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F I N E W I N PAGE 16 Fine LIFE AWARD PAGE 46 Fine CENTURY TASTING PAGE 96 Fine KAPON 2 FINE E M A G A Z I N E C O N T PAGE 32 Fine VINTAGE PAGE 100 Fine COLLECTING PAGE 28 Fine SUCKLING E N T

I N E W I N E M A G A Z I N E C O N T E N T FINE Content F PAGE 132 Fine GARGETT PAGE 112 Fine WHITE 11 15 16 Fineeditorial A chase of the wine legends FineNUIKKI Do you still carry around a black tasting book and pen? FineLIFE AWARD Dirk Niepoort 28 FineSUCKLING Benchmark vintage 1997 32 FineVINTAGE The 2012 Bordeaux: A winemaker’s vintage 42 FineBLATCH 17 years in a row 46 96 FineKAPON The don does the Kapons 100 FineCOLLECTING Liv–ex – changing the way the industry buys and sells wine 108 PAGE 124 Fine CHINA FineCENTURY Century Tasting 1900–1999 TASTING part two FineBELL Celebrate adversity in the vineyard 112 FineWHITE On a Clare Day – Australian riesling 2002/2012 120 FineLEMIRE Whole bunch 124 FineCHINA Ignace Lecleir – a gentleman’s vision 132 FineGARGETT DRC Romanée-Conti 1978, a pub in the Clare Valley and a legendary Hunter Valley winemaker 136 FineLIFESTYLE Pagani Huayra – the supercar that controls the wind and the mind PAGE 136 Fine LIFESTYLE C O N T E N T 3

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F I N E – T H E W I N E M A G A Z I N E W r i t e r s FINEMAGAZINES 100 Pall Mall St James, London SW1Y 5HP United Kingdom WWW.FINE-MAGAZINES.COM Tel: +44 (0) 20 76648800 fax: +44 (0) 20 73213738 Editor-in-Chief Pekka Nuikki pekka.nuikki@fine-magazines.com Managing Editor Juha Lihtonen juha.lihtonen@fine-magazines.com Publishing Editor Copy Editor Creative Director Graphic Designer Meri Kukkavaara meri@fine-magazines.com Craig Houston info@chlanguages.net Teemu Timperi teemu.timperi@fine-magazines.com Aija Sutinen aija.sutinen@fine-magazines.com Senior Editors Charles A. Banks, Rajiv Singhal Photographer Pekka Nuikki Contributors Essi Avellan MW, Stuart George, Jancis Robinson MW, Andreas Larsson, Jan-Erik Paulson, Mario Sculatti, John Kapon, Rajiv Singhal, Ken Gargett, Jeff Leve, Dirk Niepoort, James Suckling, Marie Ahm Communications Director Markku Vartiainen markku.vartiainen@fine-magazines.com Media Account Manager Martine Mäkijärvi martine.makijarvi@fine-magazines.com Translator Eva Malkki Marketing Assistant Sanna Vihervaara sanna.vihervaara@fine-magazines.com Financial Manager Noora Mähönen noora.mahonen@fine-magazines.com Price Printing House Orders & Queries Single Issue €30 including delivery Single PPDM, Password Protected Digital Magazine, €15 Edita Prima www.fine-magazines.com subs@fine-magazines.com Tel. 010 289 1000 +358-10 289 1000 Publisher Fine Publishing Helsinki Ltd Vattuniemenkuja 4 E 00210 Helsinki, Finland www.fine-magazines.com Printed in Finland by Edita Prima © Copyright: European Fine Wine Magazine Ltd FINE – The American Wine Magazine ISSN 1799-2222 Paper: Galerie Art Silk 002 FINE Magazines does not keep nor return illustrations or other materials that have been sent to us without request. The opinions of contributors or interviewees presented in this magazine do not necessarily correspond to the opinions of the publisher or editorial staff. We withhold the right to make any modifications in texts and pictures published in FINE Magazines. We reserve the right to refuse or suspend advertisements. 10 FINE Pekka Nuikki Editor-in-Chief Pekka Nuikki, founder and editor-in-chief of FINE Magazines, is an author and one of the leading experts on fine wines in Europe. He has published over twenty international wine and art books, among them In Vino Veritas, a book on investing in wines, Drinking History on fine wines and their vintages between 1870–1970, a book about the Château Mouton-Rothschild – Wine and Art 1924/1945–2003 and most recently a book about The 1000 Finest wines of the world. Mr Nuikki is also an award-winning photographer, who has exhibited his artwork all over the world and he has worked as executive creative director of advertising agency group. He is also the luckiest man in the world, having hit seven hole-in-ones. Juha Lihtonen Managing Editor Juha Lihtonen is the editor of FINE – The Wine Magazine and its American & Scandinavian editions and manyfold Finnish sommelier champion. He was selected as the best sommelier in the Nordic countries in 2003. Mr Lihtonen has worked as a wine educator, a wine host on a radio programme, as well as the wine director of a major cruise line. He has written books on combining wine and food. Essi Avellan MW Contributor Essi Avellan is the editor of FINE Champagne magazine. 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 contributes to several newspapers and wine magazines internationally. She judges at several wine competitions, such as the Decanter World Wine Awards and the Wines of Argentina Awards. Ms Avellan has been awarded the title of Dame Chevalier of the Ordre des Coteaux de Champagne. James Suckling Contributor James Suckling has been writing about and tasting wine for over 30 years. He worked for 28 years as a senior editor of the American wine magazine The Wine Spectator, and in July 2010 he left to start his own website www. jamessuckling.com and wine events company. He also is wine editor of the Asia Tatler group with luxury magazines through the region including Hong Kong, China, Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan, Philippines, and Malaysia. His specialty is Italy and Bordeaux, but he enjoys tasting and discovering wines from all over the world. His most recent great wine adventure was tasting 57 vintages of Château Petrus in the Hamptons, and he also just enjoyed sharing great Barolos from Bruno Giacosa, Roberto Vorezio, and Giacomo Conterno with wine lovers in Seoul. Jeff Leve Contributor Founder, contributor and editor of “The Wine Cellar Insider”. Jeff Leve is a self-taught wine enthusiast who has been tasting and collecting wines in France and America for over fifteen years. He travels frequently to the Bordeaux wine region to barrel taste and also writes about Bordeaux wine and the wine market for Tasted magazine. Furthermore, he is the moderator for Robert Parker’s web site. In his home city of Los Angeles, he consults numerous restaurants, merchants and private collectors on cellar acquisitions. Aside from wine, his passions include travel, cooking and music. Ken Gargett Contributor Ken Gargett first worked as a lawyer, after obtaining degrees in his home town of Brisbane, Australia, and London. He specialised as a banking lawyer, practising in London, Washington DC and Sydney, and then finance, commerce and property back in Queensland. Even though from a family that did not drink, he became obsessed with wine while at university and moved to wine writing as a full time profession nearly twenty years ago. Since that time, he has been a regular contributor to the AGT Wine Magazine for many years. He has also contributed to a number of books, including the Global Encyclopaedia of Wine and his own guide, ”Don’t Buy Wine Without Me”. He won the Vin de Champagne Award back in 1993, and then in 2003 was inducted as a Chevalier of the Ordre des Coteaux de Champagne. In 2005, he was a recipient of the Len Evans Scholarship and has done extensive show judging in Australia. He was a co-founder of www.spitbucket.com. Outside wine, he also occasionally writes on cigars, fishing, travel and food. Bill Blatch Contributor Since leaving College, I have spent my whole life in the wine trade, first in the UK, then, continuously since 1974 in Bordeaux. My first primeur vintage was 1970 and I haven’t missed a single one since, 42 consecutive vintages, all tasted, often several times over, from barrel at the châteaux and thereafter regularly from bottle, reds, whites and, especially after 1983, Sauternes. I have now sold my Bordeaux firm but contnue tasting as before on a consultancy basis and have remained senior partner in Bordeaux Gold, an English Company devoted exclusively to Sauternes. I love drinking wine, wine is my life, and I have a large personal cellar, mostly Bordeaux, and a separate cellar of only Sauternes.

I N E – T H E W I N E M A G A Z I N E FINE Editorial F A chase of the wine legends identified and, where possible, eliminated. Unfortunately, that leaves no room for coincidence, instinct and related occurrence, which if they happen in the right place and at the right time, can lead to something much greater than man is able to produce through calculation. So, where are the wines by which this century will be remembered? Will we have any more legends which consumers can dream of having and every top producer dreams of producing? I sincerely hope so. Producers, such as the late Henri Jayer, or estates such as Château d’Yquem, which do not use every method available to produce wines at a time when nature wouldn’t allow it, are needed. I believe that the wine world is not complete without winemakers who eschew technical aids and rely entirely on their own instincts in their endeavors to produce wines that can become the legendary ones. > TASTE OF FINE The new year often finds us casting our minds back over the last twelve months and its highlights. One of the high points of 2012 was definitely the Century Tasting organised by my friend Pekka Nuikki. It was a completely unrivalled event; to my knowledge, a whole century of wines has never before been tasted anywhere in the world at once, like we did it. The three-day event brought together a group of wine experts from around the world to taste some of the best wines from every year of the twentieth century. All the wines were tasted blind, and the guests in attendance knew only the vintage. The blind tasting generally confirmed the superiority of some of the recognised legends of the century, which include the 1929 Pétrus, 1947 Cheval Blanc, 1953 Lafite, 1961 Latour, 1985 Sassicaia and 1989 Haut-Brion. As these wines once again demonstrated their superiority, it got me thinking. They were all created without today’s modern science and technology – many of them at a time when there was a great shortage of resources. The 1929 Pétrus, produced during the Great Depression, and the 1947 Cheval Blanc and 1953 Lafite from the time of post-war austerity came about in anything but ideal conditions. The perfection of the wines cannot be explained away by exceptionally wonderful weather conditions either, as for example 1961 is remembered by Latour as a year in which spring frost destroyed most of the crop, the summer was hopelessly cold and wet, and the harvest was only saved by improved weather in the autumn. Sassicaia’s best-ever wine – the wine on which Sassicaia’s legendary reputation is based – was created in 1985 almost by accident, when harvesting was delayed by the fact that the owner was busier looking after his race horses than his vineyards at harvest time. None of the producers or winemakers of the abovementioned vintages probably believed at the time that they were in the process of creating some of the most fabled and desired wines of the century. Indeed, it was more likely that they just set out to do their best in the prevailing conditions, using the expertise they had. It was enough to create wines that the world’s most esteemed wine connoisseurs recognise as sublime and which have become known generally as wine legends. It seems to me that no wine has gained such recognition after 1990. In the last couple of decades, producers have had access to high technology and a better understanding of winemaking than ever before. As a consequence, more wines that are excellent have been produced than before. But where are the wines that are legendary? Perhaps the fact that they are missing is due exactly to our modern technologies and advanced science, which allow producers to correct the imperfections of nature and man and produce nearly flawless wines. In creating these technically perfect wines, the producers carefully analyse and monitor every stage of the vines’ growth cycle and the production process so that all risk ­ factors can be Juha Lihtonen Editor E D I T O R I A L 11

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F I N E TastingNotes Fine How to read FINE’s tasting notes: We open and taste more fine and rare wines than any other wine media in the world. As these wines are so special, we firmly believe that they deserve to be presented in the best possible manner, and in a way that will serve our readers well. This is why our tasting notes include lot more information than just a basic description of each wine. The topics we cover in our tasting notes other than ­ colour, nose, taste and finish are: The given price is a six-month average paid in auctions run by major auction houses throughout Europe, the USA and Asia (FINE Wine Index) A condition of the bottle. A short description of the wine Mentions if the wine is worthy of its price based on its rarity and our tasting experience How many times we have tasted the wine and the most recent tasting Recommends the length of time each wine should be decanted before serving How long the wine lasts having been poured into the glass The year we believe each wine will reach its optimum drinkability The perfect dish to accompany each wine In our wine evaluations, the most significant factor is the scoring system. We score wines according the pleasure they deliver today, not according to their potential. Our purpose is to make sure you enjoy the wines when they are at their optimum, in order to ensure the wines not only deliver the greatest pleasure but also their value. However, each wine with potential is given an estimate score when they reach their optimum drinking potential. You can find these points in brackets under the wine’s initial score. As one of FINE’s fundamental values is to support excellence, we have made the decision to not publish wines that receive 79 points or below. We use a 100-point evaluation system, where the wines have been divided into the following categories: 99–100 A wine with the wow-effect. Sheer perfection to all senses by every parameter of wine quality. A true gift from nature. 95–98 An outstanding wine that offers an unforgettable tasting experience with its perfect structure, complexity and personality. Calculates the risk of encountering counterfeit bottles. This is an estimate based on the FINE editorial team’s experience 90–94 Shares specific information about the wine or vintage, which will add value to the tasting experience A good wine with balance and complexity. Suggest an option to the wine evaluated, which maybe a better investment Wraps up our opinion about the wine 14 FINE An excellent wine, that stands out by balance, intensity, complexity and character. 86–89 80–85 An average, though well-made wine. Nose and palate are somewhat one-dimensional and impersonal. 50–79 A modest and straightforward wine lacking life and harmony. This wine is excluded from appearing in FINE Tasting Notes.

T wo years ago I dug through some old tasting notes for an article I was writing on Vega Sicilia. Some I found in a spreadsheet on my computer (how modern!), but most of them were in old tasting notebooks with black covers, a few hundred of which had gathered in the various nooks and crannies of my office over the years. This semi-chaotic situation is probably familiar to any wine critic. Although the wine world is finally entering the twenty-first century at a good pace, tasting notes haven’t. They are mostly identical to those of a century ago, both in content and in method. The pen may in some cases have been replaced, first by a typewriter and then by a computer keyboard, I N E The new tasting book would also have to be educational and enlightening. Containing access to all the world’s wine knowledge, it might as well teach me to be a better wine taster. In relation to wines I am tasting, it could tell me in real time what other wine experts had thought of it and what characteristics they’d identified. Optimally, it would also tell me what the winemaker wanted the wine to express in the first place. But perhaps my greatest wish for the modern tasting book would be that the scores given to wines by thousands of professionals and wine lovers around the world would form a significant, universal and completely unbiased ranking. Do you still carry around a black tasting book and pen? but many of my colleagues still use a trusty old pen or pencil. The nostalgic black tasting book may be slow and easy to misplace, but it is still a familiar sight at wine events. Why is that, and what should a twenty-first-century tasting book be like? Today’s tasting book should make use of our everyday technology, such as smartphones and tablet computers, and work both online and off. It would be practical and time-saving if I didn’t have to type in any words but rather select them from a touchscreen; the software would turn them into sentences and readable notes. At the same time I could quickly enter details of the wine bottle’s condition and price, the decanting and everything else related to the wine. I’d take a picture of the event or the bottle to top off the experience and make my tasting notes more complete than ever before. Having created the notes, I’d want to save them – or, even better, they would be saved automatically as I wrote them, both on the device and on a cloud server. From there I could access them anywhere and on any device. Finally, after all these years, my notes would be filed properly so that I could find them quickly using appropriate search words. I could then share them with one click on Facebook or Twitter. What if I weren’t the only user of this twenty-first-century tasting book? If it were available to many other wine experts, so we can share our notes? That would give me up-to-date information on bottles opened all around the world, how drinkable they were and how well they suited different foods. I would also find out about newly discovered counterfeits. For a sommelier or wine seller such information would be invaluable. And why limit the joy of sharing to professionals? Imagine a situation in which you could share your wine tasting experience with the whole world. Anyone with an interest could follow my notes in real time, and those of other chosen professionals. That would definitely take the service to the next level. The new twenty-first-century tasting book would be smart. It would quickly learn the main aspects of my tastes through my ratings and opinions, and suggest connoisseurs with similar tastes for me to follow, as well as wines that would suit my profile and go well with specific foods. It would know just what wines I’m bound to like. And now that I’ve decided the modern tasting book should be global, it should also work in several languages. It would be great to read notes written in Chinese by a colleague from China in my own mother tongue. Inside the tasting book I could build a personal world of wine. It would include the connoisseurs I’d chosen to follow, the wines and estates I like or want to know more about, and all my friends, so that I can share my experiences with them or even hold virtual wine tastings. The wine world has long been dominated by a single, absolute ruler. Mr Parker’s opinions are the only criterion determining a wine’s price and desirability, and sometimes even its production method. Now, if ever, the time is ripe to rid ourselves of this autocracy and give the power to a jury of thousands. Or does anyone seriously believe that the average rating given by, for example, one hundred wine professionals and one thousand consumers would tell us less about the true qualities of a wine than the opinions of one man in the American Midwest? The time for dictatorship is over. Two years ago, I drafted a seemingly endless wishlist for the properties and functionalities of a tasting book to replace my old methods. It was not utopian, however: it is now a reality. My friends and I decided to put ideas into action and create a new twenty-first-century tasting book. After thousands of hours of planning, coding, testing and content creation, I am proud, happy and perhaps a little surprised to tell you that all of the above mentioned things, and many more, are now possible. Visit www.thetastingbook.com and create your own wine world, write tasting notes in 20 seconds, learn from professionals and share your experiences with the whole world or just your friends. It’s easy, free and, what’s best, rewarding and liberating. > Pekka Nuikki Editor-in-Chief NUIKKI 15 FINE Nu i k k i F

Handmade Timepiece by Sarpaneva 16 FINE

F I N E L i f e Awa r d FINE Life Award 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. 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. D i r k nie p o o r t 17

FINE Life Award Niepoort Dirk Text: juha Lihtonen Photographs: Pekka Nuikki, Akshat Arora 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. 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. 18 FINE 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.

D i r k nie p o o r t 19 F I N E L i f e Awa r d “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.”

FINE Life Award Dirk Niepoort – you can if you really want to! The afternoon sun is beating down on an exotic garden. A large banyan tree casts its shadow over the white stone building in the centre. On the building’s terrace sits a curly-haired man, dressed in a carefree and relaxed outfit and holding a cooled bottle, off which the condensation is dripping onto hot ­ paving stones. The flank of the bottle bears the large text Ruby Port, and above that is the man’s own name: Niepoort. Dirk Niepoort, who has distinguished himself as a pioneer of modern winemaking in Portugal, welcomes us, with a playful smile, to his lodgings in India. “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 to stop by New Delhi to survey the market, as I also received an invitation to a wine dinner given by my friend Bill Harlan and Dhruv Sawhney.” Dirk Niepoort, 48, is a familiar sight at top wine events around the world. In the last six months I have met the man at several fine and rare wine events, including a Romanée-Conti tasting at Lake Como in Italy, a Cheval Blanc tasting in Wiesbaden, Germany, the Century Tasting in Helsinki, Finland, and now here in New Delhi at the Harlan Tasting. He is an exception among wine producers in many ways, travelling around the world for 250 days a year marketing not only his own but also his competitors’ products. Additionally, he takes part in rare wine tastings whenever possible. His favourites are port wines, as well as light, nuanced wines from Burgundy and Mosel. Beside his own wines, his cellar contains 6000 fine wines from the world’s top producers. The Don Quixote of the Douro “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 20 FINE

F I N E L i f e Awa r d dream of marketing the fine wines from my country. The fulfilment of winemaking affairs I live twenty years ahead of the present time and I base all this dream matters more to me than the success of the wines of my family my decisions on that time. That may explain my stubbornness when it comes business, so I have worked towards it more than my Portuguese colleagues. to, for instance, certain wine production methods.” Perhaps for that reason I have sometimes been called the Ambassador for Without Dirk Niepoort and his dreams, the Portuguese wine industry Portuguese wine. It is difficult to make a single voice heard in the world, might look very different. Although he considers ports to be some of the however, so to succeed we will need many more wine ambassadors – at least world’s best wines, he also sees his home region as one of the best red wine one per country,” Dirk says. areas in the world, and has dedicated twenty years of his life to demonstrating By his own admission, he is an oddity among P ­ ortugal’s wine producers, it. In his view, Douro has a two-thousand-year history of producing poor- and his actions are seldom understood. In the eyes of many of his colleagues,­ quality wines – with the exception of port. No high-quality red wines had Dirk Niepoort is like Cervantes’s Don Quixote: a lone warrior fighting been made in the region before Nicolau d’Almeida’s Barca Velha in the 1950s, invisible giants. and none were produced after it until Dirk made his first red wine in 1990. “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 Languages and inventions same time I consider different ways of fulfilling them. People around me­ Dirk Niepoort, who was born in 1964, says that his family never forced often have difficulty understanding my quick decisions; to them they may him to work in the family business, or even in the wine world. His German seem risky actions that I have taken impulsively. In reality, I have thought mother encouraged him to learn languages and to travel, as language skills are them through very carefully and matured them over time in my head. In my something no one can ever take away from you. Now fluent in Portuguese, D i r k nie p o o r t 21

“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 22 FINE

F I N E L i f e Awa r d 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 throughout their careers 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, and 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, “The secret to a good life and good wines lies in the balance. Balance requires both success and failure.” among other places. “In 1986 I travelled to Napa Valley to take part in harvesting at the Cuvaison Estate. After the harvest ­ ­ I stayed on for a year to get to know the area, its producers and their wines. I learned to understand the concept of fine wines and how high-quality red and white wines are produced. As I analysed my wine tasting experiences from around the world, I was happy to realise that Niepoort wines were better than I had thought. My new knowledge and my appreciation for the work of my father and grandfather prompted me to return home to try my hand at winemaking.” Upon his return to Europe, Dirk visited Mosel, Germany, where he met winemaker Wil­ helm Haag in 1987. While his preferences were for sweet wines, with Haag’s guidance Dirk learned to value dry, nuanced and harmoniously acidic wines. He realised that greatness and strength are not the most important things about wine, but rather balance, acidity and nerve. “Along with Wilhelm Haag, another person who was very important for me was Angelo Gaja. He influenced me in one particular way: whenever I had dinner with him at his house, he served some great wine other than his own. This is something I always do now at my place. I have great respect for Angelo. He always made time to talk to me and he is also a very good listener.” A revolutionary wine Dirk’s decision to start producing red wine was spurred on by his friend João, the son of Nicolau d’Almeida, who worked as a winemaker for R ­ amos Pinto. The following year, 1988, Dirk was presented with a wine that was to prove a João was instructed by the management of the French Roederer Group, turning point not only in his own life but in terms of the future of the whole which had bought the family business, to come up with new ways to increase Douro region. The German importer of Niepoort wines gave Dirk a bottle the desirability of their wines. Portugal was in the throes of a recession and of Niepoort-labelled red wine from 1938. The strange bottle turned out to sales of port wine were hiccupping. Dirk and João put their heads together be a wine bought by Dirk’s grandfather from a small quinta in Douro to to consider what actions could be taken if the demand for port plummeted. serve to his employees. He had been so enchanted with the wine that he had They got to work quickly. Dirk produced his first red wine, Robustus, in had one barrel bottled for himself. The bottle found in Germany came from 1990, and João made his own one year later. that barrel, and eight further bottles were discovered in the Niepoort cellar. “Others followed our example – slowly at first, and only a few small “The wine was unbelievable. It led me to think that if such a great wine producers. The revolution that we started in 1990 did not properly pick up could be produced in the area already then, what amazing potential lay in speed until 2001, when many of Douro’s now well-known new-wave red it with today’s techniques?” wines saw the light of day.” D i r k nie p o o r t 23

“In my winemaking affairs I live twenty years ahead of the present time and I base all my decisions on that time.” 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, but in Dirk’s view they can only be enjoyed one glass at a time. He also does not believe that they will age well, because they lack an acidic backbone and therefore are flat and cannot take bottle ageing. “These wines could be disastrous for Portugal, because if they cannot deliver on promises they make in the long term, they will let down the consumers, who will turn their backs on Portuguese red wines,” Dirk denounces. He continues: “Enough of these castrated, jammy juice-wines, 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. We must focus on making wines from our own native varieties, using modern technology combined with traditional methods. Only that will make us stand out from the crowd in the long run.” While some friends of port wine have expressed concern over the future of Dirk Niepoort has been trying to set a good example for his colleagues. port wines now that the popularity of Douro still reds is growing, Dirk con- He has also been involved in establishing an active group of ambitious Douro soles them by saying that there is plenty of room for all wine types. After all, wine producers, whose aim is to prove to the world the region’s potential as the vineyards that are best for growing the grapes used in port are not ideal the birthplace of fine wines. Known as the Douro Boys, the group works for red and white wine grapes. In other words, Douro has diverse opportuni- hard to increase the region’s esteem. They meet regularly to discuss projects ties for all kinds of wine production. and share their views on wines. Inspired by Dirk, the Douro Boys also have The secret to success is insanity blind tastings at their meetings. “If you are going to produce fine wines, you also have to enjoy them. You Dirk’s greatest challenges as a winemaker are the heat and drought of the have to have an idea of what a fine wine tastes like, and be able to discuss it. Douro region. They often result in heavy, unbalanced wines characterised by By tasting and evaluating, everyone can learn about wines and their produc- jammy fruitiness, flat acidity and strong tannins. His solution to the problem tion. This helps every one of us to improve our own wines.” was initially a source of wonderment for other producers. “People thought me insane for buying grapes from the top of northfacing slopes. Whereas the temperature of the sun-drenched slopes’ lower and Dirk says he is happy to have brought about some changes with the Douro Boys, but he is also frustrated that there are a further 2000 producers in the region that are doing nothing for the cause – in fact, quite the opposite. central parts is around 45 degrees in the daytime and 28 degrees at night, “Although I am by nature very disorganised and by no means a perfec- the top parts of the shady slopes reach 41 degrees during the day and only tionist, I do notice a big difference between my actions and those of many of 14 degrees at night. This great daily fluctuation in temperature gives my my colleagues. With my minimum input I can achieve greater results than wines a better acidity, more balance and a lower alcohol content. This makes they do with their maximum input. That is frustrating. It’s not that I work for very elegant wines that can withstand decades of ageing and which, once harder than them, but is more to do with the fact that even as a disorganised matured, live up to their full potential while embodying the unique terroir person I am able to focus on fixing the critical issues rather than wasting of our region,” Dirk explains. time on inessentials.” 24 FINE

F I N E L i f e Awa r d Despite 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. We have also built a new winery, which has made our wines far superior, in terms of 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 and most desirable still red wine in Portugal. Furthermore, we have launched the highest-quality white wine from the Douro region, the Redoma Reserva Branco. And when you add the FINE Life Award to all this, I have good reason to be very happy,” Dirk says. Recession: the saviour of character As for his future plans, Dirk says he will take part in more and more diverse winemaking projects around the world. He will do this to investigate ways of refining the wines from Douro to make them even better, together with 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.” Batuta 2001 “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.” the other Douro Boys. With regard to Niepoort’s current wines, all that is required is fine-tuning. D i r k nie p o o r t 25

“I wanted to make sure they remember the significance of daydreaming. 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.” its continuity. I want to hand over a healthy company to my successors. I have been proud to both see it grow to its current dimensions and enable Niepoort as a brand to reach its current renown. However, I see us achieving our real breakthrough only once our most elegant wines reach their optimum drinkability. There is some time to go before that, however. That will be the final judgement day for the work I started two decades ago championing Douro’s red wines. Perhaps then my dream of Portugal being recognised as a producer of topquality fine wines will also be fulfilled.” Dirk Niepoort and the importance of dreams 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 the company and Dirk’s three children, of whom the two sons, Daniel (19) and Marco (16), have expressed an interest in 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 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 Dirk with his partner Nina and son Marco significance of daydreaming. It is a way of see“Thanks to our new state-of-the-art winery we can produce better and bet- ing into and positively affecting the future. It guides your actions ter wines. The products we have made since 2007 have been finer than ever and it can help you see diverse solutions to many challenges. Ponder- before. We are also satisfied with our production volumes and have no desire ing your dreams also makes you consider any obstacles that might lie to increase them.” ahead and figure out ways of overcoming them. Then, if and when the Niepoort currently produces around one million bottles of wine and obstacles one day materialise, they are easier and quicker to conquer. around half a million bottles of port per year. If the last few years’ growth Of course, dreaming can also isolate you. People often consider in volume, at a rate of 25 per cent per annum, continues, the company will it abnormal, and not many understand the making of quick deci- have to make huge investments, and to fund those investments it will have to sions based on dreams. To fulfil your visions you have to be de- increase its production quantities significantly. This would mean streamlining cisive – even stubborn – and logical. You must also be dynamic and and optimising operations while increasing the number of personnel. brave, prepared to change direction if necessary to achieve your aims. “I don’t want this company to grow any further, because excessive growth is A dream is like an incomplete jigsaw puzzle, which you have to be able an easy way to erase our personality.” Dirk the optimist is thankful for the reces- to see as a whole and also understand the consequences of its completion. sion currently afflicting Europe and, especially, Portugal, as without it he might You have to be prepared to pay for both the good and the bad outcomes. not have noticed the company’s excessive growth and the related problems. In one’s dreams it is easy to see oneself as the best in whatever one does. “It is time now to assess our wine portfolio more carefully. We might This is encouraging and empowering, but in reality you cannot aim just produce few new wines. I have, for many years, thought of starting to to be the best. Being the best is a vague concept determined in relation to produce wine from Bairrada, a very tough area that nobody likes; for others, which changes depending on your point of view. Reaching it only me, the region has yielded one of the best wines of Portugal. And maybe expends energy and upsets your balance, and it is not even rewarding. The some wines from Dão. This is also the right time to invest in Niepoort’s secret to a good life and good wines lies in the balance. Balance requires future markets, which in my view include India. We have to consider in both success and failure.’ how many countries beyond the current 55 we want to have a presence. ‘My greatest dream is to find balance in myself, my surroundings I also have to think about Niepoort’s future as a family business. This and my wines. On my office wall there is a small sign with a big message: has been my whole life and I have sworn to do my utmost to safeguard ‘You can if you really want to’. And I have always wanted to!” > 26 FINE

COLUMN JAMES SUCKLING BENCHMARK VINTAGE 1997 I t’s just over 15 years since the grapes for the legendary 1997 vintage in Italy were harvested, but it seems like yesterday for me. The 1997 vintage was a benchmark for me personally as well as Italian wine producers on a whole. For me, it marked a change in my career, as I understood that the year was one of the Italy’s best vintages, and it marked a turning point in the production of great wines throughout the country. It also enticed me to pack up my house and office in London and move my entire family to the depths of the Tuscan countryside. I wanted to experience first hand the fine winemaking renaissance in Italy. I wanted to live in Italian vineyards and see it for myself. I remember so many wine producers talking about their superb harvest in 1997. And I kept thinking about a similarly pivotal vintage in Bordeaux – 1982. I was in France for that, so I wanted to do the same for Italy. And very few wine critics were focusing on Italy at the time. 28 FINE For Italian winemakers, the overall quality of the wines they made in 1997 gave many a clear idea that if they reduced their grape yields in their vineyards they could produce clearly superior quality wines. A spring frost in most of Italy cut yields dramatically and forced most wineries to make better wines with more concentrated grapes. “We understood better what to do to make better wines,” admitted Giacomo Neri, the owner of Casanova di Neri, the famous Brunello di Montalcino producer. “We understood that the quality had to begin in ­ the vineyards.” In fact, such standardised quality viticulture practices today such as short pruning, leaf plucking and green harvesting were seldom used in Italy until after 1997. But many initiated such methods to replicate what Mother Nature had done for them in 1997. Moreover, the growing season was sunny during the day and cool at night and produced grapes with ripe sugars but fresh acidities. This again highlighted a modern style of future vintages for Italy and both wine producers and grape growers took note.

FINE Suckling A generational change in the 1990s also enhanced this fine wine renaissance in 1997. ­ Many of my generation had taken over the reigns of wineries in Italy. They had the passion and knowledge to make better wines and to take advantage of changes in climate, viticulture and winemaking that were new to such a tradition-bound country as Italy. They were different than their parents and the change came out in cleaner, better and more structured quality wines. “Everything seemed to come together in 1997,” admitted Luca Currado of Vietti, the respected family-owed Barolo, Barbaresco, and Barbera producer. Currado had worked in many parts of the world, making wine such as Bordeaux and California, before coming back to Piedmont to work in his family’s winery. “We had different ideas about winemaking that we took from other parts of the world.” It’s difficult to generalise with regards to what was so different about many wines in 1997 compared to their predecessors. Perhaps they were simply more drinkable even though they were structured? I remember that many in the Italian wine press didn’t believe that the 1997s would age –­ regardless if the wines were Barolo or Brunel. A number criticised me for championing the vintage. They just thought the wines were too good to drink in their youth. Yet today most wines are still beautiful. I still drink reds from all the major Italian wine regions from that vintage on a regular basis and they continue to show a wonderful balance and freshness. It’s this harmony that makes the 1997 vintage so special for Italy. And it’s great harmony in wines that is a sign of a superb vintage for any wine region. Another factor to consider with the success of 1997 is the bullish wine market in America for Italian bottles. Americans piled in on 1997, buying all the top wines, from Gaja to Sassicaia to Quintarelli. Such wines are still collector’s items in wine stores, restaurants, and auctions, regardless if they are in Milan, Los Angeles or Hong Kong. I drank a fabulous bottle of 1997 Altesino Brunello di Montalcino Montosoli over the Christmas holidays in Southern California, and it was a glorious moment. Not only was the wine complex and subtle with a freshness and refined fruitiness, it showed a wonderful depth and structure suggesting it had a long life ahead of it. It was another example of why the 1997 vintage in Italy is so close to my heart. > COLUMN 29

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2012 B The ORDEAUX: A Winemaker’s Vintage [the 2012 Bordeaux vintage report] Château PICHON-LONGUEVILLE 32 FINE

FINE Vintage Text: Jeff Leve Photography: Pekka nuikki The 2012 Bordeaux vintage is a year for vineyard management and workers. Call it a winemakers vintage, or change your tune and name it a vineyard manager’s vintage. Either descriptor works perfectly. The estates with the financial ability to take the necessary actions in the vineyards during the season, coupled with the willingness to severely declassify unripe grapes, will produce the best wines. Even then, it’s going to be a difficult vintage with small quantities of wine. From start to finish, the growing season and the 2012 Bordeaux harvest have been stressful for the vintners, the vines and, with the grapes now in the process of being vinified, the winemakers. BORDEAUX 2012 33

The 2012 Bordeaux vintage did not get off to a good start. Following a cold winter and wet spring, the April rains drenched the Bordeaux wine region. Following the April rains, there were outbreaks of mildew, which required spraying. May was warmer than April, but things cooled down a bit again in June. All of this brought on flowering that was late and uneven, which resulted in small bunches with berries that ripened at different times. This, in turn, brought down the quantities and necessitated serious work in the vineyards and intensive sorting at harvest. Oliver Bernard / Domaine de Chevalier 2012 will be seen as an historic year for Olivier Bernard, the estate’s owner, as he was elected to the important position of President of the UGC, The Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux. Olivier B ­ ernard was already busy managing one of the top Pessac-Léognan chateaux and running Financiere Bernard, his family’s holding company, which owns the successful negociant company Millésima and Sobovi, along with Wine and Company. Olivier Bernard succeeded Sylvie ­ Cazes as UGC President, when his predecessor unexpectedly resigned in ­November 2012. We were able to speak with the always charming and erudite ­Olivier Bernard about the 2012 Domaine de Chevalier vintage and harvest. FINE When did you start to bring in your fruit for the 2012 Domaine de Chevalier Blanc? Domaine de Chevalier 34 FINE Olivier Bernard “We started the white wine harvest on September 12 with the Sauvignon Blanc. The final Sauvignon Blanc was brought in on September 20; the Semillon was harvested from September 20 until September 24.”

FINE Vintage VIEUX Château CERTAN FINE From a technical viewpoint, what is your technical analysis for Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon showing? Olivier Bernard “For the Sauvignon Blanc, the potential average alcohol levels are quite good. We are at an average of 14.1 per cent, with the pH coming in at 3.2.” FINE I know it’s early, as the fruit is just starting its vinification, but does the Domaine de Chevalier 2012 white wine remind you of any previous Bordeaux vintage? Olivier Bernard “It looks like a combination of 2000 and 2009, based on the weather conditions and balance for Pessac-Léognan.” FINE What about for the red wine? Olivier Bernard “Malolactic fermentation is taking place right now, and some of the lots are finished. The red 2012 Domaine de Chevalier seems full-bodied and displays ripe flavours, and the level of quality is much better than we expected. We are very happy.” FINE What caused you the most problems during the 2012 Domaine de Chevalier growing season? Olivier Bernard “For the red 2012 Domaine de Chevalier, it was the lateness of the picking dates. We had to take great risks with the forecast to pick grapes with ripe skins. The sugar and acidity were perfect, but, as you know, the skins were late.” FINE What do you like about the fruit that you have been bringing in? Olivier Bernard “We achieved great power and freshness. The fruit is clean, pure and offers fantastic ripeness with balance due to very good acidity levels. This will help bring a nice tension to the wine. It’s all you need to make a top white wine!” While a growing season is never over until it’s over, uneven flowering is never a good omen. The lateness of the flowering pushed the entire vintage back two to three weeks, depending on the chateaux. Generally speaking, late harvests are not usually harbingers of good things to come. BORDEAUX 2012 35

Château Margaux Paul Pontallier / Château Margaux Paul Pontallier “While we picked some Merlot plots before October 1, the harvest officially started on that day. We finished picking on October 15.” Paul Pontallier “The 2012 weather conditions are similar to those of 2000.We’ll see when we taste the wines this winter if the quality of the 2012 can pretend to reach the level of 2000.” FINE Are you continuing to experiment with optical sorting at Château Margaux? Does the 2012 Château Margaux growing season remind you of any previous vintage? FINE What part of the growing season did you find the most difficult? Paul Pontallier “With the 2012 Margaux it was probably the rainy spring, as it created favourable conditions for mildew to develop.” FINE Is that exacerbated by your continuing organic farming techniques? Paul Pontallier “All the more so, as we are definitely involved in an organic vine-growing approach at Chateau Margaux. During the 2012 Bordeaux vintage, the most serious threat we faced was mildew, which we successfully managed to control.” FINE Did the 2012 Margaux vintage require the amount of sorting demanded by the 2011 vintage? Paul Pontallier “Much less sorting was required in 2012 than we needed to perform in 2011. In 2011, we had to very carefully sort the clusters that were burnt by the heavy heat which occurred at the end of June.” FINE Did you experience problems with uneven flowering? Paul Pontallier “Flowering was not especially uneven at Margaux, so it was not a problem for the 2012 Margaux. When it is, which very rarely happens, we can cut the clusters whose colour hasn’t changed.” FINE When did you start harvesting the 2012 Margaux? 36 FINE Paul Pontallier “Yes, we repeated an optical sorting experiment that we started last year. Like last year, optical sorting did not prove that useful as the grapes are very efficiently sorted in the vineyard by our pickers.” FINE Did any varietal turn out better in the 2012 Bordeaux vintage for you? Paul Pontallier “I don’t think that 2012 allowed one variety to perform better than another. As usual, because of our terroir, the Cabernet Sauvignon will be better than the Merlot.” FINE What are your alcohol levels for the 2012 Margaux? Paul Pontallier “In 2012, we have precisely what we want at Margaux: around 13 per cent, rather 13.5 per cent, for the Merlot and 12.8 per cent for the Cabernet Sauvignon.” If everything that took place until the end of June wasn’t bad enough, what happened next offered the 2012 Bordeaux vintage additional challenges. After an average July, Bordeaux experienced a torrid heat spell and drought in August and September that stressed the vines – at one point, temperatures soared to 42 degrees Celsius! The vines shut down and the vintage was on track to be even later than originally anticipated. Close to the end of September, however, things improved due to the much hoped for combination of warm days, cool nights and some desperately needed rain, which helped nourish the vines. The initial days of October offered reasonably warm temperatures during the day, coupled with cooler weather at night for vintners. This meant that the Merlot was finally ready to be picked.

FINE Vintage 2012 B The ORDEAUX: A Winemaker’s Vintage Philippe Moureau / Château Pichon-Lalande FINE Growers have been reporting that the Merlot has been very successful this year. Is that the case for you with the 2012 PichonLalande? Philippe Moureau “With the 2012 Pichon-Lalande the Merlot matured earlier, thus they were picked in good conditions without over-maturation. This allowed us to avoid too high a degree of alcohol. In spite of the unstable weather of the last few days during the harvest, the Cabernets also achieved a good level of maturity.” FINE What previous growing does the 2012 Bordeaux vintage remind you of? Philippe Moureau “Indeed. We acquired a new destemmer from Bucher, “the Oscillys”, which sorted the berries very efficiently. This tool has been very important this year. We also invested in an optical sorting “Vistalys” as well as new vessels that are better adapted to vinification. These new stainless steel tanks are double skinned, which allow for better fermentation kinetics, which gives us smoother, softer and easier extractions.” FINEWhat are your yields this year? Château Pichon-Lalande Philippe Moureau “The 2012 vintage is a mixture of issues we had to deal with in previous vintages. 2012 Bordeaux can be characterised by too much humidity in the spring, and this resulted in some drips and millerandage. Furthermore, we also experienced a summer drought that caused the vines to stop maturing. The season has been difficult in the vineyard and you can call the 2012 Bordeaux a winemaker’s vintage.” FINE Compared to 2011, did you need to spend more or less time on sorting this year? Philippe Moureau “Sorting for us with the 2012 Pichon-Lalande has been just as important this year as it was in 2011. We had to remove the scalded and under-ripe berries and those with a botrytis. This meticulous sorting was done in the vineyards, during the harvest and also in the winery. It was important to use optical sorting in this vintage, as it was a great additional tool that allowed us to optimise the sorting.” FINE Did you purchase any new equipment or renovate your winemaking facilities this year at Pichon-Lalande? Philippe Moureau “We will be close to 30 hectolitres per hectare in the 2012 Bordeaux vintage.” Jeff Leve What about the alcohol levels of the 2012 Pichon-Lalande? Philippe Moureau “The Merlot is close to 13.5 per cent and the Cabernet is lower at about 12.5 per cent.” FINE What steps are you taking this year during the vinification of the 2012 Pichon-Lalande? Philippe Moureau “For the vinification, it was important to use only the best berries and, at the same time, pursue the work that we have done in the recent years. We are focusing on a soft and slow extraction to preserve the elegance and roundness of the wine.” In the Médoc, it was hurry up and wait. Tom Petty could have been blasting out his “Waiting is The Hardest Part”, because growers needed to wait as the Cabernet Sauvignon was having difficulties ripening – and this was in October. Conventional wisdom says that at some point there is little to be gained by waiting, so the 2012 Bordeaux harvest started. Some estates began picking young Merlot in late September but most held back until about October 1, with a few growers waiting another week or even longer. Most producers had brought all their fruit in by the middle of October. BORDEAUX 2012 37

La Mondotte Stephan von Neipperg / La Mondotte Stephan von Neipperg is enjoying the fruits of his labours: two of his estates, Château Canon La Gaffèliere and La Mondotte, were promoted to First Growth status in the recent 2012 St. Emilion Classification. La Mondotte is one of only two wines promoted from an unclassified status to the position of First Growth since the St. Emilion classifications began in 1955. Stephan von Neipperg is not only a grower and winemaker with extensive holdings, he is also a busy consultant with clients all over ­ Bordeaux, as well as in St. Emilion and Graves/Pessac-Léognan. ­ We managed to grab a few minutes with him and discuss the 2012 ­Bordeaux vintage. Stephan von Neipperg “Flexibility is the key word of the 2012 Bordeaux vintage.” FINE Was there a moment when you knew the 2012 Bordeaux vintage would be difficult and require, as you put it, flexibility? Stephan von Neipperg “Without doubt it was the flowering, which started slowly and in a heterogeneous way at our St. Emilion estates.” FINE What special vineyard techniques do you need to do when the flowering is uneven, as it was this year? Stephan von Neipperg “The work we did during the summer was very important. The high temperatures from mid-July onwards caused a rapid development of the vines. We adapted leaf-thinning and controlled green harvests depending on the plots, and this allowed us to achieve a balance when it came to the changing of colour and the ripening. Cutting the end of flowers was also primordial.” FINE Now that fermentation is taking place, are you able to look back and consider what previous year the 2012 Bordeaux vintage reminds you of? Stephan von Neipperg “The 2012 weather conditions were very similar to the 2000 or the 2009.” FINE In what way? Stephan von Neipperg “Those different vintages experienced a damp, cool spring, hydric deficits in mid-July and high temperatures in August.” FINE Did those conditions cause specific problems that you needed to address during the 2012 Bordeaux growing season? Stephan von Neipperg “Due to the wet climate conditions from April to June, some diseases, especially mildew, reminded us that Bordeaux is under an oceanic influence.” FINE That takes care of the issues from excess water. What about the drought or stress? 38 FINE Stephan von Neipperg “Not at all. All the water from the spring rain has been stored by the soils and then restituted. Our old and deep-rooted vines also offer us a very significant advantage.” FINE When did you begin and finish your 2012 Bordeaux harvest? Stephan von Neipperg “We started picking on October 6 and finished on October 22.” FINE What were the conditions like during your harvest? Stephan von Neipperg “We enjoyed sunny weather conditions at the beginning and rain at the end. It required flexibility in the vineyards!” FINE Due to the quick change in the October weather, did you finish picking earlier than anticipated? Stephan von Neipperg “Not necessarily, but some plots reached their optimal ripeness very quickly.” FINE With numerous estates to look after, how many pickers did you employ? Stephan von Neipperg “We employed a total of 107 pickers to work the 2012 Bordeaux vintage on our five estates: Château Canon La Gaffelière, La Mondotte, Clos de l’Oratoire, Château Peyreau in St. Emilion and Château d’Aiguilhe in Côtes de Castillon.” FINE Which grape varieties performed better during the 2012 Bordeaux growing season? Stephan von Neipperg “The Merlot is outstanding! The berries reached optimal ripeness – fine and sweet with very high sugar levels – and the same can be said for the Cabernet Franc. The most challenging grape was Cabernet Sauvignon. But, with only five per cent of Canon La Gaffelière planted, we are fine.” FINE What are your yields at your various Right Bank estates? Stephan von Neipperg “For the 2012 Canon La Gaffelière and Clos de l’Oratoire, we are at 30 hectolitres per hectare; La Mondotte is 20 hectoliters per hectare; and in Côtes de Castillon it’s 35 hectolitres per hectare at Château d’Aiguilhe.” FINE What about your alcohol levels? Stephan von Neipperg “We reached from 13.5 per cent to 14.5 per cent depending on the estates.” Pomerol is usually the first appellation to harvest, due to its Merlot-dominated vines. Interestingly, picking took place simultaneously on the Left Bank on October 1. Numerous Pessac-Léognan properties began their harvest before Pomerol: Château Haut-Brion began working on their young Merlot vines on September 17 and Château Haut-Bailly was not far behind, with a September 27 start date. Most chateaux were in the thick of things by October 4, although Domaine de Chevalier held off until October 8.

The 2012 Bordeaux harvest is in full bloom at the legendary Pomerol estate of Pétrus. The 2012 Pétrus harvest season started last week in September, when they began with the light picking of their young Merlot vines. However, today marks the official start of the 2012 Pétrus harvest as they are now working on some of their older Merlot parcels that are ripe enough for picking. This is late for Pétrus. Often, it can be one of the earlier Pomerol vineyards to harvest, due to its unique terroir. In fact, the 2012 Bordeaux vintage is so late that they have probably set a new record for the latest harvest start date for any vintage of this legendary Pomerol wine. To give you an idea of how late the 2012 Bordeaux harvest is running at Pétrus, two years ago, in 2010, they began to pick on September 27 and finished on October 2. Last year, for the 2011 Bordeaux vintage, it was even earlier. Pétrus started their 2011 harvest on S ­ eptember 12 and had finished by September 22. However, that does not set the record for the earliest harvest start for Pétrus. That record belongs to the 2003 Bordeaux vintage, when they started to harvest Merlot on September 3! They were forced to wait for the small amount of Caber­ net Franc to ripen, so the official end of the harvest did not take place until September 17. Pétrus has 14 vine parcels in Pomerol to harvest, but picking does not take place on a plot by plot basis. Instead, the harvesters work on each vine, one at a time, and look for bunches that have achieved the desired level of phenolic maturity. The length of time needed to harvest will, of course, depend on the levels of ripeness found in the vineyards. We managed to have a quick conversation with the always ­charming Christian Moueix about their 2012 offering. FINE When did you start picking at Pétrus? Christian Moueix “We began working with the young vines on a few small parcels, and that started on September 24. The older parcels were able to take advantage of the inch of rain we received during September 25 and September 26.” FINE Did you work on any of your other Pomerol properties at that time? Christian Moueix “Yes, we did some picking of the young vines at Château La Fleur Pétrus and Latour à Pomerol on September 24 as well.” FINE How are things looking so far? Christian Moueix “The crop looks healthy and it’s probably slightly bigger than expected.” FINE With some of the berries already in the process of being vinified, what are your early thoughts about the vintage? Christian Moueix “The must from the young vines shows a lot of fruit and a beautiful colour already.” While the pleasant, cooler weather was initially forecast to continue, by October 8 massive amounts of rain had fallen over the entire ­ Bordeaux region. With accompanying temperatures in the mid 20s and higher in some areas, vintners were concerned about the potential of B ­ otrytis, due to the humid, tropical conditions. At that point, the fruit needed to be picked, regardless of the state of maturity. However, just as with the 2011 Bordeaux vintage, ripening was uneven. It was not just the bunches that were failing to ripen, but rather that individual grapes were achieving varying degrees of ripeness which made sorting more important than ever. Optical sorting was more widely used than before during the 2012 Bordeaux harvest. Château Pétrus BORDEAUX 2012 39 FINE Vintage Christian Moueix / Château Pétrus

Château Cos d’Estournel FINE Did the drought and stress present you with any unique challenges? Jean Guillaume Prats “No, due to the soil we are fortunate enough to have under the gravel in the Cos d’Estournel vineyards.” FINE When we spoke earlier in the year, you were worried about the vintage. What happened that caused you to change your mind? Jean Guillaume Prats “We were saved by a strong August and September. When you look at what could have been the scenario going back to June and July, it did not look good. Things turned out much better than we previously anticipated.” FINE When did you start harvesting? Jean Guillaume Prats / Château Cos d’Estournel 2012 Cos d’Estournel marks the end of an era, as the Prats family’s involvement with Château Cos d’Estournel has now officially ended. It’s the final vintage for the man who has become the face of St. Estephe estate, as Jean-Guillaume Prats will leave the property at end of the year to take up a position with LVMH as the CEO of Maison Estates and Wines in February 2013. Aymeric de Gironde will replace Prats at Château Cos d’Estournel, and we will be speaking to her during the year. We caught up with Jean-Guillaume Prats for our last interview with him about the estate he helped to build into one of the most famous, respected and expensive wines in the entire Bordeaux appellation. Jean Guillaume Prats “We started to harvest the Merlot on September 27 and had completed the picking for the 2012 Cos d’Estournel by October 16.” FINE How did the October rains effect your harvesting? Jean Guillaume Prats “We stopped harvesting for one week between the picking of the Merlot and the subsequent Cabernet picking.” FINE Did you consider waiting longer before restarting your harvest? Jean Guillaume Prats “We were already close to mid-October, and I am not sure what more we could have gained by waiting.” FINE Which grape variety gave you the most trouble this year? FINE Is the 2012 Cos d’Estournel vintage one of the latest harvests in the history of Cos? Jean Guillaume Prats “We finished picking on October 16, so that makes 2012 Cos d’Estournel one of the latest harvests in the history of Cos d’Estournel. It was more than four weeks later than last year.” Jean Guillaume Prats “The Cabernet Sauvignon and the Merlot were top, whereas the Petit Verdot was disappointing this year.” FINE For the harvest, how many pickers did you employ? Jean Guillaume Prats “It takes 130 pickers to complete the harvest.” FINE Having gone through the growing season and harvest, what previous year does the 2012 Bordeaux vintage remind you of? Jean Guillaume Prats “Based on the weather conditions, in some ways it’s a different version of 2003, with the excessive weather conditions over the summer, and it also reminds me of 2002 due to the great Indian summer in September.” FINE What are your yields with the 2012 Cos d’Estournel? Jean Guillaume Prats “We will be at 30 hectolitres per hectare this year.” FINE What do you anticipate your alcohol levels to be for the 2012 Cos d’Estournel? FINE What was the most difficult or stressful part of the growing season? Jean Guillaume Prats “The season had a spring that is best forgotten.” FINE Those are strong words! I imagine much of that has to do with the difficult flowering conditions. What special vineyard techniques did you perform this year? Jean Guillaume Prats “It was important that we cut the bunches at veraison time. This allowed us to keep the homogeneity within the grapes, which in turn helped us reach a level of harmonious phenolic ripeness.” 40 FINE Jean Guillaume Prats “On average, we should reach 13.8 per cent alcohol.” 2012 Bordeaux could be a year where the dry, white Bordeaux wines shine. The berries were picked in September, under optimum conditions. Most producers were done harvesting the white wine grapes by September 25. The same cannot be said for the sweet wines of Sauternes and Barsac. This has been a difficult year for the development of Botrytis, due in part to the cold nights. With November closing in, most of the top estates were still nervously waiting to harvest.

The first notable estates to begin picking for white wine were Château Haut-Brion and Château La Mission Haut-Brion – both of which began harvesting on September 4, 2012. This was followed one day later by Château d’Yquem, which started picking Sauvignon Blanc on September 5. Those early pickings are destined to be used in their dry white Bordeaux wine, “Y.” The real news for lovers of Château d’Yquem is the rain that fell in late September, as that is exactly what is needed to help with the development of noble rot, or botrytis. 2012 marks the first vintage which will be vinified in Château d’Yquem’s new, gleaming vats. Château Haut-Brion once again picked during the early hours of the morning, with the goal being to preserve the grapes’ freshness and aromatic complexities. Jean-Philippe Delmas described the fruit by saying it reminded him of fresh peaches, pears and even citrus. C ­ hâteau HautBrion completed their harvest for the white wine grapes at H ­ aut-Brion on September 14. We managed to speak with Jean Philippe Delmas about their harvest and the issues they faced. FINE What dates did you start and finish your white wine harvest for the Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon and Sauvignon Gris? Jean-Philippe Delmas “For the Sauvignon Blanc, the harvest started on September 5 and took two days. The Sauvignon Gris was picked in one day, on September 6, while we finished with the Semillon on September 14, after four days of picking.” FINE Was it the same for Château La Mission Haut-Brion? Jean-Philippe Delmas It was almost the same, except it was one day earlier. We started picking the Sauvignon Blanc at Château La M ­ ission Haut-Brion on September 4; the Sauvignon Gris was started and FINE Vintage Jean-Philippe Delmas / Château Haut-Brion Château Haut-Brion ­ nished on September 4; and the Semillon was harvested between fi September 6 and September 14.” FINE What are the potential alcohol levels and pH? Jean-Philippe Delmas “For Château Haut-Brion, the alcohol is 14 per cent and the pH is 3.37; for Château La Mission Haut-Brion, the alcohol is slightly higher and there is a bit more freshness as the pH is 3.32.” FINE While it’s far too early, could you please let me know, from an analytical point of view, what previous year the 2012 Bordeaux vintage reminds you of when it comes to the white wines? Jean-Philippe Delmas “At this stage of the winemaking process, from an analytical point of view, the 2009 vintage would be the closest.” Low yields – better wines? All this adds up to low yields for most producers. In fact, the French minister of agriculture reported that 2012 would produce the lowest yields since 1991. It’s interesting to remember previous years like 1991, which was a vintage that forced some properties to declassify their entire harvest. With today’s modern technology and vineyard management techniques, vintages like 1991, which produced atrocious wine, are a thing of the past. It is worth noting at this stage that Bordeaux is not the only European wine region to suffer in 2012: across the board, numerous European vineyards experienced difficult conditions and a recent announcement stated that the production levels of European wines were at their lowest levels since 1975. Generally speaking, low yields are usually a good thing, as they produce more concentrated wines. But, when low yields are coupled with grapes that have not achieved full, phenolic ripeness, the only thing vintners are left with is less wine. If the small quantities of wine available to sell are used as an excuse by owners as a reason to raise prices, then the grapes will not be the only thing that will be in short supply. 2011 Bordeaux has not sold well to consumers, which means that prices for 2012 Bordeaux wine need to be lower in price than the previous year. This is healthy for the marketplace in the long run. Ample stocks of good wines from top years are still available for sale – consumers can easily find strong Bordeaux wine from 2010, 2009 and even 2005. There are different vintages for different markets: some wine buyers prefer more classic or lighter years, while other wine collectors seek riper, bolder years. The marketplace welcomes both types of wines and consumers, but each vintage and style needs to be appropriately priced. Bordeaux should reduce prices on vintages such as 2012 and 2011, and, in turn, there will be wine buyers willing to pay more for the best years. Reports from producers on the 2012 Bordeaux harvest have ranged. For the red wines, some were quoted as saying the pulp is ripe and the seeds varied in ripeness, but that the skins did not ripen. On the Left Bank, there are estates that feel their Merlot turned out better than their Cabernet; on the Right Bank, producers in Pomerol and St. Emilion are optimistic about the quality of their 2012 Bordeaux wines. The early reports show lower alcohol levels for the wines than more recent, highly rated and expensive vintages. 2012 Bordeaux wine has the potential to be classic in style, which should please thirsty fans of traditional Bordeaux wine. While quantities are small, in many cases it’s not much different than what the chateaux were able to produce in 2011, and many vintners are comparing the 2012 Bordeaux vintage to a blend of 2002 and 2008. With the April tastings rapidly approaching, all of us will have a much better idea about the quality, style and character of the 2012 Bordeaux vintage. Let’s just hope they get the price right. > ­ BORDEAUX 2012 41

COLUMN Bill Blatch 17 years in a row I was into the second year of my Bordeaux négociant business. The first year, 1982, I had got lucky with the red wines, buying as much of them as my feeble funding would allow and ended up doing well with them. So, what to do for the second year? The prospect of selling the ’83 Bordeaux reds in the wake of the ‘82s was not too bright…then someone said to me “There are some good wines in Sauternes”. Like many négociants at the time (and now), I had considered Sauternes to be the category at the end of the price-list that never really sold well but that you had to have, and I had not been paying much attention to it. So one wintry evening in early 1984, I took myself down to Sauternes to see for myself. I had made an appointment with Pierre ­Pascaud, the manager and cellar-master at Château Suduiraut at 5pm. We started tasting round ­ the barrels, and it was well into the night when I got out of there. In a matter of a few hours, I had become completely hooked, under the spell of this fabulously intricate and fascinating wine. This was the beginning of my total immersion in these beguiling wines, and I have never looked back since. The ‘83s were marvellously rich and full-bodied, rather in the style of the ‘97s that were to come. But over the next few years, I then experienced the whole panoply of sweet wine styles from the light and fragrant ‘84s and ‘87s, through the fatter style of the ‘86s, and cre42 FINE scendoing into the fabulous trilogy of the tensile ’88s, the very complete ’89s and the richer ‘90s. This was the first golden run of Sauternes vintages and it coincided with a sudden revival of Sauternes drinking as an aperitif in Paris bars and restaurants. Since 1995, there hasn’t been one single off-vintage (quality-wise) until 2012: 17 years in a row: totally unheard-of in the whole 400 years of Sauternes’ history, culminating in a spate of very rich yet oh-sofine vintages over the last decade, during which the levels of residual sugar have risen by half, not because of any wilful push towards extra sweetness by the growers, but because the fine autumns, with just enough rainfall at the right time, have been so propitious to the gradual evolution from sweet golden grapes to full botrytis and finally to total concentration of that botrytis. It has also been helped by the much

F I N E B l at c h greater attention to selection during the harvest. (In Sauternes, each bunch is visited up to 7 times as each fully botrytised grape is individually picked). Besides the immense complexity of the wines themselves, I have always also been attracted to the region by the people themselves, with whom I have been closely working now for 30 years (counting the 2012!). These are in some cases important landowners, with estates as large as the big Médoc properties, but more usual are the quite small holdings of 20 hectares or less. But, big or small, these are all, by necessity, humble folk, striving against all the odds and taking enormous risks to produce the best they possible can, sometimes in minuscule and totally uneconomic quantities. How must they have felt in 2000, when, just as the great Médocs were finishing a large and great vintage that would sell for record prices, it started raining hard just as they were less than a quarter through and had to leave the remaining ¾ on the vines? They just shrugged their shoulders and said “that’s the way it goes down here”. I am often asked when do I drink Sauternes myself? And the answer is quite simply “very often” and “with whatever I happen to be eating (or not)”. My great pleasure is to try it with everything, As many wine drinkers are beginning to find around the world, for versatility, Sauternes can rival any dry white or red wine. > COLUMN 43

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

D uring the 20th century the world around us both grew and shrank. Cars, aeroplanes, visual communication and the Internet broadened our view of the world, but also made it smaller by bringing everything close and within reach. Even the moon was suddenly close enough to visit. For people, the world grew concretely smaller thanks to urbanisation. The space that used to hold farmhouses and fields suddenly pulsed with high-rises and their hundreds of residents. In the cities, work and leisure became clearly separated. To balance a heavy day at work people sought entertainment among movies, sport and television. Entertainment became an industry and mass culture was born, with wine becoming an important part of the phenomenon. The wine industry was not spared notable changes. The winemaker’s senses and experience had to give way to science, which tried to fight nature’s whims and imperfections. Modern winemakers were able to achieve almost total control of every stage of winemaking – from harvesting and fermentation to bottling. Advances in technology ensured that this trend continued throughout the entire 20th century, with more countries producing more wine. And better wine. Or was it? 46 FINE

F I N E C e n t u r y Ta s t i n g 1900–1999 Part two Text: Pekka Nuikki Photos: Pekka Nuikki W e wanted to find out about this matter and therefore organised a tasting, the kind of which had never been experienced before. Our aim was to taste and experience the whole century, all at once. We selected, searched and purchased the best wine, in our opinion, from each year of the 20th century, as well as several ‘extras’. The work carried out was quite extensive, not least since the century includes some years when wine production throughout the world was almost non-existent. To make things even more difficult for ourselves, we made the decision that each wine brand could only be represented once throughout the whole century. It took us two years to find a presumably drinkable wine from each year of the century. When everything finally was ready, we invited a group of our wine friends to experience a whole century in three days. The experience was dumbfounding and very rewarding. We were also very lucky with our wines; only four wines out of the 156 enjoyed were not in a drinkable condition. This is quite a performance considering that the average age of the wines was over fifty, that the biggest technological leaps in wine production were only experienced at the end of this fascinating century. The wines portrayed on the following pages were chosen to represent their year of birth. This issue will present the wines from 1950 to 1999, with the former years printed in FINE’s last magazine. The bottles pictured with the tasting notes are not necessarily the ones tasted in the Century Tasting. C E N T U R Y TA S T I N G 47

100 91p Vintages 1950 Château Lafleur-Pétrus (FRANCE) 91p 98p 93p 1951 1952 CVNE Imperial Gran Reserva Inglenook Cabernet (Spain) Sauvignon Cask J-9 89p 93p 1953 1954 Château Lafite-Rothschild Madeira Malvasia (FRANCE) (USA) 92p 1959 La Rioja Alta 890 1957 1958 Domaine Huet Vouvray Château Haut-Brion Blanc (FRANCE) Sec Clos du Bourg (FRANCE) 89p 90p 96p (SPAIN) 88p 1963 1964 Cockburn’s Vintage Port Salon Vintage Champagne (PORTUGAL) Magnum (FRANCE) 1965 Ferreira Barca Velha (PORTUGAL) (PORTUGAL) 90p 1960 DRC La Tâche (France) 94p 95p 75p 1955 1956 DRC Romanée-Conti Viña Undurraga Cabernet (FRANCE) Sauvignon Reservado 98p 1961 Château Latour (FRANCE) 83p 92p (CHILE) 1962 Krug Vintage Champagne 1962 (FRANCE) 92p 1967 1966 Biondi-Santi Brunello Guigal Côte-Rôtie La Mouline (FRANCE) di Montalcino Riserva (ITALY) 1968 Tenuta Sassicaia San Guido (ITALY) 86p 92p 1969 Barolo Monfortino Conterno (ITALY) 1970 Henri Jayer Vosne-Romanée (FRANCE) 93p 1971 Gaja Sorì Tildin Barbaresco (ITALY) 94p 1972 Penfolds Grange Hermitage (AUSTRALIA) 89p 1973 Château MoutonRothschild (FRANCE) 99p 1974 Heitz Martha’s Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon (USA) 48 FINE

F I N E C e n t u r y Ta s t i n g 100 97p Vintages 1975 Château Lafleur (FRANCE) 96p 90p 1976 Clos des Goisses Philipponnat Magnum (FRANCE) 96p 1982 Château LéovilleLas-Cases (FRANCE) 92p 1977 Château Musar (LEBANON) 94p 91p 1980 1981 Quinta do Noval Nacional Château Smith-HautVintage Port (PORTUGAL) Lafitte Blanc (FRANCE) 94p 92p 1985 Ornellaia Tenuta dell´Ornellaia Magnum 1986 Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage Blanc (FRANCE) (USA) (ITALY) (FRANCE) 98p (USA) (FRANCE) 95p (USA) 94p 1979 Louis Roederer Cristal (FRANCE) 1984 Caymus Special Selection Magnum 1989 Château Haut-Brion 1994 Harlan Estate 1978 Henri Bonneau Châteuneufdu-Pape Réserve des Celestins (FRANCE) 87p 93p 93p 1983 Domaine Rousseau Chambertin 1988 Dalla Valle Maya 93p 89p 98p 93p 1990 Hermitage La Chapelle Paul Jaboulet Aîné (FRANCE) 94p 1996 1995 Krug Clos du Mesnil Château de Beaucastel (FRANCE) Hommage à Jacques Perrin 1991 DRC Montrachet (FRANCE) 94p 1987 Gaja Barbaresco Sorì San Lorenzo (ITALY) 95p 1992 Domaine Leroy Richebourg (FRANCE) 1993 Le Pin (FRANCE) 94p 97p 1997 Screaming Eagle (USA) 91p 1998 Coche-Dury CortonCharlemange (FRANCE) 1999 Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc (NEW ZEALAND) (FRANCE) C E N T U R Y TA S T I N G 49

1952 1952 Inglenook Cabernet Sauvignon Cask J-9 On 18 October 1867 the sun warmed a crowd gathered to witness the last time Russia’s flag would be lowered at Sitka, Alaska. ­ A young, lanky Finnish seaman stood among the others and followed the event with a feeling of hope and excitement. For him, the lowering of the flag was the key to the future, and for everyone in the crowd it was an historic moment, as the flag to be raised on the following morning would be that of the United States, a country which had just purchased the territory from Russia for 7.2 million dollars. In the middle of this historic ceremony, the Russian flag wound itself stubbornly around the flagpole, thus holding up the proceedings until a Russian seaman clambered up the pole to pull it free. It was almost as if the Double Eagle simply refused to make way for the Stars and Stripes. The young Finnish seaman was named Gustav Ferdinand Nybom. As he paid his last respects to the flag of Russia, he had no inkling of the role he would soon play in the wine history of his newly adopted homeland. 22-year-old sea captain Nybom was born in Helsinki in 1842. Nybom adored the sea, to which he had already lost his heart at fifteen when he served as a cabin boy on a vessel sailing for Alaska. An intelligent young man, Nybom quickly learned that he wouldn’t advance very far beyond the station of cabin boy with only basic seaman’s skills and knowledge. When he was 17, he applied to the Helsinki Maritime Academy, from which he graduated with honours. At the tender age of 22, he received his first command as sea captain. It had been six years since young Nybom’s last voyage to Alaska by the time he returned in 1864, this time as a captain. Even though many thought that the purchase of this vast, icy territory was a waste and a mistake, Gustav saw enormous financial possibilities in the natural resources of Alaska. For the next three years, he wandered its snowfields, establishing business relationships with local fur trappers and purchasing a huge number of seal pelts from them. The same year the American flag was raised at Sitka, captain Nybom sailed for San Francisco with over a million dollars’ worth of seal and other fur pelts. However, his knowledge of the new territory and its natural resources turned out to be even more valuable than his cargo In time, Gustav Nybom changed his name to Gustave Niebaum. The reason he changed his name to a German variant is not known. It was during this time that our good captain had become one of the richest men in America, and was ready for a less demanding lifestyle. Because his bride, Susan Shingleberger, did not share his passion for the sea, they set out to find a common interest. During his earlier business travels in Europe, Niebaum 50 FINE had become increasingly interested in wine culture and winemaking. When his business partners purchased vineyards just some tens of kilometres from the Niebaum family home, Gustave also became interested in the region. After all, wine had been successfully cultivated here since the 1830s. The time was ripe. California was enjoying a wine boom that could almost be likened to the Gold Rush. The region already had a long history of wine production, which dated back to the time prior to California’s admittance to the Union. New vineyards were sprouting up by the dozen in the areas surrounding Los Angeles and in the Sonoma and Napa Valleys. In Napa Valley alone, there were 65 vineyards at that time, which is five times more than in 1980. After making his decision to establish his own world-class vineyard, Niebaum and his wife travelled around Europe in search of a suitable place. His fortune was then over ten million dollars, which made it possible for him to seriously consider purchasing one of the Bordeaux region’s four original appellations. He learned to know and love the wines from these vineyards on his numerous travels in Europe. However, when the Niebaums visited Napa Valley, the sheer beauty of the place made an indelible impression on them. After thoroughly researching the market, they purchased a farm near the township of Rutherford in 1879 for 48 000 dollars. Located right in the heart of Napa County, the farm was named Inglenook, which means “fireside corner” in Scottish. The name appealed to Niebaum and he kept it. He also purchased three adjoining plots, which increased the vineyard’s total area to 202 acres. Niebaum approached winemaking with the same conviction and ingenuity that he used to amass his vast wealth. His main goal was to improve the quality of California wines, which at that time had an exceedingly bad reputation. Almost all the wine was shipped in barrels to the East Coast, where profit-hungry merchants bought up the wine, often mixing it with cheap grape juice to maximise their short-term profits. In some cases the bottles even bore counterfeit labels from French vineyards. Niebaum refused to engage in such business practices where his excellent Inglenook wines were concerned. In order to ensure the right conditions for his wines, he built a new wine production facility that complied with the latest quality requirements. It was this new facility that made Inglenook the first wine producer in California – indeed, perhaps even the first in the whole world – to bottle its entire production volume in-house. The decision was decades ahead of its time, especially considering that Bordeaux’s finest vineyards, to take one example, were not able to start bottling their wines until fifty years later.

F I N E C e n t u r y Ta s t i n g 1950 < First organ transplant < First modern credit card is introduced < Korean war begins < The very first Peanuts comic strip, written by Charles M. Schulz, appeares in newspapers 1951 < Colour TV is introduced < South Africans are forced to carry ID cards identifying their race < The first rock’n’roll record is released < Movies: A Streetcar Named Desire, An American in Paris, The African Queen, Show Boat 1952 < Polio vaccine is created < Princess Elizabeth becomes Queen at age 25 < Car seat belts are introduced < Movies: Singin’ in the Rain, Ivanhoe, Viva Zapata! < One of Champagne’s greatest vintages, producing exquisitely balanced wines 1953 < DNA is discovered < Joseph Stalin dies < The summit of Mount Everest is reached for the first time ever, by Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay < The first Playboy magazine is published < Movies: From Here to Eternity, How to Marry a Millionaire, Mogambo Taster’s comment: 1952 was an surprisingly good vintage of very ripe, full and age-worthy wines. This Inglenook looked like a new one. Decanted 1 hour. Deep, very impressive colour, even more brilliant than 1953 lafite. Wonderful ripe, rich fruit, sweet vanilla, American oak on nose. On palate well balanced, very focused, not much complexity, but a lot of body and depth. Held in the glass for an hour without drying up. A wine that has certainly survived the test of time. 1954 < Segregation is ruled illegal in the U.S. < First reports saying that cigarettes can cause cancer < Algerian War of Independence against France begins < Movies: Rear Window, White Christmas, A Star Is Born, Dial M for Murder 1955 < James Dean dies in a car accident < The McDonald’s Corporation is founded < Disneyland is opened < Movies: Lady and the Tramp, Guys and Dolls, East of Eden C E N T U R Y TA S T I N G 51

1952 1952 Inglenook Cabernet Sauvignon Cask J-9 Niebaum’s strong financial situation also allowed him to cellar his wines for several years, which was still unheard of in the United States. He built an enormous Gothic-style wine cellar between 1884 and 1887 expressly for this purpose. The cellar had an unbelievable capacity of 300 million litres. Adjoining the cellar was a charming tasting room modelled after a ship’s cabin, with walls adorned by the artwork of top contemporary artists from Europe. The cellar and tasting room are still in their original condition, and are pilgrimage sites for wine tourists in Napa. Niebaum had also collected nearly every piece of literature ever written about winemaking and cultivation, and his wine library is considered to be the most extensive in the world. Because Niebaum could speak several languages fluently, such as French, German, Italian and Spanish, his library allowed him to educate himself, thus giving him the resources to challenge even the most talented and experienced winemakers with his knowledge and questions. In 1882 Inglenook produced its first vintage under Niebaum’s ownership. However, the wine did not yet meet Niebaum’s standards of quality and the entire 300 000-litre yield was sold in bulk to a San Francisco wholesaler. In order to improve the quality of his wines, Niebaum replaced the majority of his vines with European varieties. Niebaum’s investments in the production of fine wines soon began to bear fruit. In the autumn of 1886, several of Inglenook’s wines were introduced to the Wine and Spirit Trader’s Society in New York, where they were declared the finest wines to ever come out of California. The same wines also received several awards at Paris’ Exposition Universelle of 1889 – the first of many honours to come. By 1890, Inglenook had become a shining example to all California vineyards. The Napa Valley wine industry was given an additional boost when a number of European vineyards were hit by massive phylloxera blight during the years 1870–1896. While Europe’s wine production was absolutely decimated, Napa Valley’s wine production flourished, enjoying a heyday of its very own. By Captain Niebaum’s death in 1908, he had become one of the richest and most successful men in America. His story, beginning with a Finnish cabin boy unable to speak English but eventually mastering seven languages, is just one of the pioneering examples that helped create the myth of the American dream. This dream was revived in 1975, when world-famous film director Francis Ford Coppola bought Inglenook as his home, and began successfully continuing the tradition of fine winemaking. 52 FINE 93p 1952 1952 Inglenook Cabernet Sauvignon Cask J–9 (USA) Average auction price: Bottle conditition: Colour: Nose: €890 A1 Healthy, dark, sound Open, supple, classy, leather, mint, vanilla, chocolate, caramel Palate: Well-balanced, profound, medium-bodied, good structure, firm, smooth tannins Finish: Refined, long, balanced, mighty In a nutshell: J-9 Cask – a legend Buy or not: Please call if you find one. Tasted: Twice, last in 5/2012 Decanting time: 1 hour Glass time: 1 hour When to drink: Now Food pairing: A grilled rib-eye Fake factor: None Inside information: Great-grandnephew to Inglenook’s founder, the Finnish-born Gustave Niebaum, John Daniel, Jr. made what many considered to be some of not only California’s, but the world’s, the best Cabernet Sauvignons from the mid-1930s to the 1960s. One of them was this 1952 cask J–9. He also played a key role in founding the Napa Valley Vintners Association and creating awareness of Napa Valley as an appellation of distinction. Or try this: Inglenook Cabernet Sauvignon 1941 Final verdict: One of the few wines we Finns can be proud of.

1950 1950 Château Lafleur-Pétrus (France) Average auction price: Bottle condition: Colour: Nose: €650 A2 Very dark, brick-red, mature Open, involved, aromatic, blackcurrant, cedar, spicy, peppery, white chocolate, chunky, old-fashioned. Average auction price: Bottle condition: Colour: Nose: Or try this: CVNE Imperial 1950 Final verdict: Excellent, but not as exiting as Lafleur or Pétrus. 98p 1953 1953 Château Lafite-Rothschild (France) Average auction price: Bottle condition: Colour: Nose: €2360 A1 Mature, tile-red, deep, sound Very attractive, perfumed, clean, elegant, sweet, mature, mint Palate: Full-bodied, well-balanced, supple, complex, multi-layered, sensitive Finish: Endless, feminine, silky, lingering In a nutshell: The perfection of elegance Buy or not: Yes, it is cheaper and much better today than the “famous” 1982 Tasted: 34 times, last in 5/2012 Decanting time: 1.5 hours Glass time: 2 hours When to drink: Now to 2025 Food pairing: Too elegant to share with anything dead Fake factor: None yet, but in near future – yes Inside information: This vintage shows large bottle variations. At Lafite they needed almost a year to bottle every cask. Or try this: Château Lafite 1959 Final verdict: With a bit of luck, this exquisite Lafite will be the best Lafite you have ever tasted. €287 A1 Medium intense, ruby to brick-red Deep, earthy, complex, roasted coffee, blackcurrants, milk chocolate Palate: Medium-bodied, vivid, fine-grained yet firm tannins, ripe blackcurrants, cedar well-integrated, good-balance, sweet fruit, slightly austere and tannic. and Cabernet Franc (20%). Very low production during the 50’s – only around 3000 cases. 1951 Gran Reserva 91p 1951 CVNE Imperial (Spain) Palate: Medium-bodied, well-founded structure, Finish: Elegant, dense, lengthy In a nutshell: A very good plus. Buy or not: Yes Tasted: 8 times, last time 5/2012 Decanting time: 1.5 hours Glass time: 2 hours When to drink: Now Food pairing: Aged Gouda cheese Fake factor: None Inside information: The grape varieties are Merlot (80%), F I N E C e n t u r y Ta s t i n g 91p Finish: Moderately long, refined, gently overpowering tannins In a nutshell: A masculine matador Buy or not: Yes Tasted: Twice, last in 5/2012 Decanting time: 30 minutes Glass time: 1.5 hours When to drink: Now–2025 Food pairing: Grilled entrecôte with haricot verts Fake factor: None Inside information: Compañia Vinicola del Norte España (CVNE) launched a masculin style Rioja wine called Imperial from Rioja Alta region in 1920s. The 1951 was a mediocre vintage. Or try this: Cheval Blanc 1952, St-Emilion, Bordeaux – France Final verdict: Not the most astonisihing wine but one of the greatest wines from this vintage. 90p 1954 1954 Madeira Malvasia (Portugal) Average auction price: Bottle condition: Colour: Nose: €277 A1 Moderately deep, hazy, brown Intense, complex, nutty, dark chocolate, burnt sugar Palate: Sweet, vivid, high alcohol, spicy, nutty, marzipan, burnt sugar, roasted coffee beans Finish: Long, powerful, hot In a nutshell: A candy store in the glass Buy or not: Yes Tasted: Twice, last in 5/2012 Decanting time: 1 hour Glass time: 2 hours When to drink: Now–2050 Food pairing: Creamy vanilla ice cream Fake factor: None Inside information: The greatest Madeira vintage since the Second World War Or try this: Graham’s Malvedos Vintage Port 1954, Douro, Portugal Final verdict: It is hard to be disappointed with Madeira Malvasia – this wine has proven that fact true again. C E N T U R Y TA S T I N G 53

1953 1953 Château Lafite At the end of 1756, the Duc de Richelieu, the nephew of Cardinal Richelieu, founder of the French Academy, returned home to Paris victorious after a long military campaign. He had, among other exploits, taken Minorca from the British. King Louis XV rewarded his achievements by appointing him the Governor of Bordeaux in perpetuity. The Duc de Richelieu, a lifelong lover of the wines of Burgundy, did not rate Bordeaux wines very highly. So, he took to Bordeaux the best Chambertin and Clos de Vougeot wines from Burgundy for himself and his entourage. This did not please the highranking vintners of Bordeaux, and they sneakily got Richelieu to drink their wines by using Burgundy labels on the bottles. When Richelieu’s own personal physician introduced him to the Château Lafite wines, saying they were an elixir that gave a man vigour, his taste in wine began to gradually lean in the direction of Bordeaux. After he had been Governor for 25 years, the Duc de Richelieu received an invitation from the King to go to Paris. When at the palace reception the King kindly remarked that he looked 25 years younger than when he was appointed governor. Richelieu solemnly declared: To this, “Your Majesty, I must tell you that I have discovered the secret of eternal youth: Château Lafite.” Richelieu’s legendary reply quickly changed the drinking habits of the French Court, and the wine of Burgundy disappeared from the tables of the King and the nobility in general. The King’s mistress, Madame Pompadour, someone with immense powers of persuasion at the Court, also developed a love for the Lafite wines, and it was with her influence that the wines of Bordeaux, and Lafite in particular, became the preferred beverage at Court-along with sweet champagne – for decades afterwards. This had special significance in 1855, when Bordeaux’s Association of Traders faced a difficult task. The French Emperor Napoleon III had asked them to classify Bordeaux’s best wines and rate them in order of excellence for the Paris World Fair. After lengthy debates and much quarrelling, it was decided to rely on a wine’s reputation and the price paid for it on the market during the previous 150 years as the main selection criteria. So, the more acclaimed and expensive the wine, the higher it would rank in the classification. The final classification was divided into five quality grades, for which a total of 61 wines were selected. The wines in each quality grade were then placed in order. Although the entire classification process took weeks, it was not hard to choose a winner. Château Lafite was unanimously selected for the number one position, which it officially still holds today. 54 FINE Taster’s comment: This is the most elegant and classic example of what I understand as “claret” of all wines, assuming you get a good bottle. This was very good. 98p 1953 1953 Château Lafite-Rothschild (France) Average auction price: Bottle condition: Colour: Nose: €2360 A1 Mature, tile-red, deep, sound Very attractive, perfumed, clean, elegant, sweet, mature, mint Palate: Full-bodied, well-balanced, supple, complex, multi-layered, sensitive Finish: Endless, feminine, silky, lingering In a nutshell: The perfection of elegance Buy or not: Yes, it is cheaper and much better today than in the famous 1982 Tasted: 34 times, last in 5/2012 Decanting time: 1.5 hours Glass time: 2 hours When to drink: Now to 2025 Food pairing: Too elegant to share with anything dead Fake factor: None yet, but in near future – yes Inside information: This vintage shows large bottle variations. At Lafite they needed almost a year to bottle every cask. Or try this: Château Lafite 1959 Final verdict: With a bit of luck, this exquisite Lafite will be the best Lafite you have ever tasted.

1957 < The European Economic Community is established < The Soviet satellite Sputnik launches the space age < Laika the dog becomes the first living animal to enter orbit < Movies: The Bridge on the River Kwai, Jailhouse Rock, Peyton Place 1958 < NASA is founded < Chinese Leader Mao Zedong launches the ”Great Leap Forward” < LEGO toy bricks appear for the first time and begin their success < Hula hoops become very popular < Movies: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Vertigo, Gigi, My Uncle (Mon oncle) 1959 < Fidel Castro becomes the Cuba’s dictator < The International Treaty makes Antarctica a scientifically preserved area < The Kitchen Debate between Nixon and Khrushchev takes place < Barbie is invented < Movies: Ben-Hur, North by Northwest, Some Like It Hot, Black Orpheus (Orfeu Negro) F I N E C e n t u r y Ta s t i n g 1956 < The Hungarian Revolution < Khrushchev denounces Stalin < The Suez Crisis < Grace Kelly marries Prince Rainier III of Monaco < Elvis Presley turns into ’Elvis the Pelvis’ on national TV < Movies: La strada, Giant, The Ten Commandments, Bus Stop Taster’s comment: So that brings us to second place, which belongs to the 1953 Lafite-Rothschild, which had a deep, intoxicating nose. This was a nose that Bordeaux dreams are made of. There was impressive power here, so much so that I thought it was 1961 Latour. Juha hailed it as ‘so aristocratic’ and ‘complete.’ Its cedar flavors were divine on its gritty palate, which also had this slaty grind to it. Dry, old cassis balanced the cedar perfectly in this great bottle. The most interesting fact shared about this legendary vintage for Lafite was that the Chateau bottled over the course of a year, leading to possible bottle variation. 1960 < The laser is invented < John F. Kennedy defeats Richard Nixon in the first televised presidential debate < Ninety per cent of U.S. homes have a television set < Movies: Spartacus, La Dolce Vita, Psycho, Exodus, The Alamo C E N T U R Y TA S T I N G 55

1955 1955 DRC Romanée-Conti 1955 95p 1955 DRC Romanée-Conti (France) Average auction price: Bottle condition: Colour: Nose: €6900 A2 Healthy, bright, deep, promising Luxurious, powerful, open, sweet, earthy, steely, smoke, white chocolaty, plummy Palate: Full-bodied, intense, great balance, velvety texture, rich black fruit characterts, sweet tannins, harmonious, complex. Finish: In a nutshell: Buy or not: Tasted: Decanting time: Glass time: When to drink: Food pairing: Fake factor: Refined, very long, warming, silky A real surprise Yes 4 times, last in 5/2012 45 minutes 1 hour When you meet the Royals No food – please Huge – especially among big size bottling, and as you can also buy original Domaine labels from e-bay the modest price of 500€, it will be hard to tell without opening the bottles if it is a real thing… happily this was a genuine one with proper information on the cork and capsule. Inside information: Significant coulure in June created a small yield. A very hot weather during the summer and the harvest. It created occasional problems with fermentation, which were solved and therefore in a very great vintage. Or try this: Henri Jayer Richebourg 1959 Final verdict: Sheer pleasure with a very high price tag, as normal. Taster’s comment: Finally, we landed in RC territory. I was beginning to think it was going to be excluded from the weekend, but I should have known better. The 1955 DRC Romanée-Conti had autumnal aromas of rust truffle and a sweet, brown core. There were tasty ice cream flavours along with wormy, tree bark ones. ‘Nice juice,’ came from the crowd, and this flirty Pinot was arguably a touch advanced, but it wouldn’t let you know it once you closed your eyes and opened your mouth. Tasty and balanced, its acid came out of hiding and lifted into a great, energetic finish. 56 FINE There are three territories where I feel that the earth under my feet takes control of my mind and calms my thoughts. The first is the vineyard of Pétrus in Pomerol, which is modest in appearance; the second is Krug’s Clos du Mesnil vineyard situated in the middle of a tiny village in the Champagne region; and the third is in Burgundy, a vineyard between Gevrey and Vougeot called Romanée-Conti. The latter does not seem in any way special at first sight. It is surrounded by similar looking vineyards as far as the eye can see. However, the name engraved on the low stone wall, Romanée-Conti, reveals to every wine enthusiast that this small territory is the most valuable land one can imagine – Madison Avenue lots in New York are still cheap compared to this. On this 1.8 hectare vineyard there are 10 000 vines growing, and they produce the most expensive wine in the world, and – just 500 cases of it. There are numerous stories about production and producers which are naturally linked to a vineyard like this and its long history. These stories are linked together by the philosophy with which the wine is made. This philosophy is in fact quite simple: Romanée-Conti does not compromise on anything when making wine. And why should it. The “terroir” is the basis for everything here, and is understandable given the estate has the sole rights over the area’s best vineyards, which are La Tâche and La Romanée-Conti. Magnificent wine can only be made from magnificent grapes, so the vines and the soil under them are treated with the greatest respect.

1956 1956 Viña Undurraga Cabernet Sauvignon Reservado (Chile) Average auction price: Bottle condition: Colour: Nose: €50 A2 Medium-intense, brown Very volatile, ripe, jammed, blackcurrants 89p Average auction price: Bottle condition: Colour: Nose: Palate: Medium-bodied, tannic, short of fruit, Moderately short, austere, unbalanced Over the hill and far away Not Twice, last in 5/2012 10 minutes 20 minutes Fifty years ago Forget this wine, don’t ruin the food None Viña Undurraga is one of the oldest operating wineries in Chile. It has been operating since 1885. Or try this: Listen the Nightwish version of the song ’Over to the Hill and Far Away’ Final verdict: Hopefully we were just unlucky with the bottle!? €165 A1 Bright, yellow Open, complex, citrus, honey, waxy, gunpowder Palate: Medium-sweet, vivid acidity, supple, dull Finish: In a nutshell: Buy or not: Tasted: Decanting time: Glass time: When to drink: Food pairing: Fake factor: Inside information: 1957 1957 Domaine Huet Vouvray Sec Clos du Bourg (France) dried apricots, citrus, honey Finish: Long, lingering, fresh In a nutshell: Amazingly fresh and fruity Buy or not: Yes Tasted: Twice, last in 5/2012 Decanting time: 30 minutes Glass time: 2 hours When to drink: 2022 Food pairing: Mature camembert cheese Fake factor: None Inside information: This six-hectare walled vineyard is one of Domaine Huet’s three vineyards and is located just above the village of Vouvray. The soil is very rich in limestone. The vintage 1957 was a difficult vintage which followed the frosty 1956 and which was followed by a damp and wet season in 1958. Or try this: Kloster Eberbacher Rüdesheimer Schlossberg Riesling Naturrein 1957 Final verdict: Another consistant perfomer from the reliable Domaine Huet 93p 1958 1958 Château Haut-Brion Blanc (France) Average auction €855 price: Colour: Moderately light, straw yellow Nose: Reserved, evolved, mineral, lemony, woolly Palate: Dry, moderate acidity, broad, oily, hay, mineral, citrus Finish: Medium-length, lemony, smoky In a nutshell: Retiring gracefully Buy or not: No Tasted: 2 times, last in 5/2012 Decanting time: 15 minutes Glass time: 45 minutes When to drink: Now Food pairing: Baked guinea fowl with cepe risotto Fake factor: None Inside information: A very difficult year for dry whites in Bordeaux. The summer was the coldest in records. The white Haut-Brion is produced from the blend of 53% Sémillon, 47% Sauvignon Blanc. Or try this: CVNE Corona 1939, Rioja, Spain Final verdict: Serious white from Bordeaux 90p 1960 1960 DRC La Tâche (France) Average auction price: Bottle condition: Colour: Nose: €545 A2 Clear, bright, light-red Down-to-earth, opulent, flavourful, sweet, tobacco, apricot Palate: Medium-bodied, ripe, supple tannins, vivid, beautiful and delicate palate Finish: Lingering, medium-long and seductive In a nutshell: Such a wild thing from this very quiet vintage Buy or not: Tasted: Decanting time: Glass time: When to drink: Food pairing: Impossible to find Twice, last in 5/2012 1 hour 1 hour Now Oven baked pigeon with mushroom risotto Fake factor: None Inside A very bad vintage throughout the whole information: France, but not at DRC. Or try this: Vega Sicilia Unico 1960 Final verdict: One of the rarest 1960s on the market C E N T U R Y TA S T I N G 57 F I N E C e n t u r y Ta s t i n g 75p

1958 1958 Château Haut-Brion Blanc Thomas Jefferson, the American Ambassador to Paris and later President of the United States of America, visited Haut-Brion on May 25th 1787 and commented in his journals about the soils of the vineyards as well as mentioning that there were four vineyards of first quality: Château Margaux, Château Latour Ségur, Château Haut-Brion and Château La Fite. He also wrote: “HautBrion is a wine of the first rank and seems to please the American palate more than all the others that I have been able to taste in France.“ Jean de Pontac began constituting the Haut-Brion vineyard, in the Graves region, in 1525. His descendants went on to produce ”New French Claret”, the precursor of today’s great wines. Their efforts enabled Arnaud III de Pontac to sell his wine under the estate’s name as early as 1660. Called “vin de Pontac”, then Haut-Brion, it gained a fine reputation and enormous success in London. The first of the Bordeaux great growths was born. 93p 1958 1958 Château Haut-Brion Blanc (France) Average auction €855 price: Colour: Moderately light, straw yellow Nose: Reserved, evolved, mineral, lemony, woolly Palate: Dry, moderate acidity, broad, oily, hay, mineral, citrus Finish: Medium-length, lemony, smoky In a nutshell: Retiring gracefully Buy or not: No Tasted: 2 times, last in 5/2012 Decanting time: 15 minutes Glass time: 45 minutes When to drink: Now Food pairing: Baked guinea fowl with cepe risotto Fake factor: None Inside information: A very difficult year for dry whites in Bordeaux. The summer was the coldest in records. The white Haut-Brion is produced from the blend of 53% Sémillon, 47% Sauvignon Blanc. Or try this: CVNE Corona 1939, Rioja, Spain Final verdict: Serious white from Bordeaux 58 FINE Through the centuries, the owners and managers of Haut-­ Brion have been obsessed with perpetuating the château’s reputation for quality. Classified a First Growth in 1855, HautBrion has done everything possible ever since then to maintain its standing. To perpetuate its Grand Cru status, an estate and its constituent parts have had to be maintained over the centuries, suitable grape varieties for each plot have had to be chosen, and a relentless selection process carried out. A great American family, the Dillons, has been continuing this tradition for seventy years. The vineyards are on a small rise about 27 metres above sea level. It contains a very deep layer of gravel – perfect for growing vine. Just over 48 hectares are planted with 44 per cent Cabernet Sauvignon, 42 per cent Merlot and 14 per cent Cabernet Franc. Haut-Brion is, together with Latour, the Premier Cru that has been most consistent throughout the last 100 years, never going through a phase where their wines were not worthy of their Premier Cru status. This is not taken for granted by the present management and they are making great efforts not only to keep the quality of their wine but also to always try and improve small details. Fortunately, they are not using extraction machines or other voodoo methods of concentration, but rather seeking concentration by lowering the yield per vine. This has subtly changed the style of the wine to make it more approachable earlier but without losing the true character of Haut-Brion – the connoisseur’s Premier Cru. A very rainy August in Bordeaux made the growers fear the worst, but that fear was overtaken by joy when a warm September arrived and saved what looked like a threatening situation. This 1958 vintage won enormous popularity among English wine experts in the ‘60s, when it was at its best. Nowadays, the vintage is hardly recalled, although it produced some very fine wines. The red wines were usually light and aromatic and their future is already long gone. The wines of the Graves area, on the other hand, can produce a positive surprise – especially the white ones.

F I N E C e n t u r y Ta s t i n g 1959 La Rioja Alta Reserva 890 Each January in Rioja Alta, after the first racking of the harvest, the winemaker must decide the destiny of the wines. To do so, he bases his decision on analytical data, like alcohol content and acidity, and on his own criteria regarding colour and tasting. This is the most difficult decision a winemaker must make, and a lot of experience is needed. He must decide if a certain vat is appropriate for Reserva, Gran Reserva or just for the simpler crianza. He must also decide if the wine must be sold in bulk because it does not have the necessary qualities to become a ”Rioja Alta” wine. For these reasons, all the wines are not made each year, but rather the ones which are better identified with the characteristics of the particular vintage. The traditional and well-made red Rioja, Gran Reserva 890, is made mainly from Tempranillo (85 per cent) with small quantities of Graciano and Mazuelo. This elegant, velvety wine spends eight years in cask and six years in bottle. Gran Reserva 890 is only made in good vintages and after a strict selection of the grapes. All the bottles are then numbered. Vintage 1959 was very good in Rioja, and excellent in Rioja Alta. The mild winter and quite warm and dry spring offered a good start to the year. Certain areas were affected by frost in April. Summer continued in a favourable fusion, with welldistributed rainfall. The weather conditions were ideal during September and October. Overall the quality was fine and these wines had good ageing potential. 92p 1959 1959 La Rioja Alta Reserva 890 (Spain) Average auction €250 price: Bottle A2 condition: Colour: Bright, healthy, deep Nose: A bit distant, sweet, toasty, fragile, leather, dried prunes, vanilla, coffee, cedar Palate: Good balance, gentle tannins, mature, rich, complex, persistent, well-rounded, good acidity Finish: Powerful, sweet, medium-long In a nutshell: As good as expected Buy or not: Yes Tasted: 5 times, last in 5/2012 Decanting time: 45 minutes Glass time: 1 hour When to drink: Now Food pairing: Truffle risotto Inside information: On July 10, 1890, five Basque and Rioja-based vine growers created “Sociedad Vinicola De La Rioja Alta”. This was the beginning of a fascinating business venture in which the only dream of the five founders was to craft and age high quality wines like this 1959. Fake factor: None Or try this: La Rioja Alta Reserva 890 1958 Final verdict: Almost as good as the great 1958 vintage. C E N T U R Y TA S T I N G 59

1961 Taster’s comment: Not only was the mouthfeel like drinking liquid silk but the aristocratic finish of multilayered Cabernet stayed on the palate for an eternity. One of the best wines we have ever encountered. Taster’s comment: On Sunday afternoon at 5 pm after 2.5 days of already tasting 119 fantastic wines, you are getting your 23rd flight in front of your nose, and you don’t really expect to be blown away. The colour was still so deep and dark that it just had to be perfect. The first nose was impressive; there was everything from smoked bacon to earthy, spicy herbs and finally that familiar coffee tone. It was clearly a selection of the old and the best of the new world. The taste of each wine of this flight was incredible. They were all in great condition and did not leave any doubt in my mind. The average points on my scale was 96.2 and not one single wine scored under 95. The wow effect was not there in any one wine, but the whole flight was like drinking history and made me really feel like the luckiest wine taster on earth. 60 FINE 1961 < The Berlin Wall is built < The Peace corps is founded < The Soviets launch first man in space < The Bay of Pigs invasion < Movies: West Side Story, The Guns of Navarone, Viridiana < First important Eiswein vintage of the modern era in Germany 1962 < The Cuban Missile Crisis < Andy Warhol exhibits his Campbell’s soup can < Marilyn Monroe is found dead < Spacewar, the first computer video game, and silicone breast implants are invented < Movies: Lawrence of Arabia, Dr. No, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance 1963 < John F. Kennedy is assassinated < Martin Luther King makes his “I have a dream” speech < The Beatles take Britain by storm and Beatlemania hits the country < Movies: Cleopatra, How the West Was Won, From Rusia with Love, 8½ (Otto e mezzo) 1964 < Cassius Clay (a.k.a. Muhammad Ali) becomes world heavyweight champion < Nelson Mandela is sentenced to life in prison < The Civil Rights Act passes in the U.S. < The Beatles become popular in the U.S. < Movies: My Fair Lady, A Hard Day’s Night, The Pink Panther, Goldfinger, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (Les Parapluies de Cherbourg) < This vintage competes with 1947 to be the second best Champagne vintage of the century < An excellent year in Spain as well, which is widely regarded as the ”vintage of the century”

I’m writing this during the 2012 harvest and notice that the Bordelais château-owners and négociants have been unusually ­ quiet this year. I have followed this part of the market from a distance for close to twenty years now and have been told about a large number of “vintages of the century”. After the wines have been bottled and sold, or the other way round as the case is in Bordeaux, these claims tend to be modified. Who are the serious contenders for the title of “The Greatest Vintage Ever”? During the 19th century there were a number of vintages with a great reputation, which had been made from pre-phylloxera vines. These include the legendary “Comet vintage” of 1811, 1864, 1865, 1870, 1893, 1895 and 1899. Most are too old for anyone now alive to have tasted them at their peak. During the 20th century, claims have been raised for the vintages 1900, 1921, 1929, 1945, 1947, 1949, 1959, 1961, 1982, 1989 and 1990. In the present century, four out the eleven vintages produced – 2000, 2003, 2005 and 2009 – have been mentioned by an overly excited wine press as candidates for the title. A great vintage for me is equally good in all the major regions of Bordeaux, both on the left and right bank. It is also a vintage where something special was produced in all the different appellations, from the lowest Cru Bourgeois to the mightiest Premier Cru. It is the vintage where even the most incompetent winemaker just couldn’t make a poor wine and the wines drank very well at an early stage; in most cases they still do so to this very day. 1961 fulfils these requirements better than any other vintage. What made 1961 so special? It was a very small crop, – in fact, it was the smallest since the Second World War. This was partly due to coulure (cold weather at the time of flowering) and in some parts because of frost during the night between the 30th and 31st of May, together reducing the yield per vine to about a third of the usual size at that time (which, compared to today’s harvests, seems miniscule). This concentrated the minerals and potency of the vine amongst the few remaining grapes and was the reason for the success of minor châteaux, which would normally produce much higher yields than would be good for their wines. August and September were both hot and extremely dry. This drought caused the ripening to take longer than the usually mandated 100 days. The harvest was delayed until 22 September, but enjoyed perfect conditions. Because of better cellaring techniques, the wine-makers avoided the hard tannins of 1945 and the volatility of the 1947s. The wines have a very deep colour, a seductive nose and full-bodied, concentrated mature fruitiness, with enough tannins and acidity to give the wines structure and freshness. Unfortunately, great quality coupled with small quantity always leads to high prices, and this is particularly the case with the 1961 Bordeaux. However, all true wine lovers should have drunk a good ’61 at least once in their lifetime so that they know what a perfect claret can taste like. Although 1961 was not perfect at Château Latour, the wines were! A very rainy winter was followed by an exceptionally warm February. Growth started in the first few days – that is to say a month early. The first half of March was very warm and the first leaves were noted on March 10th. April was unstable and predominantly cold, which slowed down growth. The end of May was very cold and on May 29th disaster struck. The flowers were frozen and the sterile grapes dried immediately after; three-quarters of the crop was lost. There had never been frosts in May. July was not good on the whole: overcast with no rain and no sun. In the first three weeks of August the vineyards lacked both water and sun, but fine weather settled in on August 24th and continued without a break until September 28th (almost as dry as in 1949). It rained on September 29th and 30th and the harvest took place from the 19th until the 28th of September. 98p 1961 1961 Château Latour (France) Average auction price: Bottle condition: Colour: Nose: €3950 A1 Intense, deep, healthy Wide, intense, concentrated, cassis, truffle, smoky, rich, leathery Palate: Rich, big, firm yet supple tannins, polished, youtful, perfect balance and structure Finish: In a nutshell: Buy or not: Tasted: Decanting time: Glass time: When to drink: Food pairing: Fake factor: Multi-dimensional, endless, firm finish Still the Pope of wines This is the one to die for, but not today. 113 times, last in 5/2012 2 hours 2 hours now to 2035 No food, please. Very high especially in Magnums or bigger – always check the vintage from the cork before buying any of these. Inside information: Very low yield. Or try this: 1961 Pétrus – it might be even better today. Final verdict: Too “youthful” to score the perfect 100 points today. C E N T U R Y TA S T I N G 61 F I N E C e n t u r y Ta s t i n g 1961 Château Latour

1964 1964 Salon Vintage Champagne Waiters move from table to table, as the house band strikes up its first notes of the evening. The bustling restaurant is alive with jovial conversation as the Paris elite of the early twentieth century converge upon Maxim’s for another night of high society entertainment. However, the eight middle-aged gentlemen that are seated in the corner of the restaurant are oblivious to the world around them. All are quietly watching their host, to whom the sommelier is currently serving champagne. With a look of intense seriousness, the host raises the glass to his lips, closes his eyes, and sips the wine. Silence ensues and time stands still; seconds seem like hours. The host opens his eyes, nods and smilingly informs his guests that the wine tastes just as it should. Soon, champagne glasses are clinking and compliments about the wonderfully refreshing taste of the champagne are mixed with the lively strains of the Charleston. Though the evening has just begun, some are inspired to dance, buoyed by the knowledge that this will be a night to remember. A smile of satisfaction shines across the face of the host, Eugène-Aimé Salon, and with good reason. He can at last drink his favourite champagne in his favourite restaurant: Paris’ number one dining venue, Maxim’s. It had not been easy to get to this point, though, because he had to make the champagne himself. The first in its class Since its inception in 1905, Salon Blanc de Blancs has always been the Champagne region’s most mythical wine. The basic idea for its production was unusual right from the start, given its sole purpose was to satisfy the palate of just one man. The only place that this wine was served was Maxim’s in Paris. It might sound like vanity, but it was only there that Eugène-Aimé Salon wanted to drink his wine and that was, well, his prerogative. For nearly half a century, Maxim’s had exclusive rights to Salon. Today, the wine has become one of the world’s most ­ sought-after and expensive champagnes. Salon’s 100-year success story has not been a matter of mere chance, however. ­ Eugène-Aimé Salon’s rather successful career as a fur trader provided him with a luxurious lifestyle, allowing him to dine at Maxim’s on a daily basis. However, life was not perfect, and it was additionally marred by bad champagne. The numerous champagne types he tasted at Maxim’s brought him little pleasure, often spoiling what had, for the most part, been a good day; and, after all, what was the purpose of champagne anyway? Frustrated, Eugène-Aimé Salon decided to make his very own champagne – for himself! Champagne production was not new to Eugène-Aimé. In his early years, he had helped his brother-in-law produce champagne at the small Clos Turin vineyard in the village of 62 FINE Le Mesnil-sur-Oger; so now he decided to purchase five hectares of vines near the very same village. Up until 1971, Salon also had sole rights to the grapes on the Clos Turin vineyard, which the Krug brothers then decided to buy out and convert in to their legendary Clos du Mesnil champagne. Eugène-Aimé Salon’s philosophy was simple. He wanted to capture in a bottle the Côte de Blancs terroir, by producing just one wine from one grape variety, from one village and from one year – all for one man. The northern, chilly Champagne region only rarely provides excellent harvests. Salon decided to produce his wines only in the best years, and initially he only made wine every other year on average. Salon’s first vintage, 1905, was also the first official blanc de blancs champagne. Eugène-Aimé only made wines that were of the highest quality. He only wanted the best, and if that was not going to be the case, he would sell the grapes. There were four vintages – 1905, 1909, 1911 and 1914 – that were exclusively for his own use and that of his friends. Of course, that was before his creation became Maxim’s house champagne in the 1920s. 96p 1964 1964 Salon Vintage Champagne (France) Average auction price: Bottle condition: Colour: Nose: €4750 A2 (Magnum) Ligh, clear, tiny bubbles Open, developed, fresh, apricot, vanilla, chocolate, toast, flowery, butter Palate: Transparent, medium-bodied, complex, delicate, feminine, nicely-balanced, refined Finish: Long, intense, fresh In a nutshell: satisfaction Buy or not: A big bottle like this is always a good idea Tasted: Decanting time: Glass time: When to drink: 7 times, last in 5/2011 15 minutes 45 minutes Perfect today but can effortlessly take time Food pairing: Crème of cepes Fake factor: None Inside information: Since 1921, the following vintages have been produced: 1921, 1925, 1928, 1934, 1948, 1949, 1951, 1952, 1964, 1966, 1969, 1971, 1985, 1988, 1990, 1995, 1937, 1953, 1973, 1996, 1943, 1945, 1946, 1947, 1955, 1956, 1959, 1961, 1976, 1979, 1982, 1983, 1997 and 1999 Or try this: Clos des Goisses 1964 Final verdict: A time stopper

F I N E C e n t u r y Ta s t i n g Respect Eugène-Aimé Salon managed to produce ten excellent vintages in his lifetime. After his death in 1943, his nephew took over, but sold the business in 1963 to the champagne house of Besserat de Bellefon. The new owner was happy with the quality of the wine, and the only major change made was to the Salon packaging, which was redesigned in 1976. It was given a more modern and exclusive look, although its Belle Epoque -style ‘S’ symbol was ­ kept, both on the packaging and the label. The business transferred from Besserat de Bellefon to Laurent-Perrier in 1988. LaurentPerrier, which also owns Champagne Delamotte next to Salon, produces Salon according to the philosophy of its founder. Hence, the wine is produced only from the finest vintages. Taster’s comment: The 1964 Salon was the best ’64 I ever had – a classical example of the vintage, absolute power, mass of ripe fruits, some foie grass in the nose and concentration concentration supported by the long, long mineral finish... Great! C E N T U R Y TA S T I N G 63

1962 92p 1962 Krug Vintage Champagne 1962 (France) Average auction price: Bottle condition: Colour: Nose: €900+ A3 Gold, bright and deep Renewed, open, rich, candy, vanilla, exotic fruits Palate: Vigour, rich, delicious, broad, fascinating, well-balanced, complex, a bit oxidised Finish: A bit short and dry, appetizing In a nutshell: Captivated Buy or not: A perfect birthday present Tasted: 16 times, last 05/2012 Decanting time: 15 minutes Glass time: 3 hours When to drink: Now Food pairing: Best alone or just with foie gras Fake factor: None – never seen any. Inside information: Made from Pinot Noir 36%, Pinot Meunier 28% and Chardonnay 36%. Also the year that Henri Krug took over the the House. Or try this: Cristal 1962 Final verdict: Although the bottle was a bit oxidised, it was still a grand moment. 89p 1963 1963 Cockburn’s Vintage Port (Portugal) Average auction €175 price: Bottle A1 condition: Colour: Moderately intense, ruby-red, fine sediment Nose: Fresh, intense, ripe strawberries, toasty, spicy, cinnamon, clove Palate: Sweet, full-bodied, firm, rich and jammed fruit, supple tannins Finish: Spicy finish with moderate length In a nutshell: A discreet charmer Buy or not: Yes Tasted: 12 times, last in 5/2012 Decanting time: 30 minutes Glass time: 1 hour When to drink: Now–2040 Food pairing: Gorgonzola cheese Fake factor: None Inside information: The greatest Port vintage of the century together with vintage 1931 Or try this: Warre Vintage Port 1963, Douro, Portugal Final verdict: A slight dissapointment for such an esteemed producer and its wine from such a great vintage. 64 FINE

F I N E C e n t u r y Ta s t i n g 1965 Barca Velha Ferreira Barca Velha is Portugal’s most legendary and sought-after red table wine. Barca Velha’s celebrated story started at the end of the 1940s, when Fernando Nicolau de Almeida, Ferreira’s chief taster and oenologist, shared the “same“ dream of high-quality red table wine, against a backdrop of fortified wine production, as Max Schubert in Australia. Fernando Nicolau de Almeida went to Bordeaux to study the production techniques for unfortified wines. Inspired by the way Bordelais made their fine wines, he returned home and began to put the Bordelais production techniques and new winemaking ideas into practice. In 1952 he finally realised his vision with the creation of Barca Velha, made from high-quality Port grapes. Ferreira’s Barca Velha quickly became a classic, the uncrowned “First Growth” and attracted enormous attention as well as commanding as high a price as many Vintage Ports. Barca Velha, which is only produced from exceptional harvest, is made mainly from Tinta Roriz (Tempranillo), along with Tinta Barroca, Tinta Amarela and Touriga Nacional; all premier varieties for vintage port. It is normally released to the market after seven to eight years in the bottle. To date only sixteen vintages of Barca Velha have been made. 88p 1965 1965 Barca Velha Ferreira (Portugal) Average auction €343 price: Bottle A2 condition: Colour: Dark, brown, hazy Nose: Evolved, earthy, roasted coffee, dark fruits, dark chocolate Palate: Medium-bodied, focused, supple tannins, earthy, smoky, leathery Finish: Moderately long, savoury In a nutshell: A firm and rustic wine Buy or not: Yes, if you can find a bottle and want to experience the wine speciality of Portugal Tasted: 3 times, last in 5/2012 Decanting time: 15 minutes Glass time: 1 hour When to drink: Now Food pairing: Rack of lamb with fries Fake factor: None Inside information: The first vintage of this Portugese icon wine was 1952. It is the first still red quality wine from Portugal made only in the best vintages. So far, only 16 vintages have been produced. The wine is always aged for at least seven years before being launched on the markets. Or try this: Biondi-Santi Riserva 1967 Final verdict: A rarity that is always a pleasure to experience C E N T U R Y TA S T I N G 65

1966 Taster’s comment: My wine of the weekend was yet again the 1966 Guigal Côte-Rôtie La Mouline, which I gave 99 points. I am not one who drinks Rhône wines regularly enough to be called a ‘lover,’ but I have fallen in love with this wine, seeing it defeat some of the greatest Burgundies and Bordeaux in battle time and time again. I believe this is the fifth time I have had this wine, and it has never been less than glorious. Its sexy nose dripped with mint, violet and bacon, which signalled the Rhône direction right away. Everything about this wine was spectacular – its richness, balance and acidity were all practically perfect. Hints of liquorice emerged on the palate, giving it just the right twist. I couldn’t stop drinking it until it was sadly gone. 1965 < The U.S. sends troops to Vietnam < Japan’s bullet brain opens < Malcolm X is assassinated < Soft contact lenses are invented < Movies: The Sound of Music, Doctor Zhivago, Cat Ballou 1966 < Mao Zedong launches the Cultural Revolution < The Star Trek TV series airs < Movies: Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, A Man for All Seasons, Cul-de-sac 1967 < The first heart transplant is conducted < Che Guevara is killed < The first Super Bowl games < Movies: The Graduate, Belle de jour, Bonnie and Clyde, The Dirty Dozen 1968 < Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy are assassinated < The Prague Spring < The computer mouse is invented < Movies: 2001: A Space Odyssey, Planet of the Apes, Bullit, Funny Girl, Oliver! < The first commercially produced vintage of Sassicaia is made in this vintage 1969 < Neil Armstrong becomes the first man on the moon < The Woodstock Festival is attended by 500 000 young people < Yasser Arafat becomes Leader of the PLO < The artificial heart is invented < Movies: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Easy Rider, Hello Dolly!, Midnight Cowboy 1970 < An earthquake kills more than 50 000 in Peru < Computer floppy disks are introduced < The Beatles break up < Movies: Love Story, MASH, Airport, Patton 66 FINE

The year is 1927 and 18-year-old Etienne Guigal lifts the iron knocker on the door of the Rhône’s most well-known winemaker, Vidal-Flueury. Being a cellar assistant in Joseph VidalFleury’s prestigious company would be the perfect launchpad for the future. Exactly 80 years later, the same door is opened by a slender young man with dark hair. This is Etienne Guigal’s grandson, Philippe. Now 37, he owns the Vidal-Fleury estate where his grandfather rose from cellar assistant to become the Chef de Cave. Philippe produces some of the world’s most highly esteemed wines. His life also includes a Roman-style villa with attendant parklands, a swimming pool, a red sports cars, a helicopter, and a 16th century Renaissance manor, with perfectly manicured gardens. He is living a future that his grandfather could not possibly have imagined. Over a span of 65 years, the Guigal family business has grown to become one of the largest and most prestigious in the Rhône region. In the New World, similar success stories have happened in even shorter spans of time, but in France this rate of growth is considered exceptionally fast. This success story begins in 1946, when talented winemaker Etienne Guigal resigned from his position at Vidal-Fleury. He then founded the Guigal wine house and laid the foundation for success, for which his son Marcel was largely responsible. A student of oenology, the 17-year-old Marcel had to quit his studies and assume an active role in his father’s business when Etienne was unexpectedly struck blind in 1961. Marcel served as his father’s eyes and aide in the cultivation and production of wine. He also took over the development of his family business. Despite his young age, Marcel Guigal had a clear vision. He would become the leading producer of quality wines in the region. Instead of outsourcing the growing of grapes, the Guigals focused on ownership in vineyards. In addition to this, production facilities, production methods and equipment were constantly updated. The Guigals, however, based their operations on the respect of regional traditions. In the 1960s, the Guigals were subjected to intense criticism when they modernised their wine production. The director of the administrative body overseeing wine production in the region threatened to exclude Guigal’s Côte-Rôtie wines from the region’s AOC classification. The use of new oak barrels was considered a method that went against tradition. Only 17 at the time, Marcel Guigal made a definitive declaration: “The AOC classification in our region is based on three things: continuity, loyalty and local regulations. There are two hundredyear-old books in our library stating that first class Hermitage and Côte-Rôtie wines were aged in new oak barrels for three to four years. I’m young, so I’m flexible. For my part, you’re more than welcome to use your 50–60-year-old oak barrels, but don’t come to me and say that I have no respect for traditions or loyalty. I’m evidently the only producer here who does. You yourselves gave up the traditional use of new oak because of the lack of funds and availability coming out of the First and Second World Wars. We don’t have that problem, so we are using new oak – in accordance with tradition.” In order to enhance quality, the Guigals worked to acquire ownership in vineyards. Purchased in 1965, the just under onehectare La Mouline vineyard, which is located on the slopes of Côte Blonde, set the stage for the Guigals’ present reputation. Introduced the very next year, the first vintage of La Mouline single-vineyard proved to be a smashing success. The Guigal wines are produced using traditional methods, and according to Philippe Guigal always on the terms of the “terroir” and the vintage. “We act on nature’s conditions. We believe that nature sooner or later wants to reward our reluctance of not treating it with chemicals, even in hard times,” he says. 1966 La Mouline 94p 1966 Guigal Côte-Rôtie (France) Average auction price: Bottle condition: Colour: Nose: €2480 A1 Moderately dark, tawny colour Complex, intense, roasted coffee, dark chocolate, ripe brambles Palate: Full-bodied, spicy, firm tannins, warm, supple, complex, vigor Finish: In a nutshell: Buy or not: Tasted: Decanting time: Glass time: When to drink: Food pairing: Long, hot, flavourful, leathery A volaptuous wine with a warm heart Yes – for a once in a lifetime experience 4 times, last in 5/2012 30 minutes 1.5 hours Now–2020 Smoked fillet of venison with roasted pumpkins Fake factor: Low Inside information: This was the first of the Guigal family’s first single vineyard icon wines from Côte-Rôtie. The steep terraced hillside vineyard is rich in gneis, silicon and loess with limestone. The blend is 89% Syrah and 11% Viognier. Or try this: DRC La Tâche 1966, Burgundy, France Final verdict: The first ever La Mouline produced and one of the best ever made. C E N T U R Y TA S T I N G 67 F I N E C e n t u r y Ta s t i n g 1966 Guigal Côte-Rôtie La Mouline

1967 83p 1967 Biondi-Santi Brunello di Montalcino Riserva (Italy) Average auction price: Bottle condition: Colour: Nose: €312 A1 1967 Moderately light, brick-red Medium-intense, red fruits, strawberries, prunes, yoghurt, earthy Palate: Medium-bodied, crisp and acidic, steely, astringent tannins Finish: Medium-length, austere, sour cherries, cranberries In a nutshell: Buy or not: Tasted: Decanting time: Glass time: When to drink: Food pairing: Harsh and distant Not 5 times, last in 5/2012 20 minutes 1 hour Now Antipasto plate with salty olives, Parmigano Reggiano cheese, salamis, aged Parma ham Fake factor: Low Inside information: The Biondi-Santi family has set the standards in Brunello di Montalcino by being the first producers of red wine in the region. The first Brunello was introduced by Clemente Santi in 1865. Since then, the family has become the icon of Brunello di Montalcino. The Riserva wines spent 36 months in Slavonian oak and are produced only in the best years. Or try this: Vega Sicilia Unico 1967 Final verdict: It seems hard to find a mature BiondiSanti wine that charms 68 FINE Taster’s comment: This Sassicaia 1968 was one of those 3000 bottles which were released to the market in the early 1970s. It was in firstrate condition and level was by the neck. Made with 100% Cabernet Sauvignon. Very deep, dark and healthy colour. Open, harmonious and a bit oxidised nose with a scent of truffles, blackberries and vanilla. Not as massive and intense wine as 1976 and 1979, but it was quite well balanced and had lovely sweet, mature fruit and some soft, rounded tannins left. Perhaps a bit too oxidised bottle. A bit dry, acidic and a short aftertaste. Nevertheless, it is still very easy to understand why this historical wine is responsible for launching the Super Tuscan movement and it remains as one of the most hunted wines in the world.

The saying that “behind every great wine is a great man” is fairly true in the history of wines. Several of today’s legendary wines have been born just because of the force and foresight of these wine pioneers who had the vision and courage to create something out the ordinary in their own region. Often, these men lived and influenced wine areas, which, prior to their success, had produced mediocre wines at best for decades, or even for centuries. In a way, Brunello di Montalcino owes its origin to the Ferruccio Biondi Santi; the Bodegas Vega Sicilia Unico to Domingo de Garramiola y Arbe; Château Musar to Gaston Hochar; Penfolds Grange to Max Schubert; Barca Velha to Fernando Nicolau de Almeida; and Tignanello to Marchese Piero Antinori; as does Sassicaia to Marquis Mario Incisa della Rochetta. Sassicaia was the result of the drive and foresight of Marquis Mario Incisa della Rochetta, a native of Piedmont, along with guidance from Piero Antinori’s winemaker Giacomo Tachis. In the 1920s, whilst a student in Pisa, Marquis Mario Incisa della Rochetta dreamed of creating a “refined” wine. Like many of the Italian aristocracy at the time, he preferred the taste of the finest Bordeaux – Château Margaux was his particular favourite. In 1940 he moved with his wife to his Tuscan estate, the Tenuta San Guido, located a few miles from Bolgheri, a small town on the Tuscan coast. Because of its closeness to the sea, Bolgheri had never before been considered a quality wine region. After settling down, Marquis della Rochetta experimented with several grape varieties and came to the conclusion that it was Cabernet that had that refined bouquet he was looking for. In 1942 he planted one thousand cuttings of Cabernet vines on the hillsides of Castiglioncello, which, in his opinion, was influenced by the location’s similarity to Graves in Bordeaux. “Graves” means “gravel” in French, and, likewise, the earth at Castiglioncello gave Sassicaia its name, which in the Tuscan dialect means “stony grounds”. To make wine that had Cabernet Sauvignon as its primary variety was a brave decision and took courage in those days, when no one had even considered making wines from Bordeaux varieties on Italian soil. Despite protest from the locals, he kept experimenting with Cabernet Sauvignon as a sideline, and separate from the main family business of raising thoroughbred racehorses. Nevertheless, it was never his intention to make commercial wine; he “unintentionally” created the most influential wine in modern Italian history. The first bottles of Sassicaia appeared in small quantities in 1948, and were all enjoyed by himself and his guests on the estate. From then until the early 1960s, Sassicaia was a completely private estate, and all the Sassicaias were drunk on the estate itself. Each year, a small number of cases were stored in the cellars, and the Marquis discovered that the wine seriously improved with age. In the mid 1960s he planted two more vineyards with Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. The first one, the new “Sassi­ caia” vineyard (about 10 hectares), was situated approximately 300 metres lower than the original vineyard, as was the second, the “Aianova” vineyard (three hectares). In time, all the wines produced from these vineyards became known as Sassicaia. After almost thirty years of experimentation and solid work, the Marquis decided to release Sassicaia´s 1968 vintage to the open market using his cousin Antinori´s distribution network in the early 1970s, with instant success. This Sassicaia 1968 was one of those 3000 bottles which were released to the market in the early 1970s. It was in excellent condition and the level was by the neck. it was made with 100 per cent Cabernet Sauvignon. 92p 1968 Sassicaia Tenuta San Guido 1968 (Italy) Average auction price: Bottle condition: Colour: Nose: €1088 A1 Full, intense and promising Intense, delicate, salty, dark chocolate, red berries, a bit oxidised and falling apart fast Palate: Elegant, medium-bodied, sweet, delicate, mature, good balance, quite acidic Finish: Extensive, positive and simple In a nutshell: History always taste good Buy or not: Buy only perfect looking bottles – a very fragile vintage. Tasted: 12 times, last in 5/2012 Decanting time: 30 minutes Glass time: 30 minutes When to drink: Now or never Food pairing: Fried scallops Fake factor: Not yet Inside information: This is the first official year of Sassicaia. This first vintage was labelled 1968, but was a symphony of the best barrels from the vintages 1965 up to 1969. The selection and the winemaking was done by the famous winemaker of Antinori, Giacomo Tachis. According to the current owner of Estate the total production was about 3000 bottles. However, the back label of bottles indicates a total production of 7300 bottles. Or try this: 1968 Heitz Martha’s Vineyard Final verdict: This was our fifth perfect looking bottle since 2008 and they all have been at least a bit oxidised. Oxidation seem to be part of the character of Sassicaia 1968 – not the best part, but you can live with it. C E N T U R Y TA S T I N G 69 F I N E C e n t u r y Ta s t i n g 1968 Sassicaia Tenuta San Guido

1969 1969 Barolo Monfortino Conterno Giacomo Conterno is a celebrated traditionalist in the Piedmont town of Monforte d’Alba and has been one of Barolo’s most influential forces since the first vintage of Monfortino in 1920. Both the Barolo Cascina Francia and especially the Monfortino Riserva have literally created the history of Barolo since World War I. The legendary Barolos he made in 1964, 1971, 1978, 1985 and 1990 have left their mark on Italian wine history. The family-led Conterno Giacomo wine company has been working in the ambit of winemaking for ages – since 1770, in fact, as shown by a delivery bill which traces back to that year. It is a passion which has always been passed on from father to son. Nowadays, all the grapes used for winemaking come from Cascina Francia vineyard, a small estate on a single plot located in the Serralunga d’Alba countryside. At present, their production focuses exclusively on two varie­ ties: Nebbiolo-da-Barolo and Barbera. All of their wines are made in full respect of the traditional method. 1969 Conterno 86p 1969 Barolo Monfortino (Italy) Average auction €650 price: Bottle A2 condition: Colour: Dark, brown colour with light hue, quite older looking Nose: Open, earthy, rich, sharp, truffle, caramel, tobacco Palate: Medium-bodied, high acidity, supple tannins, liquorice, mature, concentrated, average Finish: Short, quiet, balanced In a nutshell: Should be better? Buy or not: Quite expensive, even for Conterno’s price levels Tasted: Decanting time: Glass time: When to drink: Food pairing: Fake factor: Or try this: Final verdict: 4 times, last in 5/2012 30 minutes 1 hour Now None 1969 DRC St-Vivant The 1967 or 1971 vintages are lot better. Only deemed good enough for excellent vintages, the best Nebbiolo-da-Barolo grapes are kept apart to produce ”Barolo Riserva Monfortino”. This wine variety undergoes a different fermentation (no temperature control is used and the maceration is longer) and a longer ageing in classic Slavonian large oak barrels. After vinification, the wines are restored into large oak barrels, where they rest before bottling. The ageing for Monfortino takes a minimum of seven years. Today, Giovanni’s son Roberto continues the traditions of his father and grandfather. The company takes the greatest care of both the winery and the Cascina Francia vineyard, because without this lovely attention to detail, it would not possible to get good wines at all! On December 24, the Apollo VIII travelled around the moon for the first time; on February 3, Yasser Arafat rose to the top of the PLO; and on 21 July at 2:56 UTC, Neil Armstrong became the first man to step onto the surface of the moon. 1970 Vosne-Romanée 92p 1970 Henri Jayer (France) Average auction price: Bottle condition: Colour: Nose: Palate: €1280 A1 Dark, ruby colour Open, sound, earthy, rich, savoury Well-balanced, medium-bodied, moderate acidity, soft tannins, elegant, beautiful Finish: Lingering and seductive, medium long In a nutshell: Beauty without the beast Buy or not: Impossible to find Tasted: Twice, last in 5/2012 Decanting time: 30 minutes Glass time: 1 hour When to drink: Now Food pairing: Oven baked pigeon with cepe risotto Fake factor: You wish Inside information: “We tend to count too much on science, when before people gave importance to natural things. One thing is certain: the ancients were not dumb, and if they established a tradition it was because of their experience. They tried to eliminate infavourable elements and preserve what worked best.” -Henri Jayer Or try this: 1970 DRC Romanée-Conti Final verdict: Just right for a single gentleman with temperate habits. 70 FINE

The sparks of Italy’s wine revolution in the 1960s spread deep into the wine country well before high-profile producers stormed the barricades. A rural exodus, increasing poverty in wine-growing regions and archaic legislation, conspired to lower the prices of wine and arable land. Classic areas such as Tuscany and Piedmont were plunged into crisis. In the midst of all this despair, private producers came on the scene to enhance the level of quality. One of the key revolutionaries and a respected leader in the Italian wine business, Angelo Gaja shares his story and vision for the future with us. Angelo Gaja, the veritable king of the village of Barbaresco, is the man who has undeniably done the most for the international renown of Piedmont wines. Largely due to his efforts, the world knows that Italy produces high quality and high priced wines. A colourful and ebullient personality, Gaja is a third-generation winemaker, but before his arrival the house of Gaja was just another small-scale producer among many. Gaja recalls the early days: “The land in Barbaresco was as good as free. My grandfather even got into buying land. My father, Giovanni Gaja, knew the terroir in Barbaresco, so he knew exactly where to buy the best plots and best grapes.” If knowledge of terroir is the domain of his ancestors, the key to Angelo Gaja’s success is, above all, marketing savvy. He has studied both winemaking and business. Combined with his studies abroad, most notably in France, these factors paved Barbaresco’s road to world success. Gaja’s natural charisma, arrogance and the sheer volume and force of his opinions have made him an instant media darling. The style and quality of his wines ascended to revolutionary heights, so the rest is, as they say, history. It is entirely apropos to call Tuscany the ’Bordeaux of Italy’ for a variety of reasons. Wines are predominantly named after their makers, not the vineyards. The blending of different varieties and wine production processes follow the Bordeaux model. Barolo and Barbaresco, on the other hand, are comparable to Burgundy, with similarities in the smaller scale of wine production and refined style of their wines. In Burgundy, plots are everything, as they are in the classical villages of Piedmont. The greatest Italian wine idol of all time, Veronelli, brought French teachings to Piedmont and introduced his concept of the single vineyard in 1961. Angelo Gaja took to the concept and introduced his first single vineyard Barbaresco Sorì San Lorenzo in 1967, which was followed by the Costa Russi in 1978: “I wasn’t so crazy about the ’cru’ designation, so I looked for a local term to describe single vineyard wines. Indeed, in the local dialect ’Sorí’ means the south face of a hill.” Harvesting of the three individual vineyards usually begins with Sorì Tildin. Angelo bought the parcel in 1967 and named it after his grandmother, Clotilde Rey. The south-facing, sunny hill, or sori in Italian, is always washed over by a light breeze. It is the highest of all the vineyards and, thanks to its location and inward-turned hill formation, it offers a very warm microclimate for the grapes. The eponymous wine has refined fruity notes and is the most open of the three single-vineyard wines. Sorí San Lorenzo, which Angelo bought in 1964, also faces south, and is one of the family’s most beautiful vineyards. The wine from that vineyard has an ageing potential of over forty years, and the characteristic properties of the Nebbiolo are at their best here. Sorí San Lorenzo is the strongest and most masculine wine of the three. It usually requires a bottle ageing time of at least 10–15 years, whereas Sorí Tildin is known for its more feminine, elegant quality. Costa Russi, located at a lower altitude than Sorì Tildin, has a cooler microclimate. Bought at the same time as Sorí Tildin, this vineyard is just a stone’s throw away. All three single-vineyard Barbarescos share their grape blend: 95 per cent Nebbiolo and five per cent Barbera. Taster’s comment: The 1971 Gaja Sorì Tildin was about as great an old bottle of Gaja as I have ever had. I can only think of a 1961 Barbaresco sampled fifteen years ago in the same arena. While the nose was volatile at first with a touch of bad breath, it blossomed into a musky, mahogany core. The wine was delicious and classic in many regards, as it had me thinking everything from 1951 BV Private Reserve (a legendary classic Napa) to Burgundy and home to Italy. There was a length and structure here that the other wines in this flight didn’t have, until the last one, at least. 1971 Gaja Sorì Tildin Barbaresco (Italy) 93p Average auction price: Bottle condition: Colour: Nose: €450+ A1 1971 Light, clear, healthy Open, cherry, leather, mature, volatile, complex, intense Palate: Medium-bodied, good-balanced, sweet, juicy, round, moderate tannins, elegant structure Finish: In a nutshell: Buy or not: Tasted: Decanting time: Glass time: When to drink: Food pairing: Fake factor: Or try this: Final verdict: A long spicy and elegant finish Classic Very good price-quality ratio 6 times, last in 5/2012 30 minutes 1 hour Now No food Non existing 1971 Tignanello Only the second vintage of Sorì Tildin – what a promising start. C E N T U R Y TA S T I N G 71 F I N E C e n t u r y Ta s t i n g 1971 Gaja Sorì Tildin Barbaresco

1972 1972 Penfolds Grange Hermitage It took ten years from the time the first experimental Grange was made before the wine gained general acceptance and prejudices were overcome. In 1949, a young Australian winemaker from Penfolds, Max Schubert, was sent to Jerez, Spain to learn the art of making sherry. At the time, the voyage between continents was made without haste by ocean liners. On his way back home, as the ship stopped in the harbor of Bordeaux, Max decided to take advantage of the opportunity and take a short holiday in the most famous wine area of France. With the help of his recommendations and eagerness, the young man got a chance to become acquainted with local wine production through the mighty Cruse wine family. Christian Cruse took Max under his wing and presented him with the secrets of wine production by means of the splendid vintage 1949. Max Schubert returned to Australia and Penfolds favourably impressed and determined to produce an Australian red wine that would last for decades and would, in quality, be comparable to the famous Bordeaux wines. 1972 1972 Penfolds Grange Hermitage (Australia) 94p Average auction price: Bottle condition: Colour: Nose: €750 A2 Very dark, medium-deep Open, complex, intense, mint, chocolate, blackberry, nougat, violet, vanilla, sweet, cedary, coffee Palate: Full-bodied, polished, fruity, voluptuous, stylish, meaty Finish: Long, dry, soft tannins, multi-layered In a nutshell: One of the best 1972s Buy or not: Almost impossible to find Tasted: 9 times, last in 10/2012 Decanting time: 45 minutes Glass time: 2 hours When to drink: Now to 2025 Food pairing: Game Fake factor: None Inside information: Penfolds Grange 1972 won a Gold and four other medals at Australian wine shows in 1973, 1976 and 1977. The 1972 is a blend of 90 per cent Shiraz and 10 per cent Cabernet Sauvignon grown at the Kalimna and other Barossa vineyards, Magill Estate and Modbury in the Adelaide Plains, and the Coonawarra. A generally dry growing season followed by mild weather at vintage. Maturation for eighteen months in new American oak hogsheads. Alcohol 12 per cent. Or try this: Heitz Martha’s Vineyard 1972 Final verdict: Another great Grange vintage. Worth every gold medal it has won. 72 FINE The task was not easy, as the classic Bordeaux was produced in France by mixing Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. In Australia, those refined grapes did not exist, so Max had to settle for the local Shiraz that was usually used only in the production of the regional, fortified port wine. There were also no French oak casks at hand, but having managed to purchase some American ones Max Schubert decided to use them. In them he matured the first, experimental 1951 vintage of Grange for 18 months before bottling. In 1959, the time came to introduce that first vintage of Grange to the market. To honour the occasion, Penfolds arranged a tasting where authoritative local wine connoisseurs had the opportunity to taste all of the five first vintages (1951– 1956). The event ended in disaster; no one liked the wine nor were they willing to pay for it. The criticism was mordant and one of the best known and appreciated wine experts present came to congratulate Max sarcastically: “Schubert, I congratulate you. This is very good, dry port that nobody in his right mind will buy, let alone drink.” Although public opinion did not differ much from that singular one, Max did not lose his courage and arranged several tastings with Grange around the country. Though the results were somewhat better, they were still quite depressing. The Penfolds management decided to shut down the rather costly production of Grange the next year. Luckily, one of the owners still saw some possibilities with Grange and gave Max permission to continue the production on a small scale, and in secret from the others. After many years of silence, in 1962 Penfolds took part in the Royal Sydney Wine Show with the 1955 Grange and won the gold medal. From that moment, the rewriting of Australian wine history began. Grange has won over 120 gold medals in wine shows, a fact that has made it the most awarded in the whole wine world, and in 1995, for example, Wine Spectator chose it as the best wine in the world. A few years later, in the same publication, Grange 1955 was picked as one of the best wines of all time. Parker has stated that: “Penfolds Grange takes opulence and decadence to the limits, and for that reason it has replaced Bordeaux´s Pétrus as the world´s most exotic and concentrated wine”, so the triumphal march has but continued.”

F I N E C e n t u r y Ta s t i n g 1973 Château Mouton-Rothschild Château Mouton-Rothschild, owned by Baroness Philippine de Rothschild, consists of 205 acres of vines near Pauillac, in the Médoc, north west of the city of Bordeaux. This Premier Cru benefits from exceptionally good natural conditions, in terms of the quality of the soil, the position of its vines and their exposure to the sun. It is regarded today as one of the world’s greatest wines. History The name Mouton is said to be derived from the word “Motte, meaning mound or elevation of the ground. It was bought in 1853 by Philippe de Rothschild’s great-grand father. It was in a fairly bad shape, and when the classification of 1855 was set up it was not deemed good enough to be qualified as a first growth, but was put in first place amongst the second growths; an injustice it took Philippe de Rothschild until 1973 to rectify. In the 1920s, Philippe de Rothschild called together the owners of Haut-Brion, Latour, Lafite, Margaux and Yquem to talk about the idea of bottling and marketing their wines on their own. The first vintage to be bottled exclusively at the château was the 1924 vintage. To commemorate this, the cubist painter Carlu was asked to design the label; yet another revolutionary idea in these most conservative of surroundings. The idea of an artist designing the labels was then dropped until 1945, when Philippe Jullian was asked to design a label commemorating the victory over 1973 Mouton-Rothschild 89p 1973 Château(France) Average auction price: Bottle condition: Colour: Nose: €440 A1 Very dark, mature-looking, gifted Voluptuous, open, white chocolate, red fruit dried herbs, earthy, oriental spices, eucalyptus, sweet Nazi Germany. Since then, the works of such famous artists as Picasso, Miró, Dali, Chagall and personalities like John Huston and Prince Charles have been used for the labels. French wine production is one of the best-supervised agricultural sectors in the world. Every bottle filled is assigned to a particular category of quality. Already by 1855, the best produce from the wine-growing region of Bordeaux was uniformly classified and termed ‘Grand Cru Classé’. This produce was then divided further into five sub-classes: Premier, Deuxième, Troisième, Quatrième and Cinquième. The classification at that time was based less on excellent quality and more on the average revenue from the sale of the wine, the figures for which were collated from a period of several decades. Since 1855, there has been only one single change to this system of classification which is so sacrosanct for the French. The top class Premier Cru always included Château Lafite-Rothschild, Château Margaux, Château Latour and Château Haut-Brion. On 21 June 1973, Château Mouton-Rothschild was recategorised from a Deuxième to a Premier Cru. Palate: Medium-bodied, good balance, rich, silky, a bit too dry, good structure Finish: Gentle, virile, multi-layered, elegant In a nutshell: A good wine behind the perfect label Buy or not: Absolutely – it is an important part of win’s history Tasted: Decanting time: Glass time: When to drink: Food pairing: Fake factor: Or try this: Final verdict: 16 times, last in 5/2012 30 minutes 1 hour Taster’s comment: Not a great reputation and I have never liked it very much before.This bottle was surprisingly good. Now to 2025 A good art book about Mouton labels None A visit to the Picasso Museum Relatively satisfactory claret from this important Mouton vintage. C E N T U R Y TA S T I N G 73

1974 1974 Heitz Martha’s Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Often compared to the 1945 Château Mouton-Rothschild, the most prestigious vintage of the exquisite Heitz, Martha’s Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon comes from a small vineyard in a location that was long kept a secret. So secret was the spot, that the owners chose not to have their addresses in the phone book or on their mail box. In short, it is the best wine ever made in America; 38th on the list of the world’s finest wines of all time. Unlike today, in the early 1970s there was still plenty of vacant land for wine growing in the Napa and Sonoma valleys. During that time, the hills were covered with lush orchards, olive groves and vast forests, which were later forced to make way for more productive vineyards. From the days of prohibition, the wine market was dominated by the “four greats”: Inglenook, Charles Krug, Louis Martini and Beaulieu. It was not until the 1960s that these giants had competition to fear, when a new generation of wine growers with determined visions of making the best Cabernet Sauvignon wines in the world made their way to Napa, and new vineyards sprung up. The most famous of these newcomers were Robert Mondavi, Joseph Helps, Paul Draper, Warren Winiarski and Joe Heitz. Their first years in the business were not easy, as the growth of the wine market, which had begun in the early 1960s, came to an abrupt halt in 1974. President Nixon’s resignation and the oil crisis took their toll on the U.S. stock market, and the depression was a trying time for winegrowers. The weather that year was very much favourable for wine growers. The early part of the year was dry and mild in the Napa Valley. The spring saw fairly little rain and it was hotter than usual, with the average temperature staying at roughly 24 degrees Celcius. It was a most opportune time for plants to bloom. During the summer, the temperature stayed at a nearly perfect level and there was little rain. Only twice did the mercury rise over 32 degrees. In October, the crops were harvested in absolutely ideal conditions. When the 1974 vintage became available in 1978, the California wine market had gone through yet another surprising change, which, this time, was a positive one and, rather surprisingly, brought about by the French. The correspondent of the Decanter magazine, Steven Spurrier, held a revolutionary tasting in Paris in the autumn of 1976. In that tasting, the new California wines were pitted against the best French wines, and, surprisingly, the Cabernet Sauvignons from California swept the board. The attention of the wine world and the press suddenly turned to the Napa Valley and its new winegrowers. When the superb 1974 74 FINE vintage came out later in the decade, all doubts about the quality of the Napa Valley wines were quickly dissolved. The year 1974 also gave birth to the wine which in my opinion is the finest and most well known California wine of all time. The credit for the achievement must be given to the Heitz Cellar and Martha’s Vineyard. In 1968, when Heitz Wine Cellars brought out their first vintage of Martha’s Vineyard wine from 1966, the wine garnered deserved attention. Since then, Heitz Wine Cellars has been one of the leading wineries in California. Joe Heitz began his wine career in the Napa Valley in the late 50s by initially working as a wine packer. Early on in his career, Heitz worked in various jobs at different wineries. The most decisive period for him proved to be the time he spent at the Beaulieu Vineyard with the most prestigious winegrower of the time, André Tchelistcheff. In 1961, Joe Heitz was set to establish a vineyard of his own, Heitz Wine Cellars. He invited his acquaintances, Tom and Martha May, to be his partners in the venture, which gave him exclusive rights to the ten-hectare Martha’s Vineyard they owned. The first vintage of the wine made from Martha’s Vineyard grapes was produced in 1968. For a long time, the location of the vineyards was known only to a select few and the general public was kept in the dark. Joe Heitz wanted to protect Tom and Martha from the public eye and removed their names from the phone book and the mail box. He also refused to divulge what kind of vines were planted on the vineyards. The lack of available information served to give the winery a mystical quality, which in turn helped make its wines more desirable. Joe Heitz himself was a colourful person and a first-rate salesman. Among tales of his exploits, his disputes with critic Robert Parker have become legendary. Once, Parker criticised the fragrance of his wines for lack of aroma. Vexed by the critic’s comment, Heitz decided to deliver a truckload of tissues to Parker. The purpose of the gesture was to help Parker clear his “stuffy” nose. It may come as a surprise to many that the legendary Martha’s Vineyard vintage of 1974 was not produced by Joe Heitz, but by his son David. David had helped his father on the vineyards and in the cellar since he was a small boy and discovered he enjoyed the work. In 1974, David graduated with a degree in oenology and started work immediately. His father had been in an accident and was hospitalised due to severe back pains. For the first time, David took care of the harvesting and wine manufacturing process on his own. The rest, as they say, is history.

99p F I N E C e n t u r y Ta s t i n g Taster’s comment: Very smooth and polished with extremely fine tannins. Exquisite, long and lingering ending. I could still taste it a long time after it was gone. What can I say, a legend from Heitz and for me the wine of the tasting. Taster’s comment: I love it! What it lacks in complexity it makes up for in outright voluptuous eucalyptus power and intensity. 1974 1974 Heitz Martha’s Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon (USA) Average auction €900+ price: Bottle A1 condition: Colour: Deep, intense, opaque, healthy Nose: Open, intense, cassis, dark chocolate, minty, spicy, green pepper, eucalyptus Palate: Powerful, elegant, full-bodied, earthy, delicate, perfect balance, complex, super intense, sweet. Finish: Fragrant, endless, harmounious In a nutshell: A perfect cross between Pétrus 1982 and Mouton 1945 Buy or not: Tasted: Decanting time: Glass time: When to drink: Food pairing: Fake factor: Absolutely 30 times, last in 5/2012 45 minutes 1.5 hours Now – 2025 Fried scallops At the moment very low, but be aware in the future. Inside information: Highest ranked New World wine in the 1000 Finest Wines Ever made book. Or try this: 1974 Lafleur Final verdict: The best wine ot the century – today. C E N T U R Y TA S T I N G 75

1975 1975 Château Lafleur 97p 1975 1975 Château Lafleur (France) Average auction price: Bottle condition: Colour: Nose: €2640 A1 Dark, intense, brick red Black fruits, spicy, cedary, touch of menthe, bell pepper, intense, wild Palate: Rich, firm tannins, jammy black fruit, spicy, great balance, very vigourous, silky, sweet Finish: Persistent, long and fleshy – almost endless In a nutshell: Buy or not: Tasted: Decanting time: Glass time: When to drink: Food pairing: A mighty wine with great depth Yes 19 times, last in 5/2012 1.5 hours 2 hours Now to 2025 Grilled duck breast with creamy truffle raviolis Fake factor: None yet Inside information: The vintage 1975, that was especially good in Pomerol, is reminiscent of the great Pomerol vintage 1928. Or try this: Pétrus 1975 Final verdict: A wine of the vintage in Bordeaux Taster’s comment: The 1975 Lafleur was black as midnight, so concentrated and rich. It was ‘a tannic pucker’ as one commented. Secondary aromas of leather, tar and mint gave way to flavours of tobacco, plum and leather. Monstrously tight, it was hailed as ‘a voluptuous virgin,’ with decadent cherry flavors slowly emerging. Taster’s comment: A big powerful wine with great concentration. Tannic but with plenty of sweet fruit to balance it. One of the very best ‘75s. Taster’s comment: Tannins are powdery but elegant. The finish of the wine is very fresh and long with a mouth-watering effect. An astonishing satin-like texture! 76 FINE Taster’s comment: 1975 Lafleur – well what can one say – another kind of perfection, yet so bloody discreet. There’s no show-off here, and I’m sure that the legendary Robin sisters never tried to make anything remarkable, they just tended their vineyards and made wine… However, this alluring terroir has something special, I love to imbibe its perfume, as it offers so much, so many nuances and fragrances. The taste starts out very discreet but it just expands and lingers on the palate. This is truly a wine that deserves to be called Grand Vin…

1972 < Terrorists attack at the Olympic Games in Munich < The Watergate Scandal begins < The pocket calculator is introduced < Movies: The Godfather, Cabaret, The Getaway 1973 < The U.S. pulls out of Vietnam < Gene splicing and the ethernet (local computer network) are invented < Movies: The Sting, Last Tango in Paris, Papillon, Serpico, American Graffiti < Mouton-Rothschild is re-classified a Premier Cru 1974 < The Terracotta Army is discovered in China < U.S. President Nixon resigns < Mikhail Baryshnikov defects < The Post-it note is invented < Movies: Chinatown, The Great Gatsby, Murder on the Orient Express 1975 < Microsoft is founded < Pol Pot becomes the communist dictator of Cambodia < Arthur Ashe is the first black man to win Wimbledon < Movies: Jaws, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Dog Day Afternoon 1976 < The first Ebola virus outbreaks strike Sudan and Zaire < North and South Vietnam join to form the Socialist Republic of Vietnam < Movies: Rocky, Taxi Driver, All the President’s Men F I N E C e n t u r y Ta s t i n g 1971 < VCR (video cassette recording) is introduced < The United Kingdom changes to the decimal currency system < A military junta led by Idi Amin siezes power in Uganda < Movies: Fiddler on the Roof, Dirty Harry, A Clockwork Orange, Diamonds Are Forever Between the estates of Pétrus and La Fleur-Pétrus, amid vineyards, stands a stone house with closed shutters. The road that winds to the house between the vine rows has no signs or indications as to the name of the place. The construction looks more like a maintenance shed for the neighbouring estates than the main building of a winery. However, this is a house that makes one of the most desirable wines in Bordeaux: Château Lafleur. Jacques Guinaudeau, the fifth-generation owner and winemaker of the estat, leads us into the vineyard and excitedly praises the uniqueness of the 4.5-hectare estate. “Lafleur is a single-vineyard wine with exceptional terroir qualities. Firstly, it is located on a very gentle amphitheatrically slope to the north of Pétrus. The soil is clearly more gravelly and brown than the red clay at Pétrus. A comprehensive soil analysis in 1998 found that the estate comprises as many as five different types: the northwest has brown gravel, the south is more clay-based with sandy gravel, and the east has sandy clay with some gravel. In the middle is a mixture of all of those. These have completely different conditions in terms of the grapes’ ripening, size and concentration. The concentration is also affected by the old vines, which have an average age of thirty years. The oldest vines actually go back five decades. We work the vineyard as four different plots, even though they go towards a single wine. We grow two varieties, Merlot and Cabernet Franc, but the differences in soil result in very different grapes within each variety. This diversity is the secret to Lafleur’s greatness,” Guinaudeau explains. Weaving between the densely planted vine rows, Jacques goes on: “The vineyard has around 8000 vines per hectare. Through dense planting we aim not only to increase the grapes’ concentration, but also to protect them from direct sunlight. This is so that we can ensure the refined style of our wines that results from their fresh fruitiness and crisp acids.” Once we enter the cellars and see the facilities, we understand the need for the logbook. Lafleur’s production facilities are less than half the size of Pétrus which are small in themselves, and there are only a few fermentation vats. “To retain the wines’ sophisticated qualities – delicious fruitiness and perfumed aromas – we avoid maturing the wines solely in new oak barrels. Therefore, only a half of our barrels are new,” Guinaudeau says, before explaining that the final blending and winemaking processes are done at the end, in the oak maturation phase. The oak maturation is monitored and the final decisions regarding which wines will be bottled under the Lafleur label and which as the number two wine, Pensées de Lafleur, are only made at the end. Ultimately, there may be a few barrels that Guinaudeau rejects, and they are sold off. Even in the best years, the estate only produces 17 000 bottles, of which 12 000 are Lafleur and only 5000 are Pensées de Lafleur. ­ Lafleur’s wines form an interesting contrast to their neighbour, Pétrus. Their terroirs differ significantly, even though the distance between them is only 50–100 metres. Whereas Pétrus is more seductively rich, full-bodied and intense, Lafleur is charming in its elegance, femininity and subtlety. Lafleur’s wines are delightful, but they do require ageing for at least twenty years in order to display their full, nuanced character. Guinaudeau’s investments into improving quality in all of Lafleur’s functions promise an even better future for the friends of Lafleur. Although, tasting the 1947, 1950, 1961, 1975 or 1982, one can only wonder whether Lafleur’s wines can get any better? C E N T U R Y TA S T I N G 77

1976 1976 Clos des Goisses Philipponnat Magnum Climbing the steep hill of Clos des Goisses against the shadows of the setting sun, my thoughts settled and the busy day seemed like yesterday. The sounds of the village of Mareuil-sur-Aÿ below grew fainter and were accompanied only by the last rays of the vanishing sun. The peace was perfect on that even hilltop. The 5.5-hectare vineyard that spread out around me is the best known for Krug´s Clos du Mesnil. Even after the sunset, the southern slope of the vineyard seemed to glow with warmth – Charles Philipponnat says that Clos des Goisses, and particularly its southern slope, enjoys a clearly unusual, very warm microclimate. “Clos des Goisses vineyard is divided into at least two parts, sometimes even more, that all have their own microclimates. In bad, rainy and cold years, the vineyard’s southern slope can produce rather well balanced grapes when the other parts of the vineyard fail. On the other hand, in hot and dry years the grapes of the southern slope downright shrivel before the harvest, spending long days under the burning sun. This is when the cooler, shadier parts of the vineyard offer well matured grapes, where the balance between sugar and acidity is better. We produce the Clos des Goisses champagne only in good years, when our whole vineyard gives fruity, well-balanced grapes.” 1976 des Goisses Philipponnat 96p 1976 Clos Magnum (France) Average auction price: Bottle condition: Colour: Nose: €865 A1 Bright, yellow, promising Wide and open, vigour, crisp, toasty, green apple, creamy, nuts, honeysuckle, refined Palate: Monumental, toasty, freshy, youthful, complex, intense, good acidity, broad, well-balanced Finish: Powerful, persuasive, lengthy In a nutshell: As deep as the ocean floor Buy or not: Don´t hesitate Tasted: 11 times, last in 5/2012 Decanting time: 15 minutes Glass time: 45 minutes When to drink: Now to 2020 Food pairing: Fresh oysters Fake factor: None Inside information: The Clos des Goisses vineyard is owned by the Philipponnat champagne house and the Philipponnats have lived in the Champagne region since the 17th century. Pierre and Auguste Philipponnat founded the champagne house in 1910 in the village of Mareuil-sur-Aÿ, roughly five kilometres from the city of Epernay. Their first vineyards (17 hectares), including Clos des Goisses, were acquired in the mid 1930s. (1976: 70% PN, 30% CH) Or try this: Dom Pérignon 1976 Final verdict: A display of uniqueness and bravery 78 FINE Taster’s comment: Fresh and complex wine. Yeasty nose and honeyed fruit on the palate. Beautiful.

1978 < The first test-tube baby is born < John Paul II becomes Pope < Sony introduces the Walkman, the first portable stereo < Movies: The Deer Hunter, Superman, Grease 1979 < Ayatollah Khomeini returns as the leader of Iran < Margaret Thatcher becomes the first woman Prime Minister of Great Britain < Mother Teresa is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize < Mobile phones are invented < Movies: Alien, Apocalypse Now, Kramer vs. Kramer, 10, The Tin Drum (Die Blechtrommel) < Miguel Torres is the first foreigh investor to settle in Chile’s wine industry 1980 < John Lennon is assassinated < Mount St. Helens erupts, and is the worst volcanic disaster in U.S. history < The Pac-Man video game is released in Japan < The Rubik’s Cube becomes popular < Movies: Raging Bull, Ordinary People, Coal Miner’s Daughter, Tess 1981 < A ”new plague” is identified and named AIDS < Assassination attempts on the Pope and U.S. President Reagan < The Wedding of Lady Diana and Prince Charles < Personal computers (PC) are introduced by IBM < Movies: Raiders of the Lost Ark, Chariots of Fire, Reds, On Golden Pond 1977 Château Musar Lebanon is one of the oldest sites of wine production. The cultivation of the vine goes back to the Phoenicians, who traded their wines along the Mediterranean trade routes and introduced viniculture to many parts of southern Europe. Some centuries later, the Romans chose Baalbek in the east of Lebanon as the site to build the Temple of Bacchus in tribute to the god of wine – a temple that still stands today. Château Musar, by far the finest and best known of the Lebanon wineries, was founded by Gaston Hochar in the 1930s in an 18th century castle. It is located in Ghazir, fifteen miles north of Beirut and run today by Gaston´s Bordeaux-trained son, Serge. Musar is famed for having made wine every year, with the exception of 1976. They even continued throughout Lebanon’s long civil war, except for 1984 when their grape trucks were held hostage by practically every political group. Château Musar has had many problems with shells and tanks. In 1983, when battle raged around the vineyards during harvest, Serge Hochar had to be smuggled in on a tiny boat to make the wine. In 1989, the winery suffered direct hits from gunfire, and for a short while the wine cellars served as a trustworthy bomb shelter for both château workers and locals. In spite of the realism that winemaking has been a repeatedly dangerous venture in Lebanon, Château Musar has continued to make excellent, long-lasting wines. This has continued to be the case, even though the 36 kilometre drive from the vineyards of the Bekaa Valley, which are remarkably close to the frontline, to Musar’s winery has so often been a theatre of war. The vineyards of Château Musar are located at an altitude of over 1000 metres in the Bekaa Valley, where the vines are sheltered by the surrounding mountains that run parallel to the Mediterranean coast. The high altitude and adjacent mountains provide cool nights and rainfall. The vineyards cover 130 hectares, and produce a limited yield of about 25 hl/ha, resulting in approximately 20 000 cases of Château Musar wine. Following an expansion of the cellar in the late 1950s, Château Musar is now able to store more than one million bottles of wine. Château Musar Red is Grand Vin, based almost always on a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cinsault, and often with a bit of Carignan and Syrah – and sometimes even with some Mourvèdre and Merlot. The 1960 was the first vintage made with the new philo­ sophy brought by Serge Hochar to the winemaking process: no additives, no fining, no treatment and no filtration applied to the wines. ­ 90p 1977 1977 Château Musar (Lebanon) Average auction price: Bottle condition: Colour: Nose: €89 A1 A bit hazy, orange-red Pronounced, toasty, jammy, cedar, vanilla Palate: Full-bodied, rich, juicy, rounded tannins, warming alcohol Finish: Long, rich, hot In a nutshell: Energetic and youthful Buy or not: Yes Tasted: 5 times, last in 5/2012 Decanting time: 20 minutes Glass time: 45 minutes When to drink: Now–2022 Food pairing: Roasted lamb with root vegetables Fake factor: Low Inside information: It took 18 years for the winemaker Gaston Hochar, the owner of Château Musar, to finalise the formula of his legendary red wine. In 1977, he finally suceeded. The wine is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Carignan and Cinsault from the gravelly soils over limestone. The average age of the vines is 40 years and they yield 35 hl/ha. Or try this: Vega-Sicilia Tinto Valbuena 3 Año 1977, Ribera del Duero, Spain Final verdict: Either you love this wine or you hate it. C E N T U R Y TA S T I N G 79 F I N E C e n t u r y Ta s t i n g 1977 < South African antiapartheid leader Steve Biko is tortured to death < Elvis is found dead < Movies: Star Wars, Close Encounter of the Third Kind, Saturday Night Fever < The grape-sorting table is invented and first used at Domaine de la RomanéeConti

1978 89p 1978 Henri Bonneau Châteuneufdu-Pape Réserve des Celestins 1978 (France) Average auction price: Bottle condition: Colour: Nose: €2451 A1 A bit hazy, orange-red Very rustic, evolved, earthy, woody, tabasco Palate: Medium-bodied, dry, savoury, silky tannins, dried fruits, one-dimensional Finish: Medium-length, smooth, a bit flat In a nutshell: This bottle is running out of life Buy or not: Yes, for curiosity; no for the ridiculously high price Tasted: Five times, last in 5/2012 Decanting time: 1 hour Glass time: 1 hour When to drink: Now–2020 Food pairing: Lamb casserole Fake factor: Low Inside information: The most rare and fine Châteauneufdu-Pape wine available. Robert Parker’s 99 points have made this small-yielded wine the most sought after wine from Southern Rhône. The wine is Grenache-dominated and the yields are very low, at only about 10–12 hl/ha. The wine was fermented in concrete vats and aged over 6 years in old Burgundy barrels. Or try this: Paul Jaboulet & Aîné Hermitage La Chapelle 1978, Rhône, France 93p 1980 Quinta do Noval Nacional Vintage Port (Portugal) Average auction price: Bottle condition: Colour: Nose: €432 A1 1980 Dark and intense colour, clear rim Wide, intense, mint, smoke, ripe blackberry fruits, mocha, sweet cherry Palate: Medium-sweet, rich and glycerol-like, smooth, well-balanced, delicious Finish: Long and solid In a nutshell: Stimulating Buy or not: Very good value for money, but hard to find Tasted: 7 times, last 05/2012 Decanting time: 3 hours Glass time: 3 hours When to drink: Now–2040 Food pairing: Stilton Fake factor: None Inside information: Nacional is produced using several grape varieties and not just from Touriga Nacional, as it name might suggest. These varieties are some of the noblest to be found in the Douro valley: Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca, Tinta Roriz, Tint Cão and Sousão. All the grapes come from the pre-phylloxera vines from the isolated plot in the Quinta do Noval vineyard. Or try this: Quinta do Noval Nacional 1963 Final verdict: Perhaps the best wine from this difficult vintage worldwide. Final verdict: This wine can be beautifully charming and superb – unfortunately this time we were unlucky with the bottle Smith-Haut-Lafitte 87p 1981 Château Blanc (France) 1981 Average auction price: Bottle condition: Colour: Nose: Palate: €72 Finish: In a nutshell: Buy or not: Tasted: Decanting time: Glass time: When to drink: Food pairing: Closed, mineral, one-dimensional A1 Bright, green to lemon yellow, light Pronounced, fresh, herbaceous, limey Dry, medium-bodied, oily, moderately low in acidity A shy wine Not 2 times, last in 5/2012 20 minutes 1 hour Now–2018 Grilled langoustines with creamy coriander spaghetti Fake factor: None Inside information: The wine is a blend ofthe grapes of Sauvignon Blanc 95% and Sémillon 5% that derives from 10 hectare vineyard. The soil is deep gravel. Or try this: Domaine de Chevalier Blanc 1981, Bordeaux – France Final verdict: A harmless and enjoyable wine 80 FINE Taster’s comment: Dark, cherry red colour. Intense nose with figs, prunes, blackcurrants, dark chocolate, leather, and pipe tobacco with smoky toastiness. Smooth, intense ripe wild strawberries and brambles, velvety texture, vanilla and toasty aromas with dark chocolate. Warm and nutty but very elegant finish for port. Very balanced and velvety wine, drinking perfectly now. The mellow tannins and lovely fruit suggests the wine is at its peak at the moment but will keep another 15–20 years still.

In 1876, a Roederer champagne made for Russia’s Tsar Alexander II became the world’s first luxury cuvée. But with the sudden collapse of the Russian market, the champagne house endured a long struggle which left it on the verge of bankruptcy. Eventually, the family’s shrewd patriarchs managed to turn things around, and today Roederer is the most solvent of Champagne’s houses; indeed, its future looks Cristal clear. Roederer is one of the few top champagne houses to remain family-owned. Although the house’s history actually began in 1776, the company was not called Roederer until 1833, when Louis Roederer inherited the business from his uncle. It was Louis Roederer himself who increased the house’s production volume to its present level of 2.5 million bottles a year. He laid the foundation for exports and, particularly in Russia, enjoyed great success. Louis Roederer II, his son, receives the credit for developing Cristal. The Russian Tsar was absolutely taken with Roederer champagne: in 1873, some 666 386 bottles, which amounted to approximately 27 per cent of its entire production, were delivered to the court of Alexander II. In order to formalise Roederer’s status as official purveyor to the Imperial Court of Russia, Alexander II commissioned Louis Roederer to produce a very sweet, prestige blend packaged in a real crystal glass bottle. Roederer’s Martine Charlotte Lorson told us: ”The first luxury cuvée was born. From the very beginning, the bottle was clear and flat-bottomed. We later patented the bottle’s design. We have tried to change from the flat-bottomed bottle, but we can’t. Because of, and thanks to, the patent, Cristal’s label and appearance have stayed the same since 1928!” And how fortunate that is, because, at least in our opinion, it is quite possibly the most beautiful wine bottle in the world, especially when wrapped in its trademark amber cellophane. Chef de Cave Jean-Baptiste Lecaillon explained the practicalities: ”We started using cellophane in the late 1970s, and there were still bottles with and without cellophane available in the early 1980s. Champagne is a light-sensitive product, so even though the cellophane is beautiful, it also plays a key role in protecting the Cristal from ultraviolet radiation. The amber cellophane also makes the bottle instantly recognisable, thus serving as a brandbuilding tool.” The story of Cristal’s genuine crystal bottle is wellknown. This is why we were surprised to discover that there is not one true crystal bottle in existence, or even a photograph of one.” ”Unfortunately, that’s true,” says Martine Lorson from Roederer’s Communication Department, and continues: ”We’ve been searching high and low without any luck. But then again, Cristal was only packaged in crystal bottles for one or two years. The bottle was too weak to withstand the pressure and, because the Tsar’s champagne was so sweet, there was some post-fermentation, and the resulting losses were too much even for the extravagant Tsar.” The 1970s were a turning point of sorts for Roederer and Cristal. Camille Olry-Roederer’s grandson Jean-Claude Rouzaud joined the house and gradually took the helm. It was a rough start, as TCA, a chemical compound that causes cork taint, infested the Roederer cellars. The young man faced an enormous undertaking. A huge volume of wine had to be taken off the market and disposed of, and the entire production facility had to be sterilised and rebuilt. This was also the period of Cristal’s emerging popularity, and Roederer worked with an American importer to make Cristal the world’s most in-demand champagne. A key detail of this plan was to double the price. When Rouzaud was named Decanter Man of the Year in 2001, he said in an interview that one of the most significant things he had done at Roederer was to decrease the production of Cristal from one third to under a fifth of Roederer’s overall production. High price and low availability – alongside uncompromised quality – have made Cristal the most coveted champagne in the world. 1979 93p 1979 Louis Roederer Cristal (France) Average auction price: Bottle condition: Colour: Nose: €240 A1 Goldish, deep, healthy Complex, evolving, pronounced, toffee, dried apricots, honey, tart red fruit Palate: Medium-bodied, focused, sharp acidity, intense, complex, youthfull Finish: In a nutshell: Buy or not: Tasted: Decanting time: Glass time: When to drink: Food pairing: Fake factor: Inside information: Lingering, fresh, pure Sophistication Yes 16 times, last in 10/2012 15 minutes 1 hour Now to 2020 Keep it simple and let the wine shine None On February 1, Ayatollah Khomeini returned to Iran; on March 28, a serious nuclear accident took place in Harrisburg, USA; and on December 26, Soviet troops began their occupation of Afghanistan. Or try this: 1979 Pommery Cuvée Louise Final verdict: A graceful champagne Taster’s comment: Deep golden colour, steady slow flow of bubbles. Strong, toasty and mushroomy fruity and round nose. Excellent tightknitted structure. All elements in harmony, linear acidity bringing a great freshness and youthfulness to the wine. Beautiful wine that is drinking well today. Due to harmonious nature can be kept for ten more years. C E N T U R Y TA S T I N G 81 F I N E C e n t u r y Ta s t i n g 1979 Louis Roederer Cristal

1982 1982 Château LéovilleLas-Cases Located next to Château Latour, Léoville-Las-Cases, one of the largest vineyards in Bordeaux, has perhaps the best location in St.Julien, right by Pauillac. All in all, the estate has 97 hectares of land around the commune, but the best plots are situated, surrounded by walls, on a gentle slope next to Latour. The fiftyhectare parcel produces strong, very Pauillac-like wines for which the centuries-old château is famous. This is an estate with one of the longest histories in Bordeaux. It reaches all the way back to the seventeenth century, when the estate was owned by the royal family of Las Cases. The estate was passed down through the generations, before finally arriving at Alexandre de Gascq, who had married into the family. He bought more lands for the estate, making it the largest in Bordeaux. In 1840 the estate was split into three: one part was retained in the Las Cases family and began operating under the name LéovilleLas-Cases; another went with a daughter to the Poyferré family and was named Léoville-Poyferré; while the third section was auctioned off to the wine merchant Hugh Barton. The Las Cases ownership was eventually divided into many portions through 96p 1982 1982 Château Léoville-Las-Cases (France) Average auction €480+ price: Bottle A1 condition: Colour: Very dark, brick-red, youngish Nose: Still youthful, elegant and complex – blackcurrants, truffles, violets, wood Palate: Medium-bodied, concentrated yet delicate fruit, round and velvety tannins Finish: Energetic, rich and long-lasting with toasty vanilla tones In a nutshell: Gentle powerpack Buy or not: Tasted: Decanting time: Glass time: When to drink: Food pairing: Fake factor: Great buying 30 times, last tasted in 5/2012 2 hours 2 hours Now to 2020 Roast beef Moderately low so far, although growing as the wine is challenging the First Growth wines Inside information: Perhaps the best Léoville-Las-Cases ever made Or try this: Château Pichon-Longueville Comtesse de Lalande 1982 Final verdict: An elegant wine that already delivers its charming personality 82 FINE inheritance, and some of the children decided to sell their shares. Vineyard director Théophile Skanwinski expressed his interest and bought the shares in tranches. From Skanwinski, the estate was inherited through his daughter by André Delon, whose family has since then retained ownership. Significant qualitative changes have taken place at the estate in the last thirty years. André’s grandson Michel Delon, who took over the estate in 1976, held it under strict control for nearly 25 years, with the aim of producing nothing less than topquality wines. Although many of his neighbours considered Michel Delon a profiteer who raised his wines’ prices by releasing them to the market only a small batch at a time, he did take actions previously unseen in Médoc to improve the quality of his wines. In the 1980s he launched the green harvest method for improving grape quality during the growing season, and used it systematically on his vineyards. Even in the high-quality harvest years of 1986 and 1990, Delon cut his crop – by half in 1986 and by up to two thirds in 1990 – in order to ensure superior quality. In his cellars, he had the floors made of marble. In wine production he used vats of different materials – oak, concrete and steel – to give the wines a nuanced character. He was also one of the first in Bordeaux to conduct reverse osmosis experiments to improve concentration. 1982 < The Falkland Islands are invaded by Argentina < Michael Jackson releases Thriller < Grace Kelly dies in a car accident < Movies: E.T., Gandhi, Sophie’s Choice, Veronika Voss 1983 < Reagan announces a defence plan called Star Wars < Pioneer 10 becomes the first man-made object to leave the solar system < Lech Walesa is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize < Movies: Fanny and Alexander, Flashdance, Jaws 3-D 1984 < Indira Gandhi, the 3rd Prime Minister of India, is assasinated by two of her bodyguards < Movies: Amadeus, Ghostbusters, Paris,Texas 1985 < The wreck of Titanic is found < A hole in the ozone layer is discovered < Mikhail Gorbachev calls for Glasnost and Perestroika < Ethiopia suffers of the worst famine in a century < Movies: Out of Africa, A Room with a View, Ran, Back to the Future 1986 < A catastrophic nuclear accident takes place at Chernobyl < The U.S.S.R. launches the Mir space station < The Challenger space shuttle explodes < Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos flees the Philippines < Fuji introduces the disposable camera < Movies: Top Gun, Platoon, Crocodile Dundee 1987 < DNA is used for the first time to convict criminals < 19-year-old West German pilot Matthias Rust lands on Red Square in Moscow < Movies: The Last Emperor, Good Morning Vietnam, My Life as a Dog, Wall Street

Chambertin gained a reputation from the patronage of Napoleon I, who is rumoured not to have drunk anything else and to have watered down his Chambertin with plenty of water. He favoured it at five-to-six years old and never drank more than half a bottle with a meal. When the ex-Emperor was exiled on St. Helena, he was forced to drink claret, since that was easier to ship to the isolated island. The Rousseau Domaine was started at the beginning of the 20th century by Armand Rousseau, who inherited several plots of vineyards in Gevrey Chambertin. The Domaine premises, complete with living house, storing places, cellars and winery, are situated in the oldest part of the village, near the 13th century church. From 1959, after Armand Rousseau’s death, Charles Rousseau was at the head of a Domaine of six hectares which he continued developing rapidly thanks to his great knowledge of oenology and his experience of acquiring new vineyards, especially in ”Grands Crus” areas. He decided to turn principally towards export, and, after the USA, where his father had startied to sell his wines right after prohibition at the end of the 30s, he devel- 94p 1983 1983 Domaine Rousseau Chambertin (France) Average auction price: Bottle condition: Colour: Nose: €1233 A1 Medium-intense, ruby red Intense, rich, smoky, sweet nuts, ripe raspberries, violety, sexy Palate: Medium-bodied, vivid acidity, complex, suple tannins, generous red fruit, raspberry nectar Finish: Long, flavourful, seductive In a nutshell: Wine like a song of Seirene Buy or not: Yes, it’s a pricey wine but so alluring Tasted: 2 times, last in 5/2012 Decanting time: 2 hours Glass time: 3 hours When to drink: Now–2035 Food pairing: Duck Confit Fake factor: Low Inside information: Cool and slow start of the season. oped exchanges first with Great Britain, Germany and Switzerland; and soon afterwards with all the European countries; then with Canada, Australia, New-Zealand and Brazil; and lastly with Asia in the 1970s. His son Eric joined him at the beginning of the 1980s to take more care of the vineyards and the vinification. In 1993, Corinne, Charles’s elder daughter, after many years of professional experience in export abroad and in France, came back to the ­ Domaine and in turn took charge of the commercial relationship with customers. Taster’s comment: This is probably not a legendary wine or a top scorer on the vintage charts, however it truly summarises to me what great burgundy is all about. At this age the wine still has a fair amount of fruit, structure and bite, combine this with an incredibly seducing perfume that can only emerge with age, every time I put my nose in a great burgundy I’m so fascinated how everything can be hidden in there – earth, mineral, wild berries, roses, and something almost on a sexual level, the scent of a beautiful woman. The flowering took place in ideal conditions and the summer was unusually dry. August brought some rains but the harvest period was again nice and sunny. The vintage turned out to be superb for Rousseau vineyards and they consider it as one of the longest living vintages of the 1980s along the 1988. Or try this: Château Beaucastel Châteauneuf-duPape 1983, Rhône – France Final verdict: A true temptation that can take your breath away C E N T U R Y TA S T I N G 83 F I N E C e n t u r y Ta s t i n g 1983 Domaine Rousseau Chambertin

1984 1984 Caymus Special Selection Cabernet Sauvignon The Caymus Special Selection was an iconic wine in Napa during the 1980s, as it reflected the classic expression of the Napa Valley Cabernets. Thanks to the Wagner’s great contacts with the growers of the region, they have been able to get the best fruit in their highly respected wines. Over the last decade, the hype surrounding the Caymus wines has subsided. However, the quality is still high and their Special Selection is a great wine that definitely benefits from at least 15 years of ageing. The Wagners have farmed the vines in various places in Napa, from the valley floor to the hillsides of mountains reaching 1600 feet. Therefore, the wines have gained complexity from the various terroirs of the Napa Valley. The winemaking philosophy is based on getting the best fruit from selected vineyards in Napa and by blending them they have been able to make wines with great character and complexity. Besides their own holdings, the Wagners also control the vineyards from which they purchase their grapes. 94p 1984 Caymus Special Selection Cabernet Sauvignon (USA) Average auction price: Bottle condition: Colour: Nose: €321 A1 1984 Dark, ruby red Intense, rich, seductive, toasty, chocolate, vanilla, jammed wild strawberries, cassis Palate: Full-bodied, vivid, round, rich, smooth, spicy, ripe cassis Finish: Long, intense, ripe, lovely In a nutshell: Wine like velvet Buy or not: Yes, if you like the rich and ripe mature Napa Cabs then this is a sure bet Tasted: 4 times, last in 5/2012 Decanting time: 2 hours Glass time: 2 hours When to drink: Now to 2025 Food pairing: Barbeque beef with grilled peppers Fake factor: Low Inside information: The flagship wine of the Caymus Vineyards, which was first launched in 1975. The wine is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon and produced 240 cases. The wine is a blend of the wines from the best barrels produced in 1984. Or try this: Opus One 1984, Napa Valley, USA Final verdict: A wine as rich and smooth as a blackcurrant smoothie 84 FINE Historical background The Wagner family has a rich winegrowing history in Napa, having started out in 1906. The Special Selection has been made every year since 1975, except in 1977, 1993 and 1996. The wine was made until 1984 by Randy Dunn, who has always praised the Caymus vineyards for their great fruit. Since then, the Wagners have been in sole charge of winemaking.

1985 Ornellaia Tenuta dell´Ornellaia Magnum (Italy) Average auction price: Bottle condition: Colour: Nose: 1985 €400+ A1 Bright, ruby, mature Rich, black fruit nose with dried herbs, floral, plum, spices, flowery 92p Average auction price: Bottle condition: Colour: Nose: Palate: Medium-bodied, mature, elegant, Buy or not: Please, first vintages are always worthy of their mighty prices Tasted: Decanting time: Glass time: When to drink: Food pairing: Fake factor: 4 times, last in 5/2012 1.5 hours 2 hours Now to 2030 Smoked duck breast Moderately low so far, although interest as the wine is challenging the First Growth wines Inside information: 1985 more than made up for the weak year preceding it. An extremely cold winter ensured that the vines would enjoy a full hibernation; until a warm and dry spring woke them, well-rested, thus giving them the energy they would need for the varied summer weather. The dry autumn set the stage for the harvest of one of the best vintages of the decade, both in Piedmont and Tuscany. Although it had a low crop yield, 1985 was an outstanding crop year and is above all remembered for the genesis of modern wine production, particularly in Tuscany. Led by the Super Tuscans, this saw the beginning of rapid development in the production of modern fine wines. It also spawned a wine that has gone down in history as one of the world’s finest – the Sassicaia 1985 – and also the first vintages of Ornellaia. Or try this: The First Masseto vintage – 1986. Final verdict: No wonder Ornellaia is so good today – it had such a good start. 92p 1988 1988 Dalla Valle Maya (USA) Average auction price: Bottle condition: Colour: Nose: €380+ A1 Intense, ruby-red Fresh, intense, jammed cassis, hints of mint, smoky Palate: Medium-bodied, elegant structure, smooth tannins, silky ripe dark fruit, Tobacco, cedar Finish: Long, rich, delicious In a nutshell: Rich and harmonious Buy or not: Yes! Tasted: Twice, last in 5/2012 Decanting time: 2 hours Glass time: 3 hours When to drink: Now to 2030 Food pairing: Tournedos Rossini Fake factor: Low Inside information: One of the legendary new wave cult wines from Dalla Valle. This was the first vintage of this single vineyard wine that is a blend of 55% Cabernet Sauvignon and 45% Cabernet Franc €175+ A1 1986 Moderately light, green, clear Powerful, rich, floral, buttery, vegetal, nutty, wax, apricot Palate: Full-bodied, concentrated, fresh acidity, good-balance, a bit one-dimensional Finish: Round but short In a nutshell: A serious wine 1986 Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage Blanc (France) refined structure, fleshy Finish: Long, youthful, intense In a nutshell: Richly-textured wine Buy or not: Yes Tasted: 7 times, last in 5/2012 Decanting time: 45 minutes Glass time: 2 hours When to drink: Now to 2025 Food pairing: Roasted pork with morel sauce Fake factor: None Inside information: Jean-Louis Chave warned us not to chill his whites too much, and hoped that they were always decanted for before serving. Or try this: Château Haut-Brion Blanc 1986 Final verdict: Chave is one of the Parker’s long time favorite producer, and not without upright reasons. 94p 1987 Gaja Barbaresco Sorì San Lorenzo (Italy) 1987 Average auction €280+ price: Bottle A1 condition: Colour: Medium-intense, hazy, tuile-red Nose: Reserved, a bit volatile, red fruits, candle wax Palate: Medium-bodied, vivid, concentrated, firm, juicy tannins, energetic Finish: Long, firm, concentrated In a nutshell: A very focused and juicy wine Buy or not: Yes Tasted: 9 times, last in 5/2012 Decanting time: 1 hour Glass time: 1 hour When to drink: Now to 2022 Food pairing: Truffle risotto Fake factor: Low Inside information: The vintage 1987 was a very difficult one but Barbaresco succeeded better than other areas in the region. The cool and wet spring and flowering season cut the yields, and, while the summer was dry and mild, the rains during harvest time diluted a great deal of the crop in many places. Gaja’s upper hillside vineyard Sorí San Lorenzo did, moderately well and yielded wine that succeeded much better than many might have expected. Or try this: Vega Sicilia Unico 1987, Ribera del Duero, Spain Final verdict: A great wine from a weak vintage Or try this: Harlan Estate 1990, Napa Valley, USA Final verdict: A great wine for the first vintage, but nowhere close to the best Mayas C E N T U R Y TA S T I N G 85 F I N E C e n t u r y Ta s t i n g 91p

1989 1989 Château Haut-Brion Haut-Brion is located in the commune of Péssac, five kilometres from the centre of Bordeaux. The city has gradually surrounded Haut-Brion and its neighbouring property on the other side of the road, the Château La Mission Haut-Brion, which has been owned by Domaine Clarence Dillon since 1983. The vineyards are on a small elevation approximately 27 metres above sea level. The land consists partly of a very old layer of gravel, which is perfect for wine-growing. Just over half of the 40 hectares are planted with Cabernet Sauvignon, a quarter with Merlot and a fifth with Cabernet Franc. In 1961, Haut-Brion began using stainless steel fermentation vats – the first of Bordeaux’s highly regarded estates to do so. ­ In 1977, an ambitious project was started to try to see what vines were best suited to which plots, as the trial planting of various clones commenced. The wines of Haut-Brion are elegant, perfectly balanced wines with a very characteristic personality. They are soft, warm and attractive but also demand concentration to be fully appreciated. There is a complexity that is not immediately obvious to the inexperienced palate – this led to Haut-Brion being the least expensive Premier Cru for many years. This has now been rectified and in some vintages, like 1989, it is now the most expensive. Along with Latour, Haut-Brion has proved the most consistent in terms of the quality of the Premier Cru wines during the last 100 years. Even the sceptics have always been convinced of its Premier Cru status. That status, however, has never been taken for granted. Haut-Brion’s owners invested and continually strived to improve the quality of the wine, down to the most minute detail. They also tactfully managed to make the wine’s style more enjoyable when young, thanks to its concentrated fruitiness. The concentration has been achieved in the vineyards by limiting harvests without relying on modern technology. Although the style has subtly changed, Haut-Brion’s greatness still appears to lie in its perfect balance, which still remains in the wine after decades of storage, and that is the very essence of HautBrion and its noble character. On May 15, protests in China began in Tiananmen Square; on November 9, the Berlin Wall fell; and on December 22, the “Danube of Thought,” Nicolae Ceausescu, was relieved of his position as President of Romania. During this year, people were not cold in France, as the year was the hottest since 1949. The growing season began three weeks early, because May was extremely warm. Blossoming took place in near-ideal conditions, 86 FINE and this promised a large harvest. June was exceptionally hot, and the good weather continued all the way to August. The harvest was the earliest since 1893. At Haut-Brion, the harvest started on August 31st. Tasters comment: 1989 Haut-Brion – one of the most perfect wines that ever touched across my lips. It has got everything that I adore about Bordeaux: elegance, finesse yet an incredible power. The perfume is just to die for as it encapsulates everything we’ve learned to associate with Haut-Brion – cigar box, damp tobacco, fine spices, minerals and delicious but restrained fruit. The palate is remarkably textured with layers and layers of flavours, all that concentration and still so incredibly smooth and astonishingly long. Wow, that’s claret to me, that’s perfection… 98p 1989 1989 Château Haut-Brion (France) Average auction price: Bottle condition: Colour: Nose: €1690 A1 Intense, ruby with brown tints Close, complex, toasty, exotic fruit, spicy oak, minerals, vanilla Palate: Thick, rich, low acidity, voluptuous texture, perfect balance, opulent fruitiness, fragrance, liquorice, thrilling Finish: Extensively long, intense, amazing In a nutshell: Will be a perfect wine in ten years Buy or not: Buy now before the prices really go up Tasted: 39 times, last in 9/2012 Decanting time: 3 hours Glass time: 2 hours When to drink: Now to 2035 Food pairing: Grilled entrecôte with Béarnaise sauce Fake factor: None Inside information: The harvest started at the end of August, from 31st of August to 20th of September. Or try this: La Mission Haut-Brion 1989 Final verdict: A samurai of wines

F I N E C e n t u r y Ta s t i n g 1990 Hermitage La Chapelle Paul Jaboulet Aîné For almost two centuries, the Jaboulet family has shared a common passion for the Rhône Valley, its history, its terroir, its exceptional people and its wines. In 1834, Antoine Jaboulet (1807 – 1864) started working the land in this region, thereby linking his destiny with that of this fertile terroir. By dint of hard work and passion, his vines were to provide him with a wine of exceptional quality, which was to be perpetuated by his sons, Paul and Henri. It was Paul who then gave his name to the business. Since then, the generations have continued to succeed one another. The Frey family, long standing winemakers in Champagne and owners of Château La Lagune in Bordeaux, acquired Maison Paul Jaboulet Aîné in January 2006, and therefore adding to its portfolio of prestigious names. Nicolas and Frédéric Jaboulet, together with Frédéric Mairesse, the new director, share the Frey family’s passion for excellence. 1990 La Chapelle Paul 98p 1990 Hermitage Jaboulet Aîné (France) Average auction price: Bottle condition: Colour: Nose: €622 A1 Almost black, deep, promising Open, powerful, intense, sweet black fruits, oriental spices, smoke, coffee, chocolate Palate: Vigour, opulent, fresh, well-balanced, complex, fleshy, multi-dimensional Finish: In a nutshell: Buy or not: Tasted: Decanting time: Glass time: When to drink: Food pairing: Fake factor: Or try this: Final verdict: Endless, intense, extensive Very youthful but so drinkable already La Chapelle, which is situated on the hillside of l’Hermitage, looks out over the Rhône Valley. During the 13th century, the Chevalier de Stérimberg made it his home on his return from the Crusades. On his way home, this returning knight fell in love with this spot and spent the rest of his days leading the life of a hermit here. Jaboulet bought the chapel in 1919. Later still, it became the source of the family’s flagship wine, l’Hermitage La Chapelle. The name of that great wine comes from there, but the wine itself does not. This vineyard is situated too high on the Hermitage’s hill to produce high-quality wine – but what a breathtaking view it has over the town of Tain L’Hermitage. Jaboulet has a 21-hectare holding, spread over the various microclimates of Hermitage and La Chapelle, which has always had a blend of vines with an average age of 40 years grown in the vineyards of Les Bessard (19 ha) and Le Meal (6 ha). These are assembled to produce about 5500 cases per year of the imitable “La Chapelle”. The price is rising fast 17 times, last in 05/2012 3 hours 2 hours Now to 2045 Grilled fillet of venison None Penfolds Grange 1990 A future superstar C E N T U R Y TA S T I N G 87

1991 1991 1991 DRC Montrachet 93p (France) Average auction €2470 price: Bottle A1 condition: Colour: Bright, buttery-yellow Nose: Open, fresh, toast, smoky, spearmint, tropical fruit, oily, madeira cake, vanilla Palate: Dryish, well-balanced, medium-bodied, crisp, vigour, elegant Finish: Harmonious and long In a nutshell: Only average for DRC Montrachet. Buy or not: Yes, but not a full case Tasted: 8 times, last in 5/2012 Decanting time: 1 hour Glass time: 2 hours When to drink: Now to 2025 Food pairing: Warm-smoked salmon Fake factor: None Inside information: DRC’s 67.5 a parcel on La Montrachet vineyard produced only 2696 bottles during this year Or try this: 1999 Ramonet Montrachet Final verdict: Not the best vintage for white Burgundy 94p 1992 Domaine Leroy Richebourg Average auction price: Bottle condition: Colour: Nose: Palate: 1992 (France) €488 A1 Light, ruby-red Evolved, wild, complex, earthy Medium-bodied, vivid, energetic, refined tannins, intense red fruits, concentrated Finish: Long, lingering, silky, smoky In a nutshell: Delicious and vibrant Buy or not: Absolutely yes! Tasted: Twice, last in 5/2012 Decanting time: 3 hours Glass time: 5 hours When to drink: Now to 2025 Food pairing: Roasted guinea fowl with morrels Fake factor: Low Inside information: Domaine Leroy is known for its energetic owner, Mme Lalou Bize-Leroy, who used to run the famous Domaine de la Romanée-Conti (DRC) with Aubert de Villaine. After being discreted from DRC in the end of 1980s, she decided to challenge Domaine de la Romanée-Conti and established her own domaine. She acquired vineyard holdings in 1988, and in 1992 the winery officially launched its first vintage. She has become known for her great wines as well as for being a pioneer of biodynamic wine production in Burgundy. Or try this: 1992 Méo-Camuzet Richebourg, Burgundy, France Final verdict: A great Burgundy that delivers a promise of a greater future 88 FINE 1988 < Benazir Bhutto, the first Islamic woman Prime Minister, is chosen to lead Pakistan < Pan Am Flight 103 explodes over Lockerbie, Scotland < CDs outsell vinyl records for the first time < Movies: The Big Blue, Rain Man, Die Hard 1989 < The Berlin Wall falls < The Tiananmen Square protests take place < High-definition television is invented < Movies: Batman, My Left Foot, Driving Miss Daisy 1990 < Nelson Mandela is freed < Lech Walesa becomes the first President of Poland < The Hubble telescope is launched into space < The World Wide Web (WWW), Internet protocol (HTTP) and WWW language (HTML) are created < Movies: Dances with Wolves, Wild at Heart, Pretty Woman, Curano de Bergerac 1991 < The Soviet Union collapses < Boris Yeltsin becomes the first freely elected president of the Russian Republic < South Africa repeals its apartheid laws < Movies: The Silence of the Lambs, Barton Fink, Mediterraneo 1992 < The Cold War officially ends < The Yugoslav Federation is broken up and Czechoslovakia’s Parliament approves two separate nations: The Chech Republic and Slovakia < There are 900 million television sets in use around the world < Riots occur in Los Angeles after the Rodney King verdict < Movies: Basic Instinct, The Bodyguard, Scent of a Woman 1993 < The World Trade Center in New York is bombed < The Maastricht Treaty takes effect, creating the European Union < Michael Jackson is accused of child abuse < Movies: Jurassic Park, Schindler’s List, The Piano

The term ”garagiste”, used in a good sense as often as in a bad one, was coined to describe those small producers in Bordeaux whose production, according to wine writer Michel Bettane, ”was so small that it would fit into a garage”. The contrast with the grandiose wine castles in the region is huge, especially if you look at Le Pin – the best spot in Pomerol and the initiator of the boom. The tiny, haphazardly plastered building looks more like an uninhabited shack waiting to be pulled down. Only a small amount text on the side of the mailbox reveals that you are close to the origin of cult wine. Château Le Pin was the first of the ”garage wines”, or micro-chateau, that have become cult collector wines. Belgian-born Jacques Thienpont bought Le Pin in 1979, and its popularity flared up as early as the hot year of 1982. The ”Domaine de la Romanée-Conti of Pomerol” had seen daylight. Although it is an unclassified Bordeaux wine from the Pomerol appellation, Chateau Le Pin commands prices that put it at levels equal to the best wines of Bordeaux. Madame Laubie, whose family had owned the plot since 1924, sold the vineyard in 1979 to the Belgian Thienpont family for one million francs. Developed by Marcel and Gérard Thienpont on less than two hectares, wine was produced by microcuvée from a farmhouse basement. The property was given the name Le Pin by the Thienponts thanks to a solitary pine tree that shades the property. By acquiring tiny adjoining plots of land, Jacques has doubled the size of Le Pin to five acres. Occasionally the most expensive wine in the world, continually receiving high ratings from wine critics and produced in extremely small numbers, Le Pin bottles are a constant presence on the wine auction market. Le Pin produces just 600 to 700 cases each year. Le Pin is located on the edge of the Pomerol plateau on very poor gravel and clay soil with high iron content. The wine is a blend of 92 per cent of Merlot and eight per cent Cabernet Franc. The vines’ average age is 32 years and nowadays the two-hectare vineyard annually yields around 6000 bottles. The vintage 1979 was not superb but turned out well in Pomerol. A wet winter was extended to a wet spring. The growing season was mostly dry and temperatures remained low. Both Merlot and Cabernet Franc were ideally harvested ripe, resulting into wines with luscious and rich texture. 95p 1993 1993 Le Pin (France) Average auction price: Bottle condition: Colour: Nose: €2180 A1 Bright, deep, profound Open, noticeable, passionate, oak, kirsch, exotic spices, vanilla, honey Palate: Medium-bodied, mellow, ripe, wellbalanced, multi-layered, seductive, smooth, velvety, sweet tannins Finish: Warm, long-lasting, intense In a nutshell: As perfect as a 1993 Bordeaux can be Buy or not: If you have to ask the price, then don’t buy it. Tasted: 9 times, last in 5/2012 Decanting time: 1.5 hours Glass time: 2 hours When to drink: Now to 2030 Food pairing: Beef mignon with truffle sauce Fake factor: None Inside information: Jacques Thienpont purchased 1.6 hectares of land for one million francs in 1979. They named their wine Le Pin after a solitary pine tree that shaded the property. Or try this: Pétrus 1993 Final verdict: Perhaps the best 1993 in the world C E N T U R Y TA S T I N G 89 F I N E C e n t u r y Ta s t i n g 1993 Le Pin

1994 1994 Harlan Estate Bill Harlan has always had one goal in winemaking, and that is to create the First Growth wine in Napa that will be recognised worldwide. To achieve this, Harlan understood decades ago that he needed land with the potential to deliver complex and unique characters to the wine. After ten years of researching the quality of land in Bordeaux and Burgundy, and comparing it to the valuable land and history of Napa Valley, Harlan believed he had found his piece of land. Since grafting the first wines in 1987, the team at Harlan Estate has dedicated itself to expressing the qualities of their land. The best clones of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot are grafted in the most suitable rootstocks. The vineyard is nurtured with ultimate care throughout the growing season to gain the purest fruit with the best expression of its site. The workers in the vineyard have been working for Harlan Estate from the very beginning. They truly know each role of the vines. The harvest is done by these experienced workers through several pickings – cluster by cluster. This is often repeated 3 or 4 times, after which the fruit is still selected grape by grape. This is done just to avoid anything other than grape material, such as pieces of leaves or stems, getting into the fermentation tank. Every picking lot is always processed separately. The lots are vinified in small batches, either in stainless steel or wooden fermentors. The ageing is completed in French barriques. The vinification process is intervened in as little as possible to obtain the terroir characters. Taster’s comment: 1994 Harlan – OK, so I know this wine at first smell...almost, if it is in fact the 1994. I’ve had the privilege of drinking it on multiple occasions if it is what I think. The main clue is the noble and fresh cassis and the subtle oak that is more than what greets you in Bordeaux of equal age. Damn this wine has class. Opaque midnight liqueur of black fruits to the eyes. Then the first sip... yes it has to be the famous 1994 Harlan Estate. It is definitely Bob Levy’s hand, and the darkness and volume on the palate tells me it was the warmth and duration of the hang-time that could achieve these flavours. But not too much ripeness. The wine is flawless, and that is the only negative thing I could say about such a legend, its a bit too perfect after having all of these antique flavours of sometimes underripe nuanced Bordeaux of lower alcohol levels. This Harlan is, however, an American icon, and embodies the American dream; power, weight density, volume, that acts like it is not even trying. Liquid nobility. Cheers to my home: Napa Valley! 1994 Harlan Estate 93p 1994 (USA) Average auction price: Bottle condition: Colour: Nose: €900+ A1 Deep, ruby Rich, intense, ripe cherries, floral, cigar box, tense Palate: Full-bodied, silky tannins, smooth texture, rich jammy fruit, spicy, complex Taster’s comment: The mouthfeel is complimented with seductive toasty and perfumy flavours. While its structure is very silky it has monstrous weight and power that stands out discreetly. Finish: In a nutshell: Buy or not: Tasted: Decanting time: Glass time: When to drink: Food pairing: Long, intense, sweet tannins Volaptuous and hedonistic Always 6 times, last in 5/2012 3 hours 3 hours now to 2025 Grilled fillet of venison with roasted root vegetables Fake factor: Low Inside information: The Harlan Estate covers around 16 hectares on hilliside vineyards. The volcanic soil adds a good dose of depth, power and concentration to the wine. This vintage yielded less than 2000 cases of wine. Or try this: Colgin Cabernet Sauvignon Herb Lamb Vineyard 1994, Napa Valley, USA Final verdict: Among the best Harlan wines ever made 90 FINE

F I N E C e n t u r y Ta s t i n g 1995 Château de Beaucastel Hommage à Jacques Perrin The name Châteauneuf-du-Pape bears an ecclesiastic heritage, with the straight translation being: “The new castle of the Pope”. From 1305 to 1375, which marked the periods of ascendancy of seven Popes, the holy throne was relocated from Rome to the tiny village of Avignon. The background to this relocation was nothing less than a holy power struggle, between the king of France and the Pope. For a chang, the King was more powerful and he had the Pope and his entourage moved to an almost forgotten French village. So there is a little mockery in the name, though nobody seems to remember it anymore. Today, when we are enjoying the wines of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, we are in fact enjoying the fruit of the fields primarily cleared for the Pope. The monastic order of Saint Lazare was founded by Vincent du Paulo at the beginning of the 17th century. The order was devoted to helping the underprivileged and the sick – especially in the countryside. Many charity houses and hospitals were founded by the order, and people suffering from leprosy or epidemics found care there. One of these Lazarets was placed in the village of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, where it offered shelter to numerous people during the epidemic periods of the 18th century. In 1989, 1990, 1994 and 1995, the weather conditions were so favourable that the Perrins decided to make a special cuvée in all these years in honour of their father. The Château de Beaucastel Hommage à Jacques Perrin of those years was made mostly from very old Mourvèdre vines which yield tiny quantities of intensely ripe, concentrated fruit. Beaucastel’s winemaking philosophy is quite unique: “We try to place the vine in its universe. That is to say we relate it to the earth, the animal life and the stars by which it is influenced.” Sounds uncommon, but it seems to be working remarkably. 1995 1995 Château de Beaucastel 95p Hommage à Jacques Perrin (France) Average auction price: Bottle condition: Colour: Nose: Palate: €375 A1 Medium intense, cherry-red Intense, rich, smoky, ripe red fruits, floral Medium-bodied, delicate, vivid, harmonious Finish: Mellow, moderately long, balanced In a nutshell: Opulent and complete Buy or not: Yes Tasted: 2 times, last in 5/2012 Decanting time: 3 hours Glass time: 3 hours When to drink: 2020 Food pairing: Grilled ribs with pepper sauce Fake factor: None Inside information: The most appreciated Châteauneuf- du-Pape producer, the Perrin family, decided to launch this wine to honour their late father, Jacques Perrin. The first vintage was 1989 and eversince then ten more vintages have been released. The wine is made mostly from Mourvèdre variety, which derives from the very old vines. Château Beaucastel launches this wine only in very good vintages. Or try this: Penfolds Grange 1994, South Australia Final verdict: The First Growth Châteauneuf-du-Pape C E N T U R Y TA S T I N G 91

1996 1996 Krug Clos du Mesnil Taster’s comment: A 1996 Krug Clos du Mesnil had aromas of vanilla cream, toast and yellow ice cream. There were straw and hay flavours, along with vanilla, and ‘wow’ and ‘wonderful’ came from the crowd. It was a bit more approachable than most memories that I have of this legend, but I wasn’t complaining. 1994 < The Channel Tunnel opens, connecting Britain and France < Nelson Mandela is elected President of South Africa < The Rwanda genocide occurs < Movies: Forrest Gump, Farinelli, The Lion King, Pulp Fiction 1995 < Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin is assasinated by a Jewish radical < DVD (Digital Video Disc) is invented < A nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subway kills eight and injures thousands < Movies: Toy Story, Sense and Sensibility, Braveheart 1996 < Britain is alarmed by an outbreak of “mad cow” disease < Web TV is invented < Chechens capture 2000 Russians < Movies: The English Patient, Fargo, Independence Day, Mission: Impossible 1997 < Hong Kong is returned to China < Scientists clone sheep < The Hale-Bopp comet is visible in the sky < Princess Diana dies in a car crash < Movies: Titanic, Men in Black, The Full Monty 1998 < Indonesian dictator Suharto steps down after 32 years in power < Viagra is invented < Movies: Shakespeare in Love, Saving Private Ryan, Elizabeth 1999 < The euro becomes the new European currency < The Panama Canal is returned to Panama < Movies: Eyes Wide Shut, The Matrix, All About My Mother, Fight Club, Notting Hill 92 FINE

VINTAGE 1996 BY PETER LIEM, the Champagne specialist One of the most controversial champagne vintages of the modern day, 1996, produced rich, powerfully-structured wines that were initially hailed as some of the finest that the region had ever seen. As time has progressed, however, the ’96s have been the subject of intense debate, with both producers and consumers raising questions about their development and longevity. The year began with a dry, cold winter that saw temperatures drop as low as minus 20C in February. Fortunately, the vines escaped major damage, thanks in part to a strong north wind that circulated the cold air. As is becoming increasingly more common in modern times, the weather fluctuated dramatically over the next few months: sunny weather in April saw temperatures climb to 26C, yet May brought more frost, with a low of minus 5.5C reported in the Vallée de l’Ardre. June was largely warm and sunny except for a brief period of cold around the 19th, which resulted in the bizarre combination of precocious growth along with millerandage, particularly in Chardonnay. The summer was mostly hot and dry up until the latter part of August, and the northerly wind continued to blow throughout the season. Cold September nights in the weeks leading up to the harvest preserved that famous ’96 acidity; the harvest began as early as September 14 in some areas, and continued until mid-October under sunny skies. One thing to remember about 1996 is that it was essentially unique – nobody had ever seen a vintage with the same combination of high ripeness and high acidity. Producers were thrilled with the extraordinary phenomenon of “10/10” (10 degrees of potential alcohol and 10 g./l. of acidity), which involved sugar levels comparable to those of 1989 and 1990 but also acidity levels of vintages such as 1986 or 1980. On paper, this should be terrific, even ideal. In some cases, it probably is. But not all ’96s have aged gracefully, and this has provoked a good deal of criticism. “Most of the 1996s will die before the complexity of the fruit balances out the acidity,” says Charles Philipponnat of Champagne Philipponnat. Richard Geoffroy, chef de cave of Dom Pérignon, offers an explanation for the variability of the ’96s. “Many Champenois don’t think the same, but 1996 is about concentration from dehydration in the berries,” he says. “The north wind concentrated the acidity, the flavours and the sugars in the berries. But the pitfall of ’96 was that it concentrated the oxidative compounds in the bad grapes. Many people were seduced by these components at the time of blending, but they have evolved very rapidly. This is why some wines are not yet ready to drink, while others are already over the hill. This is also why there are not many rosés from ’96, because of this oxidation in the Pinot Noir.” Geoffroy also notes that the wines of Burgundy show similar characters in this vintage, and have correspondingly suffered from similar problems. 1996 94p 1996 Krug Clos du Mesnil (France) Average auction price: Bottle condition: Colour: Nose: €1145 A1 Deep lemon-gold Waxy nose of apple jam, spices and still prominent oak Palate: Concentrated, oaky palate which still needs time to integrate and soften, very intense and complex Finish: Long, powerful and linear In a nutshell: Outrageous Buy or not: Considering its price, not now Tasted: 4 times, last in 2010 Decanting time: 20 minutes Glass time: 1 hour When to drink: 2015 to 2030 Food pairing: Perhaps best appreciated on its own Fake factor: None Inside information: Clos du Mesnil is a 1.84-hectare vineyard located in the heart of Le Mesnil-sur-Oger. The vineyard has been protected by walls since 1698. Or try this: Salon 1996 Final verdict: Needs time, but will be great. C E N T U R Y TA S T I N G 93 F I N E C e n t u r y Ta s t i n g The story of Clos du Mesnil started in 1698 when a 1.85 hectare plot on the outskirts of the village of Le Mesnil-sur-Oger was sealed with walls for reasons unknown. The village grew in size and in 100 years the vineyard plot was surrounded by housing. The walls protected the vineyards being dug up and from being used for housing purposes. The plot landed in the hands of the Krug family, as the brothers were searching for new vineyard acquisitions in 1975. A property was being sold in the Côte de Blancs, and, as vineyard land was fiercely sought after, the brothers acquired the plot without really seeing what they had bought. When they first saw the Clos du Mesnil, they became very excited by the idea of producing a single vineyard wine. As the plot was not in good condition, Krug had to take the decision to replant it. Therefore, the first vintage of Krug Clos du Mesnil dates back to 1979 when the vines were old enough to produce good wine, and when the unique quality of the wine from the plot was realised. The Clos du Mesnil is produced in a similar way to the vintage. The plot comprises of six individual parcels of varying vine ages. Each is picked and vinified separately. Enhancing terroir attributes is the guiding philosophy throughout vine growing and vinification. Rémi Krug stresses that it was not the single vineyard concept that was fascinating in itself. Instead, it was the uniqueness of the parcel and its wine; “a diamond one wishes to show on its own”. The Krugs always insist that the Clos du Mesnil is a unique wine, but that it is never better than the vintage or the Grande ­ Cuvée. In this massive vintage, however, the Clos du Mesnil is a true diamond of a wine.

1997 1997 Screaming Eagle After terrible winter floods, 1986 was another early vintage in Napa Valley. The flowering season, early due to several consecutive heat waves, was already advanced when estate agent Jean Phillips arrived at a vineyard by the Silverado Trail and Oakville Crossroad. With her experience of numerous properties and vineyards, Phillips senses something extraordinary and magical there, and realises she wants this ranch for herself. Without knowing much about the quality of the wines from the plot, she makes an offer for it. The price is accepted and, having paid, Phillips becomes the owner of the 57-acre vineyard. The majority of the varieties cultivated on the plot are white grapes, and its 80 vines of Cabernet Sauvignon cover much less than one acre of land. Having received encouraging feedback on the quality of the Cabernet grapes grown here from the Robert Mondavi Winery, Phillips decides to start her own winemaking operation. Extensive planting lies ahead. Phillips hires respected wine consultant Richard Peterson, who introduces her to his winemaker daughter, Heidi Peterson Barrett. The two women form a friendship that will produce a wine whose début vintage of 1992, launched in 1996, completely charms even the most esteemed wine critic, Robert Parker. He gives it 99 points. With only a few hundred cases produced, this becomes the most sought-after wine overnight. Only four years after its launch, six magnum bottles of 1992 Screaming Eagle go at the Napa Valley Wine Auction for the highest price ever paid for a wine: half a million dollars. A legend is born. 94p 1998 1998 Coche-Dury CortonCharlemange (France) Average auction price: Bottle condition: Colour: Nose: €1875 A1 Light, bright, yellow Pronounced, intense, fresh, mineral, smoky, lime Palate: Dry, medium-bodied, crisp, broad, mineral, fresh fruit, pineapple, refined oaky flavours, vanilla Finish: Long, lingering, complex, vivid, tasty In a nutshell: Solid and sophisticated Buy or not: It is expensive, but it’s a damn good wine, so yes! Tasted: Decanting time: Glass time: When to drink: Food pairing: Twice, last in 5/2012 2 hours 3 hours 2025 Smoked marlin with ginger-flavoured butter and gnocchi Fake factor: Low Inside information: Coche-Dury is one of the best white wine producers in Burgundy, and thanks to Parker’s promotion its wines have skyrocketed. The family owns nine hectares of vineyards in Burdungy and is well-known as the king of Meursault. However, this Corton-Charlemagne is the only Grand Cru they produce. They acquired the 0.34 hectare plot in the famous Corton hill from Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru back in 1986. This year they doubled their ownership in CortonCharlemagne after purchasing a formerly hired vineyard parcel. Or try this: Domaine Comte Lafon Montrachet 97p 1997 1997 Screaming Eagle (USA) Average auction €2714 Grand Cru 1998, Burgundy, France Final verdict: If DRC Montrachet is the queen of the whites wines, this must be the prince price: Bottle A1 condition: Colour: Bright, deep, capable Nose: Influential, sweet, ripe, expansive, tar, kirsch, black fruits, plum, herbs Palate: Distinguished, well-balanced, opulent, plush, very ripe, multifaceted, intense, voluptuous, firm backbone Finish: In a nutshell: Buy or not: Tasted: Decanting time: Glass time: When to drink: Food pairing: Fake factor: Rich, long, well-balanced, mesmerising All-embracing baggage Perhaps a bit too steep 11 times, last in 5/2012 3 hours 2 hours Now to 2030 Grilled venison with morel sauce None, but be careful when buying bigger sized bottles Inside information: Made only 500 cases. The first 100-point Screaming Eagle rated by Robert E. Parker. Or try this: Harley-Davidson Heritage Softail Classic 1997 Final verdict: Try it at least once in your lifetime. 94 FINE Taster’s comment: The 1997 Screaming Eagle a perfect wine – also having the privilege to have the wine presented for your birthday was very special for me. When you emailed asking if I had any in my cellar it reminded me of the time we enjoyed my last bottle at Ocean Reef during the wine dinner we enjoyed together. I called Screaming Eagle and there was very little in inventory and nothing available until I mentioned it was for your 50th Birthday Celebration. A perfect wine among the greatest wines ever presented.

F I N E C e n t u r y Ta s t i n g 1999 Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc Since its founding in 1985, Cloudy Bay has been the best known vineyard in New Zealand – even though during its first year it didn’t even have its own estate or vineyards. The grapes were bought from other estates and the wine was produced in rented space. Today, Cloudy Bay has 45 hectares of vineyards and its annual production is more than 600 000 bottles. Cloudy Bay is situated in Wairau Valley, which is located in the Marlborough region. This unique wine region enjoys a cool, marine climate where the sun ripens the grapes for longer than in the rest of New Zealand. The estate is named after a bay in Wairau Valley – a bay that Captain Cook named Cloudy Bay in 1770. When Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc 1996 was chosen as the best white wine in the world in 1997 by the respected American Wine Spectator magazine, the recognition began the estate’s worldwide succes. New Zealand, and especially the Marlborough region, offers ideal conditions for the production of the strong-flavoured Sauvignon Blanc grape. And it was this possibility to make strong, lively and aromatic wines that lured David Hohnen to Marlborough in 1985; it was also the main reason for the founding of Cloudy Bay Vineyard. ”The aim of our wine making has always been to preserve the fruitiness of the grapes our vineyards produce, and to come up with wines that have excellent structure and balance and that are delicious right away when they are released to the market. In the development of our own style, we have concentrated on improving the cultivation circumstances, aiming to produce grapes that are rich – especially in more difficult years – but that also have a fresh and lively taste. Our production methods are quite normal: ageing in stainless steel tanks using yeast, and bottling at a relatively early stage. These methods are derived from the charasteristics and flavour qualities of the grapes of our region,” describes Kevin Judd, the first Chief Wine Maker of Cloudy Bay. The quality of the wine and the points it received made it extremely desired worldwide, especially in England, and it also started to appear on the lists of the largest wine auctions. As a result, there was a slight increase in the price, and the wine became, at least momentarily, New Zealand first international investment – a rare status for a Sauvignon Blanc wine on the whole. Taster’s comment: Dinner began with a ‘young Sauvignon Blanc,’ but, although it was Sauvignon Blanc, it wasn’t that young, at least for the grape. Aromas of grass, grapefruit, cat’s pee, gooseberry and rye bread were all present in this pungent white. The palate had sweet pineapple and passion fruit flavours and a ripe and racy finish. This was a pure and tropical wine that was impressively fresh, given the fact that it was a 1999 Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc. 1999 Bay Sauvignon Blanc 91p 1999 Cloudy (New Zealand) Average auction price: Bottle condition: Colour: Nose: €65 A1 Bright, yellow, light Lean, pure, intense, fragrant, delicate, pineapple, lime Palate: Dry, fresh, vivid acidity, intense fruit, tropical fruits, youthful Finish: Moderately long, perfumey, intense, persistent In a nutshell: Changing from a flirty young wine to a wine with more depth and nuances Buy or not: Yes, if you can find any older vintages as they seem to have been drunk when they were released Tasted: 10 times, last in 5/2012 Decanting time: 30 minutes Glass time: 1.5 hours When to drink: 2019 Food pairing: Lobster Thermidor Fake factor: None Inside information: Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc is the only New World white wine that has been auctioned en primeur. Or try this: Robert Mondavi Winery To Kalon I Block Fume Blanc 1999, Napa Valley, USA Final verdict: A solid performer C E N T U R Y TA S T I N G 95

COLUMN JOHN KAPON Don Does the Kapons The G iven December with The Don ended so nicely, and since I have severely missed his company at the dinner table for much of 2012, I made another date with him for early 2013 to catch some football and bring the whole family out. Of course, at the time, we thought we would be watching the Giants together. As is customary, The Don sent me down into the cellar to make a few selections. My son, Nicholas, who is aged 13 going on 25, followed me down into the cellar to ‘check it out’ and help with the selections. Upon entering the cellar, he couldn’t believe how many rooms and bottles were below. After a barrage of ‘how much is this bottle worth,’ he soon decided that we should have something from his vintage, 1999. ‘Good idea,’ I concurred – I see many great tastings in his future. My daughter Maggie soon entered, and, upon discovering what we were doing, quickly decided we should have something from her vintage, too, which is 2001. 96 FINE Of course, we couldn’t exclude little Katerina from 2010 or her mother’s birth year of 1982. Last, and definitely least, I found something for Old Man Kapon from 1971. Upon returning upstairs, The Don loved our idea, and the evening was off and running with a 2010 Dauvissat-Camus Chablis Preuses. For those of you who don’t know, the DauvissatCamus and ‘standard’ Dauvissat are the same wines, but divided up for economic reasons within the family. Its nose was packed with aromas of smoky, scallopy fruit along with crushed seashells, lime, citrus and a wound, intense minerality that carried over to the palate – which itself possessed hints of exotic guava. The character of 2010 was self-evident immediately, and The Don quickly commented on how he thought 2010 was the better overall vintage, although he was not trying to take anything away from 2009. When it comes to Burgundy, The Don is like E.F. Hutton – and I listen (94p). A 2001 Haut-Brion Blanc was next, as Bordeaux made a rare interjection into The Don’s rotation. He is a closet lover of Haut-Brion Blanc, which I completely understand. Dry white Bordeaux in general still remains a bit of a secret; the quality overall is better than ever be-

FINE Kapon fore when you look at wines like Pape-Clément, Smith-Haut-Lafitte, Domaine de Chevalier, etc. There are a lot of great wines being made there today. Back to Little Miss Maggie and the 2001, which had aromas of glue, honey and yeast in its forward, pungent and gamey nose. The palate seemed ready to go, or ‘in the middle’ of its drinking window as The Don put it. There was a heaviness to its character, along with a soft, plush body. Amazing marzipan aromas developed in its nose along with dried pineapple flavours in this delicious white (94p). Then it was on to Nick The Pick and the reds with a 1999 Méo-Camuzet Vosne-Romanée Les Brûlées, which had a tight, pungent nose, especially for a 1999. There was a touch of gas up front with purple flowers and bricks behind. It gave more fruit on the palate: ‘tight but juicy’, The Don noted. There were a lot of ceramic qualities to the Brûlées, which also had a citrusy bite. Its acid was long and extraordinary; this wine felt too young. Touches of rubber and leather rounded out its bright finish (94+p). A rare 1982 Roumier Bonnes Mares, and an ode to Mama, was up next,. I always love tasting old, forgotten vintages from master producers, and this bottle reminded me why. It had a fabulous nose full of rose, cherry, tea leaves and bread crust. There was great t ‘n a as well to this complex nose. The palate was showing autumnal flavours, which were balanced with great citrus and broth qualities. This was very special, especially given the vintage, and possessed lots of complexity in its flavours. Even though it started to fade a bit quicker than the others, it was a beautiful and mature wine. I suppose if I drank a whole bottle of this by myself I may have given it a point less, as the vintage might not have held up as well over time (94p). Lastly, we sampled a sumptuous and rare 1971 Dujac Echézeaux, in honour of yours truly. At the time, I believe they only made a barrel or two of this beauty, and this was only the third vintage commercially released by this now legendary Domaine. The ’71 was underbrush city, and like crawling through the forest floor while seeking out a bowl of mushroom soup. Its soupy, meaty nose had a delightful, brown sugar glaze. The palate was soft and tasty with a ‘love me tender’ finish. This was a perfectly mature beauty of a ‘Burg’ (94p). It was another wonderful evening with The Don – five of a kind, both in ratings and family. In the end, everyone was saying ‘Uncle,’ both to the wines and to the man – the one, the only, The Don. > COLUMN 97

THRILLS & CHILLS Power on Ice 2013 In FInland Is the hIghlIght oF the Bentley extreme drIvIng calendar. here, you can lose yourselF In the sensuous Ballet oF a car drIFtIng on Ice or Push yourselF to the lImIt In a real test oF drIver and machIne Ice Driving 472 x 297.indd 80 17/12/12 14:11:16 Ice D

:11:16 Four time World Rally Champion, Juha Kankkunen. at Bentley, they know that connoisseurs of fine cars also expect the ultimate driving experience. so while Bentley’s engineers push the engineering boundaries of performance and refinement, the driving team creates ways for owners to explore their cars’ full potential. and where better to push performance and control to their limits, than at the very edge of the arctic, on frozen Finnish lakes? like all things Bentley, Power on Ice is unique. each winter a small number of Bentley aficionados from all over the world converge on a point 7,342km north of the equator: the exclusive winter playground of ruka. the expedition does not venture into these extreme latitudes and temperatures simply for the saunas and scenery. they come for the sinuous ice tracks, designed by four-time world rally champion, Juha Kankkunen and carved into the surface of ruka’s frozen lakes. there, the group embraces the extraordinary art of ice driving and enjoys the camaraderie that Ice Driving 472 x 297.indd 81 comes from sharing an extreme experience, as well as wonderful luxury and well-earned relaxation with friends. driving on ice is all about balance and perfect throttle control, using the massive power to move the car in exactly the direction you want. Juha Kankkunen knows the cars like few others. In 2011, he broke the world ice speed record on the frozen Baltic sea, achieving 330.695km/h in a Bentley continental supersports. “you need to be balanced with the car and not try too hard!” he says. “there’s nothing to beat driving a Bentley at these speeds; the conditions may be perilous but the car responds so well to the slightest adjustment, which gives you the confidence to push even harder.” For 2013, Power on Ice promises everything that regular guests know and love – only more so. Indulgent accommodation in the stylish chalet ruka Peak or private luxury apartments, fine dining, great company and some additional fun with snowmobiles and dog sleds. at the request of some of the guests from 2012, the team has also added private flights between helsinki and Kuusamo to ensure connection times are more convenient. why do Power on Ice attendees speak so warmly of their experiences? yes, there is the scandinavian hospitality. there is the backdrop, too: a magical unspoilt wilderness, merely kilometres from the arctic circle and close to russia’s thickly forested border. a frozen world of deep snow, crystal clear air and white expanses home to bear, eagle, elk and reindeer. under the looming sky of a winter’s evening, the icy landscape can look like something from a fairytale – as though you might have stepped through a wardrobe into narnia. yet, these ice driving initiates make their pilgrimage for reasons far more profound. the exhilaration of handling a thoroughbred car on the most demanding surface is something you have to experience for yourself. after two days on the ice, you have learned to flick the car’s wheel at the precise moment in the turn; to apply power and brakes in perfect timing. what seemed unnatural yesterday is now a confident skill, not soon to be forgotten. you have drifted at speed, enjoyed the insights of working with professionals and shared the company of true driving enthusiasts. you have mastered speed in the most awesome environment of all, with the finest car you could have chosen. when you return home from Power on Ice 2013, you return with memories few others can share To register your interest for Bentley Power on Ice in February 2013, visit www.bentleydriving.com, or call the Bentley Driving team on +44 (0) 1675 445 945 or +1 866 369 4450. 17/12/12 14:11:20

Liv ex, – Changing The Way The Industry Buys and Sells Wine Text: Jeff Leve 100 FINE

FINE Collecting F ounded in 1999 by James Miles and ­ Justin Gibbs, Liv-ex set out with the admirable goal of changing the way the fine wine trade operates, despite hundreds of years of tradition. Using their background in finance, Liv-ex strove to add higher levels of efficiency, ­ transparency and safety, as well as provenance, in business to business transactions between members of the trade. From its humble beginnings, Liv-ex has morphed into an incredibly respected company that is widely quoted all over world. Their myriad of self-created indexes, based on weightings similar to the stock market, are seen as reliable indicators of the fine wine market. With 420 active merchants from 35 different countries, ­ Liv-ex has become an established player in the world of fine wine. To uncover how this happened and gain an inside view of their future plans, we sat down with the founder, James Miles, for an extensive interview. We asked fair and often straight-forward questions and received honest answers. L i v- e x 101

“Liv-ex is an acronym for the London International Vintners Exchange.” “65 per cent of our income comes from transactions and 30 per cent from data, subscriptions and the balance from storage, settlement and transport.” 102 FINE

FINE Collecting m FINe What was the inspiration behind Liv-ex? James Miles “We had bought and sold a small amount fine For people not familiar with Liv-ex, what is your core business? James Miles “Liv-ex is an acronym for the London International Vintners Exchange. I guess everything you need to know is in the name. People often find it hard to get their head around what an exchange does.” FINe What is Liv-ex’s business model? James Miles “When people talk about a stock exchange, or a metals exchange, or a wine exchange, they think of the product. Actually, an exchange is an information exchange, and the product is pretty incidental. Our business is about information and our unique selling point is our price data. Merchants come to us to find out the current price of wine, particularly the transaction price, where their competitors are actually trading. They can’t get this info from anywhere else. Furthermore, they also come for liquidity. Our marketplace has £20m of firm bids (to buy) and offers (to sell) advertised every day. Liv-ex is now amongst the biggest suppliers and/or biggest customers for many of our members.” FINe From where does Liv-ex earn its income? James Miles “65 per cent of our income comes from transactions and 30 per cent from data, subscriptions and the balance from storage, settlement and transport.” of fine wine in the traditional way and became fascinated by the market. Our observation was that it was both opaque and inefficient. We had a hunch that the Internet had the potential to change this and revolutionise the way fine wine was traded. At the time, we were stockbrokers and (as strange as it may seem) were struck by the similarities between stocks and wine (both are very fragmented markets in terms of products and players). With the advent of the Internet, many of the innovations devised to make stock trading more efficient, such as electronic trading and settlement, seemed transferable to wine.” FINe Were either of you involved at all in the wine trade, or was your primary experience in trading stocks? James Miles “I think it is fair to say that we weren’t particularly qualified. Justin was an equity salesman and I was an equity analyst covering small cap stocks in Asia. We knew little about wine and even less about the market – the only thing going for us was that we understood how markets worked. I think a healthy dose of naivety was essential. If we had been better informed we would never have attempted it. Not being from the trade also helped us to establish our independence early on, which was vital.” FINe What was your next step? James Miles “Our idea was to build a wine exchange for merchants along stock exchange lines, although this was a relatively contrarian idea at the time. Most people felt that the Internet provided the opportunity to cut out the middle man. Our thinking was that an exchange would only work along B2B lines. The rationale was, and remains, that consumers don’t have the time to trade wine all day long! We saw the opportunity not in terms of disintermediation, but in terms of cost. We felt that by driving down the cost of distributing information to almost nothing, the Internet opened up a gap in the market for our idea. Our vision was to make trading wine more transparent, efficient and safe to the benefit of wine lovers everywhere. It still is.” L i v- e x 103

FINe You make a big issue of transparency – is it more FINe What is your estimate as to the value of fine wine important than price? They are related. Transparency gives buyers confidence in the price. FINe Is wine a passion for you? James Miles “We love wine, but we were drawn to the trade by the business idea rather than by our passion for the product, which I know makes us pretty stupid!” FINe What wines do you purchase for your own personal cellar? James Miles “I tend to only buy to drink, although there is stuff in my cellar – like Carruades and Duhart Milon – which has become too expensive for me. My cellar is heavily concentrated in second and third tier Bordeaux like Lynch, Barton, Pontet Canet. I tend to only buy less expensive wines in the great vintages; I have a lot of lesser 2009s in magnums, for example – which I am delighted to have. I also have a smattering of Fourrier, Clos Papes and Boillot. I don’t tend to pay more than £500 per case for anything, but most of my stuff has an in price of £20–30 per bottle.” FINe During the formative years, did things progress slower or faster than you had originally anticipated? James Miles “I think nothing prepares you for just how hard it is to start a business. Convincing the middlemen that they needed a middleman was a tough ask. They would say, ‘I have been in this business for 20 years, why do I need you?’ It took us up to eight years to get the four or five biggest players in the UK on board.” FINe What intrigues you about the wine market today? James Miles “Everything! it is a fascinating market. I suppose this is fortunate, because we spend all day every day emerged in it, trying to make it more transparent, efficient and safe. But the most intriguing thing (as in all walks of life) is the people. It is the people that make the market tick. Most of our business is now done online, but we still like to meet our members and see the whites of their eyes.” traded today on an annual basis? James Miles “In 2011 it was about £4bn, but it will be down at least 30–40 per cent this year.” FINe How much of that is Bordeaux? James Miles “Last year, 94 per cent of Liv-ex trade was Bordeaux. This year it is 85 per cent.” FINe How much of that is First Growths? James Miles “Currently about 30 per cent, by value. But that is lower than normal.” FINe Do you think the current system of selling Bordeaux wine en primeur will continue in its present form? James Miles “Yes, as it is a brilliant system for the producers. I don’t see the structure changing in my lifetime, but it could still be more transparent, efficient and safe than it is currently.” FINe Where is the fine wine market heading these days? James Miles “The underlying themes are unchanged and positive. More people are drinking wine and, by and large, the rich are getting richer – particularly in emerging markets. This is good news for fine wine. Prices got way ahead of themselves – particularly those wines that were sought after in China, like Lafite Rothschild. The correction has been tough, but it is cyclical and not structural. The underlying demand and interest in fine wine hasn’t gone away, and I suspect it will be a while until we see another year like 2010 and 2011, which were both unprecedented.” FINe Why do you feel the model of trading wines using a stock exchange is the best model for the industry? James Miles “It is more transparent, efficient and safe.” FINe How have things changed for you at Liv-ex since you first began? James Miles “The Internet has made the market much more transparent and information travels much faster. In turn, this has made the market more accessible, increased confidence, opened up a multitude of new opportunities and made it much larger.” Liv ex – 104 FINE

FINe Are you still focused on business to business transac- at Liv-ex? tions exclusively? James Miles “Yes, we have no interest in trading with consumers or producers. Our members do this job very well. Consumers and producers do not trade wine all day long, as they have other priorities in their life. Our job is to facilitate trade amongst our members, not to put them out of business. If they do well, we do well.” FINe How many members are currently part of the exchange? James Miles “We have 420 merchants in 35 countries!” FINe Which countries are the most active? James Miles “The UK and France: London and Bordeaux are still home to nine of the ten biggest players in the world. The biggest merchants in Europe are also the biggest in China.” FINe Aren’t consumers better off purchasing wines at auction, rather than through traditional merchants? James Miles “Definitely not. Outside the US (and possibly Asia for the time being), auctions are an irrelevance. It is much cheaper and more convenient to trade with a merchant, and that is why the merchant market is ten times larger.” FINe What is your opinion regarding the decision by Chateau Latour to no longer offer their wines for sale as futures? James Miles “The decision is impossible to fathom. Not because it is bad for the market and the consumer, which it is, but because it makes no sense for the owners. When you can sell your wine for 500 euros per bottle in a single phone call, with minimal distribution or marketing costs, at gross margins of 98 per cent and hold no stock, why would you want to change a thing? It is a high risk, low return strategy.” FINe What wines should consumers look to invest in? James Miles “Well stored, older “drinking” Bordeaux seem to represent great value for drinkers and investors relative to recent vintages.” FINe On the flip side, what wines should consumers be selling today? James Miles “It is not a great time to be selling any wine at the moment. But, some young wines are still too expensive, particularly the second wines of the First Growths.” James Miles “Our growth has been affected recently by the sharp fall in prices and activity, but en primeur is less important to us than it is to many of our customers. In addition, 35 per cent of our income (a number which is still growing) comes from non-trading income. This means our business is less cyclical than most. Our income has grown ten-fold in the last seven years. It still feels like day one.” FINe Why did you create the initial Liv-ex 100 in 2004? James Miles “We publish a monthly market report for subscribers on our Cellar Watch service – cellar-watch.com­ is our cellar management tool for collectors. We first did it for fun to demonstrate a point in one of our reports and it just caught the imagination of the press. We realised that we had stumbled upon something quite important and spent a lot of time working out how to make it more scientific and useful. One day Bloomberg and Reuters called us up and asked if they could list our index on their platform. Since then, the 100 has become the benchmark for the industry. From a marketing perspective, it was a huge coup.” FINe How much has the 100 Index changed since its inception? James Miles “The 100 index is weighted by multiplying price by production and scarcity, and we depreciate supply as the wine ages to reflect the fact that wine gets scarcer as it gets older. So, there is a natural bias towards young wines with high production and big prices. Inevitably, this means the index is heavily weighted towards recent vintages of the First Growths. This reflects the reality in the market – i.e. Lafite makes 25 000 cases at £5–10 000 per case. Clearly, it is always going to be more important than a top Burgundy or a garage wine in California, where prices are high but quantities are tiny. Likewise, there is more Lafite 2009 about than the 1982. So, to answer your question, the vintages have changed but the brands that matter have not.” L i v- e x 105 FINE Collecting FINe What type of growth are you experiencing

“We will continue to obsess about making trading wine more efficient, transparent and safe for the benefit of wine lovers everywhere.” FINe Where are the prices for Bordeaux wine and other FINe What do you think will happen to the Bordeaux market when Robert Parker retires? James Miles “People will pay more attention to the consensus. I think this will be healthy.” FINe How pervasive is the problem of counterfeit wines today? James Miles “It is not a big problem for us at the moment, as most of our business is in young wines and the chain is easily tracked back to the producer. But, it is vitally important that we all remain vigilant. Counterfeit prevention begins with the producer. Thankfully, the chateaux are starting to take the problem more seriously and technology such as proof tagging is going to make a big difference!” FINe Where do you think the next generation of consumers is going to come from? James Miles I hope from traditional markets like the UK, the US, Europe and Japan, but also from new ones like China, Brazil and Russia. FINe How strong is the Asian marketplace today? James Miles “It is very tough, particularly in Greater China – which includes Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan. These markets are at the heart of the slow down and there are currently far too many players there. There is going to be a shakeout, which will be painful but necessary.” FINe With that as a starting point, what is your view of the Chinese market today – and its foreseeable future? James Miles “It is an exciting new market for the wine trade. There are early signs of some restocking at the moment for Chinese New year, which is positive and didn’t happen last year. We expect a gradual recovery as the new political order establishes itself, but the kind of activity we saw in 2010 and 2011 seems unlikely to return for a while. The market is going to be more sophisticated and discerning as it matures, but the interest in wine is real and enduring.” 106 FINE collectible wines heading? James Miles “It is a much more mixed picture than the headline numbers suggest. Away from the First Growths, mature wines and third and fourth tier wines in Bordeaux continue to do well. Wines on the Right Bank, like Angelus and Pavie, are actually experiencing all-time highs at the moment. Champagne, Burgundy and Rhône have also been relatively untouched. High quality wines at sensible prices will do well whatever the weather, as they are in high demand, are being drunk and are in short supply.” FINe With wines being purchased solely for investment, obviously excessive shipping is a costly endeavour. What are your plans to lessen the need for movement in transactions? James Miles “That is a very big question! The reason stock moves around is that legally an entity can only prove ownership of a wine if it is actually in their warehouse account. Our idea is to build and manage a central depository of ownership (basically a database of owners) above a certified network of warehouses that all perform to the same standards with regards to storage conditions, verification process, etc. In this scenario, transferring ownership would become a simple book entry (database transfer) and goods would not need to be moved unless physical delivery was a necessity. This will dramatically improve efficiency, transaction speed and provenance. There is far too much movement within the current system. If you were to build a supply chain for fine wine today, you wouldn’t build the current one. Furthermore, this is not just about investment wine as the vast majority of trade is in young wines; indeed, 90 per cent of Liv-ex’s trade is in the last ten vintages. On the whole, these wines are too young to drink and, as a result, most of our business is transacted between one storage account and another – even if it is travelling half way around the world in the process.” FINe What are your plans for the future at Liv-ex? James Miles “We will continue to obsess about making trading wine more efficient, transparent and safe for the benefit of wine lovers everywhere.” FINe What does the future hold for wine investing? James Miles “Wine and speculation in wine have been bed fellows since the beginning of time. As long as there is wine, there will be speculation. Both have a great future.” >

COLUMN Katie Kelly Bell Celebrate Adversity in the Vineyard M any years ago I suffered the illusion that beautiful wines only flourished in honeysuckle-scented landscapes of pastoral beauty. It was a charming fantasy but I’ve since learned that the reality is far less poetic. Struggle is vital to a wine’s complexity, adversity builds character and, because of this, things can get downright ugly in the vineyard. Some wines struggle with heat or water, some with unforgiving soil conditions, but the Numanthia wines are crafted under some of the most hostile conditions imaginable. Numanthia is located in Toro, Spain, a few hours north of Madrid. It’s a sleepy place, seemingly innocent enough, but the parched landscape, scorching heat and generally unforgiving weather conditions wreak havoc on the vines. The vineyards are littered with stones from the ice ages, and the landscape offers the 120-year-old vines only tumbleweed and wild herbs for company. And yet, the wild winds, punishing heat and arid climate give birth every year to one of Spain’s few (there have been nine) 100-point wines: Numanthia’s 108 FINE Termanthia. This extraordinary Spanish wine is proof that gorgeous, complex wines love a good fight in the vineyard. The result is wines (Numanthia makes three: Termanthis, Numanthia and Termes) that possess a racy dark perfume of spicy complexity and the sophisticated posture of a French Grand Cru. However, the ambitious efforts of winemaker Manuel Louzada also have their influence. Louzada is reluctant to take too much credit, attributing his success to the hardworking vines and his inspiration to the winery’s compelling namesake. Numanthia is named in honour of the Spanish legend of the Numantine Resistance. The region’s original settlers were Celtic-Iberian people

FINE Bell Katie Kelly Bell Contributor Katie Kelly Bell writes about wine, food and travel for several outlets including Decanter, Forbes and Modern Luxury magazines. Her experiences have taken her from the vineyards of Argentina to the press houses of Champagne. In between she has co-authored a travel guide to Ireland, The Everything Guide to Ireland (Adams Media), written a city guide for Atlanta (Northstar Media) and worked as a Senior Editor at The Wine Report. She is a member of the American Society of Journalists and Authors and was recently awarded the MAGS Award for Editorial Excellence. While she loves writing and traveling the world, she happiest at home in her kitchen, sipping wine and enjoying meals with her husband and three children. Keep up with her on her Forbes blog, Adventures in Taste. (Numantines) and in 134 BC the Romans came calling. Hoping for an easy takeover, the Romans met with fierce and surprising resistance that lasted nigh on twenty years. After endless rounds of intermittent Roman and Numantine skirmishes, the Roman emperor sent in a general to surround the city and starve it into submission. During the siege of Numantia, the Numantines sent messengers to try and per­ suade the Romans to end the siege and fight a real fight. The Romans refused. Rather than surrender to a life of slavery, the Numantine people burned themselves within their city. Louzada loves to tell that story, comparing his wines and their ferocious vineyard strugg- les to the Numantines. “Our wines celebrate that kind of unrelenting resistance with their massive concentration, bullish personality and honest fruit. They are so Numantine.” Indeed, the vines themselves are nothing short of courageous, enduring the unrelenting sun and heat despite mere inches of rainfall each season. Pests are never an issue because they can’t tolerate the weather, but winemaking in Toro has had its share of challenges. The Tinta de Toro vineyard yields are some of the lowest in the world (largely because the vines must be widely spaced to afford each one access to the meagre rainfall). Louzada admits that many years ago the region’s wines “were so tannic and powerful you could eat them with a knife and fork. Yet, today, Toro wines are beautiful and round on the outside and muscular and intense on the inside”. Taming such concentration and power requires patience and effort, unbelievable effort, but Louzada and his passionate band of locals are up to the task. Louzada really is a preservationist, deftly maintaining these relics of history for the next generation and for our pleasure today. And the truth is this: ugly, fierce vineyard struggles create beauty in the glass, and that is where the real poetry is found. > COLUMN 109

E N J O Y C H A M P A G N E L A U R E N T- P E R R I E R R E S P O N S I B LY.

“All my life I have sought the simplicity of a single line.” ANTOINE wATTEAU

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FINE White R iesling is undoubtedly Australia’s most frustrating grape. Winemakers, critics, retailers and almost anyone involved with the industry love it. The public, not so much, but the industry lives in hope (or possibly denial). There have been more sightings of a ‘Riesling revival’ than of Elvis, and there is surely more chance of actually finding the King. It is the white that winemakers love to drink, and that includes plenty from Marlborough – sacrilegious as that might sound. Text: Ken Gargett RIESLING 113

J ancis Robinson has described it as “indisputably the greatest white wine grape in the world”. Many of us would agree (anyone wishing to enter the fray on behalf of Chardonnay is welcome to do so, but the entry price is a bottle of Montrachet) that it is undoubtedly the most versatile. Think of the extraordinary German Rieslings, moving from the delightful off-dry Kabinett styles through to the incredibly rich, luscious Trockenbeerenauslese wines and the curious Eisweins. Australia offers wines that have a much drier style, though it also has plenty of fine late harvest and botrytis-infected examples. New Zealand also moves across the spectrum but must deal with fearsome levels of acidity. When they get the balance right, however, the wines can be amazing. And yet, the public has joined the ‘sauvalanche’ with all the fervour of any gold rush, and is ignoring the joys of Riesling. They much prefer this one-note wine to the symphony that Riesling can be. Sure, there are some extremely good examples of Sauvignon Blanc (Cloudy Bay, Dog Point, Greywacke from Marlborough and Shaw & Smith from the Adelaide Hills, to name but a few before we even consider Sancerre and Pouilly Fume), but they do not come within close to the complexity, intensity and length of so many top Rieslings. Rieslings can age magnificently. In Australia, Clare Rieslings eventually morph into wonderfully complex wines with floral notes 114 FINE and characteristics such as lemon butter on toast, honey and nuts, as well as so much more. Comparing a well-aged Riesling (and also a well-aged Hunter Semillon) with wines like Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Gris and plenty of others, is like comparing a Picasso with your neighbour’s kid’s finger-painting stuck to their fridge door with magnets. And the increasing use of the screwcap for Riesling, now almost universal in Australia and New Zealand, will only add to the lustre of cellaring these wines. A blanc canvas Few varieties can express their specific terroir to the extent that Riesling does. They may turn into a Picasso, but even his works were originally a blank canvas. Even that other great reflector of terroir, Pinot Noir, will exhibit far more of the winemakers’ touch than Riesling. Dry styles of Riesling are perhaps the least interventionist, from a winemaking perspective, of all wines. There is inevitably the question of how much of what is in the bottle represents the winemakers’ thumbprint and how much is simply terroir? For Clare Riesling, terroir rules. Of course, there are small influences: some will use only free-run juice while others will include a small amount that has had contact with skins – too much quickly leads to phenolic wines. Oak is effectively unknown. Whilst a certain amount of acidification was part of ‘the formula’ in days past, viticultural improvements have led to better balanced grapes and in most years nowadays, it is unnecessary. 2012 was such a year. Alcohol usually sits between 11.5% and 12.5%. Part of the image problem that afflicts Riesling has been the enduring confusion of just what it is, or was. And what style? A dollar for every time I’ve suggested opening a Riesling, only to be told ‘we don’t like sweet wine’. In Australia, it was not until 2000 that government legislation required correct labelling. Before that, truckloads of ‘Riesling’ were sold, notwithstanding that there was not a single drop of true Riesling amongst it (and a lot of it was either mawkishly off-dry or seriously sweet). Local winemakers who made true Riesling were forced to name it ‘Rhine Riesling’ to differentiate it. But it didn’t end there. We had wines labelled Clare Riesling (Crouchen) and Shepherd’s Riesling and Hunter Riesling (both Semillon).

FINE White “2002 was heralded as the next ‘great year’ and it has proved so. 2005 and 2009 are both exceptional and 2012 looks like another stunner. 2002 though, does stand above all others.” Made in Germany Riesling’s home is, of course, Germany, and we have seen what Alsace can achieve. In Australia, there is hardly be a region across the country where someone isn’t making Riesling, and, usually, doing it very well. The Clare Valley in South Australia is recognised as our most important region, producing wines of finesse, intensity and great ageing potential. The Eden Valley, also in South Australia, is a close second. Travel west across the country to the Great Southern region for Rieslings that continue to garner accolades; with some age, a lovely honey note so often emerges. The Canberra region is an underrated district, but has strong proponents in makers such as Helm Wines and Clonakilla. Ken Helm is so besotted with the variety that he has co-authored a book on Riesling (‘Riesling in Australia’ by Ken Helm and Trish Burgess) and in 2000 instigated the ‘International Riesling Challenge’ (www. rieslingchallenge.com), which has gone from strength to strength. It is a competition for Rieslings from around the world, with many hundreds of entries, and a plum appointment for wine judges. There are also fine Rieslings from Tasmania, parts of Victoria and elsewhere. It is easily forgotten that only a few decades ago there was more Riesling in Coonawarra than any other variety, including the famed Cabernet Sauvignon. Shot by his own camel The Clare Valley is quintessential Australia. Scenic rolling hills, gum trees, stone buildings dating back decades and sweeping vineyards. Wine has been made there for more than 160 years and was first produced in the area by John Horrocks, an Englishman, who began planting grapes in 1840. Unfortunately, he is best known for his curious death, given that he is reported to have been shot by his own camel. Apparently, the camel lurched unexpectedly fertile alluvial soil to the north, sandy loam and quartz in the Skillogalee Valley and terra rossa over limestone in Watervale. Rainfall largely occurs in winter and spring, while the low humidity helps to prevent disease. Conventional wisdom would decree that any region with the warm to hot summers found here would be an unlikely place for high quality Riesling. The heat summation sits at the same level as Rutherglen and is above that of the Barossa. Cool afternoon breezes help to ameliorate the heat and cool to cold nights assist in ensuring that the ripening of the grapes is a much slower process than one might expect. The varying altitudes, aspects and soils lead to variations on the theme within the Valley. There is actually more Shiraz, and Cabernet Sauvignon for that matter, grown in the Clare, but it is Riesling which is the gem. Balance is the key when he was exploring and his gun accidently fired. He died from the injuries a month later, though not before he’d had his poor camel shot in a rather petty act of revenge. During the early days in South Australia, the Clare Valley was called ‘the Garden of the North’ and locals still refer to their vineyards as ‘gardens’. The Clare sits between 400 and 500 metres above sea level and enjoys considerable diversity of soils – slate in the Polish Hill region, During their youth, they can be quite austere, lemony, steely and slightly floral, and often exhibit a generous dose of freshly squeezed lime juice; other flavours include grapefruit, rose petals, bath salts, green apples and passionfruit. Perfumed aromatics are a large part of their appeal. There should be good intensity and persistence, and the intensity should linger throughout. Balance is key and there will be delightfully refreshing acidity. They then develop into richer, toasty styles, with lemon butter and sometimes notes of RIESLING 115

honey, gaining considerable complexity. Now that almost all Clare Riesling is bottled under screwcap, they have the ability to age for two decades or more. Some develop a kerosene, or ‘petrolly’, note. Certain winemakers, including the man who was regarded as the finest Riesling maker of all, John Vickery (the great examples from Leo Buring made during the 1960s and 1970s are some of Australia’s classic wines), believe that this character is a fault. Others believe, in small doses, it adds to their complexity. In the end, it really comes down to whether one likes or even accepts a little of this character in their Riesling. Terroir-based expression In recent years, there has been a move to emphasise the various subregional differences. Some maintain a blend of the various districts but many now prefer a more terroir-based expression of Riesling, though often that is enforced as their vineyards are restricted to a single sub-region. The Clare is a region some thrity kilometres long and twenty wide, in general, and consists of seven sub-regions, each with varying characteristics – the warmer Auburn/ Leasingham; the more rounded and aromatic Watervale; Skillogalee Valley; Sevenhill; North Clare; East Clare Ranges; and the coolest, Polish Hill River, with its pristine, intense, ‘slatey’ notes. Watervale and Sevenhill were the first districts planted. As Jeffrey Grosset says, “Watervale is the classic Clare Riesling”. Andrew Mitchell describes Watervale Riesling as having “generosity and intensity of fruit flavour”. In general, Watervale will offer a more rounded character, as it is broader, more aromatic and has more fruit weight. The wines from Leasingham are often very similar to those from Watervale, while the other key sub-region, Polish Hill River, was described as having a “butterfly laciness to the aroma”. The best are uncompromisingly intense, minerally styles with a lime and slate note and paper-cut acidity. Vintage variations Suggestions that regions like the Clare experience little vintage variation are way off the mark. The first really great years of modern times were 1982 and 1990. When 1997 came around, there was almost universal acclaim. Superlatives and predictions of decades of glorious drinking filled the wine columns 116 FINE of the day. I say ‘universal’ as one or two dissenting voices felt that the excitement was somewhat misplaced. Neil Pikes of Pikes always believed that 1998 was a better year and he has been proven correct (Neil has always been one of those winemakers who ‘tells it as it is’, warts and all, and he remains my ‘source’ for accurate vintage information). The Rieslings from 1997 were certainly fine wines but they proved more forward than anticipated. 2002 was heralded as the next ‘great year’ and it has lived up to the hype. 2005 and 2009 are both exceptional and 2012 looks The Superstars and the almost universal success across producers, this was when we really saw the screwcap take hold. The original Australian Screwcap Initiative was launched by thirteen Clare Valley producers in 2000. There were concerns from some, and indeed a number of producers hedged their bets by placing half under cork and half under screwcap (the public took to it so quickly that not only did the ‘screwcapped’ wines sell out first, but some wine lovers actually refused to then buy what was left under cork), but by 2002, almost everyone was on board. Ten years is an appropriate time to assess progress. As Jeffrey Grosset, one of the Kings of the Valley, says of the dry Rieslings made in the Clare: “The ability of a wine to age is fundamental to its greatness... it is what we do, first and foremost.” Andrew Mitchell refers to it as “long established styles with a continual evolution”. It was a stunning tasting, with 25 wines from the vintage presented blind. Only one wine truly disappointed, but it had shown well elsewhere and it was assumed that the bottles of it opened here were from a bad batch. The wines were served in five brackets of five – two sets from Watervale, one from Polish Hill River and the other two a mix of several sub-regions. All of the wines were stored at the same time, in identical conditions, at Sevenhill Cellars. For the sake of fairness, any wines not stored at that time were not considered. For me, there were three stunning and world class wines, which have been set out below. Another four were a hair’s breadth behind them – Skillogalee, Pikes, O’Leary Walker ‘Watervale’ and the Wilson Vineyard. Yet another dozen were close – Koonawla, Eyre Creek, Mitchell’s, Crabtree Watervale, Jim Barry and the Jim Barry Lodge Hill, Kilikanoon’s ‘Mort’s Block’, Mt Horrocks, Grosset ‘Watervale’ (now called ‘Springvale’), Tim Adams, Petaluma and Penna Lane. > These three wines were the stars of the day for me. Stunning stuff. It is worth noting that a year or so ago, Neil Pike put on a vertical of all Pikes’ Rieslings from several decades. This included the ‘Traditionale’, which is his standard Clare Riesling, and ‘The Merle’, his reserve. The Merle is named in honour of Neil’s mother, a lovely lady who once uttered the delightful quote: “Neil, that sauvignon blanc juice is so much nicer before you turn it into wine”. Pikes’ Rieslings have a very strong following, because they are top wines sold at great prices. Among the stars at his tasting were the 2002s, with the ‘Traditionale’ actually nudging the ‘Reserve’, as it was then. It was an absolutely brilliant wine, and as fine a Clare Riesling as I’ve seen. On this day, it was again a wonderful wine, though not quite at that earlier level. The Reserve was not shown. All the wines were opened shortly before serving and most have been tasted numerous times over the years. Some are wines that friends and/or myself have bought, cellared and enjoyed since their release. These wines occasionally appear at Australian auctions and still represent extraordinary value. Grosset’s Polish Hill is probably the most expensive ‘02 at around $60 to $70, but upon release, most of these wines would have been little more than $20. Even today, current releases will be $20 to $35, with wines like Grosset’s Polish Hill and Pikes’ Merle nearing the $50 mark. As a result, the fake factor is minimal at best. I would strongly recommend purchasing any of these wines, if the opportunity arises. like another stunner. 2002 though, does stand above all others. The reason for this lies with the extremely cool summer which occurs in January and February. By the Autumn equinox, temperatures are usually cooling but in this topsy-turvy year they increased slightly, resulting in the grapes hanging on the vines for considerably longer than normal. Picking extended to the end of the second week of April – in comparison, in 2012 it was over by the second week of March. And so, the opportunity to taste through a selection of these wines in their 10th anniversary year was simply far too good to miss. Aside from the brilliance of the vintage Ability to age

FINE White A View from the Front The critics loved them, and so too did the Riesling fanatics, but what about the winemakers themselves? David O’Leary of O’Leary Walker Wines –“The 2002 Vintage was typified by a long and relatively mild growing season and, in particular, no sunburn on the exposed fruit; sun damaged fruit often gives the wines a slight caramelised character and adds a deeper colour. The colours in the wines were perfect, pale green. Pure Riesling character, much like the 2012 wines. Lovely purity of fruit and flavour.” David actually described them, perhaps with a dose of wishful thinking, as “SBK’s” – meaning ‘Sauvignon Blanc Killers’. He also mentioned the extraordinarily vivid colours of the red wines from this vintage – “again similar to the 2012” – and how fresh those wines are today. ? Jeff Grosset of Grosset Wines – “2002 was a cool year early, making the season later than normal, but then from mid-February it was warm (but not hot, so no heat wave conditions) and the even weather conditions were pretty much ideal. The nights were cooler than average, which maintained higher acidities. That is why often it is quoted as cool but sometimes moderate and relatively dry – it depends which end you look at, as March and April were thankfully warmer than average. It was late and so sometimes the wines seemed a little Sauvignon Blanc-ish, as in perfumed, lifted and powerful in flavor, but not generous early, as in not generous in weight. In that respect, 2012, for example, is a more ‘typical’ year than 2002 but Jeffrey Grosset. the relatively lean palates, with perfume and backbone or structure in 2002, made everyone confident that it was a year to put down. 2012, by comparison, is a ‘put down or drink’ year in my view. I like 2012 and years like it. These show what can be done in typical heat years, thereby challenging the theory that the cool years are always the best. They can be stand-outs like 2002. It always depends on how they unfold, as cool on its own is not necessarily a positive. The joys of primary production – if only it were that simple we could all just move to Tasmania, but it’s not.” ? Neil Pikes of Pikes Wines – “The 2002 Riesling vintage in the Clare Valley is definitely rated in the top 3 or 4 vintages since the new millennium. Along with 2005, 2009 and 2012, the 2002 wines reflect one of the cooler vintages here in our region. The summer Andrew and Neil Pike. of 01/02 was actually South Australia’s coolest summer on record. As a result, the long, slow ripening period which preceded harvest provided clean fruit with excellent levels of natural acidity and concentrated flavours for winemakers to ply their trade. I really do like the ‘02 Rieslings and clearly they are terrific, but I do have a soft spot for the 2005 wines. Our ‘05 Merle and ‘05 Trad are both as good as we have made and I find it hard to separate them.” As much as I enjoy Neil’s 2005 Rieslings, I’d still opt for the 2002s, given the choice. Peter Barry of Jim Barry Wines – “2002 was a very cool vintage with vines without stress. All the wines looked good from day one.” In typical Pete Barry style, he looked beyond the facts and figures to the end result: “It is a life pleasure to be drinking those wines from the 2002 vintage”. He also couldn’t help mentioning that on his birthday in 2002 he took delivery of a ‘Monaro’, which he is still driving (though anyone who has ever been in a car with Pete might just wonder how). Peter, Sam and Tom Barry. RIESLING 117

96p 2002 Clos Clare Riesling Colour: Pale gold Nose: Imagine the fresh morning dew in a lime orchard Palate: Very fine, very elegant, great finesse. Balanced, focussed and with drive. Still tight with hints of citrus, spices and florals 97p Colour: Pale lemon Nose: Fresh toast smothered with your Finish: Great persistence In a nutshell: If you were not aware that this was a grandmother’s lemon butter. Wet slate, fresh limes. A hint of chalk and rose petals. 2002 wine before tasting it, it is difficult to believe anyone would have guessed it was a decade old. Palate: Amazing freshness. Pure, elegant and intense. The complexity has slowly built up over the years and this gradual development has been spot on. Perfectly balanced. When to drink: Hard to imagine it will get better, but it just might. Inside information: The ‘clos Clare’ Riesling comes from a site that, in Aussie Riesling terms, is our equivalent to Montrachet – the famous Florita vineyard. This was the site that provided John Vickery with the fruit for some of the greatest Rieslings this country has ever seen, his Leo Buring Rieslings from the 1960’s and 1970’s. Leo Buring originally purchased the vineyard in the 1940’s, planting sherry varieties, Crouchen and Shiraz, but not Riesling. When Buring died in 1961, Lindemans purchased the business and retained a young, talented winemaker called John Vickery, who would become one of the earliest proponents of screwcap closures. At the time, there was a move from fortifieds to fresh whites. The 32-hectare vineyard was replanted, almost entirely to Riesling (leaving one hectare of Crouchen – who knows why?). In 1986, the corporate two-step in which so many of our major wineries were indulging saw Lindemans’ owners, Philip Morris, offload the vineyard, for a pittance. Peter Barry, of Jim Barry Wines, knew that this was a once in a lifetime opportunity, though they had to part with five acres, and the house, to help cover costs. Those five acres went to a local artist who sold the grapes to Grosset’s, before eventually establishing ‘clos Clare’ in 1993. It was sold in 1996 to Noel Kelly and then sold again in 2007, back to Peter Barry and his sons, Sam and Tom, completing the circle. Those five acres continue to make the ‘clos Clare’ Riesling. The remainder of the block is used in the Jim Barry Watervale, however since 2004, when the trademark on the ‘Florita’ name expired, a small amount of the finest grapes went to an individual release under that name. 2002 Sevenhill Riesling Finish: Quite incredible. In a nutshell: Probably about $15 when released, making it a bargain on the scale of the Dutch shifting a few beads, cloth and hatchets for Manhattan. When to drink: Extraordinary to think that this is only ten years old. Any time over the next few decades. Food pairing: Fresh prawns Inside information: The oldest winery in the Clare, established in 1851 by the Jesuit Order. The Order has always supplied the winemakers until very recently, but this wine was made by Brother John May, who spent nearly fifty years there before his recent retirement. Or try this: Prayer? Final verdict: One of the great wines from a brilliant vintage. If this doesn’t thrill, then you really don’t like Riesling. This is a near perfect dry Riesling. Or try this: Jim Barry ‘Florita’ Riesling 2005. Final verdict: A wine that more than lives up to the Florita pedigree. 96p 96p 2002 Grosset Polish Hill Riesling Colour: Still a very pale, youthful appearance Nose: Delightfully fresh, promising, youthful. Fine citrus notes, fresh lime juice Palate: Minerally texture overlaid by bright, clean, pure, pristine, citrussy Riesling. A spider-web of acidity. Gossamer steel. Great intensity that never misses a beat. Finish: How long have you got? In a nutshell: Austerity has evolved into elegance. When to drink: Glorious now and will drink well for many years to come. There is room for further improvement. Inside information: Grosset has suggested that this might come to be seen as the greatest Polish Hill of them all (and who would argue?). The vineyard is shaley, vines working hard in the ‘less generous” soil. There are few more austere, lean wines in their youth, nor more promising ones. Or try this: Pike’s Merle 2002. Final verdict: A great Clare Riesling with a wonderful future. 2012 Grosset Polish Hill Riesling Colour: Gin clear. Almost water. Nose: Intense limes, spices, the pith from a grapefruit. Palate: There is a thrilling vibrancy to this wine. Great intensity but impeccable balance. Paper cut acidity. Tight and elegant. Finish: Balanced, and very, very long. In a nutshell: Put a case or two in the cellar to make your grand-kids very happy, indeed. When to drink: A joy to experience the intensity, freshness and focus of this wine now but, well cellared, it will be drinking superbly for decades to come. Food pairing: The freshest oysters. Inside information: The 32nd vintage of this iconic wine. Jeff Grosset has described making Riesling as “the purest form of winemaking”. This is compelling evidence of that. Free run juice only. Or try this: O’Leary Walker Polish Hill River 2012 or Pikes Merle 2012. Final verdict: Not that easy to find world class wines under $50 but this is one. What a wine! And what an incredible bargain. And for the future 2012 has every Riesling lover excited. It is undoubtedly a very fine vintage, and at least as good as both 2005 and 2009. Whether it matches 2002, only time will tell. It was a much earlier vintage than 2002, largely due to the nights being a little warmer. 118 FINE If forced to pick just one wine from among the excitement, I would go for the Grosset Polish Hill Riesling: scintillating now, it will age and become ever more complex over the decades.

Peter Gago PENFOLDS Chief Winemaker At PENFOLDS wines, we’ve taken our time to establish the place we now occupy in the world’s premier wine cellars. Since PENFOLDS was established in 1844, we’ve lavished the same pride and passion upon all our wines, from Koonunga Hill to the iconic Grange. That commitment to excellence has not only earned us international awards and praise from major wine publications, but also the respect of leading wine connoisseurs and Master Sommeliers throughout the globe. They recognise that, with over 165 years’ worth of experience in every drop, PENFOLDS has become one of the preeminent wine producers of the world. P ETER G AGO AMONG THE TOP 50 MOST INFLUENTIAL PEOPLE IN T HE D ECANTER P OWER L IST 2011 F EATURED IN W INE S PECTATOR’S T OP 12 W INES OF THE 20 TH C ENTURY N UMBER 7 IN D ECANTER MAGAZINE’S 100 G REATEST W INES OF ALL TIME www.penfolds.com

COLUMN DAVID LEMIRE MW WHOLE BUNCH F our staggeringly good red Burgundies stole the show at a recent dinner at Celcius in Adelaide, which I attended with ten young South Australian winemakers: Leroy Latricières Chambertin, Rousseau Chambertin, and Domaine de la Romanée Conti Romanée St-Vivant, all from 1999, and Comte George de Vogüé Bonnes Mares from 2009. Given that two of these wines were made from completely de-stemmed grapes (the Rousseau and the Vogué) and two were from ‘whole bunch’ ferments, the subject of stems was hard to ignore. Fermenting with whole bunches is the winemaking trend of the moment, spreading from its most entrenched territory in Burgundy and the Rhone Valley to diverse regions and varieties. The most famous examples are, of course, those Burgundians mentioned above, along with the hugely influential Domaine Dujac, where stems have always been part of the winemaking routine and the personality of the wines. But for many other producers, working with stems represents a step back in time. De-stemming was rare in Burgundy prior to the 1980s, when the influence of Henri Jayer, who popularised the technique, coupled with the demand from the USA for plush, opulent styles of Burgundy, saw it become widespread. Including stems, normally by way of whole uncrushed bunches, but sometimes via 120 FINE destemming and then returning some stems to the vat, will normally add tannins to the wine, and reduce colour as some is absorbed by the stems. The wine’s pH will rise, due to the potassium in the stems; the temperature of the ferment will be moderated; the ferment will tend to be longer as it is less efficient; and slightly less alcohol will be produced. The impact on flavour can be significant, and using stems that have sufficient ripeness is crucial if green stalky notes are to be avoided. And, of course, with the whole bunches having completely intact berries, some carbonic maceration can add to complexity. Ironically, for most people using stems, the aim is not to make more tannic wines. In fact, whole bunch ferments work well with another key trend in Burgundy – that of gentle maceration. On a recent visit to Burgundy, several producers told me that rather than doing one or two pigeages per day, for the 2009s they did one or two during the entire three-week period on skins. This resulted in less extraction by agitation and more, gentler extraction by an extended ferment, with the stem tannins contributing. In Australia, whole bunch has been widely practiced for Pinot Noir, with Gary Farr (who has done around twenty vintages at Domaine Dujac) perhaps the most successful exponent. For Shiraz, though, it is a more recent phenomenon, but one that is gaining currency

each year. The wines of leading cool climate Shiraz producers, Clonakilla (up to 30 per cent whole bunch) and Mt Langi (up to 40 per cent whole bunch) make a compelling case for the technique’s appropriateness for Shiraz in Australia. Perhaps the most important thing to understand about this trend is the changes in philosophy that it reflects. Certainly, there is the move away from high levels of extraction, with less desire for plush and inky wines. However, working with whole bunches also fits the ambition to make wines of more personality and less homogeneity. Whole bunches also fit the aim to make wines with less intervention and which more clearly express and reflect the site rather than the winemaker’s stamp. FINE Lemire David Lemire MW Contributor David LeMire MW is a wine business professional with experience in retail, distribution and brand management. A two-year stint in London in the mid 90s gave him a ‘eurocentric’ palate, which he further developed in Australia in his roles with Negociants Australia, a leading importer of fine wine to Australia. Between 2000 and 2007 he was Imports Manager for Negociants Australia, overseeing a portfolio that included many of the great names of Burgundy, including, but not limited to, Coche Dury, Roulot, Bonneau du Martray, Roumier and Domaine de la Romanee Conti. He has run his own consulting business, has a share in a small wine production business, writes regular columns for Australia’s Wine Business Magazine, is an irregular wine show judge, and is co-convenor of the Australasian Institute of Masters of Wine Educational Seminar. In 2010, he joined the team at leading Adelaide Hills winery Shaw & Smith in a broad role that includes tasting, talking and writing. There’s no doubt that whole bunch ferments fit well with the spirit of winemaking in many parts of the world – not least Burgundy, where so many producers abandoned it. But don’t expect everyone to follow suit. Burgundy’s best winemakers have strong views on the best way to make wine at their domains, and won’t be easily swayed. I suspect there’s as much chance of Francois Millet at Comte de Vogüé embracing stems as there is of the team at Domaine Dujac eschewing them. But when one considers the beauty that these styles at each end of the spectrum can achieve, and the myriad variations between them, then hopefully polite disagreement, rather than furious agreement, will continue to thrive. > COLUMN 121

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124 FINE Ignace Leclair, Proprietor, Temple Restaurant Beijing (TRB)

FINE China – A Gentleman’s Vision Text: William Rosenberger Photography: Liu Jiao “To get through the hardest journey we need take only one step at a time, but we must keep on stepping”, so says an old Chinese proverb. One can only imagine something similar to this must have been continually repeating through the mind of Ignace Lecleir (???) in early 2011. For five months, in self-imposed isolation, surrounded by bare walls and piles of debris, Ignace contemplated the biggest gamble of his life: Temple Restaurant Beijing (TRB). A G en t l e m an ' s v i s i o n 125

A t stake were his twenty-plus year career, an impeccable industry reputation, his financial savings and his family’s future. With three young children and a wife to care for, this was no small decision – especially for a foreigner in China. Down a long, cramped and bustling ­ alleyway in the hutong of Shatan Beijie, one finally 126 FINE steps through a beautiful arch which leads to a most serene compound featuring a 600-year-old Buddhist Temple. Just a few paces further, as centuries of history take hold, you spot the elegant modernity of Temple Restaurant Beijing through a series of large windows. The past and present achieve a harmonious balance. After one year of contemplation, multiple design firm changes, construction and restoration, Ignace Lecleir had laid the groundwork for his second act in Beijing, China. However, it was his first act of hospitality magic that garnered him the serious initial respect of ex-pats and local Chinese alike. “This is a fork, this is a knife and this is a spoon,” utters Lecleir on Training Day 1 to

FINE China a room full of fresh-faced, intensely focused neophyte Chinese staff. It was around May 2008, just over two months before the start of the Olympic Games and the opening of Maison Boulud in Beijing. The city had devoted years to designing and building what would become the iconic structures of the Games seen on TV sets around the world. Perhaps much less known outside Beijing was the construction of literally dozens of hotels, which stretched any hope of finding even moderately experienced staff to virtually zero. Ignace Lecleir had to start from scratch. After four years as the General Manager of Daniel in New York, famed chef Daniel Boulud had one firm request of Lecleir: “Make sure it is a success!” With bags packed and his family in tow, Ignace would have to draw on every bit of his industry experience as he stepped into the abyss: a country he had never visited, a language he did not speak and a culture he did not understand. “I had to hire on personality, not experience,” says Lecleir. After two months of full-time training, which was personally led by Lecleir, A G en t l e m an ' s v i s i o n 127

Maison Boulud, Daniel Boulud’s first foray into China, opened under the weight of more than 500 guests per day for two weeks during the Olympics. Though emotionally drained, Lecleir had found success. Over the next two years, Ignace Lecleir was recognised by the media, industry peers and thousands of devotees as having transformed service and hospitality standards in China. Towards the end of 2010, after seven years with Daniel Boulud and previously with Gary Danko in San Francisco, L’Orangerie 128 FINE in Beverly Hills, Crystal Cruise Line and the Dorchester in London, Lecleir was determined to not only repeat but better his success in Beijing. With approval obtained from his gracious and supportive wife, Ignace Lecleir hunkered down for the entirety of 2011, and he eventually emerged with Temple Restaurant Beijing (TRB). Almost one year on, thousands of loyal customers have now enjoyed his new venue. “We are a family. I care deeply about each and every member of my staff. They are the heart and soul of our success and serve as my daily inspiration to always improve,” Lecleir states, a little choked up. He goes on to say that the guest experience is the most important aspect of TRB, followed by the impressive wine list (currently 800 labels of very diverse price points, regions and varietals) and then the food (which, by the way, is excellent). In Chinese culture, it has always been taboo for staff to speak their minds to their boss (lao ban). Through intensive training, roleplaying and problem-solving scenarios,

FINE China “We are a family. I care deeply about each and every member of my staff. They are the heart and soul of our success and serve as my daily inspiration to always improve,” Lecleir states Frankie Zhou TRB Sommeliers Henry Wu and Stephen Zhang Lecleir encourages staff to develop their personality, confidence and voice. “Engage the customer, learn to read their body language, anticipate their needs…but also know when to show restraint,” says Lecleir. Finding, nurturing and investing in young talent is a passion for Lecleir. The two young Sommeliers at TRB, Henry Wu (??), 25, and Stephen Zhang (???), 28, are just two examples of many. With their numerous sold-out wine events and ever-expanding wine list, the Sommeliers at TRB always have their hands full. Henry Wu came from working construction jobs in the bitter cold of Mongolia to Beijing seeking new opportunity. From a small job ad, he found his way to the stately confines of Maison Boulud. While there, Ignace saw the drive and determination within. Henry proceeded to learn everything he could about wine and has been with Lecleir ever since. Stephen Zhang, from Hebei Province, recognised the emerging importance of wine culture in China and obtained his WSET Level 3 at the end of 2008. For many years he served as the Assistant Manager and Sommelier at the Italian restaurant within the Ritz- Carlton, Financial Street Beijing, and then as the Beverage Manager and Sommelier at the St. Regis in Tianjin before joining Ignace and TRB in March 2012. Zhang states: “Ignace gives us tremendous support and flexibility to expand the wine offerings. Our focus is to give the guest excellent choices at all price points.” Despite the notion by some that the Chinese want to show off by only buying the most expensive bottles on the list, this is a trend that has taken a rapid nose-dive in the past 12 to 18 months. Bordeaux has taken a back seat to Burgundy and regional/varietal exploration at all price points has taken hold.­ A G en t l e m an ' s v i s i o n 129

Lastly, Zhang points out: “Chinese customers are now very interested in knowing the story of a particular wine, why it is special and the reason it is recommended by us.” At 16-years-old, Ignace Lecleir simply wanted to buy a motorcycle to ride around his hometown in Belgium. His parents, however, demanded that he earn the money himself, which led to a small job in a local restaurant. That job opened his eyes and ignited a passion for food and hospitality. Now, thousands of miles away from his home, the cycle of life renews itself, the wisdom passes forward and many young lives are positively touched and allowed to blossom anew. ‘A Gentleman’s Vision’ is succeeding. Temple Restaurant Beijing (TRB) No. 23 Shatan Beijie, Dongcheng District, Beijing, China 100009 www.temple-restaurant.com +86 (10) 6400 2232 Phone 130 FINE

Text: William Rosenberger Photography: Liu Jiao Frankie Zou – FINE China They say the eyes are the windows to the soul. As one enters the dimly lit bar at Temple Restaurant Beijing (TRB), you are immediately enveloped by a sense of tranquility. You gaze forward and try to discern what could possibly be inside the long row of dark brown jars, kissed by sunlight, which are adorned by homemade labels too small to discern. Another row of medicine bottles with droppers sits curiously on the bar. It becomes apparent that something very special, albeit mysterious, is going on here. a natural talent Not knowing quite what to expect next, 30-year-old Frankie Zou, the Mixologist for TRB, warmly greeted us with a confident charm and that special look in his eyes. We had entered his liquid laboratory. After one sip of ‘The Night is Young’ (????), an original creation by Frankie which uses a 600-year-old Ginseng infusion recipe he researched and improved using special herbs and spices blended with Campari and Martini Rosso, we were hooked. It was an absolute delight on the nose and palate. Frankie proceeded to showcase one magnificent and complex creation after the next, and that initial look in his eyes suddenly all made sense. Born and raised in Yichang, China, Frankie Zou first discovered his special talent of blending herbs and spices in 2005 at his small restaurant while improving traditional soup recipes. After moving to Shenzhen in 2006 then Beijing in 2007, where he started his path towards Mixology while working in two small local bars, Frankie had several fateful encounters with Ignace Lecleir, who spotted something special in him. Invited by Ignace in 2008 to join the opening team of Maison Boulud in Beijing, Frankie credits his time training with Xavier Herit, mixologist at Daniel in New York, as the inspiration behind his desire to push his passion for Mixology even further. After a brief stint at DB Bistro in Singapore, Frankie returned to Beijing for the opening of TRB. Frankie spends much of his time researching, sourcing, blending and experimenting with hundreds of herbs and spices from around the world. At TRB, you can experience his fifteen hand-crafted infusions, eight bitters (under his label Botany Bitters), two vermouths and special seasonal syrups that transform the cocktail experience into a high art form. When asked how many creations he has stored in his brain, he simply replied, “endless”. We left thoroughly satisfied and in no doubt about that. William Rosenberger is the Chairman and CEO of MYH Fine Wines in Hong Kong and Mainland China. He resides in Beijing, China. Frankie Zou A G en t l e m an ' s v i s i o n 131

COLUMN KEN GARGETT DRC Romanée-Conti 1978, a pub in the Clare Valley and a legendary Hunter Valley winemaker. Y ou might wonder what the link is between the 1978 DRC Romanée-Conti, a pub in the Clare Valley and a legendary Hunter Valley winemaker from more than half a century ago, but bear with me. In the tiny, gum-lined town of Auburn in the Clare Valley, the Rising Sun Hotel has been a popular local watering hole since the late 1800’s. In one corner of the public bar, just near the fireplace, there is a round wooden table – a meeting place for knights of a different kind, with aluminium rather than steel, their weapon of choice. It was at this table, in August 2000, that thirteen Clare Valley winemakers met to discuss the problems that they had encountered with the traditional cork closure and their endless frustration with it. From this meeting, largely driven by Jeff Grosset, of his own eponymous winery, and Andrew Hardy, now chief winemaker at Petaluma, came the ‘Australian Screwcap Initiative’. It was the moment that the Australian wine industry drew a line in the sand and changed the face of wine in this country forever. They would start putting their Rieslings out under screwcap. Shock, horror! 132 FINE This wasn’t the first time that Australian winemakers had tried screwcap. Our oldest family wine company, Yalumba, had been investigating possible alternative closures since 1964. They had gone with ‘Stelcap’ in 1970. That was all a bit bizarre. ‘Stelcap’ was effectively an old-fashioned screwcap with a cork/paper/ polyethylene layer. All well and good but under everything, there was a cork! That must have led to some very confused wines. ‘Stelvin’ arrived here in 1976, though the design has been greatly improved in recent years. Yalumba, Hardy’s, Penfold’s, McWilliam’s, Seppelt, Brown Brothers and Tahbilk were all involved in the early days. Sadly, consumers failed to get on board and it effectively died. Winemakers always maintained this was a marketing, rather than a quality issue and, having seen a number of the screwcapped bottles from the late ‘70s, especially Riesling from Yalumba and Pewsey Vale, all I can say is ‘what a tragedy’! They shine like beacons on the hill compared with wines from those vintages which were bottled under cork. Anyone needing compelling evidence as to the effectiveness of screwcaps as a closure need only to look to these wines. And suggestions that wines don’t age under screwcap are completely blown out of the water. They have aged in such a markedly superior manner that it is no contest. As Louisa Rose, Yalumba’s Senior Winemaker, says about screwcaps, they offer “the perfect environment, providing consistency and not allowing oxygen to influence the wine”. Yalumba reverted to screwcap with

FINE Gargett an Eden Valley Riesling from 2000. John Vickery, who made many of this country’s most famous Rieslings – the legendary Leo Buring’s from the 1970’s – was a strong proponent of screwcap and, with the 1998 vintage at Richmond Grove, he put Rieslings under screwcap for a local retailer. A recent example was still drinking beautifully. Notwithstanding the initial enthusiasm for the Rising concept, after that first meeting at the ­ Sun, a few local Clare winemakers were not completely convinced. Some went half/half – half their production under screwcap and half under cork. Whether consumers were better educated this time around, or whether they were just heartily sick of tainted wines, and wines suffering from premature oxidation, they took to the new closure with an almost religious zeal. In fact, some went a bit overboard. Those winemakers that offered half and half (and this applied to a number of other regions in subsequent vintages, as other wineries adopted the new closures) found that the wines under screwcap usually sold out well before those under cork. What was a surprise was that a significant number of consumers, if they missed out on the wines under screwcap, refused to buy those under cork, even if they’d been buying that wine under cork for years. By the time the wonderful 2002 vintage arrived in the Clare, most winemakers were fully on board. Perfect timing. Jeff Grosset took the concept to New Zealand shortly after it started in Australia and they took to it with even more fervour. So much so that many consumers actually thought that the push started with the Kiwis. Today, the argument in Australia and New Zealand is done and dusted. The estimates are that 95% of premium wines in these countries are under screwcap – I would not be surprised if it was even higher. Those few remaining vinous dinosaurs still defending cork in either country will point to a wine like Grange and note that it is still under cork. True, but there are Penfold’s winemakers who will quietly tell you that if they had their way, it would have moved to screwcap years ago. They’ll claim it is a marketing decision, largely based on consumers in other countries. Adoption in other countries has been slower. Whether that is because of tradition, marketing, resistance to change, a genuine belief in the product – or a combination of these factors – matters little. We’ve heard all the arguments – my favourite was a highly respected writer declaring that he rather liked the lottery of pulling a bottle from a case and not knowing whether it would be a stellar bottle or a lesser one. What an extraordinary load of rubbish! In other words, he enjoys having cork adversely affect some of the wine that he has presumably paid good money for. He must be the best paid wine writer on the planet. Surely having every bottle at its peak, as the winemaker intended, is an infinitely better outcome. Australian winemakers long believed, rightly or wrongly, that the corks they bought were inferior to those sold in Europe and America (and often, they would hand you examples to prove their frustration). There is no doubt that this contributed to the determination of so many to change. In addition, many winemakers pushed for better controls and improved techniques in production to help reduce taint and other issues. They felt that cork producers refused to listen. Indeed, certain cork ‘officials’ to whom I have spoken have admitted as much. In retrospect, had the cork industry spent the vast sums of money they expended on marketing on research and development, they may have nipped the move to screwcap in the bud. They have certainly improved their product in recent years and work continues. But they have a problem. In cellars around the world, there are millions of time bombs festering away, just waiting for the opportunity to spoil an evening. Some will be cheap and cheerful bottles; others will be prized possessions. Aussies and Kiwis look on the slow pace of change elsewhere with a sense of utter bewilderment, but an unshakable conviction that there is a crack in the dam and it is only a matter of time, quite possibly a long time, before other nations get on board. The genie is out of the bottle. As for ageing, the wine industry has long had a saying – “there are no great old wines, only great old bottles”. They have it wrong. There are no great old wines, only great old corks. The efforts of the Australian Screwcap Initiative were recently recognised with Australia’s highest wine award, the Maurice O’Shea Award for 2012. The Award, initiated by McWilliam’s, is now given out every second year. It is our equivalent of a vinous Oscar. Maurice O’Shea was one of our most famous winemakers, working for McWilliam’s in the Hunter Valley, back in the 1940’s and 1950’s, making wines that are still some of the most sought-after in our history. O’Shea was a consummate blender of wines from different regions. His achievements are extraordinary when one considers that he was basically working without even the most basic refrigeration. It was an extremely popular win. Past winners include the late Max Schubert, the late Len Evans, Brian Croser, Jacob’s Creek, James Halliday and the Australian Wine Research Institute. And the ‘78 Romanée-Conti? I’ve been privileged to try the stupendous 1978 La Tache perhaps twenty times but only once have I ever seen this legendary wine. Years ago, a friend brought out a bottle, after a lunch littered with star bottles, for four of us to relax and enjoy. Tragically, there it was. Taint. Not too bad but enough to mar the wine. I’ve detested those horrid little pieces of ex-tree ever since. > COLUMN 133

Michelin Guide Three Stars San Francisco Chronicle Four Stars The Restaurant at Meadowoood Worth a Special Journey The Restaurant at Meadowood Chef Christopher Kostow 70-79_CH5_champagne_weekend.indd 70-79_CH5_champagne_weekend.indd 70 70 11/10/10 11/10/10 12:58 12:58 PM PM 70-7 70-7

:58 :58 PM PM Relationships are core to life in Napa Valley. F or the last half century, Napa Valley the original gathering place for the Valley’s has provided the panorama for a burgeoning wine community, Meadowood unique way of life—directed by the has now become an international wine industry and acted out by a host of destination and boasts membership within local players. Wine is the thread weaving the the exclusive ranks of Relais & Chateaux. art of man with the Come for a visit. bounty of nature in Walk the fairways a complex pattern on which Auction of relationships— Napa Valley has relationships that go raised more than $90 to the core of the million since the Valley’s legendary ?rst gavel was raised. way of life and set Mingle with the the stage for a story vintners and growers like no other. as they enjoy their The community club through sport that is Napa Valley activities, recreation, contributes to local and the pursuit of enterprise through lifelong wellness. its vast experience Dine on the private and deep-seated terrace of your relationships. In adguestroom or spend dition to grape growthe evening enjoying Master Sommelier Gilles de Chambure ers and wine makers, a meal prepared it includes agriculturalists, great chefs, som- by Michelin Three-Star chef Christopher meliers, maître d’s, gallery owners, innkeep- Kostow in The Restaurant at Meadowood. ers and shop proprietors. All depend upon Spend a day exploring the wineries you’ve each other for their unique livelihood and longed to visit with Gilles de Chambure, lifestyle. Master Sommelier, whose sole role at For the past 46 years Meadowood Meadowood is to enhance guests’ knowledge has served as the heart and soul of the and enjoyment of wine. winegrowing community—as a center for A stay at Meadowood offers you entry social and family life and as a second home into an extraordinary way of life. Capture for travelers from around the world wishing the magic of Napa Valley and develop your to immerse themselves in the region, its own relationship with the people that de?ne wines, and its people. Founded in 1964 as this unparalleled experience. the sporting life at meadowood The forested hillsides of Meadowood’s two hundred ?fty-acre valley slope to the cool green of the estate’s nine-hole, walking golf course. Presiding over the tranquil fairways and the golf teaching facility is Resident Golf Professional Doug Pike. Meadowood’s Resident Tennis Professional, Doug King, is one of the country’s leading tennis teaching innovators. The founder of Acceleration Tennis, a revolutionary teaching system, King is leading the way in reinterpreting the traditional tennis model, working with players of all skill levels from beginner to professional. Between dining and wine experiences we invite you to stretch your legs with a game of golf or tennis. 900 Meadowood Lane, St. Helena, California 94574 Tel (707) 968-3153 www.meadowood.com 70-79_CH5_champagne_weekend.indd 70-79_CH5_champagne_weekend.indd 71 71 11/10/10 11/10/10 12:58 12:58 PM PM

Pagani The supercar that controls T he view over the Mendoza wine district from the highest peak of Aconcagua* in the Andes is stunning and – quite literally – breathtaking. The air up there at 7000 metres from sea level is thin and deadly for humans, but perfect for Huayra-tata, the ‘god of the winds’. There he keeps guard, invisible to the human eye, among the ancient labyrinthine rock and ice formations. The vineyards and wineries visible far below are susceptible to his unpredictable nature, which at worst can manifest itself as ferocious storm winds. These bring icy rains down from the mountains, and hailstones that can ruin a whole year’s crop. Fortunately, Huayra-tata is known as a benevolent god, whose primary desire is to please his wife, Pachamama, the goddess of nature, who is also known as Mother Earth. Mostly in summer, the Huayra winds bring down gentle rain clouds which shower the high-altitude vineyards, making them and Pachamama blossom. This, the kingdom of Huayra-tata, is the homeland not only of excellent everyday wines but also of Horacio Pagani, a god in the world of supercars. His latest creation is far, far from the everyday. It is the Pagani Huayra, the supercar that controls the wind. *The name Aconcagua comes from the Quechua Ackon Cahuak, meaning ‘sentinel of stone’. 136 FINE

FINE Lifestyle Huayra the wind and the mind Text: Pekka Nuikki Photos: Pekka Nuikki / Pagani PAGA N I 137

138 FINE

FINE Lifestyle PAGANI T he Pagani Huayra’s gullwing door reminds me of the entrance to the transporter in Star Trek, through which characters in the TV series were beamed to distant and unknown worlds. I settle into the sculptural carbon fibre and titanium ‘captain’s chair’ on the control bridge of the Huayra, which could quite easily belong to the Starship Enterprise. The door closes softly, isolating me completely from the old world. Teleport successful. The view before me is not one that is familiar from the worlds of Ferrari or Lamborghini; it is new and fascinating. The interior of the Huayra is hand-wrought from aluminium, carbon fibre and honey-coloured leather. Stylistically, it could be said to be neutral, but only in that so many different styles meet here. In theory, they shouldn’t even go together but somehow they do and they form a whole new genre of their own. In it, diverse and freely created ideas, executions and influences create their own sculptural, hypnotic and lively Paganian whole. A different car planet Horacio Pagani stresses the fact that he doesn’t just manufacture cold, mechanical supercars, but cars that live, breathe and have a soul. “We try to make them so that every piece of the car transmits something unique; that all the hard work of our designers, the crafters of our cars, represents the passion and love with which they are actually made.” The Huayra is full of hand-finished details – some of them perhaps superfluous. This means everything from leather latches to toggle switches, but the ethos finds its purest expression in the mechanical aluminium gearlever assembly, which a monument to the art of the manual gearshift and representative of progress that does not deny the past. The aluminum dashboard takes inspiration from the most complex Swiss watch designs. ­ Every last titanium bolt and part is etched with the Pagani PAGA N I 139

name. In fact, any part of the car around me could be placed in a showcase of the world’s leading design museums. ­ Inside the Huayra I feel as if I have been teleported onto a ­ different car planet, but the journey is not over yet. The impression only strengthens as I turn the aluminium Huayra-shaped ignition key and awaken the beast. The god of the winds has woken Only a few dozen centimetres behind my back, the 6.0 V12 twin turbo engine comes to life. The feeling of power is immediate and palpable. The god of the winds has woken and, based on the noise he is making, I predict a hurricane. The Pagani Huayra has a six-litre V12 biturbo Mercedes-Benz engine tuned by AMG, which produces 730 hp and 1000 Nm. The top speed is 370 km/h and it does 0 to 100 in 3.2 seconds. The engine is made according to the ‘one-man-one-engine’ principle: a selection of skilled master mechanics will individually handcraft each single production engine, as a commitment to Mercedes-AMG’s tradition of precision and quality. Pagani is very happy with his partnership with Mercedes-AMG and sees no reason to start developing his own engines. “It is not in our plans because we are very much aware of what we are capable of and what we are not. Building an engine is particularly difficult nowadays because of all the regulations you have to consider, which is a huge problem to take on – even for a major manufacturer. We are very fortunate to have this relationship with Mercedes-AMG. ­ We are the only independent car manufacturer that has the privilege of receiving this exclusively developed engine, so we see no reason to create our own.” “The aerodynamic concept of the Huayra is that of a wing. The vehicle can modify the properties of this wing by varying the front ride height, which can be adjusted dynamically, and by regulating the four control flaps on each of the four corners of the car. Our goal is to have neutral vehicle behaviour under all conditions and to control body roll via aerodynamic means.” 140 FINE

FINE Lifestyle A wing man The hefty 1000-Nm-torque AMG turbo engine is linked to a seven-speed sequential gearbox and a dual-disc clutch designed by racing specialists Xtrac. In a car like the Huayra, the enormous power must be set off by topcalibre brakes which, combined with the body shape, make maximum use of deceleration forces. Horacio Pagani says that the significance of brakes must never be underestimated. “It is not the speed of the Huayra which is our greatest challenge. The Huayra is already fast enough. It is made to go at 340–400 km/h. Our main task is to ensure that the car can stop from those speeds in just a few seconds.” My first impression at the wheel of this car, though, is that I never want to stop: I want to drive forever. In motion, the Huayra effortlessly slices through the air, or rather, should I say, controls it. “The aerodynamic concept of the Huayra is that of a wing. The vehicle can modify the properties of this wing by varying the front ride height, which can be adjusted dynamically, and by regulating the four control flaps on each of the four corners of the car. Our goal is to have neutral vehicle behaviour under all conditions and to control body roll via aerodynamic means.” This is also important to ensure safety. On the edge of madness The Huayra is loud, to say the least, but in a good way. The soundscape of the engine is difficult to express in words. Suffice to say it seem to be continuously screaming on the edge of madness. The Pirelli P Zero tyres howl as the huge ceramic brakes take them to their extreme limits; the seven-speed sequential gearbox gives loud clicking reminders of the mechanical changing of gears, and add to this the noise of the road, the wind PAGA N I 141

Technical data Engine Mercedes-AMG M158 V12 twin-Turbo displacement: 5980 cc power: 700cv torque: 1000 Nm Gearbox Transverse sequential seven-speed gearbox AMT robotised system with driving programmes 142 FINE Dimensions length: 4605mm height: 1169mm car’s body width: 2036mm car’s width with rear mirrors: 2356mm dry weight: 1350 kg (*) weight distribution: 44% front 56% rear

FINE Lifestyle Below ARE the awards won by Pagani Automobili during its history Pagani is a privately owned Italian sportscar manufacturer. The company was founded in 1991 by Horacio Pagani and is based in San Cesario sul Panaro, near Modena, Italy. Pagani is known for its extensive experience in advanced composite materials and for crafting some of the world’s fastest supercars. Customers can find dealerships by visiting the website at www.pagani.com. Zonda R: Nürburgring Nordschleife Fastest Laptime: 6:47 on June 2010. Pagani Automobili: Best of Italian Luxury Award September 2010 • Hurun Report China. Supercar of the year Pagani Zonda Cinque Year 2009 • C! Magazine. Mothers Choice Award: Excellence in Automotive Design Year 2009 • SEMA SHOW – Las Vegas. Supercar of the Year: Zonda C12 S Year 2006 • C! Magazine. “Zonda F: customer’s best choice” Year 2009 • Sport Auto Francia. Zonda Roadster F: Nürburgring Nordschleife Record: 7:29:70 August 2008. Pagani Automobili Specialist Manufacturer Award Year 2002 • Autocar UK. Top Gear Powerlaps Zonda F fastest time November 2005 • Top Gear UK. Best Car of the Decade: 2nd place April 2004 • Evo. “Palme d’Or”: Zonda F Coupé is best supercar 2005. December 2005 • Sport Auto F Zonda F: Nürburgring Nordschleife Laptime: 7:24:44 August 2008. Zonda C12 S Performance Car of the Year 2002 • Car. Zonda F: “Best Drivers’ car” Year 2009 • Evo. Zonda C12 S Car of the Year 2001 • Evo. Supercar of the Year: Zonda F Clubsport Year 2008 – C! Magazine. Record Nürburgring homologated cars June 2002 • Sport Auto. Nürburgring Nordschleife Laptime: 7’32” November 2005 • Sport Auto Zonda F: Nürburgring Nordschleife Record: 7:27:82 September 2007. and the aerodynamics, and I almost forget the deafening beating of my heart, which is racing at least at the speed on the speedometer. The feeling is dizzying and addictive. I am physically unable to step out of the Huayra immediately after driving it. I have to wait for my body to recover, my adrenalin levels to fall, my pulse to slow down and my mind to clear. The gullwing opens and the teleportation is over, but my return is not quite complete. As in the movie The Fly, in which a scientist accidentally melds himself with an insect, I have melded into the Huayra. I step out of the car carrying a small part of its creator’s divinity, madness, perfectionism and creative freedom. The storm may be over, but there is no return. > PAGA N I 143

“We are very enthusiastic about the public’s reception of the newborn Pagani Huayra. It has always been our intent to unite art and technology and our customers and car enthusiasts were able to see these values that accompany us every day in the Huayra. All this is further confirmation of our approach to combine art and science by the means of meticulous research.” Horacio Pagani 144 FINE

FINE Lifestyle Pagani Text: Petri Nevalainen and Pekka Nuikki Photos: Pekka Nuikki The man has a designer’s sensibility coupled with an engineer’s passion. This is why the Zonda and Huayra supercars manufactured by Horacio Pagani’s factory are objects of desire around the world. In them, the power of the winds has been translated into unique looks and performance. Z onda is a type of wind, and Huayra means “god of the winds”. Two words, two car models and two different dreams that the Argentinian auto-maker has fulfilled in Italy. The most enthusiastic fans of Pagani’s supercars are prepared to pay as much as 1.7 million euros to obtain one of these rare vehicles. And that’s not all: one customer is known to own six Zondas. It all started very differently. Born to a family of bakers, Horacio began carving cars out of balsa wood as a little boy. A little later, he designed and built a light motorcycle. He completed his studies in technology and industrial design. In 1977, the 26-year-old Pagani’s one-man workshop designed and manufactured bar stools in his home country. Through many var- ied projects, the engineer and designer grew to be a diversified and visionary professional who is still not afraid to listen to his gut. These days, he also listens to his offspring. In the late 1990s, Lamborghini displayed an interest in buying Pagani and Horacio considered it. The Pagani Zonda, made since 1999, would have been a Lamborghini instead. The interest of the more established supercar maker sprang from Pagani having worked on its design team for several years; they knew his skill. Pagani asked his family what they thought. The then 10-year-old Leonardo persuaded his father to continue as an independent maker. “You have always wanted to make your own cars. Why sell the factory now that your dreams are about to come true?” the boy asked. His father could not properly answer the question. Deep down, he knew his son was probably right, and so Pagani remains a family business. However, other offers, worth hundreds of millions according to some rumours, have been made since. The Huayra in production The atmosphere is relaxed at the Pagani factory in San Cesario sul Panaro, near Modena. The last few Zondas are taking shape on the downstairs assembly line. Meanwhile, production of Huayras is reaching full speed, with more than 100 orders received by summer 2012. FINE was invited to meet the director general of the company in his second-floor office. We go up the stairs to a light and airy room and wait. PAGA N I 145

Leonardo, Horacio and Christopher Pagani Soon, the legendary car designer walks in wearing a burgundy shirt and grey trousers. The elegantly greying gentleman is still extreme­ ly interested in automotive design and construction; after all, his factory is just starting its ­ second production era with the new model, the Huayra. Like Huayra-tata, the ‘god of the winds’, and the wines made from the Malbec grapes imported into Argentina in the 1800s, ­ Pagani comes from Mendoza Province. He is not a “The work begins in the mind but ends with the creative mark made by the hand.” big wine drinker, because even a small amount gives him a headache and makes him feel ill. He sometimes enjoys a small amount of highquality wine, however. He is more likely to enjoy the growling of horsepower. His daily driving is done in a Mercedes-Benz, but he satisfies his grander desires with one of his own cars. His personal Pagani is a wonderful deep-blue Zonda. 146 FINE Pagani’s design philosophy is influenced by the Renaissance world, and above all Leonardo da Vinci. “Leonardo demonstrated that art and science can walk hand in hand. I see the world a little like Leonardo did, and I always strive to create something new and different. The same applies to our entire design team. We try to listen to our emotions,” Pagani says. “Our design process goes from the brain to the hand, via the heart,” he says, emphatically. In Pagani’s view, Renaissance genius relied on humans’ manual skill. He sees this reflected in the work of his own design team: the work begins in the mind but ends with the creative mark made by the hand. “This trifecta can never be dismantled, because you may have excellent design skills and equally good manual abilities, but the heart makes a crucial contribution,” Pagani says. He feels that the three elements are present in all kinds of labour. When you love your work you achieve the best results. Unusual appearance A Pagani is different from most cars. If anything, it is distantly reminiscent of some of the 24 Hours of Le Mans racing cars. Where, we ask, did the cars get their appearance? “I’m a curious man, so many things influence the look of our cars, including the environment and people. When I start designing a new car, I go much deeper than the blank sheet before me. I have to create something out of nothing, out of ground zero,” Pagani says.

FINE Lifestyle “I’m a curious man, so many things influence the look of our cars, including the environment and people. When I start designing a new car, I go much deeper than the blank sheet before me. I have to create something out of nothing, out of ground zero.” PAGA N I 147

Zonda R A Pagani Zonda is never shy of a drive at the racetrack, a duce the overall weight of the car; Poggipolini Titanium fact that was undermined numerous times in the past with screws are, in fact, used on the whole car. These measures records set for production vehicles at the Nurburgring Nordlead to a dry weight of 1070 kg. schleife. With the input of its avid track-focused customers, The interior has been designed to offer a perfect envithe Pagani team has created the Zonda R using bespoke enronment for the driver. The controls are limited to the indisgineering solutions to meet the performance demands of a pensable, but the quality finish reflects the usual demanding trackday version of the highly popular Zonda F. Pagani standards. The bespoke Toora seats are FIA homoloThe central monocoque is made of a Carbon-Titanium­ gated and comply to the latest HANS standards, while fivecomposite, which increases rigidity while significantly repoint safety belts and a CrMo roll-cage assure the occuducing the weight. Bolted directly to the chassis is the pants’ safety. Mercedes AMG 6.0 litre race derived V12 engine, with 750 ­ The lucky owners of the Zonda R will experience a levhp and 710 Nm of torque. A direct throttle actuation via a el of performance on the track that is simply not possible on mechanical cable ensures immediate throttle response. the road. A power-to-weight ratio of 701 hp-per-tonne will The Xtrac Magnesium-cased dog ring gearbox comcatapult them from 0 to 60 mph in less than 2.7 seconds; bined, with the Automac Engineering AMT system, performs the Brembo carbon ceramic brakes ensure the car comes to gearshifts in 20ms, and triggered by the drivers input on the a standstill even quicker. paddles behind the steering wheel. A 12-way Bosch MotorThe Zonda R is built in a limited production run and sold sport traction control and ABS system allows the driver to at a price of 1 460 000 euros plus taxes. For this, you get a fully adjust the settings while driving the Zonda R. performance machine, a track toy, a collector’s item, and a In the pits, each driver will be able to find a suitable setmasterpiece signed by Horacio Pagani. up thanks to a fully adjustable suspension and wing configuration. The effectiveness of the rear is matched by a complex new front bonnet – a masterpiece realised thanks to the help of models by Ennegi, as well as the closed underbody and rear diffusor. Furthermore, the aerodynamic setups rage from a high downforce setting of 1500kg to a 350km/h top speed setting. Aspa-forged AvionAl suspension components, as well as machined structural ErgAl parts that hole the engine and gearbox, have been designed to re- 148 FINE

An aeroplane for the streets The Huayra was entirely designed in the Pagani design department, in such a way that everyone was aware of the big picture all the time. Each person is responsible for individual components, but also for the totality. Horacio Pagani feels that this is a good way to work. “The Huayra is an aeroplane for street use. We wanted to bring some of the qualities of the aeroplane into the car: the drone of the engine, the sound of the turbochargers, the feel of acceleration like a plane’s take-off. “In the car you are entirely in your own world. You and the vehicle become one. Your worries are left on the outside,” Pagani says. Pagani designs his cars entirely, inside and out, to stop anything from marring his world. According to the designer, the driver must be able to feel what the car looks like on the outside. It must also be unique in appearance. Some have wondered why the Zonda was named after a harsh wind, even a desert storm, but Pagani has the answer. “It was the nature of the car. The Huayra has a more romantic character, like the winds of God which bestow life to the earth and valleys,” he says. In his view, a car should live its own life, and there is nothing to fear in that. On the contrary; it is beautiful. How does Pagani design his cars: for himself or for a potential client? “The customer is always on my mind. I would not be able to do the job if I thought selfishly. 1999 was a big challenge for us, because the Zonda was ready but our brand was not yet well known. We had a mental image of our customers, but weren’t sure how to reach them. Now the situation is different and we are known all around the world. The number of orders we have received for the Huayra demonstrates that people have learnt to appreciate our work.” Pagani admits that it was not simple to find their place on the supercar map. It took a lot of work but then no one expected anything different. “In 2012, 25 Huayras will see the light of day, and another 40 will follow in 2013. The first deliveries will be made in April. The Pagani Huayra represents a global project for Pagani Automobili. The Pagani dealership family has grown in 2011 and 2012 with new dealerships in Chile, ­ Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Thailand, the United Kingdom and, in the ­ United States, Los Angeles, Miami and San Francisco. Nonetheless, Pagani is very strict about safeguarding the exclusivity of its small volume pro­ duction in the respective markets.” Alberto Giovanelli, head of Sales at Pagani Automobili. PAGA N I 149 FINE Lifestyle The Huayra is an example of the breadth of his design vision. It comprises more than 4000 individual components, but Pagani feels it is important to start by seeing the car as a whole. “Gradually, I start to pare back details in order to achieve the perfect form,” he says.

“Power is nothing without control” Pirelli say “Power is nothing without control” and to assure complete control for the driver Pirelli has developed the bespoke P Zero tires, specifically for the Huayra. The Pirelli engineers were faced with a demanding task, combining road holding for excitement behind the steering wheel and lower rolling resistance to reduce CO2 emissions and fuel consumption. These P Zero tires are built in a dedicated MIRS™ (Modular Integrated Robotized System) facility, dedicated to the production of ultra-high performance tires and are at the forefront of what is technically possible, suited to top speeds above­ 370 kph as well as to lateral forces exceeding 1,5 G. 150 FINE

FINE Lifestyle Super contacts Pagani as a manufacturer has good relations with the managements of its neighbours, Ferrari and Lamborghini. “We talk regularly and we have a good relationship. Everyone knows our products differ from each other. We currently produce around 25 cars per year, rising to 40 in 2013. Ferrari’s production lines, meanwhile, make 7000 cars per year.” “Pagani is like a luxury watchmaker. We have an established clientele,” he says. Pagani uses Mercedes-Benz AMG engines. Pagani sees nothing out of the ordinary in this; luxury brands in general follow this procedure. “We have the fine AMG, Bugatti has Volkswagen, Lamborghini has Audi, Rolls Royce has BMW and Aston ­ Martin and Jaguar have Ford. Building a whole new motor ­ from scratch would be difficult and very expensive with today’s restrictions. Therefore, we are happy to continue working with the AMG. It has been a good choice for us,” says Pagani. The familiar nature of Pagani’s business is emphasised by the fact that 93.3 per cent of its shares are held by Horacio, his wife and their two sons. The boys, Leonardo and Christopher, also work at the factory. “We live modestly and the boys do not long for luxury or private jets. It might make sense for us to sell some of our shares to fund some other projects of the design department, but I do not support selling for the sake it,” Pagani says. The cars he designs are also a kind of homage to Juan Manuel ­ Fangio, the legendary Argentinian racing car driver who died in 1995. “It made me very sad. He had helped us a lot. But he is still among us,” Pagani says. > PAGA N I 151

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F I N E C o n t en t s 11 15 16 Fineeditorial A chase of the wine legends FineNUIKKI Do you still carry around a black tasting book and pen? FineLIFE AWARD Dirk Niepoort 28 FineSUCKLING Benchmark vintage 1997 32 FineVINTAGE The 2012 Bordeaux: A winemaker’s vintage 42 FineBLATCH 17 years in a row 46 FineCENTURY Century Tasting 1900–1999 TASTING part two 96 FineKAPON The don does the Kapons 100 FineCOLLECTING Liv–ex – changing the way the industry buys and sells wine 108 FineBELL Celebrate adversity in the vineyard 112 FineWHITE On a Clare Day – Australian riesling 2002/2012 120 FineLEMIRE Whole bunch 124 FineCHINA Ignace Lecleir – a gentleman’s vision 132 FineGARGETT DRC Romanée-Conti 1978, a pub in the Clare Valley and a legendary Hunter Valley winemaker 136 FineLIFESTYLE Pagani Huayra – the supercar that controls the wind and the mind <<< Return to the coverpage