15-percent portion of red wine in the rosé comes from the house’s own Pinot Noir vineyards in Sillery and Verzenay, as well as from the unknown grand cru village of Puisieulx. It differs from other top blancs de blancs, such as Taittinger Comtes de Champagne, in that some of the Chardonnay grapes used come from Montagne de Reims, which is traditionally a Pinot Noir region. Of these Montagne de Reims villages, Sillery with its tough, smoky minerality and well-structured body stands for the lion’s share. This makes Dom Ruinart unique and individual. Also, it should be noted that since Ruinart was incorporated into the LVMH Group, the same yeast has been used for it as for Dom Pérignon. The two labels share some characteristics, and Dom Ruinart is in fact considered by some to be a Dom Pérignon Blanc de Blancs. This has also been my conclusion in a number of blind tastings, even though LVMH do not actually aim for this. With regard to the personality of the wine, it is interesting to note how quickly Frédéric Panaïotis, who was initially earmarked for the post of cellar master at Veuve Clicquot – a house with a completely different character from Ruinart’s – has managed to assimilate Ruinart’s typically creamy and crisp style. The readjustment for Fred was great and dramatic, but it feels as though he, as one of the most talented winemakers I’ve met, has very quickly found his way in terms of style. I had the pleasure and great honour to taste quite a lot of Dom Ruinart vintages with Frédéric during his first months as Ruinart’s cellar master. We conducted deep analytical discussions based on my tasting experience, so that he would be able to understand the style of Dom Ruinart as rapidly as possible and make champagnes that respected the house’s tradition. Frédéric has tried to refine the wines’ purity and minerality by blending the most elegant Chardonnay from the Côte des Blancs with the more powerful version of the same type of grape from the northern Montagne de Reims. He sees the rosé version as being a “blanc de blancs rosé” that offers a unique and paradoxical complexity through its long storage, a complexity in which the nose is distinctly reminiscent of a great red Burgundy, interwoven with an unbelievably pure and invigorating taste. For consumers who enjoy elegant champagne with chalky minerality, a citrus aroma and stringent acids backed up by a toasted character reminiscent of Charles Heidsieck, Belle Époque and Dom Pérignon, Dom Ruinart Blanc de Blancs is going to be a big favourite. For those who love the most feminine of the Burgundy red wines such as Chambolle-Musigny Les Amoureuses from Roumier, or Griotte-Chambertin from Ponsot, while not having anything against gentle creamy silkiness and a splash of bubbles inflated with minerality, a twenty-year-old Dom Ruinart Rosé should be a heavenly experience. Tasting history W hat is the quality like, then, today seen from a historical perspective? In August 2011, I updated my already voluminous tasting register of this fantastic label at an extremely comprehensive Dom Ruinart vertical at the eminent and star-winning oasis of Søllerød Kro, north of Copenhagen. This was the sixth year in a row that we gathered togeth- FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 41

er with the Danish enthusiast Bjørn Leisner for a legendary vertical tasting. The champagnes that we had previously enjoyed and analysed were Dom Pérignon, Cristal, Comtes de Champagne, Krug and Salon, and now it was Dom Ruinart’s turn. The event was brilliantly organised and the group enjoyed yet another wonderful weekend with colossal amounts of first-rate food, and Dom Ruinart in just as copious quantities. Thirty-two different Dom Ruinarts were lined up with marvellous dishes composed by one of the most congenial chefs in Denmark, Jan Restorff, from caviar, sweetbreads, truffles, duck liver, turbot, salmon, chicken, ceps and fillet of veal. All dishes were accompanied by a half-blind trio of Dom Ruinart. The performance I t was difficult to draw any general conclusions about the stage or age at which the wines ought to be consumed. Neither did we manage to agree on whether the Blanc de Blancs or the Rosé was the most brilliant star. We were unanimous, however, as to the drinkability of the rosés, which are best at an age of about twenty years. They provide an amazingly unique wine experience that should really be enjoyed personally. Generally speaking, one can probably say that it is a criminal act now to drink bottles of Dom Ruinart Rosé from younger vintages than 1990. The 1980s are a delightful era at present, while the beginning of the 1970s and the 1960s feel more uncertain, despite the fact that the 1969 Dom Ruinart Rosé is charming and one of the absolute best. The same can be said for the 1964 Blanc de Blancs. Which ones are my own favourites? As always, that is very much a question of in what shape both the wines and myself are on that day. On certain occasions, I have placed the oily 1990s above the classically elegant 1988s, but when everything is particularly in tune in the magnum and in the vinothèque format, then it is of course only 1979 that can beat the 1988s. This is only my personal opinion, and the choice is actually much more a matter of style than of quality. I have full respect for anyone who highlights the oily vintages of 1990, 1982 and 1964, just as I have for those who find themselves somewhere in the middle and vote for 1996, 1981 or 1978. Here you can read my assessments of almost all the vintages of Dom Ruinart that have been produced. In order to maintain a degree of incompleteness, the collection is missing one wine: the 1966 Dom Ruinart Rosé. It is unfortunately a wine that no one I know has ever caught a glimpse of, and I would love to hear about it if you manage to unearth this rare treasure. Below are Richard Juhlin’s best experiences of Dom Ruinarts. The scores in brackets are the potential points awarded by Juhlin to the champagne at its optimal age and maturity. Dom RuinaRt Blanc De Blancs 2002 Dom Ruinart 87p (95p) 1996 Dom Ruinart 90p (95p) 1993 Dom Ruinart 87p (87p) The ultimate French chef in the Disney film Ratatouille chanted “anyone can cook”. In my book Champagne I assert that anyone could have made champagne in 2002. The person who failed with this vintage, blessed as it was by nature, should immediately change his vocation. Of course the 2002 Dom Ruinart was also a blessed creation. 72 percent of the fruit comes from Avize and Chouilly in Côte des Blancs and 28 percent from Sillery and Puisieulx in Montagne de Reims. This wine is colossally young, but already completely harmonious. Everything is there in small portions, that are going to increase their scope in due course. White blossoms, citrus, coconut, butterscotch, nut cookies and steely minerality direct the tone. Very light and youthful appearance. A mellow nose with elements of mint and vanilla along with blossoms. The flavour is actually also mellower than usual in a polished, modern, beautiful style. Almost completely without toasty tones for now. A fine harmonious whole. If this wine does not come straight from the producer in the Vinothèque version, it is not at all that fresh and light. In the normal vintage format, it ages far too fast in spite of its rather youthful colour. 1996 Dom Ruinart Vinothèque Wonderfully good and completely mature, but perhaps a touch less fine-tuned than when it has been stored a few extra years at the producer’s cellars. In the magnum there is masses of development potential. 1998 Dom Ruinart 90p (94p) A light, fine, chalky champagne with interesting shades, that provide lovely Francophile enjoyment. Pure as a mountain stream, the lightest edition I have tasted of this prestige cuvée. It will gain of course in complexity as well as in concentration through storage, something that is unique to all fine champagne. 65 percent of the grapes come from Côte des Blancs and 35 percent from Montagne de Reims. Keeps very well and is now displaying a rather oilier side alongside a classical, reductive toastiness. Very pleasant, but too tiny at present. The lovely subtle spectrum is there, however, that will bloom so beautifully in maturity. So hold on and allow the faintly flowery tones to develop into more interesting tones, and wait for increased concentration and intensity. The toast could already be discerned in February 2009, and is even more apparent today. 42 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 93p (95p) Such delectably toasty and sublimely stony champagne with promise of eternal youth. Starting, however, to move on with a slight element of caramel and layers of toffee. More developed and at the same time more elegant than in the regular edition. 1993 Dom Ruinart Vinothèque 92p (93p) 1990 Dom Ruinart 95p (95p) 1990 Dom Ruinart Vinothèque 95p (95p) A lovely aroma of nut and toffee develops when the wine has stood open a while. At the end of 2005 several bottles had reached their full, creamy maturity in a similar way to many oily 1982s. Still great similarity with the 1982. 1988 Dom Ruinart 96p (97p) Still as good as the Vinothèque version and I hope and believe that it will remain so.

F i n e Ve r t i c a l 1988 Dom Ruinart Vinothèque 96p (97p) Surprisingly developed and generous already, with massive tropical opulence of mango and orange. There is also a lovely attack here, and a sophisticated, multifaceted, long aftertaste. A super Dom Ruinart! Of course very toasty in the same style as Dom Pérignon. Now a seductive acacia tone has appeared similar to 1979, and the wine is fabulously beautiful. Still too immature in the magnum. 1986 Dom Ruinart 90p (90p) As a young wine, it had a special, currant-like tone that was backed up by toasted chestnuts and a careful element of acacia honey. This wine has kept well and will remain on top form for a few years more. The toasting is fine but the taste is rather too neutral and short to be able to lay claim to greatness. 1985 Dom Ruinart 87p (87p) When I recently looked through my old notes of Dom Ruinart, I felt that the points awarded to the 1985 must have been too low. I was actually very querulous over its all too pronounced currant tone and its unusually tight, unstructured initial costume. I asked Frédéric Panaïotis to get out a new bottle in 2011 to see what had happened to the wine, and I must unfortunately state that I was not that wrong after all. The wine has passed its relatively low prime quite recently, but is nonetheless interesting with a strong tone of straw, lake water reeds, marzipan and cigars. A feeble Dom Ruinart. 1983 Dom Ruinart 92p (92p) Lovely green-hued yellow colour and persistent, fast mousse. Large, smoky, enormously toasty aroma that is gorgeous but somewhat over-dimensional. The ripe currant-like fruitiness is first noticeable in the mellow aftertaste. Powerfully gunpowdery nowadays. 1982 Dom Ruinart 94p (94p) This once coarse, unbalanced wine has become so unbelievably lovely and classical. Oily and sublime with vintage-typical maturity and harmonious freshness. Profile with liquorice aroma. Reminds me today of the wonderful 1979 in a more syrupy and somewhat simpler version. 1981 Dom Ruinart 94p (94p) As superbly delectable, discreetly toasty and beautifully flowery as the Cuvée Baccarat from the same vintage. The mousse is exemplary and the colour is luminously brilliant and shimmering green. The wine is lighter than usual, which leaves space for greater elegance than in other years. The fruitiness is dominated by white currants and raspberries. At the age of 24 the wine had changed shape and gone over to being a syrupy, honey-drenched essence with toffee and nutty undertones. Nowadays more rustic and mellower than expected. 1979 Dom Ruinart 97p (97p) This glorious vintage seldom disappoints one. Ruinart’s 1979 is very unique despite its classically toasted overtone. The aroma is outstandingly floral with an extremely fine-tuned spectrum of all nature’s most beautiful nuances. The fruitiness is composed of aromas very much like tomato and red currant. The tannins are gorgeous and the length monumental. Perhaps the best Dom Ruinart I have tasted. The world’s second best blanc de blancs according to the jury at the Millennium Tasting. 1978 Dom Ruinart 95p (95p) A great, overwhelming wine right from the beginning with an individual bouquet of overripe oranges and yeast. Massively mellow taste of ripe fruit and low tannin. At 33 years of age, fantastically lovely and perfect to drink. A lot of fried butter and a profound opulence. Elusive elegance despite its maturity. FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 43

1975 Dom Ruinart 70p (70p) What happened at Ruinart in 1975? Hollow and at best a wine rich in mineral. Mean and fishy in aroma. A new tasting is needed here, but alas, Ruinart has no bottles left. 1973 Dom Ruinart 91p (91p) For a long time, there was a complex bouquet in which almonds, brioche and spices dominated. Medium-bodied, fresh taste with perfect balance and generous citrus fruitiness. Smooth aftertaste and on the whole a very easily drunk champagne for all tastes. Nowadays this wine is unbelievably oily and syrupy with a lovely dominance of toffee, but many dimensions have been lost. Hurry up! 1973 Dom Ruinart Anniversary Cuvée 93p (93p) Only 5 000 bottles were produced of this exemplary blanc de blancs. It is very probable that this is exactly the same wine as the 1973 Dom Ruinart, but the bottles of Anniversary Cuvée I have tasted have been extremely consistent in style. The toasty aromas have been toned down to the benefit of a marvellous perfume of English butterscotch and lemon. Still extremely elegant. 1971 Dom Ruinart 94p (94p) This is the real stuff! A powerful bouquet of toast and overripe lemons. A full-bodied, intensive taste with the same aromas. Delightfully elegant and florally seductive with acacia tones in certain bottles. More uniform and full-bodied in the second bottle. 1969 Dom Ruinart 93p (93p) Extremely lively and youthful considering its physical age. Decadent, cold nose of sea, oyster 44 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA shells and rubber. On the tongue, the impression is more classical and lime-flavoured. Fullbodied, oily and long. 1966 Dom Ruinart 95p (95p) A sluggishly flowing essence with good mousse and lovely sweet aromas. Vanilla, syrup, liquorice and butterscotch are easy to note. A real duck liver wine for those of us who love the Chardonnay grape when it has matured. Dom Ruinart is as good as always, one of the true stars. 1964 Dom Ruinart 96p (96p) Almost sluggish in its oily concentration. Reminiscent to some degree of the 1976 De Venoge Des Princes with its broad, minty and butterscotch-tasting charm. Sweet citrus, vanilla and pastry-like tastes caress the tongue. An extremely luxurious champagne in very good condition, voluptuously stimulating. 1961 Dom Ruinart 93p (93p) Still very fresh with gorgeously lively acids. The nose hints of leather, vanilla and molasses. The taste is somewhat short, but very compact and impressively pure. 1959 Dom Ruinart 93p (93p) The first vintage of this fantastic blanc de blancs. If the House has any bottles of this wine left, then one must simply congratulate them. My specimen came from a warm Italian cellar and had a number of tiring characteristics, not least the dark colour. I got carried away nonetheless by the blast of taste that came towards me even on the first gulp. The dimensions are heroic! Dom Ruinart Rosé 1998 Dom Ruinart Rosé 87p (93p) A blanc de blancs based rosé with 66 percent of grapes coming from Avize, Cramant and Le Mesnil and 34 percent from Sillery, Puisieulx and Verzenay, and red wine from Sillery and Verzenay. Only 5 g/l of sugar in the dosage which is rather too mean in the wine’s young days, but since Frédéric Panaïotis has learnt to appreciate the DRR’s magical ability to age with beauty, he has calculated the dosage with a view to future harmony. The wine is elegant and a touch reserved, with fine floral tones of geranium and roses mixed with currants, blackberries and wild strawberries. Slender and polished. Do not touch before 2015. 1996 Dom Ruinart Rosé 92p (95p) Surprisingly accessible and mellow right from the beginning. A lovely aroma of ripe wild strawberries and cultivated strawberries caresses the romantically minded consumer. Long, creamy and compact with fine freshness in the finish without revealing any typical 1996 acidity. 1990 Dom Ruinart Rosé 95p (95p) Well-matured bottles are just as good as the Vinothèque version. Deep and creamy with a radiant vitality and Burgundy-like authority. 1990 Dom Ruinart Rosé Vinothèque 95p (96p) Now they have succeeded again! Perhaps as well as with the 1988, which was the foremost rosé champagne Ruinart had ever produced when it was launched. Fantastic Burgundy-inspired nose. White or red, one may then ask oneself? Well, actually both. Here we find the wonder-

1988 Dom Ruinart Rosé 96p (96p) A sensational super wine! Perhaps also the foremost Dom Ruinart Rosé that has been produced up to now. This champagne smells delightful and is reminiscent of Dom Pérignon Rosé. Lovely, mature, glossy light-orange colour. Delectably mellow aroma spectrum with sun-matured, replete fruitiness and coffee tones in the best Burgundy style. Mellow, harmonious and caressingly tingly on the palate. A sophisticated great house style. The red wine comes from Verzy and Verzenay. Fantastic. 1988 Dom Ruinart Rosé Vinothèque 96p (97p) Certain bottles are rather too tense, but the majority are a smiling coffee roastery with the highest possible enjoyment factor. The magnum has potential for 97 points. 1986 Dom Ruinart Rosé 92p (92p) The colour is tinted with orange. The bouquet is pleasant, with mature tones and a hard-to-define berry tone. It is therefore surprising that the taste was youthful for so long, and characterised by minerality and austere acids. Nowadays a fully mature wine with a great bouquet reminiscent of sensual red Burgundy. 1986 Dom Ruinart Rosé Vinothèque 93p (93p) Languorously full-bodied and creamily gorgeous with an extra intensity from storage in Ruinart’s cellar. Often 94 points in magnum. 1985 Dom Ruinart Rosé 92p (93p) This wine had a vinous style for a long time with tones of tobacco and leather. A powerful taste of bitter chocolate and tobacco, but a touch too short to be completely satisfactory. Nowadays there is certainly some remaining tannin attack, but it behaves quite like other 1985s such as Pommery and Veuve Clicquot. A trifle dry and austere, perhaps, but stylish and exciting. 1983 Dom Ruinart Rosé 94p (94p) Sensationally good and a magically roasted coffee style with an exemplary orange-splashed sensual colour. Burgundy-ishy enjoyable. A superb 1983! 1982 Dom Ruinart Rosé 94p (94p) A disappointment for a long time, but now it does not disappoint anybody with its delightfully inviting, refreshing, ice lolly-like style. Full of luxuriously sweet raspberry and blackberry aromas. Fluffy, creamy, oily but yet perhaps a bit shorter than the best of them. 1981 Dom Ruinart Rosé 89p (89p) Nowhere near the Vinothèque version in the magnum. Delicious and full-bodied, but slighty oxidative and past its prime. 1981 Dom Ruinart Rosé Vinothèque 96p (96p) An utterly fantastic wine in magnum. Extended cellaring at the house and the large bottle format increase the points compared to the regular version. Silky, light, mellow, elegant, creamy and aristocratic in a heavenly way. to Lupetti, my amiable Italian colleague, has bumped into a 97-point specimen, so don’t hesitate if you happen to see one. 1971 Dom Ruinart Rosé 90p (90p) FINE Ve r t i c a l fully erotic, mouldering truffle-like aroma present in red wines from Vosne-Romanée, while at the same time the buttery and coffee-roasted aromas carry one’s thoughts to barrel-impregnated Puligny-Montrachet. No fresh note here either I’m afraid. A deep orange colour, feeble, slow mousse. Intensive ­ bouquet of cognac, cointreau, leather and jam. Concentrated and full-bodied on the palate, a fluffy taste of cherry jam. The oxidative tones grew invasive after fifteen minutes in the glass, so the wine is probably too old nowadays. 1969 Dom Ruinart Rosé 95p (95p) Still a wonderful Burgundy-like champagne with deep aromas of black truffle, roses, leather and Brie de Meaux. On the palate more orange and a fantastically vigorous 1969 tannin and a feminine length. 1966 Dom Ruinart Rosé 1979 Dom Ruinart Rosé 95p (95p) The first vintage of this wine, which I have never tasted, alas. A deep orange colour. Took its time, but is now a fantastic, utterly typical Dom Ruinart Rosé with the whole crackling colour spectrum that bombards the senses in an ethereal way. Dom Ruinart l’Exclusive 94p (95p) 1978 Dom Ruinart Rosé 94p (94p) An outstandingly fine 1978 that my photographer Pål Allan has as his favourite rosé. The bouquet offers a high-class toastiness and the taste is long, fresh and extremely exotic. Even deeper today and still madly delectable. 1976 Dom Ruinart Rosé 92p (92p) Brilliant for many years. The aroma is reminiscent of mature, high class red Burgundy. The strong bouquet is followed by a sweet ice lolly-like, round and mild raspberry taste. Mature, perhaps even going somewhat downhill nowadays. 1975 Dom Ruinart Rosé 92p (92p) I unfortunately have no recent tasting notes but for a long time this wine was balanced and correct in every way. Perhaps somewhat less charm than usual and almost Bordeaux-like with its tones of stables, lead and cigar tobacco. This millennium magnum’s appearance and presentation are to say the least spectacular. Those who drank this shockingly expensive bubbly on that magical New Year’s night were probably disappointed with its youthful, immature taste. The concept is that several vintages of Dom Ruinart were blended into a super cuvée. The wines included were: 10 percent 1985, 10 percent 1986, 15 percent 1988, 40 percent 1990 and 25 percent 1993. Tasted side by side with the 1988 and 1990 Dom Ruinart, it felt tied and tense. Its elegance and purity are however not to be mistaken. In 2011 it was completely integrated, very youthful still, but with a compact vanilla-like mellowness and breadth that is different from the vintages. More fullbodied, fruitier and with less of a mineral character and less toasty than the others. Magically grand to drink from this lovely magnum bottle. 1973 Dom Ruinart Rosé 85p (85p) I had higher hopes for this dark, opulent wine. Mousse and freshness are almost completely lacking, and oxidative tones come creeping in the more one empties the bottle. The first glass had a fine explosive raspberry attack that led the wine straight over the 90 mark for a few seconds. Then it was a slow trip downhill. Alber- FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 45

COLUMN JAMES SUCKLING Vintage: 1982 Bordeaux T he 1982 vintage in Bordeaux changed my life as well as the wine world. It was the first vintage I tasted from the barrel as a young wine writer working for the American magazine The Wine Spectator, and I was amazed at how gorgeous the quality of a young red could be from the barrel. I remember the first barrel samples I tasted during the summer of 1983 at Château Prieure-Lichine with the late wine author and vintner Alexis Lichine. The wines were so fruity with soft and rich tannins. They seemed too drinkable for a young wine, yet Lichine, who had over forty years of experience tasting young wines, told me the wines were “exceptional” and “some of the greatest young wines ever produced”. He had invited some of his winemaking friends from the Médoc to a lunch at his chateau following the tasting, and he kept telling them, who happened to include such names as Bruno Prats (then Cos d’Estournel), Anthony Barton (Léoville-Barton) and Jean-Eugene Borie (Ducru-Beaucaillou), that young writers like myself were the future of the region 34 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA and that they had to make me understand that 1982 was a great year. He was upset that the New York Times and some other magazines had come out saying that the new vintage was not outstanding due to its seemingly early drinkability. It was also the time an American lawyer in his mid-30s began writing about wine on a full-time basis, creating a newsletter called The Wine Advocate in the process. Many say Robert Parker built his career on advocating the greatness of Bordeaux’s 1982 vintage, although he obviously did much more. More importantly, the 1982 vintage marked a big change in the way Bordeaux was produced. It underlined fruit and ripe tannins in reds as well as a slightly higher level of alcohol and less acidity. This is what gave the wines such wonderful texture, or drinkability, in their youth. It was a big change from most vintages before 1982, which had produced hard and tannic wines that needed years, even decades, to soften. The 1982 vintage became a model vintage for red Bordeaux in the future, and arguably for the wine world at large. Think of all the fruit-forward reds that are produced today in the world – for better or for worse. Alcohol

FINE Suckling levels are at least two, sometimes three or four degrees higher. Tannins are stronger yet riper, and natural acidities are lower. Chapitalization – adding sugar to the fermenting grape must to increase alcohol – seems a thing of the past. “Young wines are so drinkable now,” said Alexandre Thienpont, the winemaker at Pomerol’s Vieux-Château-Certan and Le Pin. The latter made its reputation on early drinkability. “It’s what people expect in a modern wine today”. I believe some of the changes with the 1982 were due to the “California”-like growing conditions the Bordeaulais spoke of at the time. The summer was extremely hot and sunny, while the harvest was warm and mostly clear of precipitation. Grape yields were high, with many of the best wine properties making more wine per hectare than authorised by the French authorities. In fact, the late Jean-Pierre Moueix of Château Pétrus always told me that the 1982 vintage would have been at the same level as the 1945 or 1949 vintages if yields had been lower. Yet, the experience of the growing season and harvest in 1982 made a whole new generation of winemakers in the region understand the importance of picking grapes later and riper. They understood early on when wine critics such as Parker and myself, as well as members of the U.S. wine trade, enthused so much about the 1982 reds from the barrel. This also was the beginning of the critic-driven barrel sample scores becoming more popular and therefore a determining factor among the players in the wine trade. The U.S. market was the biggest market in which to buy top-notch Bordeaux from the 1982 vintage. It began a decade of intense buying of Bordeaux in the United States, with consumers buying First Growths and second growths as well as Pomerols and St. Emilion. Americans regaled in the wine’s juiciness and beauty. They also made a great deal of money if they had held on to the wines in order to sell them later. For example, most of the First Growths sold for about $40 a bottle in 1983 as futures and some are now as much as $3500 a bottle. Prices for 1982 are down slightly now, but the price appreciation over 30 years is impressive. So, indeed, is the quality of the wines for the most part. I am lucky enough to drink top 1982 on a regular basis, and the best ones never cease to amaze me with their generous and complex fruit and polished, ripe tannins. Bottle variation can be a problem because many of the top names have been bought, sold and stored all over the world, but on the whole it is a treat to drink a great 1982. And, of course, this vintage always reminds me of my beginnings in the wine world. > FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 35

r a ch of e s e h t th In e perfect closure – chemistry of wine ageing Text: Martin Wil l iams MW / Photos: Pek k a Nuik k i D on’t you love the shiver of excitement that overwhelms you when a seriously great, mature wine is poured to be appreciated by appropriately experienced tasters? The wine may have been purchased long ago and cellared carefully for decades, or it may have cost a wine enthusiast a king’s ransom in the retail or secondary market not long before opening – but the feeling of anticipation is much the same. Doubtless, you are also familiar with that empty feeling of disappointment and betrayal on the all-too-frequent occasion when you discover that the wine has been destroyed through failure of the cork. Why do we continue to accept such devastating disappointment as a fair price to pay for the pleasure of drinking those wines that do survive the ordeal of extended cellaring, protected from the ravages of time only by a small cylinder fashioned from the bark of the cork oak, Quercus suber? Is there a truly rational basis for its use, or are we merely clinging to a tradition that, so far, has evaded critical appraisal? Let me introduce you to the ongoing research on wine closures and the poorly understood chemistry of wine ageing. 102 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA

F I N E Science The accepted wisdom has been that only cork is an appropriate closure for classic wines destined for long maturation. However, that opinion is changing as we explore alternatives, at the same time coming to a greater understanding of the process of wine ageing. Any regular drinker of wine produced in New World regions such as Australasia and South America could not help but notice the dramatic recent trend towards the use of alternative closures other than the traditional cork. However, not only are early-drinking aromatic and unwooded white wines being sealed with a range of options such as screwcaps, glass stoppers and polymer “synthetic corks”. The use of such alternatives for full-bodied, often oak-matured white varieties such as Chardonnay and Viognier is also well established, and within the past two years, increasing numbers of reds have been sporting screwcaps and other alternatives, too. It is even rumoured that small trial quantities of Australia’s iconic Grange, several eminently collectable California Cabernets, and some of the great Bordeaux growths are all being cellared under alternative closures for in-house assessment purposes. Many industry professionals agree that it is simply a matter of time – and consumer acceptance – before the long-term greatness of the world’s most classic and majestic wines is ensured, for a discriminating and demanding clientele, by the use of alternative seals. FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 103

History of the debate The “closures debate” has been underway for several years now. Reignited in the late 90s after a lengthy silence following those adventurous forays of several sizeable Australian companies into the consumer battlefield of the 1970s and early 80s. Chiefly using screwcaps for aromatic dry white wines such as Riesling, companies such as Yalumba saw the benefits of a convenient neutral closure for both short- and long-term maturation. Few people would be aware, however, that experimentation with screwcaps to seal table wines extends back to the late 1960s when not Australian, but French oenological institutes became involved in assessment for sensory impact and permeability to oxygen. Around 1970, Swiss winemakers started to assess the screwcap as an alternative to cork for the packaging of their delicate white wines. By 1972, no less than Château Haut-Brion, along with other prestige producers, was involved in trials to evaluate the suitability of the screwcap for the highest quality wines. And by the early ’80s, the screwcap had become well entrenched in several of the more progressive markets worldwide. At that time, the demand of the world wine industry for natural cork was easily met by producers in Portugal, Spain and Italy. Moreover, the quality control issues surrounding natural cork were less well recognized than they are today. Certainly, increasing numbers of wine lovers are familiar with the concept of a “corked wine”, though still only a relative handful are familiar enough with the characteristic taint aromas to recognise the problem. Even fewer are aware that the accepted response is to demand a refund or replacement for the undrinkable bottle. So it was essentially a lack of recognition of the extent of cork-related wine quality issues, along with the long-established image of cork as the prestige wine closure in a marketplace still dominated by the image of wine as an elite beverage, relegated screwcaps to the back shelf again by 1984, the year Yalumba ceased to use screwcaps commercially. New improved standards Times have changed enormously in the ensuing twenty years. Wine is extensively recognised in the developed world as a drink of culture, of social and physical well-being. Progress in winemaking technology worldwide has dramatically improved the overall technical quality of wine, arguably right across the board from everyday beverage quality to the greatest growths. At the same time, 104 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA enormous growth in the production and consumption of bottled wine has placed unprecedented pressure on a cork industry that is steeped in tradition, impacted by long production cycles in the forests and hence, for both reasons, has been unacceptably slow to respond to evolution in the global wine industry. Along with accessibility comes a requirement by the market for consistency, and sadly, despite the undeniable attributes of cork as a natural product and renewable resource, the requisite level of dependability (if it was ever met at all) is now far from being achieved by natural cork. Against this backdrop, the alternative wine closures industry has experienced explosive global growth in the last decade. Most, if not all, of the requirements to meet the needs of both producer and consumer are satisfied by these alternatives: they are simple, convenient, reliable and economical to a level of acceptability that, while not perfect, has never been matched by traditional cork. On the other hand, they meet contemporary standards of sustainability, including energy efficiency in production and low environmental impact on disposal, to a much lesser degree – an aspect the cork industry has been keen to highlight. Apart from these practical aspects – and of course the degree of conservatism exhibited by wine producers, the trade and the end market – there are two other factors which may limit the universal application of alternative closures throughout the wine industry. These factors are perceived immediate sensory impact, and the maturation capacity of wines sealed by synthetic closures in place of cork. The contribution of aroma and flavour to any commercial food or beverage by its package would generally be regarded as unacceptable, and this has been one of the main drivers of growth in the alternative wine closures industry. The direct contribution to sensory characteristics of wine by the inert polymers used in the food industry today (especially by comparison with cork, which can contribute “woody” aromas to delicate white and sparkling wines which, though not related to TCA, can still dominate the fruit) is negligible. Equally, there is no sensory contribution made by the proprietary “Vino-lok” glass stopper developed by Alcoa and increasingly embraced by German, Austrian and other European producers. The maturation capacity of wine sealed with alternative closures is another, quite separate factor – one which has preoccupied supporters and critics alike since the renaissance in alternatives began. Our understanding of wine maturation has evolved considerably in the ten years that have passed since the widespread

Complex chemistry Although the terms “oxidative” and “reductive” ageing are tossed around with abandon by wine technologists, journalists and interested consumers alike, the chemistry of wine maturation is far more complex than the simplistic use of such terms might suggest. Oxygen is commonly regarded as both friend and foe of wine, at all stages of production. While oxygen is not actually necessary for the fermentation of glucose to ethanol by yeast (which is an anaerobic process), pre-fermentation exposure of yeast cells to oxygen equips them with so-called survival factors which enhance their resistance to the increasingly toxic effects of alcohol as fermentation draws towards its conclusion. Tannins and related compounds present in both white and red wines (though substantially more prevalent in reds) undergo complex and varied reactions involving oxygen, mostly regarded as positive, which result in the gradual amelioration of bitter and astringent palate elements, the evolution of colour and aroma from “youthful” to “mature”, and the ongoing acquisition of complexity and harmony on nose and palate. Exposure to oxygen may also facilitate the transformation of “reductive” sulphur-containing compounds into less offensive, and often even interesting and attractive, products –although occasionally this may only be a temporary effect. On the negative side – as many a wine lover has experienced – excessive exposure to oxygen can result in the loss of freshness and fruit definition in certain wines for which freshness and fruitiness are fundamental attributes. It may also result in the development of undesirable aroma and flavour characteristics due to the accumulation of oxidation products such as acetaldehyde, and ultimately the over-development and fading, if not outright senescence, of all wines. The effects of exposure to oxygen of a wine after bottling are much slower than those resulting from exposure during initial vinification, or bulk maturation in tank or barrel. We can discount cases involving the contribution of oxygen to yeast or bacterial activity, which simply constitute microbial spoilage in bottle. Rather, we are interested in the purely chemical reactions that result in the accumulation of character and complexity as a wine matures slowly, a situation possible only under appropriate cellaring conditions of low and constant temperature, and absence of light. Almost exclusively, these reactions are related to the increasing oxidation state of the wine. At the other end of the scale, “reduction” literally signifies decreasing oxidation state; however, in relation to wine, “reduction” generally refers to the presence, and sensory effects, of various sulphur compounds that are by-products of yeast metabolism and decomposition. The chemistry and implications of sulphur compounds and “reduction” in wine are discussed in some detail by Dr Jamie Goode in the April 08 issue of Meninger’s Wine Business International. F I N E Science adoption of alternative seals by diverse sectors of the wine industry. Prior to this development, the popular belief was that the gradual incorporation of oxygen from the atmosphere is necessary for the occurrence of the chemical reactions that constitute wine ageing. The move towards the use of screwcaps in wines that range in style from aromatic whites to classically barrel-matured reds, in provenance from New Zealand and Australia to the bastions of the Old World, and in market positioning from entry-level right through to icon brands, has led to a re-appraisal of wine maturation at its most fundamental, chemical, level. Chain-reactions The key to these reactions is a reiterative process characteristic of phenolic compounds, known as auto-oxidation. It is effectively a slow chain-reaction in which the products of one cycle serve as initiators of the following cycle, leading to a cascade of chemical events and, ultimately, to changes in a wine’s chemistry and its associated sensory characteristics. The fundamental feature of autooxidation is that, while the reactions constituting the process are oxidative in nature, they require only a brief initial exposure to oxygen to trigger the cascade. As long as there are substrates, usually ethanol and phenolic compounds, present for further oxidation reactions to occur, there is no further need for exposure to oxygen. This is not to say that exposure to oxygen in the ongoing course of wine maturation has no impact, or for that matter a negative effect. However, the greater the exposure of a bottled wine to fresh oxygen, the more widespread will be the initiation of further processes, including but not limited to auto-oxidation, and the more rapid will be the evolution of the wine from “youthful” to “mature”. The overall rate of these various ageing reactions depends on physical conditions, such as temperature and exposure to light. It also depends on aspects of wine chemistry other than FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 105

ox yge n exposure and its history in a given wine, such as pH and acidity, alcohols and other significant similar compounds, the presence of metals and other catalysts in even miniscule concentrations, types of tannins and their levels, and the concentration of sulphur dioxide and the history of its addition during the winemaking process. Increased understanding If the axioms underlying this model of wine maturation are accepted (and they are, increasingly, in wine circles at all levels of technical expertise), then the corollary is that the ingress of atmospheric oxygen into a sealed bottle is not a necessary condition for maturation processes to occur. However, all of this is mere supposition until well-designed and properly controlled trials are conducted to investigate the hypothesis. The world’s wine industry is well served by longestablished research institutions, so it is perhaps surprising that formal academic research has not been conducted until relatively recently. Indeed, the most comprehensive work has been undertaken by larger labs in the private sector, which undoubtedly have a greater commercial interest in obtaining answers to certain technical questions, including the science of wine ageing. They are also free of the politics of research funding that, sadly, increasingly stifle impartiality in the academic sphere. Among a limited number worldwide, arguably the most significant trial to date into the implications of alternative closures for ageing of premium wines was conducted by the Research & Development division of Southcorp Wines (now owned by Foster’s) in South Australia. Key chemical indices of wine maturity were analysed in wines sealed with natural cork, two brands of synthetic stopper, and screwcap, at regular intervals over seven years. The wines were also submitted to formal descriptive sensory analysis by a panel of experienced and trained judges. The data were subjected to statistical analysis to establish the validity of the results, which were finally presented in a paper written by the chief investigators of the trial. Although questions have been raised subsequently about both the analytical technique employed to measure oxygen impact, and the apparent extent of variation in cork performance – particularly in relation to apparent ingress of oxygen either through or along the cork – these concerns have no relevance to the main theme of this article. 106 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA Apart from the relative merits of the three closure types, a key finding of the research was that while oxygen accelerates the process, ageing in red wine takes place irrespective of whether oxygen is introduced via the closure. After seven years in bottle, the wine sealed with screwcap was assessed by the panel to display signs of maturity comparable to those evident in the best preserved of the wines under natural cork. However, the variation in maturity observed in the full sample of wines under cork extended from the minimum, as seen in screwcap, through to the maximum, as seen under polymer “synthetic corks”. The results of the Southcorp trial were reinforced by studies conducted by the Australian Wine Research Institute and first published in 2001, although the issue of increased accumulation and subsequent sensory impact of sulphur compounds in wines sealed by screwcap also entered the closures debate around this time. Concern about the presence of sulphur compounds in screwcapped wines continues, although it should be recognised that “bottle stink” has long been a feature of many mature wines sealed effectively with cork. The universal response has been to allow such wines to “breathe”, allowing the rapid dissipation of such compounds into the air, and arguably this approach should be encouraged as a means of dealing with low levels of sulphur compounds found in a proportion of wines sealed with alternative closures. In contrast, cork taint compounds are far less volatile, and invariably remain or even become more dominant as a tainted wine breathes after opening. In my experience at least, redemption is out of the question; this is the fundamental tragedy of cork taint. Icon wines under screwcaps? The results of the Southcorp, AWRI and several subsequent trials generally corroborate the hypothesis that oxygen exposure after bottling is not a necessary condition for ageing of premium wines. Can this finding be extended to ultra-premium and icon wines which, historically, have owed their special status to their capacity to mature into truly wondrous drinking experiences? I believe the answer is yes. Several recent trials have highlighted the significantly superior ageing potential of the screwcap as an alternative closure, although there is nothing magical about the screwcap per se and this article is not intended to endorse any particular form of alternative closure. Any truly hermetic seal, be it made from glass, tin with a polymer lining, or even a “perfect” natural cork (though is this possible in a natural product?), will ensure that the long-term potential of a truly classic wine is fulfilled. Returning to our treasured and much-anticipated great bottle, it is the feeling of betrayal, of greatness so pointlessly wasted, that comes with the discovery of yet another cork failure and that should drive us to continue our quest for the ideal wine closure – a closure which is effectively an insurance policy that our significant investments in classic wines are secure. Such a closure may not yet have been developed, although progress is well underway. The future of great wine depends on it. >

The Auction report of 2000–2010 70 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA

F I N E Au c t i o n r e p o r t of Destiny Text: Stuart George As the “noughties” came to an end, the global economy remained in a fragile state. The credit crunch that began in 2008 and spread like wildfire in 2009 forced Greece and Ireland to seek financial aid from the EU and the International Monetary Fund. By January 2011, Portugal was on the brink. The world as a whole is richer than it was in 2000. But stock market investors have spent ten years getting nowhere. The Dow had its worst decade since the 1930s, while the dotcom crash, 9/11 and the financial meltdown all sent shares plummeting. By December 2010, it was up by only 2.2 per cent on its January 2000 level. Apple shares, which are one of the success stories of the decade, were worth less than $30 in 2000; now they are close to $350. In January 2000, a case of Lafite 1982 was worth, according to figures from the London-based fine wine exchange Liv-ex, $3895. By December 2010 it was worth $60 151, an increase of 1544 per cent. In October 2010 the price spiked to $107 248. It has been an unprecedented decade for fine wine, ten years in which where, how and for how much wine is sold has changed forever. FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 71

C The China syndrome N A new order There has been a fundamental change in the market worldwide over the last ten years, with growing numbers of people beginning to take an interest in wine, continuing dynamic economies and new emerging markets in Brazil, Russia, India and China – the so-called BRIC nations. In 2000, not a single Bentley was sold in Russia. In 2009, 103 were sold. At the start of the decade there were two million mobile handsets in India. By 2010, there were 545 million. As these figures show, the world has become both richer and taller. In 2000, the world’s tallest building was the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lampur at 452 metres. By 2010, it was the 828-metre Burj Khalifa in Dubai. The fine wine trade is dependent on the rich and, even after the credit crunch, there are plenty of those around. These days, a fine wine trader’s only concerns are likely to be Parker points, theft of his stock and end of year bonuses in the financial sector. Fine wine is booming so much that Tonnellerie Quintessence, one of the leading suppliers of barrels to fine wine producers, has made the Fleur de Quintessence “Premium Barrel”. (It has not yet been proven that it makes the wine taste any better.) 72 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA In a remarkably short time, China’s economy has blossomed into the second largest in the world. Only five years ago, China’s GDP was half that of second-placed Japan, which the Chinese eclipsed in 2010. Next stop: the mammoth U.S. economy – a milestone that is a decade or two away and yet all but certain. Things have changed since China was cloistered away behind a bamboo curtain and its major diplomatic ally was Albania. The new Chinese embassy that was opened in 2008 is the largest in Washington. Just as all but one national economy has been overtaken by China, the “traditional” fine wine markets in London and New York might feel as though it is the end of their world. They have had to hand over the keys to the cellars of the Quai des Chartrons in Bordeaux to the Asians. In April 2003, the SARS outbreak made Hong Kong a no-go area for everybody, including wine merchants, who mostly serviced Asian clients from offices in London or New York. Now half the fine wine world is there, including all the major UK and US auctioneers and retailers. G Growing pains The prices of top Bordeaux 2000s redefined the en primeur campaign. By 2010 and the aftermath of the 2009 releases, it was no longer a matter of securing the wines at the least expensive price – it was a matter of securing allocations that could be sold on for even higher amounts. Although there was indignation at the release prices of the 2000s, 2003s, 2005s and 2009s, one cannot blame the Bordelais for selling their wines as extravagantly as possible. They make the wine, after all, and if anybody should profit from them it is the producers themselves. The three expensive Bordeaux en primeur campaigns in the first half of the decade created a conundrum: release prices would have to decline or secondary market prices would have to increase. Finally, in 2007, the secondary market exploded like the Tsar Bomba. Suddenly there were more lavish, hardback catalogues than ever before – perhaps increased buyer’s premiums Location became the great mantra of wine auctioneers. are partly due to the enormous printing bills incurred by the auction houses. Location, location, location became the great mantra of wine auctioneers. More attention than ever was being paid by auctioneers, merchants and buyers to criteria that might affect the value of a wine: its provenance, condition, previous sales and drinking form. Prickly consumers forced standards to go higher and authenticity became the priority. “Traditional” collectors, including the wine trade, wine press and enthusiastic amateurs, were overwhelmed by the new money in Asia. Chinese started looking for wines with which to fill their expensively built cellars. Auctions appeal to them because they can acquire a lot of wine in a very short time – over a few hours an entire cellar can be established. Anyone with cash to spend can wave their paddle and buy at an auction. Several hundred free-spending individuals entered the fine wine market and changed it radically.

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G Go east, young man Virginia Woolf wrote in her 1924 essay “Mr Bennett and Mrs Brown”, “On or about December 1910, human character changed.” The fine wine market’s character changed in February 2008, when Hong Kong banished tax on wine. This was even more significant than the reintroduction of wine auctions to New York in 1994. It completely changed the dynamics of the international fine wine trade. Indeed, it has probably been the most momentous (and lucrative) addition ever to occur to the fine wine industry. Hitherto, the most sought-after lots went to New York. During the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, there was a steady flow of wine from Europe to the USA, which became the foundation of the large collections established by Lloyd Flatt, Marvin Overton III and others. But now all that wine started to travel eastwards. To paraphrase the British art dealer Joseph Duveen, America has a great deal of wine, and Asia has a great deal of money. With the addition of an insatiable Hong Kong to the already thriving London and New York, the market was flying. But on 15 September 2008, Lehman Brothers collapsed like Thomas de Quincey’s dissolving palace of snow. With their long lead times, auctioneers were powerless to prevent prices and clearance rates from becoming like Lady Throbbing and Mrs Blackwater’s “portrait by Millais” in Evelyn Waugh’s Vile Bodies, which “made a record in rock-bottom prices.” 74 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA But sometimes the darkest hour is just before dawn. Thanks to the economic strength of China, which was largely untouched by the credit crunch, the market recovered quickly and it took less than three years for the market’s de facto capital to relocate. 2010 was the first year that auctions in Hong Kong were more valuable than those in the whole of the USA. It is easy to understand the attraction of Hong Kong to wine merchants and auctioneers, as selling wine there is largely painless. There is no import tax, so paperwork is greatly reduced. To hold an auction all you have to do is rent a room and find some wine to sell – but that has become increasingly difficult, with several new auction houses entering the fine wine crucible recently. T The end of the beginning There is no future without a past, so we can perhaps make some fairly random predictions for 2011 and beyond, based on what happened during the previous decade. With old treasures so increasingly rare, auctioneers and merchants need younger wines to ensure liquidity and cash flow. The still unbottled Lafite 2009 made HK$300 000 (US$39 000) at an October 2010 auction in Hong Kong. It is possible that the Bordeaux en primeur campaign could be conducted via auctions in the future. The

Fine wine – like art and property – is, in the long-term, a one-way bet. L Lust, caution The current Asian wine market is like a queen bee fed on royal jelly. But caution is advised. The fine wine market more and more resembles the tulip mania that gripped the Netherlands in the seventeenth century, when the price of tulips reached a level over ten times the annual income of a skilled craftsman but then suddenly collapsed. In 1637, some tulip bulb varieties briefly became the most expensive objects in the world. Logistics in China – the movement and storage of bottles of wine – and the ongoing battle against fake wine will continue to be challenging. Producers will have to resort to sleight of hand to defeat the counterfeiters. Latour, for example, now puts microchips in its labels. The old saying “when America sneezes, the world catches a cold” now seems to apply to China more than the USA – after all, Shanghai’s February air is notoriously fluridden. If the Asian market slipped, the fine wine industry would be in trouble. There has already been a Chinese stock bubble, which burst in February 2007 and caused havoc on global stock markets. There will be a shakeout in Hong Kong at some point. It is close to saturation point and only the most professional and bestplanned wine businesses will survive. China might be the dazzling future of the First Growths but it is not going to be the salvation of the Côtes de Bourg. There is a risk that the market will become like a pan of boiling water and run dry. Asia is interested only in probably a couple of hundred privileged labels that by their very nature are in short supply. Nowadays auction houses need to be as tenacious as the anonymous narrator of Henry James’s The Aspern Papers. Hong Kong is gobbling up wines that might previously have gone to London or New York. Perhaps we might see large private collections of wine from Chinese cellars being sold by 2020. As in any decade, some people became richer and others became poorer. There were visionaries and there were rogues. So was 2010 the end of history as far as fine wine is concerned? No – it was the start. > F I N E Au c t i o n r e p o r t châteaux and negociants could set the reserves and estimates to their satisfaction – that is, as high as they like – and watch a bidding war break out. The short-selling of Lafite 2009 on Livex in June 2010 caused “outrage”. People had better get used to this sort of thing. Wine has become a commodity, albeit nonfungible, and it will be traded as such. The Internet will continue to make “darkness visible”. There might be increasing use of the Internet as a relatively cost-effective way to sell wine that also makes prices more transparent – why pay more in London than New York, or Hong Kong, for that matter? The traditional auction house business plan, with offices scattered across the globe, is looking increasingly anachronistic, its format like a fly trapped in amber. Lafite will continue to be the most sought-after fine wine, though the other Firsts all have stories to tell and will increase their presence in Asia. Lafite begins the new decade working with ASC Fine Wines in China, a company that is positioned to be hugely influential over the next ten years and beyond. What might have seemed like a bubble in Hong Kong has turned out to be an interstellar balloon. China and others will continue to drive growth and demand. There are more wine collectors with deep pockets than ever before, all of them clamouring for the finest bottles. Fine wine – like art and property – is, in the long-term, a one-way bet. In his Wine and Spirit Education Trust lecture in October 2007, Christian Seely of AXA Millésimes said: “In almost every habitable place on the globe there are a growing number of people wanting to consume wine that can only be made in one place. This is a good longterm position if you are the producer and you own the place in question.” FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 75

COLUMN JANCIS ROBINSON 1368 Varieties S o far I’ve been lucky, crazy and industrious enough to be responsible for more than 20 books about wine, including The Oxford Companion to Wine and, with Hugh Johnson, The World Atlas of Wine. But none is quite as beautiful as Wine Grapes – A complete guide to 1,368 vine varieties, including their origins and flavours, which is to be published on both sides of the Atlantic at the end of October. Wine Grapes is a 1200-page, 3.2kg monster that has particularly blighted the lives of my coauthors, Julia Harding MW and Dr José Vouillamoz, for the last four years. On 26 September 2008 I received the following email from José who, at that stage, I knew only by reputation as a Swiss-based specialist in the application of DNA profiling to grapevines: ‘I have an important proposal for you: the cowriting of a book on the history and origins of the most important classic grape cultivars of the world (Cabernets, Syrah, Chardonnay, Merlot, Riesling, Pinot, etc). Indeed, many people have asked me over the years if I had a book with all the stories I usually present in my talks. And I always must say “no, but if you want an up-to-date reference, just buy the third edition of The Oxford Companion to Wine”. Given the numerous recent discoveries made on the most important grape cultivars by DNA profiling (by my colleagues or by myself ), I think it’s now time to write a book on this subject that is popular but with all necessary 26 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA references. I am convinced that my expertise on the subject together with your most valuable skills in grape and wine writing and your considerable knowledge of the subject (OK, enough flattery...) would be a perfect match for a long-term reference book. I have already accumulated a lot of historical and genetic material about most of the classic grape cultivars which could be crossed with the detailed information found in your Guide to Wine Grapes.’ ‘I could plan the writing for 2009–2010.’ ‘I will be in London on Sunday 9 November from about noon until 6pm and on Monday 17 November for the whole day (8am–8pm) during stop-overs before and after a trip to South Africa. If your November schedule is not yet fully booked, I thought it would be an opportunity for us to meet in London and talk about this book project and, last but not least, meet you in person.’ Poor José. He had no idea when I invited him and my long-suffering assistant Julia Harding to lunch at Rowley Leigh’s Café Anglais that Monday to discuss his proposal, how ambitiously I would expand it – to every single grape variety making wine commercially, which, after many pluses and minuses, finally came to almost 1400 of them. As he reflected very recently: “when I was saying yes to this brilliant idea, I was anxiously and mentally trying to estimate how many additional months of work it would represent. I seriously under-estimated.....”

FINE Robinson My literary agent Caradoc King presented our ambitious project to several publishers and eventually we went with Penguin, or rather their leading non-fiction imprint, Allen Lane. When they asked me for a steer on the design, I lent them various books whose design I admired – notably Inside Burgundy by Jasper Morris MW, which had been prepared for publishers Berry Bros by Carrie Segrave and her husband Chris Foulkes (who, incidentally, published my first book on grape varieties Vines, Grapes & Wines back in 1986). But I also showed them various old ampelographies in my possession. Ampelography is the science of the identification of vine varieties by studying what they, and particularly their leaves, look like. It was a particularly popular sport a century ago and so these dusty old ampelographies had a decidedly late Victorian look. The result is that our book, with its collection of classic typefaces and curlicues, looks not unlike these beautiful old volumes – not least because we have been able to faithfully reproduce 80 stunning botanical paintings from the classic ampelography of all time, that were produced by Pierre Viala and Victor Vermorel during the first decade of the last century. (This was possible only thanks to an enormous amount of effort involving complicated searches in the British Library’s archives and the kindness of two lucky owners of the first edition, Swiss winemaker Josef-Marie Chanton and British Master of Wine Neil Tully.) But all has not gone smoothly with our beautiful tome full of alphabetically-listed grape varieties. When the publishers finally started to calculate how many pages their original, space-hungry design would need, they were horrified to find that A-K alone took up 800 pages. The designs had to be compacted (they are still pretty spacious, I think) and we authors had to fight very hard to keep the book in a single volume. The funny thing is that despite its extremely classic appearance, our book illustrates the very latest facts about the plants responsible for our favourite drink – many of them published for the first time. While Julia is the only person in the world with a top MW qualification and a professional background as a copy editor of the most persistent and pernickety sort, José is both a botanist and grape geneticist. He is able to analyse the DNA of plants and see precisely how they are related. The science of analysing microsatellites (types of DNA markers) now substantively complements the eye with its study of leaves and shoot tips, and hence we are able to spell out exactly what links, for instance, Syrah and Pinot, Savagnin Blanc and Grüner Veltliner, Merlot and Malbec. Our book is therefore home to 14 unique family trees painstakingly assembled by José and, as usual, minutely checked by Julia. Like those for Brianna and Prior, the Pinot one is so big that it needs a pullout section that runs over two whole pages. Pinot’s pedigree includes all manner of unexpected relatives among the 156 charted. Wine Grapes really is full of surprises. The result of our intense, demanding and at times apparently almost impossible task has been that I have learnt an enormous amount that was not known in the 1980s when I last tackled this subject in depth. Although this new book has been described by several commentators as an update of Vines, Grapes & Wines, it is in fact a completely new work, based on José’s original research into the world of vines and DNA, Julia’s original research into who has what planted (a daunting task when applied to the whole of the wine world – the latest Italian statistics date from 2000) and my vantage point as someone who has been fascinated by the revealing world of grapevine varieties for nearly 30 years. > WE HOPE YOU WILL FIND THE RESULTS INTRIGUING AND REWARDING. MORE DETAILS AT WWW.WINEGRAPES.ORG FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 27

HELS Bubbling Design Capital Year 2012 is the year for Helsinki as the World Design Capital. Finland is known for its clean-cut Scandinavian desing, with strong brands and names already from the 1960’s such as Marimekko, Kaj Franck and Tapio Wirkkala. The World Design Capital nomination aims to focus on the broader essence of design’s impact on urban spaces, economies and citizens. Helsinki, The White City of the North, is a bubbly and 104 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA dynamic city to explore, and now more relevant and current than ever before. Throughout the year 2012 Helsinki will be showcasing its accomplishments in innovative design, highlighting succesfull urban design, and hosting a number of design-related events. Fine would urge anyone interested in modern city culture to get to know this lively city, which is the home of FINE’s Headquarters.

FINE City INKI FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 105

Edward KauKoranta represents a new generation of champagne enthusiasts. A founder of several champagne clubs and tasting circles, he organises events and dinners around champagne. Edward’s background lies outside the wine and gastronomy fields, but he is an avid consumer of both. Furthermore, he is the founder of the thetastingbook.com, which is the world’s first professional tasting note tool and online wine reviewing community. Sp tLIgHt HElSINKI Text: Edward Kaukoranta Photographs: supplied by the described locations Life is a long journey worth enjoying along the way, so go and have some champagne! A champagne lover such as I could spend a whole day enjoying his favourite beverage in Helsinki. The fizz-loving World Design Capital now has a growing collection of bars and restaurants that pay special attention to champagne. Below are some of my favourites in Helsinki, which I am happy to recommend to all friends of the wine. REStauRaNt OLO This fine dining favourite on Kasarmikatu has an attractive feel to it. Guests are always met at the door and you are recognised as a frequent patron after just a few visits. On my last visit, I enjoyed the delicacies of Pekka Terävä’s Michelinstarred kitchen over lunch with some friends. Our pure-flavoured Scandinavian meal, fine-tuned to the minutest detail, was accompanied by Taittinger’s delightful single-vineyard champagne, Les Folies de la Marquetterie (€134 per bottle). The selection of champagnes available by the glass varies daily at Olo, ranging from the house champagne (Benoît Lahaye’s Brut Essential Grand Cru) to the Dom Pérignon 2002 magnum. There are eleven champagnes by the bottle, and sometimes Olo orders smaller specialist batches to include in its wine packages. My recommendation: choose a glass from the day’s selection Hidden gem: Louis Roederer Cristal Brut 2002, €319 per bottle Kasarmikatu 44 • www.olo-ravintola.fi 106 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA Restaurant Olo

The luxurious ambience of this five-star hotel always puts me in a good mood. Bar Haven probably has the most stunning wine cabinet in the city, and its contents are also very tempting, and consist almost entirely of champagne. The late Steve Jobs said that consumers don’t know what they want, and he is partly right. Some consumers do know what they want, however, and this is a place to have their wishes heard. At Haven there is only one choice of drink for me: a glass of Taittinger’s majestic prestige champagne, Comtes de Champagne. The champagne list includes 34 varieties, with at least seven available by the glass. You seldom have to order a whole bottle at Haven, however, as they will open almost any bottle, even a prestige variety, if you order at least four glasses. Haven is at its best off-hours, meaning weekday afternoons, when you can savour your wine in peace and tranquillity. FINE City BaR HavEN / HOtEL HavEN Bar Haven My recommendation: Taittinger Comtes de Champagne 2000, €25 for 10 cl Hidden gem: Veuve Clicquot Cave Privée Rosé 1978, €490 per bottle Unioninkatu 17 • www.hotelhaven.fi MuRu The affable restaurant Muru has received wellearned praise, and its little lounge-bar is an excellent place to have a small bite to eat while enjoying a couple of glasses of champagne. The last time I visited I had a beautiful black truffle risotto, accompanied by the splendid grower champagne Béréche Brut Réserve. At least one of Muru’s four co-owners is always present, and especially when Samuil Angelov or Nicolas Thieulon are in the dining room, the service here is the best in town. Bonus points go to Muru for its high-quality champagne glasses (Riedel Ouverture Champagne) – all too often, champagne is served in tiny flutes that do nothing for the depth and complexity of the noble beverage. My recommendation: Comtes de Champagne Rosé 2004, Taittinger 180€/bottle Hidden gem: Armand de Brignac Blanc de blancs 335€/bottle (hinta alle markkinahintojen!) Fredrikinkatu 41 • www.murudining.fi Muru FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 107

SHaKER Shaker, appended to Tennispalatsi, is best known for its cocktails and bottle-tossing bartenders. When “El Jefe”, a.k.a. Mika Räisänen is in the house, no other drinks bar in Helsinki comes close to Shaker’s atmosphere. Champagne provides a suitable soul for the drinks and a fine addition to the ambience. My recommendation: Champagne drinks Hidden gem: Comtes de Champagne 2002 Taittinger 150€/bottle Fredrikinkatu 65 • www.shaker.fi Shaker Chez Dominique CHEz DOMINIquE Finland’s only double Michelin-starred restaurant, run by Hans Välimäki, leaves nothing to be desired in presentation: the dishes are works of art. The service is friendly and polite but suitably distant, just what you would expect from an establishment of this standard. It is a positive surprise that wines are not overpriced at Chez; instead, highly agreeable specialities are offered for the customers’ enjoyment at very reasonable prices – taking into account the restaurant’s star rating. On each of my visits I have found diverse champagnes available by the glass, and happily also in the magnum size, which is the best bottle for champagne. Chez Dominique also has a champagne bar, where nearly all of the selections on the list are available by the glass. There are sixteen champagne varieties on offer, plus changing specialities. The environment is optimal for champagne enjoyment and every detail has been carefully thought through. During my last visit we enjoyed a few glassfuls of the near-perfect Krug Grande Cuvée Rosé for €74 per glass. The kitchens always send small snacks to enjoy with the champagne. My recommendation: Champagne of the day by the glass Hidden gem: Dom Pérignon Oenotheque 1969 3250€/bottle rikhardinkatu 4 • www.chezdominique.fi 108 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA F8 Sweet F8 SwEEt F8 Sweet, on the eighth floor of the Stockmann department store, is a bar that offers a pleasant break from shopping. Of course, you may come here just to enjoy the smart, modern setting and its good champagnes. The bar attracts a wide variety of customers, from elegant older ladies sipping red wine to young coffee-drinkers who have just come of age. Six champagnes on the list are available by the glass (8cl or 12cl), and there are eleven by the bottle. On my last visit, I was surprised to have the waiter serve my champagne in a white-wine glass. When I wondered about his glass of choice he amicably reminded me that on my previous visit I had specifically requested to have my champagne in a wine glass. I have to admit I was impressed by this attention to detail, and F8 immediately became one of my favourite champagne bars. A while ago I suggested to the staff that at least one prestige champagne should be available by the glass; two weeks later the list included both Dom Pérignon and Krug at €20 for 8cl or €30 for 12cl. It is so nice when people pay attention to feedback. My recommendation: Dom Pérignon 2003 18€/8cl and 27€/12cl Hidden gem: Jacquesson DT Grand Vin Signaiture 1988 260€/bottle aleksanterinkatu 52 • www.f8.fi

CaRELIa Carelia is unquestionably among Finland’s top wine restaurants. Friends of champagne are truly pampered here, as the champagne list is long enough to be grouped by village. The total number of varieties is an admirable 46. My recommendation: Try something new 54€–200€/bottle Hidden gem: Louis Roederer Cristal 1990 497€/bottle Mannerheimintie 56 • www.carelia.info K3 wINE BaR The residents of the seaside district of Arabianranta, close to central Helsinki, have been able to enjoy the K3 Wine Bar for a year. The pearl of the bar’s wine list, the original James Bond champagne Comtes de Champagne, is served in the best possible champagne glass: the Grand Champagne designed by Philippe James. The K3 Wine Bar champagne list is continuously being added to according to customers’ wishes. The owner, Eerik Huitti, is a new-generation restaurateur of admirable enthusiasm and energy. The K3 also has its own wine club, named Raati, which meets twice a month around diverse wine-related themes. Carelia My recommendation: Comtes de Champagne 24€/glass Hidden gem: Comtes de Champagne 2000 Kotisaarenkatu 3 • www.winebar.fi Visit also: REStauRaNt DEMO This Michelin-star restaurant has 47 champagnes on their list from which 19 are prestige ones including Krug Clos d’Ambonnay 1995 and Dom Pérignon Oenothèque 1971! gROtESK BaR One of the bar atmospheres in town for sipping some great champagnes names like Pol Roger MaNgE SuD The place to go for having glass or two of Taittinger Comtes de Champagne (24€/glass) K3 Wine Bar What I still miss in Helsinki’s champagne selection is variety. I would like to see more, for example, of Charles Heidsieck’s first-class standard Brut Réserve. Most champagne connoisseurs have tasted the major brands’ varieties on many occasions, and, like me, would always like to try something new! There are nearly five thousand grower-producers, and every year each of them releases around four different champagnes. This means that there are almost twenty thousand varieties to choose from! Some of the charm of champagne comes from its history, or rather the stories behind the sparkling celebratory drink. Every champagne producer has his own story, and I would like to hear more of those in Helsinki. >

PERLAGE SYSTEM 94 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA

The Perlage System Text: Pekka Nuikki FINE Device The Secret of Everlasting Champagne: Most of us enjoy champagne – its bubbles, its character and its taste. Its positive associations with celebrations of special occasions and successes does nothing to lessen its desirability, although it does make the threshold higher for opening a bottle. Usually, a champagne cork is popped only for a special reason. Unlike many other wines, it is not done just for its excellent taste but due to the nature of the occasion. The openability of champagne is also significantly reduced by the fact that, just as when opening the bottle you can literally hear and feel the liveliness and fizz of the drink, you simultaneously realise that it is already passing and dying out. Champagne loses its best qualities very quickly – its structure and nature fade partly or completely in just a few hours. But although the dream of eternal life is thus far unattainable for us humans, it no longer is for champagne. Its secret has been divined. A glass of champagne is one of my favourite pleasures. This is why I often favour half-sized bottles: one wouldn’t want to open an ordinary bottle just for one glass, as the rest will no longer be enjoyable the next day. I am not alone with my problem; it is an annoyance for many people, not least restaurateurs. Many solutions have been presented over the centuries, from placing a silver spoon at the mouth of the bottle to the spring-loaded pressure cap. For me, one of the best solutions so far is the Perlage system. It doesn’t just keep champagne artificially alive overnight, but gives it an “everlasting” life. The secret to the sparkling nature of champagne are its millions of bubbles. They consist of the carbon dioxide caused by fermentation, which bind with the wine to endow champagne with its most important, refined quality. The carbon dioxide evaporates quickly out of an opened bottle, gradually depriving the drink of its signs of life. The Perlage System acts simply, quickly and easily to prevent this from happening. The basic process is simple: an opened bottle of sparkling wine is locked into a bottle-shaped safety enclosure, the bottom of which is removable via a quickrelease “twist break”. A threaded cap on the top of the enclosure is tightened to create a seal against the lip of the bottle. High-pressure carbon dioxide from a refillable gas cylinder with a regulator is then injected through a one-way valve in the cap, pressurising the headspace of the bottle. From experience, I can tell you that this process only takes about fifteen seconds. This is not the first time that I have tried to find a solution to champagne’s longevity problem, but so far this has been the most effective. After two months of trialling the product, I can testify that it works as promised. Perlage is not perfect, but I feel that it is not only the most effective of the solutions currently on the market, but also the easiest to use, as well as being safe, because the re-pressurised bottle is protected by a transparent foil. Perlage is most effective on young vintage champagnes, and least on the ordinary, low-priced sparkling wines. The quality of a wine is always a factor in its durability, and this is also true of sparkling wines. If the wine is modest in character, it will lose what few properties it has in one day. Naturally, Perlage ensures that it still sparkles after that time, but the bubbles are, in a way, empty. However, the best vintage champagnes, such as Krug, Dom Pérignon and Cristal, can retain a large part of their properties for up to a week. I have found that Perlage will also significantly increase the life of more mature vintage champagnes that have already lost some of their bubbles, from a few hours up to a few days. Although the Perlage System is effective, it cannot completely stop the lethal effect of oxygen on wine and the eventual oxidisation of the drink. But, depending on how often the bottle to be is opened, Perlage can keep the champagne alive from two days up to two weeks. In theory, if a bottle is only opened once, it will keep “forever” inside its “time capsule”. But, as we all know, champagne is at its best enjoyed, not preserved. My recommendations for the use of the Perlage System are as follows: Basic sparkling wine: 2–3 openings, stored for max. three days Non-vintage champagne: 3–5 openings, stored for max. one week Vintage champagne, not oak-aged: 5–7 openings, stored for max. 10 days Vintage champagne, oak-aged: 3–5 openings, stored for max. five days Mature, 25-50-year-old vintage champagne: 2–3 openings, stored for max. two days FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 95

“This was no party of the year, it was the celebration of 25 centuries!” - Orson Welles 112 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA

F I N E Celebration Celeb ration Champagne Dom Pérignon Rosé 1959 Text & Photography: Pekka Nuikki The atmosphere was charged, and all the necessary barbed wire fences had been erected around the enormous gala venue. Special troops consisting of professional soldiers guarded the area, keeping the curious at bay. A number of private planes carrying diverse heads of state had already landed at the nearby Shiraz airport, and many more were on their way. A 200-million-dollar party was just beginning. Surrounded by steel spikes and in the depths of a huge cluster of marquees, 306 bottles of the first-ever vintage of Dom Pérignon Rosé champagne impatiently awaited the royal gourmands. The 2500th anniversary of the Persian Empire was one of the most flamboyant society events of the twentieth century. Planning of the event had begun in the late 1950s, and it climaxed in a gala dinner held on 14 October 1971. The light-coloured leather seats of 250 red Mercedes-Benz limousines carried 600 guests, including­ royals and heads of state, to a vast serpentine table, where they would enjoy the world’s most lavish dinner. The dinner was made and served by the world-renowned Parisian establishment Maxim’s, which was forced to close its ­ restaurant in Paris for several weeks due to the festivities. ­ For almost six months the Imperial Iranian Air Force made frequent sorties between Shiraz and Paris, flying supplies which were then trucked cautiously in army lorries to Persepolis. Each month, goods were driven down the desert highway to deliver building materials for fifty Jansen AG-designed air-conditioned tents, Italian drapes and curtains, Limoges dinnerware, Baccarat crystal, Porthault linens, an exclusive Robert Havilland cupand-saucer service and over 5000 bottles of wine – including the 1959 Dom Pérignon Rosés. FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 113

The event was officially opened with a toast of Dom Pérignon Rosé 1959 champagne. The dinner began with quails’ eggs filled with caviar from the Caspian Sea. The host, the Shah of Iran, was actually allergic to caviar and had to settle for an artichoke dish. Next came a mousse of crayfish tails, which was beautifully complemented by a Château Haut-Brion Blanc from 1964. The celebrated 1945 Château Lafite Rothschild vintage added some elegance and a dash of soft tannins to the third course of roast saddle of lamb with truffles. Before the main course, the guests’ taste buds were refreshed by a champagne sorbet and a taste of the Moët & Chandon vintage champagne from 1911, created during the Champagne Riots. The main course was Iran’s ancient national symbol, peacock, stuffed with foie gras. The fifty roast birds decorated with peacock tail feathers were a stunning sight on the dinner table. The Comte de Vogué Musigny from 1945, a soft Pinot Noir, was chosen to contribute a suitable depth and structure to the meal. The Dom Pérignon Rosé champagne from 1959 was also chosen to accompany the dessert of glazed Oporto ring of fresh figs with cream and a raspberry champagne sherbet. The six hundred guests dined for over five-and-a-half hours, making this the longest and most lavish official banquet in modern history, as recorded in successive editions of the Guinness Book of World Records. In the words of Orson Welles: “This was no party of the year, it was the celebration of 25 centuries!” 1959 was the first vintage of Dom Pérignon Rosé. The first bottles, considered the ‘jewel of Dom Pérignon’, were first set on lees ­ in the Dom Pérignon cellars in 1960, with only 306 bottles released. The vintage was only presented at the celebration of the Persian Empire; it was never commercially released. As Richard Geoffroy, Dom Pérignon’s cellar master, says, it was a turning point: “Dom Pérignon Rosé vintage 1959 is a rare, superlative, mythical vintage. Powerful and solar, its light will inspire the creation of Dom Pérignon Rosé forever.” Geoffroy also told us that there are only a few bottles left in the Dom Pérignon cellars. “Looking back, I think of the creator of the Dom Pérignon Rosé 1959, René Philipponnat. ­ I contemplate what has become of Dom Pérignon’s legacy: his ambition to pioneer rosé wines at a new level, which led to the start of the Dom Pérignon Rosé adventure that generated the other expression of Dom Pérignon. Looking forward, it is my duty to live up to this heritage and keep pushing and taking risks to make an ever more provocative rosé.” The Dom Pérignon Rosé 1959 vintage reached a record price of US$84 700 at an historic rare champagne auction in New York, overseen by Acker Merrall & Condit. In this, Dom Pérignon 1959 Rosé’s first ever public sale, the “rarer than rare” bottles were estimated at US$5000–7000, but were acquired for the astronomical price by a wine investor. > 1959 Dom Pérignon Rosé 92p 2010/now D 30 min / G 30 min (disgorged March 1969) Excellent-looking bottle. Purchased from the private cellar of an Italian champagne collector, whose father was an importer of Dom Pérignon in the 1970’s. This rare and unique bottle was opened at a Premier Wine Club event in 2010. In our minds, we had no trouble imagining that this bottle – Celebration bottle – we had just opened was one of the “leftovers” from the 2500th anniversary of the Persian Empire. Sometimes, if you have an abundant amount of wild imagination, even a poor wine can taste heavenly. Luckily, in order to get this Celebration wine to taste like pure silk, time was the only thing we needed, and after 30 minutes aeration it opened and became as good as it gets. Deep, intense, hazy-amber colour. Rich and layered nose that evolves beautifully in the glass, delivering white truffles, jammed arctic brambles, figs, hints of smoke and liquorice. Dry, intense and voluptuous palate with vivid acidity. Focused and muscular structure with a smooth, velvety texture. A mature champagne that is still alive but no longer improving. 114 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA

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F I N E Weekend Text: Essi Avellan MW R hythmic waves of the chequered flag mark the end of the race. The crowd immediately starts invading the racetrack to witness the victory celebrations on the podium, following last year’s Formula 1 Spa-Francochamps Grand Prix in Belgium. The fans’ wait is soon rewarded, as the top three drivers enter the stage: Jenson Button of McLaren, Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull and Kimi Räikkönen of Lotus. After the happy, yet seemingly exhausted, drivers have impatiently listened to the national anthems and received the monumental trophies, it is time for a party. The special F1 Edition Mumm Cordon Rouge jeroboams are being ceremonially handed to the drivers. Button, Vettel and Räikkönen pick them up, give them a good shake and approach the audience, directing the gushing sprays of champagne over them and each other. The ultimate motor sport celebrates with the quintessential sparkling wine. How is it that Formula 1 came to build such a strong bond with champagne? FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 117

“He has got the right attitude! Räikkönen always tastes the champagne first.” I am enjoying the view of the successful drivers playing around with the jeroboams of champagne with Hughes Trevennec, G.H. Mumm’s F1 Director. When Kimi Räikkönen stops for a while to take a good sip from the bottle, Trevennec smiles contently: “He has got the right attitude! Räikkönen always tastes the champagne first.” I doubt Räikkönen is testing it for the cork taint. It is more likely the Finn savours the drink and rewards himself with it. However it is also customary to reward one’s teammates. Often, after the first sprayings, the bottle is dropped down from the podium to the pit staff who start circulating it amongst themselves, sipping the liquid gold in celebration. After all, wines are always best when shared, so even spraying could be considered one form of sharing. I ask Hughes Trevennec about this. “Originally the wine was not sprayed but poured into the trophy or a glass. It was actually in the 24 Hours of Le Mans race in 1967 that the change occurred. Dan Gurney and A. J. Foyt had won the race with the Ford GT 40 Mk IV and Henry Ford II himself had crossed the Atlantic to witness it. Once on the podium, Gurney started to take the muselet off the Salmanazar-sized bottle. But the sunshine and heat had done their tricks and the cork popped open and caused a big surprise. Gurney tried to stop the gushing and placed a finger over the bottle. This, of course, maximised the gushing and got Mr Ford wet. A legend was born.” F1 came to Champagne The Formula 1 World Championship was launched in 1950 and the first ever race took place at the Silverstone airfield circuit in England on 13 May 1950. The sixth race of the championship was held in Champagne, with the ReimsGueux track playing host on July 2. Trevennec points out: ”Obviously, when in 118 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA

F I N E Weekend Champagne, the teams and drivers were received by the Champagne Houses and given champagne as gifts. Soon afterwards Moët & Chandon started hosting the Sunday night celebrations.” F1 raced in Champagne until 1966 and by this time a major bond had been forged. Champagne started to accompany the celebrations worldwide, in whichever country the major houses had managed to secure distribution. Originally there were no exclusive deals but only individual arrangements. Hughes Trevennec remembers: “It was not always given that the celebration wine would be champagne. There was actually a rivalry between a major German sekt house and champagne. But, as history tells us, champagne won the battle.” Champagne sabrage at the Mumm bar tion until 1997 when they decided to leave the F1 podiums. Trevennec shares some background information: “When Moët withdrew from the circuits, Ecclestone kept the Moët bottles on the podiums by buying them. But they were already searching for a new champagne partner. At that time Mumm contacted me and I changed houses. Soon after we went about securing the deal for 2000. In 2012, we are are celebrating our 12th year of involvement!” Tricky sponsorship Hughes Trevennec of G.H. Mumm In 1984 Bernie Ecclestone, president and CEO of the companies that manage and administrate the F1 circus, started making exclusive three-year contracts for champagne sponsorship. Hughes Trevennec, who worked for Moët & Chandon at the time, was heavily involved in brokering the deal. Moët & Chandon sponsored the competi- Some voices of criticism are heard about mixing drinking and driving. Therefore, Pernod Ricard, owner of G.H. Mumm, strictly ensures that a bottle of champagne is visible and popped open only after the engines are switched off. In conservative Grand Prix environments even more rigorous guidelines are followed. Trevennec specifies: “For instance, in the Arabic countries, such as in the former Bahrain Grand Prix, no champagne was sprayed. Instead, a bottle with the Bahrain Grand Prix logo containing sparkling rose water was used. In France, we also have uncompromising rules about sponsoring events with alcohol. Therefore the Mumm Cordon Rouge brand was not visible in France when the GPs took place there, but was instead replaced by a naked bottle.” But where legal, the special edition double magnum bottle has become a collectable item. As the wine is not “meant” for drinking, I notice myself wondering whether Mumm bothers putting Cordon Rouge – or even real champagne – inside. “It is Cordon Rouge”, Trevennec confirms, “We manufacture around 3000 of these special bottles on a yearly basis. Each of the three drivers gets one and they also sign one for Mumm. Some drivers, such as Ayrton Senna in the past, collect all their victory bottles in their trophy rooms.” Despite the challenges, Mumm values the sponsorship greatly. Trevennec also believes his company benefits from it in two different ways. “Almost everybody loves the GPs and wants to come and see the races. It is such a great opportunity for delivering experiences to our key clients. Via F1 we are also entering and gaining visibility in new markets. But most importantly, it is the joyous moment of celebration and succeeding that fits Champagne Mumm’s brand philosophy perfectly.” Trevennec then pauses and grins: “And we never have to worry about the result of the race – Mumm always wins and gets to be on the podium every time!” > FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 119

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COLUMN RICHARD JUHLIN Guided by the Nose M any wine tasters fail to realise how much more ”switched on” they are than others when it comes to smell and taste experiences, and the difference in people’s fragrance awareness recently dawned on me. I just completed the recording of a series called Nesevis for Norwegian television, in which I guided the Norwegian people through their beautiful and expansive country with the help of my nose. We conducted a variety of exciting experiments in which the sense of smell was tested in various situations. For instance, we changed the entire olfactory image of a petrol station to see how buying patterns changed; furthermore, we allowed a broker to sell apartments with the help of the smell of freshly baked bread one day and less successfully with the odour of fish the next. The effect on people was clear, but very few of them actually realised that we had manipulated the scent picture. I know that my job is moving more and more towards becoming some kind of fragrance consultant, where I teach people to 100 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA develop their neglected senses rather than towards immersing myself even further into the wine jungle. One question we asked everyone we met was their favourite smell – the vast majority responded along the lines of buns, vanilla, roses and chocolate. In the wake of this question, I was asked to choose smells for a cookbook and analyse my eight favourite scents in the world of cuisine, and I will now give you a sneak preview of my research. Lime peeL There are few things that embody freshness as well as lemon and lime, and in my opinion lime has an even more complex scent than its citrus cousin. Lime peel in particular combines uplifting and mouth-watering acidity with a lovely deep nuttiness and sweetness, which in turn moves towards macaroons. The bright green colour matches well with its aromas and resembles bud burst and youthfulness. If you have a heavy and overloaded dish, lime peel is a safe bet to lift and freshen all the components.

F I N E Ju h l i n BLack truffLe Given its high price and poor availability, the white Alba truffle is probably in the number one position when the world’s favourite aromas are lined up; the white gold of Piedmont certainly has a unique, wild and sexually oriented animal aroma that displays an almost narcotic intensity. Despite this, and its impressive price of 7000–8000 euros per kilo, I would have to to gravitate towards its cheaper black cousin from France if I were forced to choose my favourite. Even if the intensity is close to unreal in the white variety, the composition of the black one is so much more harmonious and magnificent – at least in my opinion. When black truffles are at their best – and most preferably from the region of Vaucluse or Châteauneuf-du-Pâpe in the southern Rhône – I get goosebumps! In their aroma spectrum, one can often find traces familiar to complex red wines such as Château Latour from Bordeaux or RomanéeConti from Burgundy. It is always a difficult challenge to describe the most amazing scents and wines, but if I were to attempt to dissect the key aroma components of the fresh, highquality black truffle, it is not fungus I think of first. Instead, there are notes of fine Moroccan leather, liquorice (the salty kind), black olive, tar, tobacco, earth, dark red roses and walnut shells. Imagine this mixture and add the most beautiful evening perfume that a Grasse perfumer can create, and you will end up pretty close to the unreal reality. Unfortunately, 90 per cent of the truffles we get in Scandinavia are barely more than a whisper compared to the perfect specimens available on the continent. passion fruit I love good fruits and berries! Imagine how wonderful it is to bite into a really juicy Gravenstein apple, drink homemade blackcurrant juice, or pick and eat your own raspberries or strawberries. The taste is so reminiscent of the freshness of summer and inextricably linked to a smiling child. But I like really nice mandarins, blood oranges, grapefruits, mangoes and pineapples, too; and in my world there is a fruit that combines all of the above. It is a fruit full of exoticism reminiscent of mango, coconut, vanilla and fresh pineapple; its fabulous, complex aromatic spectrum unparalleled in the world of fruit. There is, however, one small problem: the actual texture of the flesh is far from ideal and its dominant nuclei disturb me. But if a top class chef tackles the fruit and captures its aromas in a harmonious composition, it does full justice to the fruit’s wonderfully appropriate name: passion! > FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 101

Text: Petri Nevalainen Photos: Photo courtesy of Steinway & Sons I n one of the most famous concert halls of the world, the low murmur of voices has quietened down. The evening’s star performer is about to strike the first chords on the grand 118 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA

F I N E Lifestyle piano. Breathtakingly majestic and beautiful piano music rises from the depths of the wonderful instrument; you can almost see the sound. Steinway has spoken! FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 119

`AAKTcSHKFF`AAKTcSHKFF 88 Keys to Heaven S teinway & Sons is by far the world’s most renowned maker of grand pianos. The soundscape created by the 88 keys on each of its instruments ranges from a thunder-like bass to the crystalline clarity of a mountain stream in the upper registers. Steinway has been favoured by the masters of many musical styles, including Arthur Rubinstein, Richard Wagner, Duke Ellington and John Lennon. A white Steinway grand plays an iconic part in the atmospheric music video to Lennon’s best-selling song “Imagine”. A limited edition of the peace and purity-exuding “Imagine” piano was released in 2010 to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the birth of the famous Beatle. Many of the world’s best musicians share an emotional attachment to Steinway. The acclaimed pianist and conductor Vladimir Ashkenazy called it a high-quality tool with which music professionals can again and again raise their expression to the highest possible level. “Steinway is the only piano on which the pianist can do everything he wants. And everything he dreams,” he said. Pop music’s celebrated “Piano Man”, Billy Joel, has in turn described Steinway as a kind of benchmark of superb expertise in the music world. “I have long admired Steinway pianos for their qualities of tone, clarity, pitch consistency, touch responsiveness and superior craftsmanship,” Joel said. “I have long admired Steinway pianos for their qualities of tone, clarity, pitch consistency, touch responsiveness and superior craftsmanship,” 120 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA

is not one of Steinway’s flagship grand piano models, but a fairly ordinary Model Z upright manufactured at the Hamburg Steinway factory. John Lennon bought it in December 1970, and used it to compose “Imagine”. The white Steinway grand seen on the music video is a different piano, gifted by Lennon to his wife Yoko Ono for her birthday. The upright model was sold at auction in 2000 to the singer George Michael, who paid $2.1 million for it. He used it for one recording and then returned it to The Beatles Story museum in Liverpool, where it had previously been on display. He said the piano deserved to be where it could be seen by people rather than in a corner of his living room. The instrument is identifiable by a few cigarette burns apparently left by Lennon. F I N E Lifestyle The world’s mosT expensive piano… From The kiTchen To greaTness The mosT expensive grand piano made by sTeinway… is an art case piano named Sound of Harmony, ordered by the Chinese art collector Guo Qingxiang. It was completed at the Hamburg factory in 2008 after four years of labour, and its cost has been estimated at 1.2 million euros. The piano was played at the Shanghai World Expo in 2010. The Chinese artist Shi Qi gave the finishing touches to the piano, turning it into a work of art consisting of 40 layers of diverse exotic woods. Its frame is the largest and most beautiful of Steinway grands, the Model D. The history of Steinway began in nineteenthcentury Lower Saxony – now Germany – in the small town of Seesen, which was home to Heinrich Engelhard Steinweg. He had fought against Napoleon’s troops and earned a medal for his participation in the Battle of Waterloo. In his spare time between battles, he practised building small string instruments. Having finished his military service, he asked for work at an organ factory in Goslar, where he continued to hone his skills. When Steinweg married in 1825, he gave his wife a self-built fortepiano as a wedding present. He finished his first actual grand piano in 1836 in his workshop in the family kitchen; the specimen was long exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. A crucial step in the global renown of the Steinway grand was the family’s move to New York together with a great wave of immigrants. Heinrich’s son Carl had visited the city previously to scout out the company’s opportunities for business, and had found the environment favourable. Heinrich eventually led his family onto a vessel named Helene Sloman, which arrived in New York in late June 1850. The Steinways had to begin by learning the ways of their new homeland. The circumstances were not always in their favour, but the family had decided to prosper. Income levels were good and the school-aged boys enthusiastically absorbed the New York atmosphere. The family Anglicised their names and took on US citizenship: Steinweg became Steinway. FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 121

QualiTy above all else Steinway & Sons began operating in Manhattan in 1853. During the following decades, Heinrich, now named Henry, and his sons C. F. Theodore, Charles, Henry, Jr., William and Albert made great efforts to develop the piano as an instrument. The family’s dictum was a robust belief in quality, handcraft122 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA ing, innovation and expertise. Even today, every Steinway grand piano is zealously built over the course of approximately one year. Steinway’s reputation spread swiftly. Famous artists recommended the instruments to their friends and production figures grew. Wealthy families in the United States and Europe bought them for private use. To satisfy demand on the old continent, the Steinways opened a factory in Hamburg in 1880; it is still in operation. Many of the work methods used today are the ones developed by the family in the 1800s. These days, Steinway & Sons manufactures around 2500 pianos each year. The production figures of competitors such as Yamaha are tenfold.

So, what is it that makes Steinway so unique? Why do nine out of ten concert pianists choose it as the vehicle for their musical interpretation? The same characteristic that raised the Steinway company to the forefront has kept it there – despite the fact that the family no longer runs the business. What we are talking about is quality. individuals and Friends A grand piano is reminiscent of the shape of a large wing, which is in fact the meaning of its German name, der Flügel. A Steinway grand contains around one thousand pieces for each month of the year: 12 000 in total. The wood for the frame is selected and prepared for the purpose by the world’s topmost piano experts. One of the crucial steps before the work begins is achieving the correct moisture level, which is six per cent. In its instruments, Steinway has used different varieties of maple, spruce, pine, poplar, cherry, walnut, beech and mahogany, while inside the body is a sturdy castiron frame and the strings are Swedish steel. Each finished grand piano is tested in many ways. Steinway created the Banger ro- bot, which has 88 fingers capable of striking each key on the instrument 10 000 times in 45 minutes. Steinway’s largest piano, favoured by the greatest masters, is the Model D, which is 2.74 metres in length and 1.56 metres in width. The weight of this giant of sound is 450 kilogrammes. Although Steinway is known for its nearhomogenous quality, each instrument is an individual. The use of a highly qualified tuner is critical to the behaviour of the piano; an expert in this field can fulfil the pianist’s wishes and add his or her personal touch to the instrument’s magical sound. Therefore, the Holy Trinity of a Steinway consists of the instrument, the artist and the tuner. They form an entity that stands on a 160-year tradition, which continues to bolster the sound and reputation of the legendary piano maker around the world. We will let the musician Harry Connick, Jr. have the final word. A representative of the American crooners’ tradition, Connick has said he trusts a Steinway like a good friend: “With a tone so rich, I would never be afraid of the dark. Steinway is the only and the best!” > F I N E Lifestyle What is it that makes Steinway so unique? Even today, every Steinway grand piano is zealously built over the course of approximately one year. FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 123

THE HIGHEST AUCTION PRICE PAID FOR A STEINWAY GRAND PIANO… was $1.2 million at Christie’s of London in 1997. It was for an art case piano built in New York in 1887 following the artistic design of Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema and has been called “the most artistic instrument in the world”. Steinway built a perfect replica of this grand piano in 2006. 124 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA THE BEST PIANIST AT NO. 10 DOWNING STREET… was probably Edward Heath, Prime Minister of Great Britain in the early 1970s. He purchased a Steinway grand piano for his official residence with the Charlemagne Award money – £450 – he received from the German city of Aachen. Heath was a skilled pianist and conductor, who made several recordings. At one point he owned three Steinways at the same time.

F I N E Lifestyle IN 2012 THE PRICE OF A STEINWAY... varies greatly depending on the size and finish of the instrument. There is also a brisk trade in used Steinways and many investors consider them a valuable investment. A new Steinway grand costs around $50 000–100 000 in the United States. Special models are considerably more expensive. Other celebrated Steinway players… Irving Berlin Hector Berlioz Glenn Gould Vladimir Horowitz Franz Liszt Gustav Mahler Cole Porter Sergei Prokofiev John Philip Sousa Igor Stravinsky FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 125

The Steinway Timeline Heinrich Steinweg 1853 1857 The Steinway & Sons piano factory is established in New York. The first grand piano receives the serial number 483, because Henry Steinway has already manufactured hundreds of instruments previously. Steinway receives its first patent. It concerns the mechanism of the grand piano. 1880 1889 1932 The Hamburg factory opens. William Steinway is involved in establishing the Daimler boat factory together with co-founders Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach. Daimler will later go on to build cars. Steinway suspends the construction of new instruments during the Great Depression. The company’s continued operation is ensured thanks to the pianos that are still in stock. 126 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 1859 1866 Steinway develops the overstrung grand piano with a cast-iron frame. It is the basis on which even the company’s modern flagship, the Model D, is based. The first Steinway Hall opens in New York. It can accommodate an audience of 2000.

Steinway finds itself caught in crossfire during World War II. In the US, Steinway is seen as German, and in Germany as American. Steinway & Sons celebrates its 100th anniversary. Henry Z. Steinway becomes the company’s Managing Director at the age of 40. He will be the last member of the family to hold a role within the company’s top management. F I N E Lifestyle 1939–1945 1953 1955 1972 1985 Vladimir Horowitz Steinway & Sons is sold to CBS. The conglomerate is known, among other things, as a successful record producer. Its instrument portfolio already includes Fender Guitars. CBS sells Steinway to Robert and John P. Birmingham. 1995 The Birmingham’s company merges with the well-known saxophone maker, Selmer; which will soon change its name to Steinway Musical Instruments, Inc. Today, the corporation also includes Ludwig Drums and Bach Trumpets. It is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol LVB, which is said to refer to Ludwig van Beethoven. 2003 2008 2011 Steinway & Sons celebrates its 150th anniversary. One of the two special anniversary models is designed by Karl Lagerfeld. His creation is called S.L.ED, which stands for Steinway Limited Edition. The former CEO and Chairman Henry Z. Steinway passes away in New York. He had an office at the Manhattan Steinway Hall until his death. Billy Joel’s portrait is added to the New York Steinway Hall. All the musicians portrayed there before him have been classical pianists. FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 127