Spring 2013 | `900 Bordeaux 2012 • Château Cos d’Estournel • Jean Leon • Champagne • Salon • Omas Pen T H E C E N T U R Y TA S T I N G 1 9 0 0 – 1 9 9 9

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

C L I V E . C O M

B R I T I S H L U X U R Y I N T E R I O R S b y C L I V E C H R I S T I A N

F I N E W I N E & C H A M P A G N E I N D I A S P R I N G PAGE 10 PAGE 22 FINE Tasting PAGE 62 FINE Estate PAGE 70 FINE Personality PAGE 82 6 FINE Wine View FINE Legend PAGE 94 FINE Region FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 2 0 1 3

W I N E & C H A M P A G N E I N D I A S P R I N G 2 0 1 3 FINE Contents F I N E PAGE 106 FINE Pairing PAGE 114 9 Fineeditorial FINE Collecting A FINE Anniversary 10 FineWineVieW 20 FineliHtonen Century Tasting 1900–1999 - Part 2 60 FineniePoort Less is More 62 FineeState Château Cos d’Estournel 68 FinenUiKKi Do You Still Carry Around a Black Tasting Book? 70 FinePerSonalitY Jean León from Rags to Riches Through Dreams 80 FineJUHlin Good and Bad Taste? 82 FineleGend Salon – Champagne for One 88 FineMaiSon Salon the Eternal Youth 94 FinereGion FINE Spotlight A Chase of the Wine Legends 22 FinetaStinG PAGE 122 The 2012 Bordeaux: A Winemaker’s Vintage Discovering Champagne – Reims 100 FineViSit Champagne Up in the Treetops 104 FineKaPon The Don Does the Kapons 106 FinePairinG Champagne’s Favourite Foods: Cheese 114 FineColleCtinG 120 FineSUCKlinG PAGE 126 FINE Lifestyle Proper Wine Storage – a Temperature Myth? Benchmark Vintage 1997 122 FineSPotliGHt Hong Kong 126 FineliFeStYle The Pleasure of Wine Writing FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 7

WRITERS FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA Volume 3 Issue 1 Q1 2013 Editor Rajiv Singhal Publisher Rajiv Singhal for Fine Publishing India Private Limited Chief Executive Ritu Singhal Director of Editorial Pekka Nuikki Columnists Dirk Niepoort, John Kapon, James Suckling, Meri Kukkavaara Distribution Amrita Bhageria Art & Creative Sandeep Kaul Photographs Akshat Arora Administration Avneet Kaur Editorial & Business Offices 6F Vandhna, 11 Tolstoy Marg, New Delhi 110001 E: contact@fine-magazines.in W: www.fine-magazines.in Subscriber Information T: +91 11 23359874-75 RNI no. DELENG/2010/35861 ISSN 2231-5098 Edited, Printed and Published by Rajiv Singhal on behalf of Fine Publishing India Private Limited. Published from 6F Vandhna, 11 Tolstoy Marg, New Delhi Rajiv Singhal Rajiv Singhal is an entrepreneur who pioneered activities in the luxury sector in India. He studied Economics at Yale, and since then has been simplifying access to the Indian market for international clients. Among other path breaking initiatives, he helped set up the market for wine in India over the last 16 years. Mr. Singhal is the Ambassador of Champagne to India, who loves to challenge himself. Pekka Nuikki Pekka Nuikki is an author and one of the leading experts on fine wines in Europe. He is the founder of FINE Magazines and has published over twenty acclaimed international wine and art books. He is an award winning photographer, who has exhibited his artwork all over the world and has worked as creative director of an advertising agency group. Mr. Nuikki is also the luckiest man in the world, having hit seven hole-in-ones. Juha Lihtonen Juha Lihtonen is the manyfold Finnish sommelier champion and was the best sommelier in the Nordic countries in 2003. He is the quintessential Finn, but loves to chat - which earns him a reputation with his 4 a.m. friends. He has worked as a wine educator, a wine host on radio and the wine buyer of a major cruise line. Besides his day jobs, Mr. Lihtonen studies for the Master of Wine qualification. Essi Avellan MW Essi Avellan is the first Master of Wine from Finland, second ever from the Nordic countries. She was awarded the Lily Bollinger Medal as the best taster and the Tim Derouet Memorial Award as the best overall student in the Master of Wine examination. Ms. Avellan judges at several wine competitions and was inducted as Dame Chevalier into the Ordre des Coteaux de Champagne. Jeff Leve Jeff Leve is the founder, contributor and editor of ”The Wine Cellar Insider”. He is the moderator for Robert Parker’s website and is a self-taught wine enthusiast who travels frequently to Bordeaux region to barrel taste. He calls Los Angeles home, and consults numerous restaurants, merchants and private collectors on cellar acquisitions. Aside from wine, Mr. Leve’s passions include travel, cooking and music. Richard Juhlin Richard Juhlin is a champagne specialist who holds the world record for the number of champagnes tasted. Up until today 6946 champagnes have passed his lips. He has also written several books – 2000 Champagnes (1999), 3000 Champagnes (2002), 4000 Champagnes (2004) and the Richard Juhlin Champagne Guide (2008). In 2002, Mr. Juhlin received the Merite de Agricole from the French Ministry of Agriculture. Risto Karmavuo Risto Karmavuo is a gastronome who is enthusiastically devoted to the pairing of food with wine. This has led to books, the Viini & Ruoka – Opas makujen harmoniaan and Mestarien vieraana – Viiniä, ruokaa ja tarinoita are result of his collaboration with FINE’s Juha Lihtonen. Mr. Karmavuo is a lecturer at Finland’s most esteemed hotel and restaurant management college, the Haaga Institute and is a member of Chaîne des Rôtisseurs. Lee Zinser Lee Zinser is a partner at Cellarworks, Inc with offices in New York, London, Los Angeles and Sydney. He has designed and completed custom wine cellars for celebrities and top designers around the world since 1995. Mr. Zinser is also a partner of VinumXtremus, a firm that specializes in first-ever wine collections and luxuries. 110001 India. Printed at Aegean Offset Printers, 220-B, Udyog Kendra Extension I, Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh 201306 India. All rights reserved. No part of this publication maybe reproduced, stored in any retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the publisher. The opinions of the contributors or interviewees presented in this magazine do not necessarily correspond to nor reflect the opinions of the publisher or the editorial team. While the editorial team do their utmost to verify information published they do not accept responsibility for its absolute accuracy. Fine Publishing does not keep nor return illustrations or other materials that have been sent in unsolicited, and hold the right to make any modifications in texts and pictures published in FINE Wine & Champagne India magazine. We reserve the right to refuse or suspend advertisements. 8 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA Petri Nevalainen Mr Nevalainen has over 30 years’ experience in media business. He worked almost ten years for BBC World Service in London. He has gained his experience as a journalist by working for TV, radio and internet. This Master of Science has published 15 different non-fiction books. He is very interested in music and food. Debra Meiburg MW Debra Meiburg MW is a celebrated wine journalist, TV personality, wine educator and in-demand speaker who is pleasing palates across Asia with her fresh take on the world of wine. A long-time resident of Hong Kong, Ms. Meiburg is determined to take the everyday wine lover beyond the bottle to discover the intricacies of their own tastebuds and allow them to thoroughly enjoy the pleasures of wine.

nniversaries are special and this one even more standards it has set and is being read with pleasure. The so. The FINE Wine & Champagne India magazine will pages that we present to you are sacrosanct, and we turn two this April. It does indeed sound clichéd – but FINE Editorial A respect this – so we “say NO to paid plugs”. truly, our team cannot believe how quickly time has flown! It has already been two years since FINE set out Richard Levin, the longest tenured President of Yale to change the face of world of fine wine in India. University and my professor of Industrial Organisation 101a, shared the thought that it is indeed possible to Pekka Nuikki, a very well-known wine personality from successfully run commercially profitable enterprises a not so well known wine country (Finland), and I without compromising on principles and values. Our charted out the path for FINE Wine & Champagne FINE venture corroborates this, even if our principles India to be recognised among the world’s leading fine do leave us in a cocoon, from where we continue to wine magazines while sharing some interesting cuvées diligently beaver away to change the dynamics of the of Champagne at Les Crayéres - the quintessential Indian wine landscape, inspite of the obstacles that have maison in the region of Champagne. Our founding been hurled our way. Assuming the risk of belittling vision outlined a charter of professional ethics that was some, we have raised the bar so that India can soon to be followed in letter, and more importantly in spirit. mark its position as a destination on the international This has kept us on our toes for every moment in these fine wine map. years, sticking to the basics, and keeping it simple. Twenty Thirteen also marks two decades for me as a The Indian publishing space around us has changed ever career entrepreneur – a role that was handed to me by so marginally, in the last twelve months. The Indian fate, but one that my wife Ritu and I shaped with the regulator has proposed a cap on the number of traditional values that we inherited. Eternally grateful advertisements in relation to editorial content. When to family and friends for their unstinted support, we FINE Wine & Champagne India was launched, we hope that we will be able to give back what we may have capped this voluntarily (well within the proposed drawn and to bequeath a legacy for future generations. limits) to create a win-win situation for all – our readers are not deprived of content and our advertisers get more bang for their buck because their advertisements are not lost in a sea of others. But the vicious problems that plague it, remain. Direct incentives and personal gratification still drown merit in content selection. Validation of key facts is ignored under pressure from commercial interests. Freebies are sought as par for the course. FINE’s award winning formats continue to be brazenly copied. However, FINE is grateful to learn from you, our reader, that our magazine is maintaining the very high Rajiv Singhal Rajiv Singhal FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 9

2012 B The ORDEAUX: A Winemaker’s Vintage [the 2012 Bordeaux vintage report] Château PICHON-LONGUEVILLE 10 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA

FINE Wine View 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. FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 11

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 12 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 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 Wine View 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. FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 13

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? 14 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 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.

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? FINE Wine View 2012 B The 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. FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 15

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? 16 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 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? FINE Wine View Christian Moueix / Château Pétrus 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 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 17

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.” 18 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 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.

FINE Wine View Jean-Philippe Delmas / Château Haut-Brion 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 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. > ­ FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 19

COLUMN JUHA LIHTONEN A chase of the wine legends T he 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 20 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 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.

FINE Lihtonen 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 f ­actors can be 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. > FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 21

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? 22 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA

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 published in the previous issue of FINE Wine & Champagne India. The bottles pictured with the tasting notes are not necessarily the ones tasted in the Century Tasting. FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 23

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 92p (CHILE) 1961 Château Latour 1962 Krug Vintage Champagne (FRANCE) (FRANCE) 83p 92p 1967 1966 Biondi-Santi Brunello Guigal Côte-Rôtie La Mouline (FRANCE) di Montalcino Riserva (ITALY) 1968 Tenuta Sassicaia San Guido (ITALY) 86p 1969 Barolo Monfortino Conterno (ITALY) 92p 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) 24 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA

Vintages F I N E C e n t u r y Ta s t i n g 100 97p 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) FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 25

1952 1952 Inglenook Cabernet Sauvignon Cask J-9 On 18 October 1867, a crowd gathered to witness the last time Russia’s flag would be lowered at Sitka, Alaska. It was an historic moment, as the flag to be raised on the following morning would be that of the United States that had just purchased the territory of Alaska from Russia for $ 7.2 million. A young, lanky Finnish seaman named Gustav Ferdinand Nybom stood in this crowd and followed the event with a feeling of hope and excitement. However, he had no inkling of the role he would soon play in the wine history of his newly adopted homeland. Gustav Nybom, born in Helsinki in 1842, adored the sea and by age fifteen, started out as a cabin boy on a vessel sailing for Alaska. He quickly understood that his basic seaman’s skills would not take him very far beyond his position of cabin boy and so, at the age of 17 years, he applied to the Helsinki Maritime Academy, graduating with honours and becoming a Captain at only 22 years. While many thought that the purchase of this vast, icy territory was a waste and a mistake, Gustav saw enormous potential in the natural resources of Alaska. He established business relationships with local fur trappers for their pelts and the year that 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. Not only did he become one of the richest men in America but Gustav Nybom also changed his name to Gustave Niebaum, for reasons unknown. Marriage to Susan Shingleburger, who did not share his passion for the sea, made him ready for a less demanding and grounded life and so they set out to find a common interest. During his travels Niebaum had been intrigued by wine culture and winemaking in Europe and decided to establish his own world-class vineyard. His fortune was then over $10 million, which made any one of the Bordeaux region’s four original appellations an option to purchase and he travelled around Europe with his wife in search of a suitable place. When his business partners purchased vineyards close to the Niebaum family home in California, Gustave too became interested. Wine had been successfully cultivated here since the 1830’s and at that time California was in the midst of a wine boom that could almost be likened to the Gold Rush. In 1879, Niebaum and his wife purchased a farm in the heart of Napa County near the township of Rutherford for $48,000. Called Inglenook, Scottish for “fireside corner”, the name appealed to Niebaum and he purchased three adjoining plots, increasing the vineyard’s area to 202 acres. Niebaum approached winemaking with the same conviction and ingenuity that he used to amass his wealth. His main goal was improving the quality of California wines, which had garnered an exceedingly bad reputation. Almost all the wine was shipped in barrels to the East Coast where profit-hungry merchants mixed it with cheap grape juice to maximise their short-term gains. In some cases, the bottles even bore counterfeit labels of some renowned French wines. 26 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA

F I N E C e n t u r y Ta s t i n g Niebaum refused to engage in such business practices for Inglenook wines. He built a new production facility that complied with the latest best practices and quality standards and 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, considering that the finest vineyards in Bordeaux, to take an example, were not able to bottle their wines until fifty years later. Niebaum’s deep pockets 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 with a capacity of 300 million litres. Adjoining this cellar was a charming tasting room modelled after a ship’s cabin with art from top contemporary European artists adorning the walls. The cellar and tasting room are still in their original condition and are a pilgrimage for wine tourists in the Napa Valley. To stay abreast with developments in the wine world, Niebaum collected nearly every piece of literature ever written about winemaking and cultivation and created one of the most extensive wine libraries in the world. A polyglot, Niebaum used his library to educate himself, and utilised his knowledge to challenge even the most talented and experienced winemakers. In 1882, Inglenook produced its first vintage under Niebaum’s ownership. However, the wine was not upto Niebaum’s standards and the entire 300,000 litre yield was sold in bulk to a San Francisco wholesaler. To improve the quality of his wines, Niebaum replaced a majority of his vines with European varieties. Niebaum’s investments began to bear fruit a few years later and in the autumn of 1886, several Inglenook 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. Awards followed at Paris’ Exposition Universelle of 1889, the first of many honours to come and by 1890, Inglenook had become a shining example to all California vineyards. Captain Niebaum died in 1908, one of the richest and most successful men in America. His story, that of a young Finnish cabin boy unable to speak English who eventually mastered seven languages in his quest for excellence, is just one of the pioneering examples that helped create the myth of the American dream. The Niebaum dream was revived in 1975, when world-famous film director Francis Ford Coppola bought Inglenook as his home, successfully continuing the tradition of fine winemaking. 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: The 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 the Finns can be proud of. Taster’s comment: A surprisingly good vintage of very ripe, full and age-worthy wines. This Inglenook looked like a new one. Deep, very impressive colour. Wonderful ripe, rich fruit, sweet vanilla, American oak on nose. On the 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. FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 27

1953 1953 Château Lafite 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: Decanting time: Glass time: When to drink: Food pairing: Fake factor: 34 times, last in 5/2012 1.5 hours 2 hours Now to 2025 Too elegant to share with anything dead 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. Taster’s comment: So that brings us to second place, which belongs to the 1953 LafiteRothschild, which had a deep, intoxicating nose. This was a nose that Bordeaux dreams are made of. There was impressive power here.It was hailed 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. 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. 28 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA At the end of 1756, the Duc de Richelieu, the nephew of Cardinal Richelieu, founder of the French Academy, returned home to Paris victorious from a long military campaign. He had, among other exploits, taken Minorca from the British. King Louis XV rewarded his achievements by appointing him 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 high-ranking vintners of Bordeaux, and they sneakily got Richelieu to drink their wines with 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 vigor, 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 be in Paris. At the palace reception the King kindly remarked that he looked 25 years younger than when he was appointed governor. Richelieu solemnly declared, “Your Majesty, I must tell you that I have discovered the secret of eternal youth – Château Lafite.” This legendary reply quickly changed the drinking habits at the French Court. 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 Champagne. 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 that the wine’s reputation and price paid in the past 150 years would be the main selection criteria. So the more acclaimed and expensive the wine, the higher it would rank in the classification. 61 wines were selected for the final classification that had five quality grades. Château Lafite was the unanimously choice for the number one position, which it officially still holds today

F I N E C e n t u r y Ta s t i n g 1955 DRC Romanée-Conti 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 in New York is still cheap compared to this. 10,000 vines are growing on this 1.8 hectare vineyard, 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, but 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. 1955 95p 1955 DRC Romanée-Conti (France) Average auction price: Bottle condition: Colour: Nose: Taster’s comment: Finally, we landed in DRC territory. 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. €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 character, 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 eBay at a modest price of €500, it will be hard to tell without opening the bottles if it is the 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 a very great vintage. Or try this: Henri Jayer Richebourg 1959 Final verdict: Sheer pleasure with a very high price tag, as normal. FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 29

1950 91p 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: A very good plus Yes 8 times, last time 5/2012 1.5 hours 2 hours Now Aged Gouda cheese None Inside information: The grape varieties are Merlot (80%), and Cabernet Franc (20%). Very low production during the 50’s – only around 3000 cases. Or try this: CVNE Imperial 1950 Final verdict: Excellent, but not as exiting as Lafleur A1 Medium intense, ruby to brick-red Deep, earthy, complex, roasted coffee, blackcurrants, milk chocolate tannins, ripe blackcurrants, cedar well-integrated, good-balance, sweet fruit, slightly austere and tannic Elegant, dense, lengthy €287 Palate: Medium-bodied, vivid, fine-grained yet firm Palate: Medium-bodied, well-founded structure, Finish: In a nutshell: Buy or not: Tasted: Decanting time: Glass time: When to drink: Food pairing: Fake factor: 1951 Gran Reserva 91p 1951 CVNE Imperial (Spain) Finish: Moderately long, refined, gently overpowering tannins In a nutshell: Buy or not: Tasted: Decanting time: Glass time: When to drink: Food pairing: Fake factor: A masculine matador Yes Twice, last in 5/2012 30 minutes 1.5 hours Now–2025 Grilled entrecôte with haricot verts None Inside information: Compañia Vinicola del Norte España (CVNE) launched a masculin style Rioja wine called Imperial from Rioja Alta region in the 1920s. 1951 was a mediocre vintage. Or try this: Cheval Blanc 1952 Final verdict: Not the most astonisihing wine but one of the greatest wines from this vintage. or Pétrus. 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: In a nutshell: Buy or not: Tasted: Decanting time: Glass time: When to drink: Food pairing: Fake factor: Long, powerful, hot A candy store in the glass Yes Twice, last in 5/2012 1 hour 2 hours Now–2050 Creamy vanilla ice cream None Inside information: The greatest Madeira vintage since the Second World War Or try this: Graham’s Malvedos Vintage Port 1954 Final verdict: It is hard to be disappointed with Madeira Malvasia – this wine has proven that fact true again. 30 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 75p 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 Palate: Medium-bodied, tannic, short of fruit, dull Finish: In a nutshell: Buy or not: Tasted: Decanting time: Glass time: When to drink: Food pairing: Fake factor: Inside information: 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!

1957 1957 Domaine Huet Vouvray Sec Clos du Bourg (France) Average auction price: Bottle condition: Colour: Nose: €165 A1 Bright, yellow dried apricots, citrus, honey Long, lingering, fresh Amazingly fresh and fruity Yes Twice, last in 5/2012 30 minutes 2 hours 2022 Mature camembert cheese 1958 1958 Château Haut-Brion Blanc (France) Average auction €855 price: Colour: Moderately light, straw yellow Nose: Reserved, evolved, mineral, lemony, woolly Open, complex, citrus, honey, waxy, gunpowder Palate: Medium-sweet, vivid acidity, supple, Finish: In a nutshell: Buy or not: Tasted: Decanting time: Glass time: When to drink: Food pairing: Fake factor: 93p F I N E C e n t u r y Ta s t i n g 89p Palate: Dry, moderate acidity, broad, oily, hay, mineral, citrus Finish: In a nutshell: Buy or not: Tasted: Decanting time: Glass time: When to drink: Food pairing: Fake factor: Medium-length, lemony, smoky Retiring gracefully No 2 times, last in 5/2012 15 minutes 45 minutes Now Baked guinea fowl with cepe risotto None Inside information: A very difficult year for dry whites in 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. 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 Final verdict: Serious white from Bordeaux Or try this: Kloster Eberbacher Rüdesheimer Schlossberg Riesling Naturrein 1957 Final verdict: Another consistent performer from the reliable Domaine Huet 92p 1959 1959 La Rioja Alta Reserva 890 (Spain) Average auction price: Bottle condition: Colour: Nose: €250 A2 Bright, healthy, deep 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 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 France, information: but not at DRC Or try this: Vega Sicilia Unico 1960 Final verdict: One of the rarest 1960s on the market vintage. FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 31

1961 1950 < First modern credit card is introduced < Korean war begins < The very first Peanuts comic strip, written by Charles M. Schulz, appears in newspapers 1951 < Colour TV is introduced < South Africans are forced to carry ID cards identifying race < The first rock ‘n’ roll record is released 1952 < The Polio vaccine is released < Princess Elizabeth becomes Queen at age 25 < Car seat belts are introduced 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 whole flight was like drinking history and made me really feel like the luckiest wine taster on earth. 32 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 1953 < DNA is discovered < Joseph Stalin dies < Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay scale the summit of Mount Everest for the first time ever < Playboy is first published 1954 < Segregation is ruled illegal in the U.S. < Algerian War of Independence against France begins 1955 < James Dean dies in a car accident < The McDonald’s Corporation is founded < Disneyland is opened 1956 < Khrushchev denounces Stalin < The Suez Crisis < Grace Kelly marries Prince Rainier III of Monaco < Elvis Presley turns into ‘Elvis the Pelvis’ on national TV 1957 < European Economic Community is established < Soviet satellite Sputnik launches space age < Laika, the dog, becomes the first living animal to enter orbit

During the 19th century, a number of vintagesmade from prephylloxera vines took a great reputation. 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. In the20th 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 of “The Greatest Vintage Ever.” To be a candidate for a great vintage, for me it should be 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 1947. 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. At Château Latour, 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. So although 1961 was not perfect at Château Latour, the wines were! 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. 98p F I N E C e n t u r y Ta s t i n g 1961 Château Latour 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. FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 33

1962 92p 1958 < NASA is founded < Chinese Leader Mao Zedong launches the “Great Leap Forward” < LEGO toy bricks appear for the first time < Hula hoops become very popular 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 1959 < Fidel Castro takes charge as dictator in Cuba < International treaty makes Antarctica a scientific preserve < The Kitchen Debate between Nixon and Khrushchev < The Barbie Doll is invented Palate: Vigour, rich, delicious, broad, fascinating, well-balanced, complex, a bit oxidised Finish: In a nutshell: Buy or not: Tasted: Decanting time: Glass time: When to drink: Food pairing: Fake factor: A bit short and dry, appetizing Captivating A perfect birthday present 16 times, last 05/2012 15 minutes 3 hours Now Best alone or just with foie gras None – never seen any. Inside information: Made from Pinot Noir 36%, 1960 < The laser is invented < John F. Kennedy defeats Richard Nixon in the first televised presidential debate < About ninety percent of U.S. homes have a television set Pinot Meunier 28% and Chardonnay 36%. Also the year that Henri Krug took over the the House. Or try this: Louis Roederer 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: In a nutshell: Buy or not: Tasted: Decanting time: Glass time: When to drink: Food pairing: Fake factor: Spicy finish with moderate length A discreet charmer Yes 12 times, last in 5/2012 30 minutes 1 hour Now–2040 Gorgonzola cheese None Inside information: The greatest Port vintage of the century together with vintage 1931 Or try this: Warre Vintage Port 1963 Final verdict: A slight disappointment for such an esteemed producer and its wine from such a great vintage. 34 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 1961 < The Berlin Wall is built < The Peace Corps is founded < The Soviets launch Yuri Gagarin as the first man in space < The Bay of Pigs invasion 1962 < The Cuban missile crisis < Andy Warhol exhibits his Campbell’s soup can < Marilyn Monroe is found dead < Spacewar, the first computer video game is released < Silicone breast implants are invented 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

Since its inception in 1905, Salon Blanc de Blancs has been the Champagne region’s most mythical wine. The basic idea for its production was unusual, given its sole purpose was to satisfy the palate of just one man, Eugène-Aimé Salon and that too only at Maxim’s in Paris. 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. The northern, chilly Champagne region only rarely provides excellent harvests. Salon decided to produce his wines only in the best years, and initially made wine every other year on average. Salon’s first vintage, 1905, was also the first official blanc de blancs champagne. In 1963 the business was sold to the champagne house of Besserat de Bellefon. The only major change the new owner made was to the Salon packaging which was redesigned in 1976. The business transferred from Besserat de Bellefon to LaurentPerrier in 1988. Laurent-Perrier, which also owns Champagne Delamotte next to Salon, produces Salon only from the finest vintages, according to the philosophy of its founder. 96p F I N E C e n t u r y Ta s t i n g 1964 Salon Vintage Champagne Taster’s comment: The 1964 Salon was the best I ever had – a classical example of the vintage, absolute power, mass of ripe fruits, some foie grass in the nose and concentration supported by the long, long mineral finish... Great! 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, 1937, 1943, 1945, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1955, 1956, 1959, 1961, 1964, 1966, 1969, 1971, 1973, 1976, 1979, 1982, 1983, 1985, 1988, 1990, 1995, 1996, 1997 and 1999 Or try this: Philipponnat Clos des Goisses 1964 Final verdict: A time stopper FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 35

1965 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 into practice the Bordelais production techniques and new winemaking ideas. In 1952 he finally realised his vision with the creation of BarcaVelha, made from high-quality Port grapes. Ferreira’s BarcaVelha quickly became a classic, the uncrowned “First Growth” that 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 varietals 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. 1965 1965 Barca Velha Ferreira 88p (Portugal) Average auction price: Bottle condition: Colour: Nose: €343 A2 Dark, brown, hazy 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: Decanting time: Glass time: When to drink: Food pairing: Fake factor: 3 times, last in 5/2012 15 minutes 1 hour Now Rack of lamb with fries 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 36 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA

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 began in 1946 when talented winemaker Etienne Guigal resigned from his position at Vidal-Fleury and founded the Guigal wine house, laying the foundation for success which his son Marcel capitalised on. 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. In the 1960s, 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 on account of the use of new oak barrels, considered against the tradition then. The 17-year old Marcel Guigal countered by stating that winemakers 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. Since Guigal did not have that problem, they would use new oak – in accordance with tradition. 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 voluptuous 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 gneiss, silicon and loess with limestone. The blend is 89% Syrah and 11% Viognier. Or try this: DRC La Tâche 1966 Final verdict: The first ever La Mouline produced and one of the best ever made. 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. F I N E C e n t u r y Ta s t i n g 1966 Guigal Côte-Rôtie La Mouline 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. FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 37

1968 1968 Sassicaia Tenuta San Guido 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. 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. 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. 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. To make wine that had Cabernet Sauvignon as its primary variety was a brave decision and took courage in those days. 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 the Marquis himself and his guests on the estate. From then until the early 1960s, Sassicaia was a completely private estate. 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 “Sassicaia” 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 3000 bottles of the Sassicaia´s 1968 vintage made with 100 per cent Cabernet Sauvignon to the open market in the early 1970s, with instant success. 38 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 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: Decanting time: Glass time: When to drink: Food pairing: Fake factor: 12 times, last in 5/2012 30 minutes 30 minutes Now or never Fried scallops 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.

1967 Biondi-Santi Brunello di Montalcino Riserva (Italy) Average auction price: Bottle condition: Colour: Nose: 1967 €312 A1 Moderately light, brick-red 1969 Conterno 86p 1969 Barolo Monfortino (Italy) Average auction €650 price: Bottle A2 condition: Colour: Dark, brown colour with light hue, quite older looking Medium-intense, red fruits, strawberries, prunes, yoghurt, earthy Nose: Open, earthy, rich, sharp, truffle, caramel, tobacco Palate: Medium-bodied, crisp and acidic, steely, Palate: Medium-bodied, high acidity, supple astringent tannins tannins, liquorice, mature, concentrated, average 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. F I N E C e n t u r y Ta s t i n g 83p 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 None 1969 DRC St-Vivant The 1967 or 1971 vintages are lot better. Or try this: Vega Sicilia Unico 1967 Final verdict: It seems hard to find a mature BiondiSanti wine that charms 1970 Vosne-Romanée 92p 1970 Henri Jayer (France) Average auction price: Bottle condition: Colour: Nose: Palate: €1280 Finish: In a nutshell: Buy or not: Tasted: Decanting time: Glass time: When to drink: Food pairing: Fake factor: Lingering and seductive, medium long A1 Dark, ruby colour Open, sound, earthy, rich, savoury Well-balanced, medium-bodied, moderate acidity, soft tannins, elegant, beautiful Beauty without the beast Impossible to find Twice, last in 5/2012 30 minutes 1 hour Now Oven baked pigeon with cepe risotto 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 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 existant 1971 Tignanello Only the second vintage of Sorì Tildin – what a promising start. Or try this: 1970 DRC Romanée-Conti Final verdict: Just right for a single gentleman with temperate habits. FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 39

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 on ocean liners without any haste. 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 the eagerness he showed, 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: In a nutshell: Buy or not: Tasted: Decanting time: Glass time: When to drink: Food pairing: Fake factor: Long, dry, soft tannins, multi-layered One of the best 1972s Almost impossible to find 9 times, last in 10/2012 45 minutes 2 hours Now to 2025 Game 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. 40 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 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. He used them to mature 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, which would be a secret from his other partners. 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. Robert 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 the 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. 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 the Baroness’ great great grandfather. 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. So it was put in first place amongst the second growths; an injustice that took the Baroness’ father 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 a revolutionary idea in these most conservative of surroundings. The idea of an artist designing the labels was, however, dropped until 1945, when Philippe Jullian was asked to design a label commemorating the victory over Nazi Germany. Since then, the works of such famous artists as 1973 Mouton-Rothschild 89p 1973 Château(France) Average auction price: Bottle condition: Colour: Nose: €440 A1 Picasso, Miró, Dali, Chagall and personalities like Prince Charles have created works 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 winegrowing 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 HautBrion. On 21 June 1973, Château Mouton-Rothschild was re-categorised from a Deuxième to a Premier Cru. Very dark, mature-looking, gifted Voluptuous, open, white chocolate, red fruit dried herbs, earthy, oriental spices, eucalyptus, sweet 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 wine’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 Now to 2025 Taster’s comment: Not a great reputation and I have never liked it very much before. This bottle was surprisingly good. A good art book about Mouton labels None A visit to the Picasso Museum A relatively satisfactory claret from this important Mouton vintage. FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 41

1974 1974 Heitz Martha’s Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon The year 1974 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. 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. 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 had 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. 42 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 99p 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, harmonious 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 book. Or try this: 1974 Lafleur Final verdict: The best wine of the century – today. Taster’s comment: I love it! What it lacks in complexity it makes up for in outright voluptuous eucalyptus power and intensity. 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.

1975 1975 Château Lafleur (France) Average auction price: Bottle condition: Colour: Nose: €2640 A1 Dark, intense, brick red Black fruits, spicy, cedary, touch of menthol, 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 Taster’s comment: 1975 Lafleur –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… F I N E C e n t u r y Ta s t i n g 97p Taster’s comment: The wine 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. 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. 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! Or try this: Pétrus 1975 Final verdict: A wine of the vintage in Bordeaux 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: In a nutshell: Buy or not: Tasted: Decanting time: Glass time: When to drink: Food pairing: Fake factor: Powerful, persuasive, lengthy As deep as the ocean floor Don´t hesitate 11 times, last in 5/2012 15 minutes 45 minutes Now to 2020 Fresh oysters None Inside information: The Clos des Goisses vineyard is Taster’s comment: Fresh and complex wine. Yeasty nose and honeyed fruit on the palate. Beautiful. owned by Champagne Philipponnat and the Philipponnats have lived in the Champagne region since the 17th century. Pierre and Auguste Philipponnat founded the house in 1910 in the village of Mareuil-sur-Aÿ. Their first vineyards (17 hectares), including Clos des Goisses, were acquired in the mid 1930s. The blend of 1976 was 70% Pinot Noir and 30% Chardonnay Or try this: Dom Pérignon 1976 Final verdict: A display of uniqueness and bravery FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 43

1977 1977 Château Musar 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. Inspite of the reality that winemaking has been a repeatedly dangerous venture in Lebanon, Château Musar has continued to make excellent, long-lasting wines. 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. 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. 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: In a nutshell: Buy or not: Tasted: Decanting time: Glass time: When to drink: Food pairing: Fake factor: Long, rich, hot Energetic and youthful Yes 5 times, last in 5/2012 20 minutes 45 minutes Now–2022 Roasted lamb with root vegetables 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 Final verdict: Either you love this wine or you hate it. 44 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 1964 < Cassius Clay (a.k.a. Muhammad Ali) becomes the World heavyweight champion < Nelson Mandela is sentenced to life in prison < The Civil Rights Act is passed in the U.S. 1965 < The U.S. sends troops to Vietnam < Japan’s bullet train starts operations < Malcolm X is assassinated < Soft contact lenses are invented 1966 < Mao Zedong launches the Cultural Revolution < Star Trek TV series airs 1967 < South African surgeon Christiaan Barnard conducted the first heart transplant < Che Guevara is killed < First Super Bowl games 1968 < Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy are assassinated < The Prague Spring < The computer mouse is invented 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 Palestine Liberation Organisation 1970 < An earthquake kills more than 50,000 in Peru < Computer floppy disks are introduced < The Beatles break up 1971 < Video Cassette Recording is introduced < The United Kingdom changes to decimal system for currency < Military junta led by Idi Amin seizes power in Uganda

In 1876, Roederer made a champagne for Russia’s Tsar Alexander II that became the world’s first luxury cuvée. But with the sudden collapse of the Russian market at the turn of the war, 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 today to remain family-owned. Although the house’s history actually began in 1776, it was not called Roederer until 1833, when Louis Roederer inherited the business from his uncle. He 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, gets 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 brand-building tool. The story of Cristal’s genuine crystal bottle is well-known. 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 Louis 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. F I N E C e n t u r y Ta s t i n g 1979 Louis Roederer Cristal 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: Or try this: Final verdict: 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 1979 Pommery Cuvée Louise A graceful champagne Taster’s comment: Deep golden colour, steady slow flow of bubbles. Strong, toasty and mushroomy fruity and round nose. Excellent tight-knitted 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. FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 45

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 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 Five times, last in 5/2012 1 hour 1 hour Now–2020 Lamb casserole Low Inside information: The most rare and fine Châteauneufdu-Pape wine available. Robert Parker’s 99 points have made this small-yield 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 Final verdict: This wine can be beautifully charming 1980 Quinta do Noval Nacional Vintage Port (Portugal) Average auction price: Bottle condition: Colour: Nose: Very rustic, evolved, earthy, woody, tabasco Palate: Medium-bodied, dry, savoury, silky Tasted: Decanting time: Glass time: When to drink: Food pairing: Fake factor: 93p €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: Decanting time: Glass time: When to drink: Food pairing: Fake factor: 7 times, last 05/2012 3 hours 3 hours Now–2040 Stilton 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. and superb – unfortunately this time we were unlucky with the bottle 94p 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 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 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 Final verdict: A harmless and enjoyable wine FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA Average auction price: Bottle condition: Colour: Nose: Bright, green to lemon yellow, light Fake factor: None Inside information: The wine is a blend of the grapes 46 1984 Caymus Special Selection Cabernet Sauvignon (USA) €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: Decanting time: Glass time: When to drink: Food pairing: Fake factor: 4 times, last in 5/2012 2 hours 2 hours Now to 2025 Barbeque beef with grilled peppers 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 Final verdict: A wine as rich and smooth as a blackcurrant smoothie

1973 < The U.S. pulls out of Vietnam < The ethernet (local computer network) is activated < Mouton-Rothschild is reclassified as premier cru 1974 < The Terracotta Army is excavated in China < U.S. President Nixon resigns < The Post-it notes are released 1975 < Microsoft is founded < Pol Pot becomes the communist dictator of Cambodia < Arthur Ashe is the first black man to be crowned at Wimbledon 1982 1982 Château Léoville-Las-Cases 96p (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: Great buy Tasted: 30 times, last tasted in 5/2012 Decanting time: 2 hours Glass time: 2 hours When to drink: Now to 2020 Food pairing: Roast beef Fake factor: Moderately low so far, although growing as the wine is challenging the First Growth wines Inside information: Located next to Château Latour, Léoville-Las-Cases, has 97 hectares of land around the commune, but the best plots are situated, surrounded by walls, on a gentle slope next to Latour. Or try this: Château Pichon-Longueville Comtesse de Lalande 1982 Final verdict: An elegant wine that already delivers its charming personality 1976 < The first Ebola virus outbreaks strike Sudan and Zaire < North and South Vietnam merge to form the Socialist Republic of Vietnam 1977 < Elvis is found dead < The grape-sorting table is first used at Domaine de la Romanée-Conti 1978 < The first test-tube baby is born < Karol Wojty?a of Poland becomes John Paul II < Sony introduces the Walkman, the first portable stereo 1979 < Ayatollah Khomeini returns as leader of Iran < Margaret Thatcher becomes the first woman Prime Minister of Great Britain < Mother Teresa is awarded the Nobel peace prize < Cell phones are invented < Miguel Torres is the first foreign investor to settle in Chile’s wine industry F I N E C e n t u r y Ta s t i n g 1972 < Terrorists attack the Olympic Games in Munich < The Watergate scandal breaks out < The pocket calculator is introduced 94p 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. 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, supple tannins, generous red fruit, raspberry nectar Finish: In a nutshell: Buy or not: Tasted: Decanting time: Glass time: When to drink: Food pairing: Fake factor: Long, flavourful, seductive Wine like a song of Seirene Yes, it’s a pricey wine but so alluring 2 times, last in 5/2012 2 hours 3 hours Now–2035 Duck Confit Low Inside information: Cool and slow start of the season. 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 like 1988. Or try this: Château Beaucastel Châteauneuf-duPape 1983 Final verdict: A true temptation that can take your breath away FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 47

1985 91p 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 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. €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: Tasted: Decanting time: Glass time: When to drink: Food pairing: Fake factor: Yes 7 times, last in 5/2012 45 minutes 2 hours Now to 2025 Roasted pork with morel sauce 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. Or try this: The First Masseto vintage – 1986. Final verdict: No wonder Ornellaia is so good today – it had such a good start. 94p 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: Tasted: Decanting time: Glass time: When to drink: Food pairing: Fake factor: Yes Twice, last in 5/2012 2 hours 3 hours Now to 2030 Tournedos Rossini 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 Or try this: Harlan Estate 1990 Final verdict: A great wine for the first vintage, but nowhere close to the best Mayas 48 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 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 Final verdict: A great wine from a weak vintage

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 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 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. 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”. F I N E C e n t u r y Ta s t i n g 1990 La Chapelle Paul 98p 1990 Hermitage Jaboulet Aîné (France) 1991 1991 DRC Montrachet 93p (France) Average auction price: Bottle condition: Colour: Nose: €2470 A1 Bright, buttery-yellow Open, fresh, toast, smoky, spearmint, tropical fruit, oily, madeira cake, vanilla Palate: Dryish, well-balanced, medium-bodied, crisp, vigour, elegant Finish: In a nutshell: Buy or not: Tasted: Decanting time: Glass time: When to drink: Food pairing: Fake factor: Harmonious and long Only average for DRC Montrachet Yes, but not a full case 8 times, last in 5/2012 1 hour 2 hours Now to 2025 Warm-smoked salmon 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 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 49

1989 1989 Château Haut-Brion Thomas Jefferson, the American Ambassador to Paris and later President of the United States of America, visited HautBrion on May 25, 1787 and wrote in his journals “Haut-Brion 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”, it gained enormous success in London. The first of the Bordeaux great growths was born. Through the centuries, the managers of Haut-Brion have been obsessed with perpetuating the château’s reputation for quality. Classified a First Growth in 1855, Haut-Brion 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, an ambitious project was started in the seventies in which suitable grape varieties that would adapt best for each plot had to be planted, and a relentless selection process was carried out as the trial planting of various clones commenced. In 1961, Haut-Brion began using stainless steel fermentation vats – the first of the highly regarded estates of Bordeaux to do so. An American family, the Dillons, has continued this tradition for seventy years. Haut-Brion is located in the commune of Péssac, five kilometres from the Bordeaux city centre. Over the years, 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 the Dillons 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 48 hectares are planted with 44 per cent Cabernet Sauvignon, 42 per cent Merlot and 14 per cent Cabernet Franc. Along with Latour, Haut-Brion has been the most consistent of the Premier Cru wines in terms of the quality during throughout the last century. Sceptics have never doubted the Premier Cru status of Haut-Brion, but its management never took this for granted. Haut-Brion’s owners continually strived to improve the quality, down to the minutest detail. They managed to make the wine’s style more enjoyable when young, thanks to its concentrated fruitiness, which has been achieved by lowering the yield per vine without relying on modern technology. Although the style of the wine has subtly changed to make it more approachable, Haut-Brion’s greatness lies in its perfect balance, which even survives decades of storage, and that is the very essence of Haut-Brion and its noble character - the connoisseurs’ Premier Cru. The wines of Haut-Brion are elegant wines with a very characteristic personality – being soft, warm and attractive. There is a complexity that is not immediately obvious to the inexperienced palate – which perhaps led to Haut-Brion being the least expensive Premier Cru for many years. This has now been corrected and in some vintages, like 1989, it is among the most expensive. This year was the hottest in France since 1949. The growing season began three weeks early, because May was extremely warm. Blossoming took place in near-ideal conditions, 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, they started to pick the fruit on the 31st of August. 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: In a nutshell: Buy or not: Tasted: Decanting time: Glass time: When to drink: Food pairing: Fake factor: Extensively long, intense, amazing Will be a perfect wine in ten years Buy now before the prices really go up 39 times, last in 9/2012 3 hours 2 hours Now to 2035 Grilled entrecôte with Béarnaise sauce None Inside information: The harvest started on 31st of August and ended on 20th of September. Or try this: La Mission Haut-Brion 1989 Final verdict: A samurai of wines 50 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA

F I N E C e n t u r y Ta s t i n g 1980 < John Lennon is assassinated < Mount St. Helens erupts, the worst volcanic disaster in U.S. history < The Pac-Man video game is released in Japan < Rubik’s Cube, the Hungarian invention, becomes popular 1981 < A “new plague” is identified as AIDS < Assassination attempts on the Pope and U.S. President Reagan < Prince Charles weds Lady Diana at Westminster Abbey < Personal computers are introduced by IBM 1982 < Falkland Islands are invaded by Argentina < Michael Jackson releases Thriller < Grace Kelly dies in a car accident 1983 < President 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 1984 < Rajiv Gandhi is elected the youngest Prime Minister in India 1985 < The wreck of Titanic is found < A hole in the ozone layer is discovered < Mikhail Gorbachev calls for Glasnost and Perestroika < Ethiopia suffers the worst famine in a century 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… FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 51

1992 94p 1992 Domaine Leroy Richebourg 1992 (France) Average auction price: Bottle condition: Colour: Nose: Palate: €488 Finish: In a nutshell: Buy or not: Tasted: Decanting time: Glass time: When to drink: Food pairing: Fake factor: Long, lingering, silky, smoky A1 Light, ruby-red Evolved, wild, complex, earthy Medium-bodied, vivid, energetic, refined tannins, intense red fruits, concentrated Delicious and vibrant Absolutely yes! Twice, last in 5/2012 3 hours 5 hours Now to 2025 Roasted guinea fowl with morrels 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 discredited 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 Final verdict: A great Burgundy that delivers a promise of a greater future 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: Decanting time: Glass time: When to drink: Food pairing: Fake factor: 9 times, last in 5/2012 1.5 hours 2 hours Now to 2030 Beef mignon with truffle sauce 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 52 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 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 chateaux 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 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 microchateau, 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.

F I N E C e n t u r y Ta s t i n g 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 finally believed he had found that piece of land he had been looking for. 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 true character of the terroir. Taster’s comment: 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 the only negative thing I could say about such a legend – it’s a bit too perfect after having all of these antique flavours of sometimes under ripe 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 Voluptuous 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 Final verdict: Among the best Harlan wines ever made FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 53

1996 1996 Krug Clos du Mesnil 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 time the vineyard plot was almost surrounded by houses, but the walls protected the vineyards being dug up in the quest to find more people homes. In 1975, the plot landed in the hands of the Krug family, as the brothers were searching for new vineyard acquisitions, even though vineyard land was being fiercely sought. The Krug brothers were informed of a property being sold in the Côte de Blancs, and they 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 took the decision to replant it. Therefore, the first vintage of Krug Clos du Mesnil dates back to 1979 when the vines were good enough to produce good wine, by which time the unique quality of the wine from the plot was being 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 the extra-ordinary vintage of 1996, however, the Clos du Mesnil is a true diamond of a wine. 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: In a nutshell: Buy or not: Tasted: Decanting time: Glass time: When to drink: Food pairing: Fake factor: Long, powerful and linear Outrageous Considering its price, not now 4 times, last in 2010 20 minutes 1 hour 2015 to 2030 Perhaps best appreciated on its own 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. 54 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA

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 1988 < Benazir Bhutto, the first Islamic woman Prime Minister, is chosen to lead Pakistan < Pan Am Flight 103 is struck by a terrorist bomb over Lockerbie < CDs outsell vinyl records for the first time 1989 < The Berlin Wall falls < Civilian protests erupt in Tiananmen Square in Peking < High-definition television is invented 1990 < Nelson Mandela is freed < Hubble telescope is launched into space < The World Wide Web (www) and Internet protocol (http) are created 1991 < The Soviet Union collapses < Boris Yeltsin becomes the first freely elected president of Russian Republic < South Africa repeals apartheid laws 1992 < The Cold War officially ends < Yugoslavia is broken up and the Czechoslovakian Parliament approves separation into two nations < Riots in Los Angeles after the Rodney King verdict F I N E C e n t u r y Ta s t i n g 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 1995 1995 Château de Beaucastel 95p Hommage à Jacques Perrin (France) Average auction price: Bottle condition: Colour: Nose: Palate: €375 Finish: In a nutshell: Buy or not: Tasted: Decanting time: Glass time: When to drink: Food pairing: Fake factor: Mellow, moderately long, balanced A1 Medium intense, cherry-red Intense, rich, smoky, ripe red fruits, floral Medium-bodied, delicate, vivid, harmonious Opulent and complete Yes 2 times, last in 5/2012 3 hours 3 hours 2020 Grilled ribs with pepper sauce 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 Final verdict: A First Growth Châteauneuf-du-Pape 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 Grand Cru 1998 Final verdict: If DRC Montrachet is the queen of the whites wines, this must be the prince FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 55

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 sensed something extraordinary and magical there, and realised she wants this ranch for herself. Without knowing much about the quality of the wines from the plot, she made an offer for it. The price was accepted and, having paid, Phillips became the owner of the 57-acre vineyard. The majority of the varieties cultivated on the plot were white, and its 80 vines of Cabernet Sauvignon covered 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 decided to start her own winemaking operation. Extensive planting was done. Phillips hired the respected wine consultant Richard Peterson, who introduced her to his winemaker daughter, Heidi Peterson Barrett. The two women bonded into a friendship that was to produce a wine whose début vintage of 1992, launched in 1996, completely charmed even the most esteemed wine critic, Robert Parker. He gave it 99 points. With only a few hundred cases produced, this became the most sought-after wine overnight. Only four years after its launch, six magnum bottles of 1992 Screaming Eagle were bid at the Napa Valley Wine Auction for the highest price ever paid for a wine: half a million dollars. A legend was born. 97p 1997 1997 Screaming Eagle (USA) Average auction price: Bottle condition: Colour: Nose: €2714 A1 Bright, deep, capable 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. 56 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA Taster’s comment: 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. 1993 < The World Trade Center in New York is bombed < Maastricht Treaty takes effect, creating the European Union < Michael Jackson is accused of child abuse 1994 < The Channel Tunnel train service connecting Britain and France opens < Nelson Mandela is elected President of South Africa < The Rwanda genocide 1995 < DVD (Digital Video Disc) is invented < Nerve gas attack in Tokyo subway kills eight and injures thousands 1996 < Britain is alarmed by an outbreak of “mad cow” disease < Web TV is invented < Chechens capture 2,000 Russians 1997 < The British handover Hong Kong to China < Scientists clone sheep < Hale-Bopp comet is visible in the sky < Princess Diana dies in a car crash in Paris 1998 < Indonesian dictator Suharto steps down after 32 years in power < Viagra is formulated 1999 < Euro becomes the new European currency < Panama Canal returns to Panama

F I N E C e n t u r y Ta s t i n g 1999 Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc 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; where he founded Cloudy Bay Vineyard. The estate is named after the bay in Wairau Valley that Captain Cook named Cloudy Bay in 1770. Since then, 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. “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 help us to bring out the characteristics and flavour qualities of the grapes of our region,” describes Kevin Judd, the first Chief Wine Maker of Cloudy Bay. Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc 1996 was chosen as the best white wine in the world in 1997 by the respected American Wine Spectator magazine, and with this recognition began the estate’s worldwide success, 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. 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: Decanting time: Glass time: When to drink: Food pairing: Fake factor: 10 times, last in 5/2012 30 minutes 1.5 hours 2019 Lobster Thermidor 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 Final verdict: A solid performer 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, 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. FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 57

COLUMN DIRK NIEPOORT Less is more T here are basically two approaches: “terroir” makes a great wine and a winemaker makes a great wine (let’s assume that a great winemaker makes great wine). I believe totally in the first and old fashioned theory: the name “winemaker” says it all – the one who makes the wine. In the past, the “winemakers” were not known by that name but as cellar master, or something similar. I believe the duty of a “winemaker”, or maybe “wine educator” is a better term, involves having the technical knowledge while trying to understand the grapes, the soil and the area, as well as the terroir, and then adapting those winemaking skills in order to create a wine that expresses its full potential, rather than making the wine just the way they want. 60 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA In modern times, we have so many technical choices, machines, equipment and vinological products that even though the possibilities seem to be greater, the wines seem to increasingly taste more artificial and similar. There can be no doubt that the average quality has increased and less faulty wines are sold, but the wines are becoming more and more undrinkable – to the point where they are heavy, sweet, fat, dark, over-extracted and over-oaked – and in reality one just does not want to drink them. I think the time has come to back up a little and try to do less instead of too much. We have

FINE Niepo ort to forget some things that we learned at university, such as the fact that we have to crush the grapes after de-stemming – and whether we actually have to de-stem at all – just to extract more colour. In fact, I find it extraordinary that in reality 90% of our winemaking decisions are taken in order to extract colour (from the red wines). For most wine educators, it is almost impossible to take decisions without thinking about the extraction of colour; indeed, if one made red wine while eliminating all the decisions based on colour, one would most probably have a much better and more interesting fine wine. We have to make wines that are digest, which is a very French word that says it all. We should make wines that make you feel good and which make your stomach happy. My vision is to learn from the old, as older people know the traditions and habits of certain areas, and combine that empiric wisdom with modern knowledge. > I believe in wines that have character, identity and balance, as well as some edginess and freshness in their youth, and which dispel a lot of unnecessary fruitiness (modern wines are too fruity, while freshness is what it is all about). FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 61

62 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA

FINE Estate E T A Â U H C Cos d’Estournel Exoticism in Bordeaux T here are two common misconceptions about Château Cos d’Estournel. Firstly, about the estate’s most famous building, which is perhaps the most unusual and most photographed building in Médoc: it is not actually the château, but the chai, where the wine is made. It has never been the home of the estate’s owners. Secondly, about pronunciation: Cos is pronounced phonetically, including the s. This is typical of the area, and also applies to other names such as Pétrus and Climens. FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 63

Château Cos d’Estournel – 2 Cru Classé Maharajah of Saint-Estèphe Cos d’Estournel is a fairly young estate by Bordeaux standards. LouisGaspard d’Estournel inherited it from his father, Guy d’Estournel de Maniban, in 1791, but did not make wine the main crop until the early nineteenth century. First he expanded the areas under cultivation and then, in 1811, he decided to focus on improving wine production. Therefore it was no surprise that the estate received no significant mention in the early classification of the region by Lawton, 64 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA and it was not until 1800 that the estate was listed as a third growth by André Simon, with a similar ranking in a subsequent Lawton ranking. So it was in 1811 that d’Estournel first considered how to refine his château. The success and reputation of the neighbouring Château Lafite-Rothschild as a fine wine producer made him wonder whether his estate could reach the same heights. Comparisons of soil quality, slope gradients and riverine proximity revealed hidden possibilities. However, d’Estournel was forced to sell his land in that same year due to financial troubles. To his good fortune, he managed to buy it back a decade later. Thanks to new capital and with assiduous application, d’Estournel tripled his cultivated area within a few decades, among other things, by buying the neighbouring estate of Cos Labory, whose best vineyards were later appended to Cos d’Estournel’s. The Far Eastern trade in thoroughbred horses was d’Estournel’s other passion and he imported Arabian horses into

France. In doing so, he realised that it could be a good idea to sell his wines to his existing foreign contacts. Thus his two businesses were joined, but unfortunately most of his potential customers were Muslims, so the attempt failed. The unsold wine barrels were returned to Bordeaux, and during the journey something happened that would help to further the reputation of the estate’s wines. At that time, Bordeaux wines were completely different from what they are today. The grapes were picked early and the different ripenesses were all used together for the same wine, without removing the stems. The wines made in this way were astringent and acidic, and not at their best when young. Having travelled to the Far East and back, the wine barrels had been exposed to heat and constant movement. This had sped up the maturation process and the wines tasted much better than those stored in Bordeaux. The Cos wines became so popular that d’Estournel began to send further barrels to India and back before bottling. He added labels that he personally signed, which said “dispatched by me” (expédie par moi). That also earned him the nickname of the “Maharajah of St.-Estèphe”. In those days, bottles of Cos d’Estournel graced the tables of Tsar Nicolas I of Russia, Queen Victoria of England and, naturally, Emperor Napoleon III of France. Indeed, d’Estournel excelled at cultivating a sense of exoticism, understanding early about the uniqueness of wine as a consumable and seeing the importance of dreams and imagination in the tasting experience. Château Cos d’Estournel: pride of Bruno Prats D’Estournel invested most of his funds into expanding his vineyards and building exotic cellars and storage spaces. Today, the cellars are pictured on the wine labels. His fantasy-filled creation, with its Chinese pagodas and arched vaults, was clearly inspired by his interest in the Far East. If d’Estournel was planning at some point to build a château, he never did, because he ran out of money again and was forced to sell Cos for the second time in 1852. He would die the following year, at the age of 91. The new owner, a British banker named Charles Cecil Martyn, was hardly interested in winemaking. He hired Jérome Chiapella, owner of Château La Mission Haut-Brion, to care for the estate. This raised the reputation and quality of the estate’s wines, and in the 1855 Bordeaux classification the estate was placed on a par with its much older counterparts, Rauzan, Pichon and Léoville, when it was classed as a second growth. After this, Cos was sold to M. Errazu, who sold it on to the Holstein family, owners at the time of Château Montrose. The success story of Cos d’Estournel then really began in 1917, when the estate was acquired by Ferdinand Ginestet. This was Ginestet’s first vineyard, to be joined later by Château Margaux and Petit Village. The estates were divided in 1970, and Cos ended up in the hands of the Prats family through the marriage of Ferdinand Ginestet’s daughter. Bruno Prats continued at the helm of Cos until 1998, when it was acquired by the Taillan Group. Another ownership change followed in 2000, with Michel Reybier the buyer. Reybier, who made his fortune from the French sausage company Justin Bridou and from Aoste hams, currently owns three luxury hotels, including Geneva’s La Réserve. The estate is still managed by Bruno Prats’s son Jean-Guillaume, however, who took over when his father retired in 1998. FINE Estate Château Cos d’Estournel – Exoticism in Bordeaux Bruno Prats did many things to improve the estate’s operations and winemaking quality. During his time, Cos rose from a good second cru classification to a super second. Prats began picking the grapes a little later, selected them more carefully, kept a closer eye on wine fermentation, and aimed to remove the vin de presse. This made the wine softer and more elegant. Wines from Saint-Estèphe are usually full-bodied and richly fruity in nature, but also fairly rural, astringent and acidic, especially at a young age. Cos is different mainly due to the soil, which contains more gravel and less clay than the rest of the region. Cos wines have more Merlot grapes than most Médoc wines, at around 40 per cent. This results in a smoother and more sophisticated wine that still has the required strength. Cos wines are closer in style to St.-Julien than Pauillac, although the latter is in geographic proximity. Cos wines can be enjoyed very young, but they also age very well. One of the best bottles of Cos I have tasted was from 1929. Cos is located on a plain on the border with Pauillac, separated from Château Lafite Rothschild by the river Jalle du FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 65

Breuil. The plain rises to an altitude of just over twenty metres. In the Mosel or Douro regions that would be a mere hillock, but in Médoc this is a huge altitude difference. The estate is named after this plain; the old Gascon word caux is an abbreviation of the phrase colline de cailloux, meaning a hill of pebbles. The pebbly hill helps to drain water away in rainy seasons, and thanks to the proximity of the river, the temperature on the estate remains mild. This is probably why Cos often does well in so-called bad wine years. A lot of things have been happening at Cos in a very brief interval. A very 66 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA good second wine, Les Pagodes de Cos, was introduced, being produced from the best plots, mainly from vines younger than twenty years old. In the past, wine that was not deemed good enough for the Grand Vin was blended with the product of the neighbouring Château Marbuzet, which was also the home of Bruno Prats. There is now even a third wine called A l’Éléphant. Totally new cellars, already completed, are also pushing the envelope of originality. The new cellars, rumoured to have cost over thirty million euros were designed by Jean-Michel Wilmotte, selected by Cos for his proven ability to integrate contemporary design into historic buildings. Wilmotte’s ultra-modern cellars have 72 isothermal cone-shaped vats of varying sizes and a vat elevator for taking gravity-led winemaking one step further than anyone else in Bordeaux; this is a cellar operated entirely by gravity. To sustain the image of opulence and exoticism, Cos also hired celebrity interior designer Jacques Garcia to give his exaggerated touch to the reception rooms. In recent years, Cos has become one of the most beloved wines from Bordeaux by adding a touch of modernism, exotic charm and softness to its robust St.-Estèphe character while still being true to its origins. A wonderful and mind-blowing combination. >

97p FINE Estate The Best Château Cos d´Estournel Vintages 1929 Château Cos d´Estournel Average auction €377 / 2011 price: Colour: Dark, brownish, deep Nose: Sound, clean, complex, spicy, sweet, dark chocolate Palate: Great balance, good acidity, elegant, medium bodied, focused Finish: In a nutshell: Buy or not: Tasted: Decanting time: Glass time: When to drink: Food pairing: Fake factor: Inside information: Or try this: Final verdict: Smooth, pure, round Not the biggest 1929 but the loveliest Definitely – if it is in good condition 5 times, last in 2010 30 minute 1 hour Now Grilled beef skewers None One of the great nines: 1899, 1929, 1949, 1959, 1989, 2009 Cos 2009 vintage in 2080 Not many people knows how good this is – drink today! 97p 1953 Château Cos d´Estournel Average auction €310 / 2011 price: Colour: Deep, dark, healthy Nose: Pure, elegant, stylish, leather, smoked meat, vanilla, exotic spices Palate: Beautiful balance, sensitive, full- bodied, fruity, silky tannins, multilayered Finish: Silky, very long, balanced, powerful In a nutshell: The most elegant Cos d´Estournel Buy or not: Bordeaux 1953 has an excellent drinkability – price ratio Tasted: Decanting time: Glass time: When to drink: Food pairing: Fake factor: Inside information: 8 times, last in 2011 1.5 hours 2 hours Now to 2020 Fried filet of deer None The 1953 Bordeaux harvest began September 28, making it the latest Bordeaux harvest start date of the decade Or try this: Mouton 1953 Final verdict: Lovely to drink today FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 67

COLUMN PEKKA NUIKKI Do you still carry around a black tasting book and pen? 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, 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 68 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 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-todate information on bottles opened all around the world, how drinkable they were and how well they suited different foods. I would also

FINE Nu i k k i 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 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. 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. > FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 69

Jean LEón from rags to riches text: Juha L ihtone n through dreams T he life of Jean León is the wine world’s and returns to his roots in Catalonia to produce most incredible success story. celebrated wines from illegally imported vines. It is a breathtaking story of a boy who had lived an insecure childhood, who runs away from name, a book has been written about him and a home, travels unbeknownst to himself as a film starring Dennis Hopper, Paul Newman stowaway to the United States, finds himself and Robert Wagner has been directed about fighting in the Korean War, entertains Holly- him. How did Jean León find his way from rags wood film stars and presidents in Beverly Hills, 70 Respected wines are still produced under his to riches, and how did his dreams come true? FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA

FINE Personality FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 71

Jean Leon 72 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA

FINE Personality Tragic childhood Citizenship from Korea Jean León was born into a poor northern Spanish family in 1928. He Hollywood’s show business glamour greatly fascinated the young was given the name Ceferino Carrión. Life showed its shadowy side Spaniard. He believed that all is possible in the city of the stars, also to Ceferino and his eight siblings when the family lost all its posses- for him. To fulfill his dream he needed to get United States citizen- sions in the destructive fire in their home town of Santander in 1941. ship. The Korean War offered a solution to the problem. Americans The family moved to Barcelona where the father and the older were drafting volunteer soldiers for the war that began in 1950, and brother got work on a fishing boat. Only two months later Ceferino these soldiers were rewarded the country’s citizenship for their brav- received shocking news – his father and brother’s boat had been tor- ery. Should he survive the war, he could legally return to his new na- pedoed, and all the crew members had died. tive country. Mired in poverty, Ceferino decided to pack his bags when he was 19 Few can say that they emerged from the Korean War as a victor, but and leave his mother and seven siblings in Barcelona. With three Ceferino Carrión, who fought for two years, can. He returned and friends he traveled to Paris, where he worked as a waiter and inter- received a lawful life in Hollywood. Along with the big change and preter. After two years spent in Paris, the friends intended to contin- going with the spirit of the times, he also decided to change his name ue their journey to Guatemala. In Le Havre, Ceferino was missing a along with his nationality. From 1953 onwards, he was known by the document, which he was forced to retrieve from Paris in order to name Jean León. board the ship. Upon his return, the ship and his friends had left. After he had tried to get on seven ships, pretending to be a crew member, he finally hid as a stowaway in the cargo hold of one of them. Soon Cefarino was, unbeknownst to him, on his way to New York. Thanks to help from a crew member, he was able to enter the country without papers aided by the four English phrases he had learned. “Among them was a young promise James Dean, who became Jean León’s best friend and business partner”. On the top of the business world Waiter to the stars In New York, he found his way to the bar of his After he returned from the war, Jean León began work in Holly- father’s second cousin and took on work washing wood’s famous top restaurant Villa Capri. The restaurant’s owners dishes. After only two months spent in New York, he was robbed. After losing all his personal papers, he included Frank Sinatra and the legendary baseball star Joe DiMaggio. In Villa Capri, life flowed with the stars at a constant pace many began using the name Justo Ramón León. A week later, nights a week. At the end of filming days, film crews along with actors he found work at a club restaurant in Rockefeller Cent- gathered to dine and celebrate at Villa Capri. Jean León became ac- er. He picked up dirty plates for the salary of four dollars a day. Customers made the work interesting. Daily he met high-ranking politicians and celebrities, the most famous of whom was Bing Crosby. After working in Rockefeller Center for quainted with a great number of Villa Capri’s celebrities. Many of them were of the same age as Jean León, young actors only in the beginning of their careers. Among them was a young promise James Dean, who became Jean León’s best friend and business partner. half a year, León left the job. The constant fear of authorities and hiding from them made him travel to Los Angeles. FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 73

La Scala Own restaurant ducers. Warren Beatty, for his part, would always enjoy his dinner James Dean and Jean León quickly became best friends. James Dean Zsa Zsa Gabor, Fred Astaire, Marlon Brando, Robert Wagner and promised to be the godfather of Jean León’s first born, and soon they Gary Cooper. in the kitchen while dining alone. Other famous customers include were planning a restaurant together in Beverly Hills. While Jean León managed practical matters regarding finding the restaurant, Jean León, who had become a famous restaurateur, quickly became James Dean financed the project. acquainted also with American presidents from Lyndon B. Johnson to Ronald Reagan. He witnessed Richard Nixon’s election loss to- On Friday, September 30, 1955, tragedy stepped into Jean León’s life gether with Nixon. He met John F. Kennedy every time Kennedy vis- again. He received a message about James Dean’s accidental death. ited Los Angeles. He praised President Ford as the friendliest of all They were due to sign the contract of sale for the new restaurant on the presidents he had met, and with Ronald Reagan he shared a mu- the following Monday. Jean León, however, decided to fulfill their tual passion for wine. According to Ronald Reagan’s wishes, Jean mutual dream. He financed the founding of the restaurant through León’s wines were served at White House functions. loan, and on April 1, 1956, La Scala opened its doors in Beverly Hills. Restaurateur to the presidents Marilyn’s death Tragic events in Jean León’s close circle repeated themselves in 1962. In the evening of August 4, he received a phone call from Marilyn Monroe. She said she was not feeling well and asked Jean to bring her Through Jean León’s actor contacts, the small restaurant became the food to her home in Brentwood. When he delivered the food to Mar- meeting place for Hollywood society. Famous actors, directors, influ- ilyn, she was accompanied by a man whom Jean León told he recog- ential producers and politicians all dined at La Scala. nized as Robert Kennedy. The next morning Marilyn was found dead in her home. Jean León remained silent on the matter to avoid trou- Marilyn Monroe always arrived when the restaurant opened its doors around whom rumors swirled. part, always arrived at around 7:30 p.m. The most difficult customer Jean León successfully continued the operations of La Scala, and in at La Scala was Humphrey Bogart, who after dinner would regularly time it developed into an indisputable Hollywood classic, which was end up brawling and loudly bashing Hollywood directors and pro- 74 ble. He was too closely connected to the Kennedys and to Sinatra, at 5:30 p.m. and always sat in table number 14. Paul Newman, for his capitalized on in extremely popular bestseller books. FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA

FINE Personality FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 75

A fondness for wine Jean León returned to the United States and continued to grow his After Jean León had reached the position of a respected restaurateur, again showed its shadowy side to Jean León - now for the last time. he developed a new dream - his own wine. While searching for a His condition weakened, and the reason turned out to be a malignant vineyard around the world, he turned to the University of California, tumor in his throat. The treatments were begun too late, and after Davis, Professor Maynard Amerine, a viticulture specialist, and to two unsuccessful operations he was said to have only a few more years Beaulieu’s famous wine maker André Tchelistcheff for help. Consult- left to live. restaurant business. In the beginning of the 1990s, life, however, once ed by them, he finally found a vineyard in Spain. In 1963, he bought 150 hectares (370 acres) of extremely calcareous loam soil on a slope He gave up his restaurants and searched for a successor for his winery. gently descending southward in Catalonia’s heartland. After this, he The pioneer of Catalonia’s wine production, Miguel Torres, bought was faced with finding the best grapevines. He traveled together with the winery in 1995. The men made a gentlemen’s deal that Torres his winemaker Jaume Rovira to the best regions in France. The Ca- would continue Jean León’s production as an independent, separate bernet Sauvignon and Merlot vines were brought from Château from Torres’ brand. Jaume Rovira, who had made wine for Jean León Lafite-Rothschild and Château Lagune in Bordeaux. The Chardon- for over 30 years, continued his long career under Torres with Miguel nay vines, for their part, were brought from the Corton-Charle- Torres Jr. leading the winery forward. magne vineyard in Burgandy. In addition, Cabernet Franc and Pinot Noir vines were brought along. The borders of nationalist Spain governed by Franco were tightly The last journey guarded, and the men knew they placed themselves at great risk when After giving up all material things, Jean León fulfilled his last dream. smuggling French varieties into the country. At the border, he lied He bought a big sailing yacht, which he named La Scala a Mare, and convincingly that he was transporting garden plants to his back yard. spent his last living days sailing the world´s seas. He planted the first French varieties in Catalonia in 1963. The next year, he built a modern winery equipped with the latest technology Jean León lived an eventful life. Even though he gave up everything, imitating Bordeaux château concepts. The philosophy of the wines he left a success story as a legacy for future generations. A story which was based on the wines of one vineyard. Cabernet Sauvignon was cho- makes us believe that everything is possible. sen as the flagship of the vineyard, and it was planted on the 8-hectare (20 acres) La Scala plot. It was produced only during the best years, of which the first vintage which was 1969. To raise the wines on a pedestal that they deserved, Jean León asked Catalonian artists to paint the labels. These collectors bottles have been produced only in the years 1979, 1994, 1996 and 1997. Since the beginning, Jean León’s wines www.jeanleon.com have been awarded numerous prizes. Jean León’s Cabernet Sauvignon Gran Reserva 1983 was ranked by International Wine Magazine as one of the eight best wines in the world. His wines have become famous for their exceptionally long ageing potential. Check out: ”3055 Jean Léon” documentary film, Bausan Films S.L.; 2006 Jean León ’El Rey de Beverly Hills’ book; Sebastián Moreno; 2002 Restaurant La Scala, 434 N. Canon Dr, Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills 76 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA

FINE Personality FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 77

Michelin Guide Three Stars San Francisco Chronicle Four Stars The Restaurant at Meadowoood Worth a Special Journey The Restaurant at Meadowood Chef Christopher Kostow

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

COLUMN RICHARD JUHLIN Good and bad taste? O ften during our holidays my partner and I end up in beautiful regions where people are extremely proud of their sun-roasted, local wines. I still do have some interest in trying out the best a place has to offer, but I also know that unfortunately I am seldom anything but disappointed. This summer in Corsica, it was impossible to get a single glass of good red wine because mainland wines were banned and restaurants insisted on serving pungent Corsican red wine with our lovely food. Ragni and I had taken a flight to Santorini for ten relaxing days of holiday in the name of love. For once, we would not roam around but instead just take care of ourselves at the wonderful La Maltese estate villa, located at the top of a cliff with a sunset balcony suspended hundreds of feet over the cobalt-blue Aegean Sea. The restaurant at Villa Maltese was so ambient and cozy that we had almost every meal there and quickly became good friends with Alexandros, the restaurant’s charismatic sommelier. Naturally, he wanted to show us every part of the Santorinian wine world and tried, with some unexpected success, to convert this skeptical Swede. One evening he said, rather interestingly, that all taste was subjective and only coloured by habit. I did not renounce this notion, but agreed only partially with him. 80 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA He said, in all seriousness, that your preference for Greek or French wines is purely down to taste. Assyrtiko or Montrachet? He obviously has a point in that you are ultimately shaped by your own upbringing and environment in terms of what you will like later in life. At the same time, I am struck by how afraid we are to highlight the objective quality in the case of scent and flavour. Have you ever thought that the word for our sense in the oral cavity, taste, is identical to the one we use to describe preferences? My theory is that we use subjectively charged words because we understand that the sense of taste is so diffuse and more subjective than our other senses. This is probably because we are so ignorant of our own perception of taste and lack the tools to communicate with each other

FINE Juhlin with regards to how our taste sensations are experienced. It is always very convenient to refer to personal impressions when you do not have sufficient knowledge of how things actually are. Most of us unashamedly use emotive words like good and bad when it comes to things we see or hear, but when it comes to scent and taste it seems acceptable to insist that you like low quality products and refer to your personal inviolable taste. The majority of Nordic children prefer vanillin extracted from animal intestines instead of Tahitian vanilla. We then sit quietly with our arms crossed looking at the decay and, in true democratic spirit, believe that everybody has the right to think what they want. It goes without saying that you should be honest about one’s taste and accept it if you prefer the flavour of artificial raspberries instead of the real thing or cava rather than champagne – however sad that may be. My point is that everyone can obtain so much more pleasure if you train your senses of scent and taste to reach a level where you actually prefer commodities of better quality. I know I am sticking my neck out a bit, but I argue with certainty that there is good and bad taste! The food industry of the entire Western world has cleverly exploited our fear of speaking about poor commodities or poor taste. Out of purely economic interests, they have provided us with cheap products that are high in sugar and fat, while taste-lobotomising us in the process. The worst culprit is the U.S., where the willingness to try new sophisticated tastes is almost terminated by the food industry’s smoothing tactics. With this in mind, you can really ask yourself if it is particularly appropriate that the world’s leading wine critics have grown up marked by doctored, distorted, fatty, sweet and simple flavours. Isn’t there a great risk that the soft and sweet fruit bombs will be favoured over nuanced and elegant offerings for just those reasons? People who study art or music are also influenced by their own life and background when choosing between Rubens and Picasso or Miles Davis and Mozart, but regardless of style they will all agree that the quality level is incredibly high in all these cases. The same goes for wine. If you have tasted your way through all the main parts of the wine world, you will agree on the fact that Petrus, Hermitage, Krug and Rauenthaler Baiken are magnificent wines, no matter what style you prefer at any given time. The world of taste is divided into different quality levels. This is a fact we shouldn’t ignore but instead try to improve on in o ­ rder to be able to appreciate the best flavours using our intrinsic ability – which, i ­ n turn, could lead to life-enriching pleasure. The greatest variability in the ultimate quality segment is found in the ultra-sophisticated top wines from Champagne. Imagine how different and yet so wonderfully enjoyable two blanc de blancs from a grower in Mesnil, a complex aristocratic cuvée from Comtes de Champagne or a Dom Ruinart can be. Who disputes the quality of the finest cuvées from Billecart-Salmon, Henriot and Pol Roger, and who can complain about the depth of Selosse, Bollinger or Krug, with its impression of morel-packed Bresse chicken? > FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 81

82 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA

FINE Legend Text: Juha Li hto nen Photos: Pekka Nuikki 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. H owever, 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 on 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. FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 83

One wine from one grape variety, from one village and from one year – all for one man 84 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA

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 perogative. 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. 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! A unique concept Champagne production was not new to EugèneAimé. In his early years, he had helped his brother-in-law produce champagne at the small Clos Turin vineyard in the village of Le Mesnilsur-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 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 friends. Of course, that was before his creation became Maxim’s house champagne in the 1920s. FINE Legend The first in its class 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. The winegrowing is based on Eugène-Aimé Salon’s traditional method. The grapes are produced in an area of 10 hectares on 19 grand cru plots, in the village of Le Mesnil-sur-Oger. Nine hectares are managed by 20 growers, on a long-term contract, and the remaining one is Salon’s own Le Jardin de Salon vineyard. Today, the average age of the Salon vines is 40 years. Export Assistant of Delamotte and Salon, Audrey Campos, says: “The soul of Salon wines is concealed within the clean-featured, mineral tones and sharp acidity. That soulfulness comes from the soil at Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, which is the most acidic in Côte de Blancs. The old vines extend their roots deep into the earth, where they benefit from the mineral riches that abound there. Unfortunately, Le Jardin de Salon had to be completely replanted in 2002, due to a disease that killed off the old vines. The recovery period is significant and it will take many years before the vineyard can yield quality grapes for Salon.” FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 85

Although the wine was originally made to please just one man, Eugène-Aimé Salon, he was not alone in his predilection. 86 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA Salon under Laurent-Perrier Laurent-Perrier’s chef de cave, Michel Fauconnet, says there were a few changes made to the way Salon was produced after they bought the estate. Greater attention was paid to cleanliness and tidiness in the vineyards, as well as in the winery. The most significant change, however, was the transferring of the entire Salon production to Laurent-Perrier, where they had up-todate production facilities and equipment. The grapes are pressed at Laurent-Perrier in Tourssur-Marne, which is also where the initial fermentation takes place. For the second fermentation, the bottles are returned to Salon where they will stay until completion. “When working with Salon, all the classic Champagne rules are left aside. The philosophy of Salon sets it apart from all other brands; grapes from a single village, Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, and a single grape variety, Chardonnay, are used and the selection of the harvest year is made. No blend of years, no blend of different grapes and no blend of different villages – Salon is absolutely unique. Each spring, we decide if Salon will be produced from the previous vintage or not. If the answer is no, we just use it for Delamotte, or if not for Delamotte, then for L-P. When processing Salon, I know it is a big challenge, because I have to accept or refuse a whole vintage depending on its respective potential for ageing. The challenge here is completely opposite to that of the main task that I accomplish for L-P Brut or Delamotte Brut, for instance. With Salon, I cannot just rely upon reserve wines or previous vintage years to balance the quality of the current harvest. That is why Salon vintages are only released if their natural balance of sugar versus acidity is perfect,” Fauconnet remarks, before adding that: “The wine never undergoes malolactic fermentation. With the high malic acidity involved, the wine has a long ageing potential and maintains its youthful green colour for a very long time.” According to Michel Fauconnet, there is no special procedure required in Salon winemaking itself, just the respect of the grape and the purest extraction of the terroir. This is maintained by using indigenous yeasts and vinifying the wine in stainless steel tanks, instead of wooden barrels. Subsequent to this, the wines are delivered back to Salon for a second fermentation process. The wines rest on their lees in the Salon cellars for an average of ten years before disgorgement. After disgorging, a low dosage of only five to six grammes of sugar per litre is added. Since the bottle shapes are unique, all of the labelling is done by hand. In the Salon cellars When visiting Salon, it is easy to see why they decided to move some of the production processes to Laurent-Perrier, as the Salon facilities are very small and modest. The garage-size bottling, labelling and packing room is a charming sight. The workaday garage atmosphere, however, is in

We have been fortunate enough to try a number of Salon vintages, although getting hold of the older wines is rather difficult. They all commonly share a fresh, youthful quality. Their light green-yellow colour makes them look younger than they really are. As for taste, their clean lines, profuse mineral tones and high natural acidity provide them with their character. There is no point looking for lightness or creaminess in them and, because of their tight acid structure and obvious mineral notes, they benefit from being decanted before serving. 97p 1976 Salon 2009/now D 25min / G 1 h 1979 Salon 2006/now D 20min / G 1 h 94p 1925 Salon 2001/now D – / G 15min 94p Salon’s reputation relies heavily on its history. Its success at Maxim’s belongs to the past, but its commercial success lies just ahead. The fascination that surrounds it is still based purely and simply on EugèneAimé Salon’s initial concept: one village, one variety and one vintage. Today, it is enjoyed by tens of thousands of people. Salon, if anything, is a terroir champagne without an equal. Its limited availability and unique concept help to create the myth that surrounds it, which continues to lure lovers of champagne in ever-greater numbers. However, does the quality of the wine, with its clean lines and sharp acidic tones, live up to the expectations of consumers? When young, perhaps not, but when mature, definitely! Although the wine was originally made to please just one man, Eugène-Aimé Salon, he was not alone in his predilection. Salon may be an interesting entry in the history books and Salon’s owners may have changed over the years, but today Salon is one of the most sought-after and difficult champagnes to acquire. > D 15min / G 30min 94p The importance of history 2001/now 97p stark contrast to the Salon bar in the modernised section, which looks like the reception desk of a state-of-the-art designer hotel. Behind a glass wall, thousands of bottles of Salon mature, awaiting the right moment to be launched onto the market. “We produce approximately 60 000 bottles of Salon per vintage. Every vintage is evaluated when it is ready for release to the markets. We might release a younger vintage before an older one if we consider the older one to not be ready,” Audrey Campos stresses. Narrow staircases located beside the reception desk lead to the labyrinthine cellars. Deep in the silence of the cellar is the Salon wine library. Within are more than 20 vintages, from six decades. The rarest wine is the estate’s first official vintage, Salon 1921, of which there is just one bottle left. Salon’s managing director, Didier Dupond, has even been buying back different Salon vintages for the library, a project which continues to this day. 1959 Salon 1997 Salon 2008/2024 FINE Legend salon experiences D1h/G3h Bright, greenish yellow colour with energetic bubbles. Pronounced complex nose with intense ripe kiwi fruit aromas, hints of toffee and almonds. Dry and crisp on the palate with a rich mousse, lovely mineral character and balanced ripe fruitiness. Long, lingering finish, with refined and persistent, elegant style. Drinks surprisingly well already, but will improve in the next 10 to 15 years. 93p 1971 Salon 2001/now D 15min / G 30min 93p 1996 Salon 2008/2025 D1h/G2h Pale, green-yellow colour. Reserved, intense creamy nose reveals some green apple and fudge notes. Dry and crisp palate, creamy mousse and a long, lingering mineral finish. Very refined and delicate style, but still closed. Tightly packed fruit intensity and a great acidic spice. The wine needs to be cellared for at least 10 to 12 years before it starts to deliver its nuances. 92p 1934 Salon 2001/now D – / G 30min 92p 1973 Salon 2001/2015 D 15min / G 30min 92p 1982 Salon 2001/2015 D 15min / G 1 h 92p 1985 Salon 2001/2020 D 30min / G 1 h 92p 1990 Salon 2007/2020 D1h/G2h Deep golden colour shows significant development. The nose is mature as well, with bruised apple, honey and spiciness. Complex and ripe fruitiness with some jammy apple tones. The rich, voluptuous mouthfeel is broad and dense. The pungent acidity still dominates the palate. Yet another 1990 that seems overly developed for its age. Aromatics are more developed, whereas the structure still has great potential. Ageing is recommended. 91p 1995 Salon 2007/2020 D1h/G2h Rich, ripe fruity nose. Floral notes, waxy notes and elegant toastiness. The refreshing yet voluminous palate is minerally and smoky. This ripe vintage does not possess as firm an acidic spine as most vintages, but this vintage is enjoyable sooner. Elegant mousse and long fruity length. 90p 1969 Salon 2008/now D - / G 30 min Clear, golden colour and no bubbles. Reserved, moderately strong nose, with dried apple aromas. Crisp and dry yet with a concentrated mouthfeel and fresh fruitiness. Delicate structure and lingering, long finish with citrus flavours. The wine has passed its peak, but is retiring respectfully. 89p 1951 Salon 2001/now D – / G 15min 86p 1964 Salon 2001/now D 10min / G 30min FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 87

SALON – THE – ETERNAL YOUTH Richard Juhlin J Text: Richard Juhlin ohan Tidelius is a very wonderfully passionate and “unSwedish” Swedish man, who was born in 1959. Starting with that very vintage, he has amassed one of the most impressive collections of Salon, the rare collector’s wine, in the world. As the generous man he is, the idea was always to share these 88 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA Photography: Pekka Nuikki bottles with like-minded people and organise the world's most extensive tasting of this Le Mesnil gem. He searched for a long time and concluded that the most comprehensive Salon event to date had consisted of 18 vintages. When the 1956 vintage showed up, he knew that the record could be broken.

FINE Maison On a sunny, early spring day at the historic Operakällaren, in John's home city of Stockholm, we got started. The president of Salon, Didier Depond, did not hesitate to bring two bottles of Salon Collection from the ‘60s with him, which would prove to be a wise decision. In addition to Mr. Didier Depond and several Swedes, including yours truly, who provided John with a little help along the way, there were guests from as far away as Canada, France, Russia, Lithuania and neighbouring Finland present during this two-day adventure. FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 89

Richard Juhlin, Didier Depond and Johan Tidelius We started at my house with a "casual dinner" the evening before the tasting. It was so nice that John was able to stop the rest of us attacking the wine cellar and send everyone home sufficiently craving the next day's escapades. When we met in the magnificent dining room at Operakällaren the following afternoon you could almost touch the nervous and excited atmosphere in the room. After a few sips of 2002 Delamotte, which was acting as a calibration wine, our minds and palates were ready to get to grips with the champagne world's most contested and legendary beauty. Far too few have had the opportunity to taste Salon in full bloom. Many argue, with some justification, that they are either steely, undeveloped acid parcels or oxidative, fallen fruit bombs. It is certainly true that Salon will need many years to develop full maturity and that they are made in an old-fashioned, 90 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA malic acid, patience-testing style; however, to say that they also sometimes mature too quickly and become over-matured is a misunderstanding. What happens is that the wines in the ‘interphase’ take on notes reminiscent of oxidation due to the ripening of the grapes at harvest, before the rich, buttery and nutty style is fully developed. The flavour spectrum, shades of straw, overripe apples and figs, is allowed a great deal of leeway. This is a strange but very obvious phenomenon when you have time to follow a vintage of Salon through its life journey. My oldest Salon comes from the rare and mediocre vintage of 1932, and it turned out to be both really wonderful and youthful. Wines from the forties and fifties are probably the best and 1928 Salon is at the top of my wish list of champagnes I have not yet tasted. We had several healthy sceptics within the test group, but everyone agreed about the need for mature experiences in order to be fully able to understand the very young specimens, and that time transforms these narrow and hard youngsters into complex mature beauties. The winner was 51 years old and still as lively as a lark. If you have a bottle of Salon in the cellar and you open it, it is not at all certain that you will recognise everything from my notes at Operakällaren as the bottle variation becomes bothering after about twenty years. Here, however, they are as they appeared during the Tidelius tasting. >

FINE Maison Salon tasting (Points for future potential in parenthesis) 1999 Salon 88 points (94) 1997 Salon 89 points (93) Early days and impossible to really know where this wine is going, but a qualified guess is that far too many will taste their bottles way too early and defend it by saying that the wine is relatively inviting and available for a Salon. You will already find the tangerine and pineapple notes. The minerality is stunningly rocky and the butteriness has just begun to wrap around the chalk. The nuttiness and the depth requires patience if you're going to experience these wines, and you better believe me because it will show some beautiful day in the future. One of the best champagnes from 1997. The wine is fantastically caressing and silky, with a spring-like seductive grace. The sublime scent breathes linden, lime and a hint of brioche. The taste is lighter and more directly accessible than usual, yet incredibly refined and crystal clear. 1996 Salon 93 points (97) 1995 Salon 95 points (95) Probably one of the greatest Salons ever made. It is very handsome and restrained on the nose, with clear tones of snow, static electricity and freshly laundered sheets. Polished and pretty, but with a muscular embracing body which wraps the rocky Mesnil minerals and bitter acids in a fraudulent cocoon. Perhaps the biggest surprise of the tasting, with a fully mature and charming style. Hardly typical of the house or the classical style, but full of Comtes-like pastry tones and hints of vanilla and saffron. A true Casanova. FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 91

1990 Salon 94 points (97) 1988 Salon 92 points (92) A magnum you would serve to all detractors of the 1990 vintage! A pure package of gunpowder, with an incipient coffee aroma and an insanely youthful power. Many complained, however, that it appeared to be the youngest in the congregation. Usually, it tends to perform significantly better than this. Although we opened two bottles, the wine showed itself to be a bit too old this time. Normally a safe bet and delightful at all ages. 1985 Salon 91 points (92) 1983 Salon 88 points (88) This one has always been a bit difficult to grasp. Perhaps this is a wine whose phases will one day provide great experiences. Still too bushy and ‘broth fragrant’ for me, personally. Structurally impeccable and aromatic, there were classic forest mushroom notes, autumn leaves and walnuts. Nevertheless, it is not really a friend of mine. One of history's weakest and most rapidly oxidising vintages. But this time it felt younger than ever and the biting acid is beginning to be joined by nuttiness. The interfering and drab oxidative tones might be about to dry up? 1982 Salon 94 points (94) 1979 Salon 92 points (92) Recently, this wine has unfortunately lost some of its amazing butteriness and sweet vanilla draping. However, it is still grand and truffle-scented. Both Didier and I sat and wrinkled our noses together. Why was this bottle so excessively dry and salty? It was like someone had torn the flesh off and only the beautiful skeleton remained. Normally a winning candidate. 1976 Salon 96 points (96) A wine that cannot be misunderstood. Absolutely adorable, with its fat, sweet and warm generosity and fullness. Hardly a classic Salon, but what a pleasure. 92 1973 Salon 88 points (88) It has never been a favourite of mine, but this time it stood up well. Good, round, nutty and flirtatious, with the autumn woods in place. However, a little pulpy and unbalanced. FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA

1969 Salon 94 points (94) A wine that behaves differently every time I try it. This time it was a classic, youthfully light, sleek and stylish 1971. Basically a magnificent wine that has just begun its journey downwards. Round, abundantly caramelised and full of mushrooms, truffles and chicken stock. I like it even better in a younger, purer style. 1966 Salon Collection Defect When Didier took two perfect bottles from the cellar, we were set on an amazing experience. Instead, we got a bitter lesson. This wine was disgorged about six months before the tasting, checked and fitted with one gramme of sugar. Unfortunately, this feminine and delicate wine did not have the strength to resist the shock of oxidation at the disgorgement. I've been through this on a few occasions. Old and late disgorged wines that are still bright and fresh, not to mention sparkling with the floral notes present, but very unpleasant cooked madeira notes take over and kill the wine overall. What a shame. 1964 Salon Defect Unfortunately, an old bottle that did not pass the test of time. It can an also be magical though, especially in a magnum. FINE Maison 1971 Salon 93 points (93) 1961 Salon Collection 99 points (99) If I was near tears due to the disappointment of the 1966, the tears came for real in the next flight when this bottle, disgorged at the same time and with exactly the same low dosage, was so lovely that my emotions surged over. In fact, this wonderfully youthful wine is the bottle that reminded me most of the world's top wine – the 1928 Pol Roger Grauves. It was the same improbable contrast between the youthful and mature notes. The scent is so unreal, with its euphoric pheromone-reeking perfume enhanced by linden, geranium, lily of the valley, acacia, ginger, fresh tarragon, mint, lime zest and lemon of Sorrento. Crystal-clear brilliance, laser-sharp clarity and delicate precision. Affectionate with faint undertones of vanilla, brioche and toast. A flinty mineral finesse and whirling small pearl necklace bubbles that pirouette on the palate and burst like caviar grains in the mouth. What is lacking, in comparison to the 1928 Grauves, is a hazy oiliness that may come in twenty years or so. Imagine a 51-year old who can personalise melted snow, late winter and life's rebirth. 1956 Salon 89 points (89) 1959 Salon 94 points (94) A leaking bottle that looked really messy showed a wine that was highly enjoyable and fudgy, as well as caramelised with an animal weight and tonnes of varnish and leather. Completely without madeirisation. It seems that the destructive forces of time do not break a Salon at all. May be among the greatest you can drink, but unfortunately for John this bottle was at the beginning of its downhill struggle. The walnuts and depths of the forest were intact, but now they are mixed with plums, figs, dates and light brown apples. After such a massively intense tasting, a break was needed in order to get ready for the new pleasures which awaited. Stefano Cantenacci, supported by the phenomenal Jean-Paul Benezeth, tailored a menu to accompany the private world-class wines that the participants had themselves contributed. It is so damn fun to bring out the best one has to like-minded geeks! This was a dinner which taught me how much more elegant the 1982 Pichon-Longueville Comtesse de Lalande is than his neighbour, the 1982 Latour, and how vulgar Screaming Eagle appears when drunk after a great Burgundy. The ones that impressed me the most were a 1975 Deutz Aÿ Magnum and a 600 000-crown bottle of 1831 Château d’Yquem – even though we can hardly describe the vital old pensioner as affordable. It is said that there is already a Tideliusgata (Tidelius Street) in Stockholm. Nevertheless, I hope that John will have his own street named after him. > FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 93

Discovering Champagne Reims Text: Essi Avellan MW Photos: Michael Boudot The largest town in the Champagne region, with a population of 190 000, Reims is an unmissable travel destination and a great overnight stay for those interested in culture and nightlife. For me, it has become almost a second home. I love the fact that it is sociable yet has a slower lifestyle than the great metropolises. Reims is also home to several houses of champagne. The city houses most of the major sights to see in the region and the lion’s share of the top restaurants. FINE Wine & Champagne India will publish extracts from Essi Avellan’s new champagne book, Matka Champagneen (Discovering Champagne) in the forthcoming issues. In her book, Avellan visits 50 of the most interesting producers in the wine region. Furnished with maps, the book is also an opportunity for champagne lovers to discover the epicurean’s dream location for themselves, as Avellan opens doors to the region’s best restaurants, hotels and wine stores. In this issue we will feature Avellan’s top recommendations for the city of Reims. 94 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA

Winery Presentations I have rated each wine estate in two ways. Firstly, the glass rating refers to the general quality of the house’s champagnes; I have awarded between one and five glasses. Second, I have given a star rating (one to five stars) to the organisation, setting and content of the visit to the estate, as well as the personnel and their language skills. These ratings are provided at the top right-hand corner of each estate’s presentation page. No rating is available for the estates that do not accept guests. At this point I want to draw attention to the fact that each visit is unique. My evaluations are based on my own limited visits to the estates, so there may be surprises – both positive and negative. I give the essential details of each house, listing reasons for visiting it and tasting its champagnes on location. I also provide some background information on the estates and their protagonists, and provide an overview of the product selection. Top producer Contact details and information concerning visiting arrangements and opening hours are supplied to make it easier to organise a visit. These details may change, however, so I recommend checking in advance with the estate, either on its website or by email. I also offer production volume figures and the name of the cellar master. FINE Region How To Use The Book Favourite Champagne The second part of each presentation is reserved for my favourite champagne, i.e. the wine that shows the producer at its best or that provides the best introduction to the house. I did my best to formulate a comprehensive catalogue of champagnes of different styles and prices, ranging from 15 to more than 200 euros. I write about my chosen champagne in greater detail. For each wine, I give the producer’s recommended retail price and, if applicable, the price directly from the cellar. Top visit Excellent visit Good visit Average visit Excellent producer Quality producer Average producer Below-average producer I have awarded a star rating to restaurants as follows: Top-class restaurant Excellent restaurant Quality restaurant Basic visit The price level of each restaurant is classified as follows: Expensive restaurant, menu over 50 euros Mid-priced restaurant, menu 25–50 euros Inexpensive restaurant, menu under 25 euros Average restaurant Basic restaurant I have awarded a star rating to hotels as follows: Luxury hotel High-class hotel Quality hotel Average hotel The price level of the hotels (overnight stay including breakfast) is classified as follows: Expensive hotel, rooms over 180 euros Mid-priced hotel, rooms 90–180 euros Inexpensive hotel, rooms under 90 euros Basic hotel Vintage tables Vintages are also given a star rating, as follows: Top vintage R Recommended retail price C Cellar price Excellent vintage Average vintage Ordinary vintage Poor vintage FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 95

krug F or many people, there are champagnes and then there is Krug; that is how legendary this house is. Established in 1843 by Johann-Joseph Krug, the house has for six generations admirably stuck to its quality principles, to its generous toasty style and to its fabulous ageing potential. After the retirement of the fifth-generation brothers Henri and Rémi Krug, the house has been looking for its place within the LVMH Group. After two years at the company’s helm, Margareth Henriquez has found a direction and new winds are blowing through Krug, in the form of a more open-minded outlook. An excellent example is the idea implemented by Henriquez of equipping bottles with an easy-to-read ID that indicates the wine’s age and corking date. The winemaking team, led by sixth-generation family representative Olivier Krug, is youthful. Cellar master Eric Lebel believes that a wine is always better made by a team than by an individual, therefore both Henri and Rémi Krug are still involved in the blending. Krug vinifies each batch of grapes separately in small oak barrels. Annually the house produces 200-250 different wines, which is a huge quantity compared to its size. This gives the winemakers an enviable palette to work from when considering the final blends. Krug’s treasures include extensive stocks of earlier reserve wines, some of them 15 years old. In contrast with other houses, Krug begins its series with the Prestige Cuvée. Rémi Krug would always bristle if someone mistakenly called the Krug Grande Cuvée non-vintage: “Krug is not non-anything! The Grand Cuvée is multi-vintage, a blend of fine wines from several years.” Other cuvées are like “pinpoints in the Krug universe”. The singlevineyard wines, the 100 per cent Chardonnay Clos du Mesnil and the 100 per cent Pinot Noir Clos d’Ambonnay, provide a key to understanding Krug. After Henri and Rémi Krug first produced the Clos du Mesnil vineyard champagne in 1979, they began searching for a counterpart. After nearly twenty-five years they found it in Clos d’Ambonnay, and its first vintage, 1995, was launched in 2007. Vintage Krugs are classics that leave room for the special characteristics of each year. The Collection series gives old vintages, stored in perfect conditions, a new life in the hands of collectors. Launched in late 2010, the fabulously honeyed 1989 is now at a perfect age for enjoyment. Krug resisted producing rosés for a long time, but the Krug Rosé NV, produced since the mid-1980s, is an enchanting addition to the Krug series with its vinous toasty quality. i CHAMPAGnE KRuG www.krug.com 5, rue Coquebert, 51100 Reims puh. +33 (0)3 26 84 44 20 Annual production (bottles) unconfirmed Cellar master Eric Lebel Although the Grande Cuvée is a multi-vintage wine, it is by no means a standard wine for the house. According to Margareth Henriquez, it is “the whole cellar in one bottle”. It ages just as well as the other Krugs. The 10–20-year-old bottles I have tasted have been heavenly. Upon their market launch I have usually awarded the wines 92–93 points, but friends of the generous and toasty nature of the wines should wait a few years to get much more from them. The winemaking team spends more than 90 per cent of its time on the Grande Cuvée. I recently attended a rare Krug Grande Cuvée blending demonstration, where one could practise making the wine out of 25 basic starting wines. We had at our disposal delicacies such as the 2009 Clos d’Ambonnay and Clos du Mesnil, a Mesnil Chardonnay from 2000 and a Bouzy Pinot Noir from 1995. It soon became clear to us just how challenging yet interesting blending is. As an example, the Grande Cuvée based on the 2009 vintage was made out of 202 components! krug grande cuvée nv 150 € Serving temperature: 12°C Drinkability: now – 25 years 96 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA If Krug opened its cellars to champagne lovers, it would have to start up a whole side business in tourism. Even now, Krug attracts countless wine pilgrims to its gates, from where they admire the king of champagne houses. Wine production: All Krugs are created in old oak barrels, which the house buys new but does not initially use for producing the final wines due to their strong oak aroma. Malolactic fermentation, which softens the acidity, is prevented, which furthers the wines’ ageing potential. The grape blend varies from year to year, but the Grande Cuvée is strongly Pinot Noir-based. Reserve wines, sometimes stretching exceptionally far back in time, also make up a high proportion – typically around 40 per cent. The Grande Cuvée is aged in a cellar for a minimum of six years, while the dosage is moderate at 7 g/l. Style: Deep pale-yellow colour. The generous bou- quet is delightfully toasty and nuanced. It has the sweetness of dried fruit, cream, brioche and apple, as well as a light spiciness. The velvety smooth and wide taste is strong and lingering, while a delicious acidity gives it backbone and freshness. A full-bodied, multi-layered wine whose final character depends on the shape of the glass and the serving temperature. 93 p. Grapes: emphasis on Pinot Noir, exact blend varies Vintage 1998 93 p. • Rosé nV 93 p. • Clos du Mesnil 1998 90 p. Clos d'Ambonnay 1996 94 p. • Collection 1989 95 p.

T he Pommery cellars offer one of the best visiting experiences. The fairy-tale castle complex that Madame Pommery built in 1868 is simply charming. Built over a massive area of 50 hectares, the cellars exude the magnificence of the late nineteenth century. More than 100 Gallo-Roman crayères (chalk quarries) are joined together in an 18-kilometre labyrinthine network that houses 25 million bottles of champagne. Anyone interested in art will love the changing exhibition of art installations, from which the Vrankens choose their favourites each year to permanently decorate the cellars. The artworks even make a visit to the cellars entertaining for families with children. The legacy of the world’s second most famous champagne widow, Madame Pommery, was immense. Her husband, Louis Alexandre Pommery, passed away just two years after entering Narcisse Greno’s champagne business in 1856. Despite having two babies to take care of, Jeanne-Alexandrine Pommery took the reins of the small business and turned it into a major Grande Marque. Madame Pommery was greatly inspired by her contemporary, the widow Clicquot, despite the fact that the two women apparently did not get on at all. In addition to creating the Pommery brand and building the monumental cellars, Madame Pommery is credited with producing the first dry champagne. The 1874 vintage of Pommery Nature was the first champagne that we would today call dry, and it immediately captivated the British market. It would pave the way for the champagne style of the future. One of these historic bottles can be seen in the Pommery cellars to this day. Madame Pommery had a fabulous mansion built for her daughter Louise close to the champagne headquarters, and today it houses the finest hotel in Champagne, Les Crayères. Louise was married off to Prince Guy de Polignac, and the house remained in the hands of that renowned aristocratic family until 1979. The final representative of the family, Prince Alain de Polignac, was for a long time a highly regarded cellar master of Pommery, acting as an ambassador for the house until the turn of the millennium. Despite Prince Alain’s contribution, the loss of the family’s holding in the business has proven fateful for Pommery. After a few changes of hands, Moët Hennessy took over Pommery in 1994 and started to turn it into a volume brand by exponentially increasing production. This significantly lowered quality. The final blow for Pommery, however, came when Moët Hennessy sold the house to Vranken but kept all of the best vineyards for itself. This act surely made Madame Pommery turn in her grave, as it made it very difficult for the house i CHAMPAGnE POMMERy nM www.pommery.com 5, place du Général Gouraud, 51689 Reims puh. +33 (0)3 26 61 62 63 Annual production (bottles) 5 000 000 Cellar masterThierry Gasco to stick to her motto, Qualité d’abord: Quality First. In spite of the difficult circumstances, the estate’s valued cellar master Thierry Gasco has stayed on board and done all he can for quality. Sustainable development is particularly close to Gasco’s heart and he worked towards Pommery becoming the first house of wine to achieve the ISO 14001 environmental certificate in 1996. All of Pommery’s own vineyards are organically cultivated. The standard champagne of the house, Brut Royal, has still not achieved the desired quality, even though exceptionally good bottles can be found. Brut Apanage, developed for gastronomic use, and its rosé version, on the other hand, are in a whole different league. The youthful POP is a very drinkable, softly fruity wine for straightforward nightclub and picnic use. The seasonal series of Summertime, Wintertime, Springtime and Falltime wines makes up an interesting concept. Vintage Pommerys never let you down, and the prestige wine Cuvée Louise pays Madame Pommery the homage she deserves. My own favourite, however, is the fantastically delicate and subtly mineral Cuvée Louise Rosé, which is an unfortunately rare find. It only makes up five per cent of Cuvée Louise’s production. FINE Region pommery Pommery opens its doors between 9.30 am and 7 pm daily between April and mid-December, and from 10 am to 6 pm daily from mid-December to the end of March. Closed from Christmas Day to new year’s Day. Cellar tours start at 12 euros, free entry for children under 10. Tours in French, English and German. Advance bookings are recommended. The long-term efforts of Pommery’s winemaking team with to regards sustainable development and ecology culminated a couple of years ago in the launch of POP Earth. The lower environmental impact of this champagne was achieved thanks to the sum of many small parts: the recycled glass bottle is 35 g lighter than a normal champagne bottle; the label is recycled paper printed with non-toxic ink; and the bottles are not individually packed. It is heartening to see that the organic status goes hand in hand with quality, as POP Earth is much better than the Brut Royal and more serious than the ordinary POP. In keeping with Pommery’s style, the wine is light, elegant and crisp. High-quality fruit leads to a refined, creamy fizz. pommery pop earth nv Wine production: The juice from organically grown grapes is fermented in temperature-controlled steel tanks. The wine goes through full malolactic fermentation. Cellar-aged for over two years. Sweetness 2 g/l. Style: Light lemon-yellow colour. Soft and mild bouquet of tropical fruit, pale flowers and peach, combined with a slight spiciness. The foam is well integrated with the fruity mouthfeel. The dry taste is gentle, full-bodied and suitably long. 90 p. 29,90 € 28,20 € Serving temperature: 8 °C Drinkability: now–2016 Grapes: Pinot Noir 70 %, Pinot Meunier 10 %, Chardonnay 20 % Brut Royal nV 85 p. • Rosé nV 88 p. • POP nV 86 p. • POP Rosé nV 87 p. Apanage nV 89 p. • Apanage Rosé nV 89 p. • Grand Cru 2000 91 p. Summertime Blanc de Blancs nV 90 p. • Wintertime Blanc de noirs nV 88 p. Falltime Blanc de Blancs nV 89 p. • Springtime Rosé 89 p. Cuvée Louise 1999 92 p. • Cuvée Louise Rosé 2000 94 p. FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 97

Sights, Restaurants and Hotels in Reims nOTRE DAME CATHEDRAL Place du Cardinal Luçon, 51100 Reims Closed on Sunday mornings. Otherwise open 7.30 am–7.30 pm. Information on guided tours: www.monuments-nationaux.fr and tel. +33 (0)3 26 47 81 79. Reims has one sight to see above all others, and that is the monumental cathedral of Notre Dame. It is a reminder of the city’s splendid history, during which it hosted the coronation of many French kings. The cathedral dominates the cityscape and provides a sight for sore eyes on a daily basis. The cathedral’s aura, although always impressive, changes from sunshine to rain and from day to night. I love it most in the evenings, when it is dramatically lit. The cathedral is greatly reminiscent of Notre Dame de Paris, which is half a century older. Initiated by Archbishop Aubrey de Humbrecht in 1210, the Gothic-style construction work was never ful- Notre Dame Cathedral is monumental and magnificent. ly completed. The cathedral was severely damaged by bombs in the First World War, but it was restored by 1937. Few of the cathedral’s fabulous stained-glass windows are original; a thirteenth-century rose window still remains, but most of the others have been reconstructed. Characteristically for the region, one of the windows is dedicated to vine growers. Also worth seeing is the blue-toned window of the chapel, designed by Marc Chagall in 1974. “Notre Dame Cathedral is the largest monument in Champagne and the most eye-catching work of art in Reims. It could be called the heart of the economy of Champagne. Historically, it has played an even more significant role than Notre Dame de Paris. They share many aspects, including similar architecture, a similar size and the fact that neither was ever finished.” Hubert de Billy, Director of Champagne Pol Roger PARC Du CHAMPAGnE 10, avenue du Général Giraud, 51100 Reims tel. +33 (0)3 26 35 52 50 The park’s opening hours depend on the month. For details, visit a tourist information centre or www.reims-ville.fr. Entrance is free. LES CAVES Du FORuM 10, rue Courmeaux, 51100 Reims tel. +33 (0)3 26 79 15 15 www.lescavesduforum.com Les Caves du Forum certainly live up to expectations. The ancient underground cellars are perfectly cool and damp, although the bottle labels do suffer from the moisture. Fabrice Parisot’s wine shop has an excellent selection of champagnes and other wines; for example, small producers from Burgundy are well represented. Specialising in terroir wines, the shop makes up around half of its champagne selection from small-scale, new-generation producers, including Bérèche, Benôit Lahaye, Chartogne-Taillet and Egly-Ouriet. Besides French wines, Les Caves du Forum has a limited but carefully selected range of foreign wines produced from authentic local varieties. Uncommonly for France, the shop stocks, for example, Spanish Mencía and Albariño, as well as Greek Assyrtiko. Parc de Champagne, located at the top of Butte StNicaise on what used to be the old Pommery estate, was previously known as Parc Pommery. It is the number one venue for outdoor events in Reims. The park has many happenings but none as popular as the outdoor concert in July, which is attended by hordes equipped with picnic baskets and bottles of champagne. Entrance to the park is free and it is a popular picnic venue on summer weekends. Place d’Erlon is a lively pedestrian area 98 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA

“Few people know that Les Crayères’s Rotonde Bar also serves small meals and snacks. The bar is open FINE Region Sights, Restaurants and Hotels in Reims continuously to hotel customers and daily from 2pm to the public. Its elegant and intimate milieu is an excellent setting for a glass of champagne at any time of day. The champagne selection, served by the glass, varies weekly and always includes two Prestige Cuvées, one standard or vintage champagne and one rosé. At Rotonde you can also test the champagne glass designed for the restaurant by its Head Sommelier, Philippe Jamesse.” Frédéric Panaïotis, Cellar master of Champagne Ruinart Le Parc restaurant of Les Crayères is a culinary institution. HOTEL LES CRAyèRES 64, boulevard Henry Vasnier, 51100 Reims tel. +33 (0)3 26 24 90 00 www.lescrayeres.com Château les Crayères is a luxurious restaurant and hotel oasis that exudes the glamour of Champagne from its every pore. No other hotel comes close to its quality or service, and this is of no surprise when you find out that the guests of the 20 stunning rooms are served by a staff of 85. Built close to the Pommery champagne castle, on a hill named Butte St-Nicaise, in 1904, the mansion was previously home to members of the Pommery family. Since 1983 the history-infused building has been the site of numerous pilgrimages by oenophiles, thanks to its world-famous gastronomy and excellent service. “Le Jardin is one of the most popular places in Reims right now. Set in the beautiful park of Les Crayères, the highly elegant brasserie offers a more relaxed alternative to the fine dining restaurant.” Bruno Paillard, Champagne Bruno Paillard “The gardens of Château Les Crayères are my favourite place to gaze upon the fabulous Basilica of Saint-Remi.” Didier Dupond, Director of Champagne Salon-Delamotte RESTAuRAnT LE PARC DE LES CRAyèRES Closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. RESTAuRAnT LE JARDIn DE LES CRAyèRES Open daily for lunch and dinner. The fine dining restaurant at Les Crayères is a culinary institution. It built its reputation under the helm of chef Gerard Boyer, who won it three Opened last year, Le Jardin responds to the desire of the public to be able to enjoy the atmosphere of the hotel and park at Les Crayères with less pomp Michelin stars. Despite lofty aims, his successor Didier Elena ‘only’ managed to achieve two stars for Les Crayères. The promising young talent of Philippe Mille had to start last year with no stars at all, but time will tell what he is to achieve. The local champagne élite, who have been regulars at Les Crayères throughout its history, are eulogising the innovative yet refined new touches that Mille has brought to the restaurant, and expect the first star to be forthcoming. The atmosphere is extremely luxurious and exclusive; there are plenty of staff to attend to even the smallest needs of customers; and the restaurant’s long-term sommelier Philippe Jamesse is truly experienced at combining champagne with food - he has even designed his own range of glasses for the restaurant. The champagne list is ostentatious, al- and expense than at Le Parc. The pleasant atmosphere and large terrace are tempting, especially in summer. The food is not far from fine dining, so even here you feel you are in the capable hands of head chef Philippe Mille. Offering more modern and lighter gastronomy than the main restaurant, Le Jardin is not expensive; with the economy as it is, many have probably downshifted to Le Jardin from Le Parc. The no-frills yet elegant setting and the professional staff also respond to today’s needs. The only con for me was the champagne list, which only contained standard champagnes from the big houses. You would think that more unusual and valuable champagnes would sell even here, so I presume that this was a conscious choice in order to set the two restaurants apart. though predictably costly, and includes all the top names from the region. Mille has continued Elena’s series of champagne-themed menus, meaning the oft-changing selections are interesting for any champagne lover, and very reasonably priced. FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 99

100 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA

Text: Essi Avellan MW FINE Visit Champagne up in the treetops Photos: Michael Boudot Hidden in the Verzy forest on the Montagne de Reims lies an oasis for the nature-loving champagne explorer. Perchingbar, the brainchild of Olivier Couteau, is a champagne bar built up in the oak trees. The small bar and its spacious terrace overlook the Champagne vineyards, with the ecologially-built and managed treehouse accessed by a line of hanging bridges. The bar’s energy is sourced from solar panels and no building work ever threatens to damage the oak trees. Parisian architect Germain Morrisseau designed the playful yet stylish interior, and it is complemented by swing chairs and champagne coolers hanging from the ceiling. FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 101

Olivier Couteau Perchingbar currently offers champagnes from four different producers, ranging from local growers Pehu-Simonnet and Louis de Sacy to the Grande Marque houses of Bollinger and G.H. Mumm. The entry fee is 15 euros, which includes a glass of champagne. This unique bar, along with the adjacent Arboxygene climbing park, fulfills Couteau’s vision of nature-friendly living up in the trees. Perchingbar was opened last summer but Couteau already has expansion plans. Next in line are cocoon-like hotel rooms up in the treetops – a must for the adventurous champagne traveller. > PERCHINGBAR Forêt de Brise Charette 51380 Verzy tel. +33 (0)6 07 67 94 42 www.perchingbar.eu Perchingbar’s opening hours vary and therefore it is advisable to check their internet site or call the bar. Closed from January to March. 102 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA

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. 104 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 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. 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. > FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 105

Gouda 106 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA

F I N E Pa i r i n g Champagne’s Favourite Foods: Cheese Three Kings for the Queen of Wines Te x t : R i st o K a r m av u o Champagne is not the most traditional choice to accompany cheese. This is more a question of habit than actual gastronomical reasons, however, because champagne goes very well with many cheeses. A particularly good champagne to have with cheese in general is a Chardonnay from the Côte des Blancs region, to add body to the flavour of the cheese and perfectly complement rich and creamy cheeses. Older vintage champagnes that may be found in your cellar are also an excellent choice, because their mature flavour palette is a good addition to the slightly nutty and caramel taste of many cheeses. FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 107

King of cheeses Époisses, a delicious pressed cheese with a red rind, is perhaps the most famous cheese from Burgundy. The most celebrated gastronomical authority in France, Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, named it the “king of cheeses”. Époisses is made from unpasteurised cow’s milk, and after the cheese has set it is rinsed regularly to enhance rind formation. The final rinse is done with alcohol, usually the local pomace brandy, Marc de Bourgogne. Eaten fresh (Époisses Frais), the cheese is fairly firm and creamy, and its taste is relatively tangy and milky. Époisses Frais is actually better served before the meal, and then best combined with a refreshing blanc de blancs. Matured Époisses has a red-orange rind and its ripeness is evident from slightly sunken edges – as if the rind were about to collapse and let the insides run onto the plate. When ripe, the cheese has a somewhat pungent aroma, but the flavour is creamy and rich with a sweet-acrid note from the rind. The rind does not have to be eaten if the cheese is a bit overripe or if it seems too strong. Ripe Époisses is perfect when paired with a relatively aged vintage champagne, whose toasty and mature aromas go well with the full-bodied cheese. Époisses 108 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA Favourite of the Sun King Gouda has been an important export product since the thirteenth century, and it was among the favourites of Louis XIV of France, among others. At the time, Gouda was still a small-scale local cheese made in the locality of its eponymous town. Nowadays, most Goudas are industrially produced, characterless everyday cheeses, favoured on sandwiches – especially in Sweden. Proper, handcrafted Gouda can be bought in quality cheese shops, however, and is recognisable if by nothing else, then by its much higher price per kilogramme. Gouda is made from cow’s milk and fashioned into fairly large wheels of 5 to 10 kilogrammes. Cheese connoisseurs especially value aged Gouda, which is recognised by its black paraffin wax coating. Aged Gouda is sold as “Old” or “Extra Old”, but it must have spent at least 18 months in a cellar. Aged Gouda is dark yellow, even brownish in colour, and its protein crystals are clearly discernible, making the cheese somewhat grainy in texture. It is very hard and brittle, making it easy to break pieces off with a small knife. Aged Gouda has a caramel, even toffee sweetness, combined with complex aromas and a light saltiness. This cheese is best paired with an aged blanc de blancs champagne, whose creamy Chardonnay body has been teased out by the passing years. poisses A nother good reason to pair champagne with cheese is the order of dining. A good cheese is an essential part of dinner, to balance out the different tastes at the end. Similarly, a glass of champagne will refresh the palate after other wines and, acidic as it is, produce a lightening effect.

Roquefort, which comes from the Rouergue region in southern France, is undoubtedly one of the most famous cheeses in the world. It is first mentioned under that name in written records in 1070, but it is likely to have been manufactured well before that time. Roquefort producers received an exclusive right to make this type of cheese in the fifteenth century from Charles XI, and Charles XII later made the production of fake Roquefort a punishable offence. A typical wheel of Roquefort weighs two to three kilogrammes and is cylindrical in shape. F I N E Pa i r i n g By exclusive right from the king The strong and refined Roquefort is at its best by itself, although it is used a lot in cooking. A delicious snack to accompany champagne can be created by sticking two walnut halves together with Roquefort. Strong blue cheeses are best coupled with a more robust champagne, so a good choice would be a blanc de noirs. If you are feeling more adventurous, try a medium sweet champagne. > The characteristic freshly salty and tangy flavour of Roquefort comes from its unique combination of sheep’s milk and a specific mould strain, of which many imitations have been made. The original mould strain in the cheese originates from natural caves in the Cambalou mountain, where the cheeses are still aged. Roquefort was the first French cheese to receive a protected designation of origin, which it got in 1925. The cheese may only be produced from the unpasteurised milk of specific sheep breeds. Cutting and packing of the cheese must take place in the Roquefort-sur-Soulzon area. Roquefort Roquefort FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 109

Reason to arrive early at Helsinki Airport – Wine & View Gate 28 Wine & View with the first international FINE Wine Bar concept is the only place where you can taste the 1000 finest wines in the world by the glass. Price range by the glass is 4.60€ to 80.00€. Some thrilling examples of mature wines that have appeared on our winelist: ® The first international FINE Wine Bar is open every day. Opening hours: Mon–Wed 6.30–19, Thu–Fri 6–20, Sat–Sun 6–18 at Helsinki-Vantaa International Airport. Fine Wine Bar ® concept is created by FINE Magazines Ferreira Vintage Port 1864 Château d´Yquem 1899 Château Filhot 1928 Château Mouton-Rothschild 1934 Château Calon Ségur 1945 Château Pichon-Baron 1947 Château Pétrus 1947 Château Cheval Blanc 1947 Château Gilette 1947 Marques de Riscal 1954 Quinta Do Noval 1958 Clos Vougeot 1959 Chambertin 1961 Château Latour 1961 Château Lafite-Rothschild 1962 Château Haut-Brion 1966 Dom Pérignon 1966 Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste 1970 Tignanello 1971 Dom Ruinart Rosé 1973 Château Pétrus 1975 Krug Vintage Champagne 1979 Château Latour 1982 DRC Richebourg 1983 Jaboulet-Vercherre Montrachet 1985 Château Palmer 1988 Château Valandraud 1989 Leroy Chassagne-Montrachet 1990 Sassicaia 1990 Château Le Pin 1990

SSP Finland Helsinki Airport 01530 Vantaa, Finland Tel. +358 207 629 700 www.sspfinland.fi Mobile service: www.eatnow.fi

Your Personal Wine World “It is great to be part of this extremely advanced wine sharing community. Such a great tool for any professional or amateur to expand their wine knowledge.” Gerard Basset MW MS OBE, UK, The World’s Best Sommelier 2010 “A great site that is easy to use. You can become a part of a friendly, generous community of experienced tasters from around the world who are drinking the world’s greatest wines, often. Where else can you easily find recent notes on 1953 Lafite and 1996 Bollinger VVF for example? Thetastingbook.com is an excellent resource for fine wine lovers and collectors.” John Kapon, USA, CEO Acker Merrall & Condit “Finally I have all my notes in one place and I can share them with the rest of the world.” Richard Juhlin, SWEDEN, The World´s number One Champagne expert “Tasting Book finally allows people to access to notes from some of the worlds greatest critics that do not regularly upload to other sites. A revelation!” Gareth Birchley UK, Bordeaux Index “Making tasting notes without writing them, it’s the perfect, effortless way to compose tasting notes. Tastingbook works if you have only a few notes to write, or hundreds. With a single click, anyone can share their notes with friends and all the other members of Tastingbook!” Jeff Leve, USA, The Wine Cellar Insider Create your wine world and join the tastingbook now! It’s Fast, Easy and Free! Sign in: thetastingbook.com © Tastingbook 2013 Powered by: Wine professionals from over 20 countries, FINE – the world’s leading fine wine magazines, Champagne Magazine – the world’s only Champagne magazine, FINEst WINEs

The world’s first intelligent wine tasting tool and social wine community With tastingbook You can: Have an easy access via internet to your wine tasting notes where ever you are Tastingbook is specially designed for iPad and other tablets Make a tasting note easy and fast – just in 20 seconds without writing a word Share notes, pictures, and thoughts with your friends, colleagues and wine professionals Find the most up-to-date tasting notes and pictures from all the finest and rarest wines Taste wines using your own language – English, Chinese, Français, Deutsch, Espanol, Portugues, Finnish, Swedish Easily find educational and entertaining information about the wines, producers & vintages Learn and taste with wine professionals from over 20 countries – the world’s only wine investing & collecting magazine, Acker Merrall & Condit – the world’s number one wine auction house, and You – your world’s most important wine critic.

114 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA

FINE Collecting proper wine storage a myth? Text: Lee Zinser Photos: Pekka Nuikki, Greg Gorman and Cellarworks FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 115

proper wine storage – a temperature myth? You see the wine steward in the distance. He is pulling a bottle of wine from the cellar that just moments ago you selected from the wine list. The wine comes from a great vineyard and the vintage is one of the best. The wine arrives, and while being shown the bottle you reach out and touch it. Your hand confirms it has been stored correctly ...Or has it? Let’s ask Victoria Quite often the question “What is the best temperature to store wines?” is asked. I hear numbers like 55 degrees (13°C), 57 degrees (14°C) and 58 degrees (14.5°C). I hear of passive cellars that fluctuate between 53 and 61 degrees (12–16°C) in the course of a year with summer hitting the higher temperatures and winter the lower temperatures. Auction catalogues often say “properly stored by gentleman in the Midwest”, but what is “properly stored” and where is the Midwest? It is universally agreed that the middle to high 50s (12–15°C) is the proper storage temperature. Why this particular temperature range, and, more importantly, does it really matter? This approved temperature range started hundreds of years ago, before HVAC and mechanical equipment. It just so happens that anytime you go below the frost line anywhere in the world, that the median temperature is around 56 degrees (13°C). So when you have an underground cellar in Bordeaux, Burgundy, or another wine producing area, the passive temperature where the wines are stored and will mature is around 56 degrees. Is this coincidental? Is it just by chance that convenient, free to operate and natural storage conditions just happen to be the magic number for the wine to mature and be stored? Is this temperature range always the “right” range? Well, it all depends on who you are at war with. During the Victorian Era, England, who enjoyed French wines that were properly stored, was cut off when a war once again ensued against 116 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA

FINE Collecting the French. In an effort to maintain the life they were accustomed to, the English looked to other sources and decided again on Madeira. ­ Earlier, lessons had been learned when these wines were shipped around the Cape of Good Hope. They were transported in the hulls of ships over the equator, and would frequently reach cooking temperatures. To preserve the wine in these harsh conditions they added clear alcohol in order to fortify it. When this cooked, oxidized and ruined wine hit the shores of England it became a hit; indeed, it was a most celebrated drink, akin to Champagne today. You can still find very enjoyable bottles of Madeira from the 1700s for a pretty penny. In the production of Madeira today they imitate the real conditions that existed during the trading years. “Properly stored conditions” in this case means being cooked, oxidized and harshly treated, which makes it highly sought-after. Carafe of red Quite often I am asked the question about storing white wines at a lower temperature than red wines, and I always go back to two very important points. The first is that the temperature for storing wine which is usually cooler is not the same as for drinking wine which is usually closer to room temperature. Secondly, when you go to the Champagne region, Bordeaux or Burgundy, all the wines, whether red or white, are stored in natural cellars under the frost line and therefore within 55 to 59 degrees (13–15°C). The reason many ask about storing white wines at a lower temperature is firstly due to advertising and marketing, which tries to sell more expensive wine fridges with dual temperatures, and second of all because we have been trained to drink white wines colder, as the imperfection of the lower cost white wines can be masked at lower temperatures. It is a different story with lower value red wines: just imagine sitting around a wooden table with a large group of friends on a chilly night eating pasta, talking and laughing while drinking homemade Italian red wine. It may not be the best wine you have ever had but nobody notices due the good time being had by all. Inexpensive white wines do not have that same chance. The imperfections of lower valued white wines need to be masked and are often served from ice buckets – even in 3-star Michelin restaurants. The big day So now you are at the auction bidding on some 1961 first growths. You have been told the wines have been kept in “properly stored conditions”, and have even inspected the wines. You win the lot and upon getting it home decide to celebrate. You open one bottle with friends and it is everything you expected. A short while later at a future event you decide to open another bottle, but this one is a complete embarrassment. What happened? FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 117

Raising up kids Scientifically, temperature plays a big role in the development of wine. There are a number of aspects to consider, and to start with we understand that heat translates into energy. Wine evolves over time and if the temperature it is stored at or exposed to is high, then the molecular structure and development is faster than its years. When it is too low development is stunted. We can illustrate it this way: by adding excessive heat or high temperatures during storage, we are forcing a young child to behave and act like a grown up. We lose the maturity that comes with time. On the other hand, if the wines are stored in very low temperatures, it will reach a good age but may be stunted in terms of maturity. In both cases, we are forcing the wine to develop at a rate inappropriate to its age. Many studies suggest that the 56–59 range (13–15°C) is appropriate for a balanced development, which allows the wine to mature without losing finesse. There are a few reasons to deviate from the status quo and two points come to mind in practical application. The first deals with fragile wines. These are wines that are older and have already reached their full maturity. By lowering the temperature to the low 50s (11–12°C) we slow down molecular activity, which will extend and preserve the life of the wine. The other example of deviation is represented in our opening illustration at the restaurant. In this situation, we recognise the two variables in play: the first is that the wine being sold has a fairly regular turnover and is not in danger of being ruined over the few months it spends in the restaurant at a higher storage temperature (around 60 degrees, or 15–16°C). The other consideration is that when we have made our wine selection we do not want to In the early 1960s when the wine was bottled, there may have been some imperfections in the cork, the capsule or during bottling. In stable and appropriate conditions these imperfections may not have compromised the wine. During the early years before temperature controlled shipping and regular overnight deliveries, the wine could have been exposed to very harsh conditions. Huge fluctuations in temperature will test the imperfections of both cork and capsule, as well as stress the wine itself. In many cases, we only know the most recent storage conditions of the wines we are buying, and while the current conditions of even the past ten years may be good, it will not make up for the harsh conditions of the previous 30 years. There is just no repairing the six weeks it sat on a dock in Honduras during mid-summer before being shipped to the U.S. in the 1970s. So while we currently see our potential wine purchase in pristine condition, the life course of our wine may not always have been so kind. Heat, cold, vibration and light, as well as imperfections in the wine, bottle and closure, all contribute to the wine’s detriment. Unlike a smoker who has stopped smoking for many years and now benefits from renewed health, the damage a wine sustains is irreversible no matter how good the storage conditions are later in life. Heat, cold, vibration and light, as well as imperfections in the wine, bottle and closure, all contribute to the wine’s detriment. 118 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA wait twenty minutes or more while it comes up to drinking temperature. This situation of high turnover in wines quite often extends beyond restaurants and is seen in wine stores as well. Very often I see very expensive wines in liquor stores being stored at room temperature. Of course, after changing hands many times these same wines may end up in a cellar and then later sold as “properly stored” at auction, with the end user none the wiser. Proper storage and appropriate temperatures will certainly enhance the enjoyment of most wines. These various scenarios are just a few I discuss with clients in preliminary consultation with them during their wine cellar design. Understanding the effects of various temperatures, the objective of the collector and the various kinds of wines to be collected helps us arrive at an appropriate solution. Yet, we always arrive at the perfect temperature and the “proper storage conditions”. >

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

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. 120 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 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 S u c k l i n g 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. > FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 121

H KONG N G Spotlight Text: Debra Meiburg MW Debra Meiburg MW takes us on a gastronomic tour of her beloved Hong Kong, unearthing hidden gems and renewing our acquaintances with classic eateries in the Asian wine capital. The people of Hong Kong are not noted for athletic prowess, but we do have two important national sports: shopping and eating. Food is so integral to our culture that instead of ‘good day’ we greet one another with the Cantonese expression , which means ‘have you eaten your rice yet?’ With more than 8000 eateries in Hong Kong, narrowing the selection to a few favourites can prove an almost impossible task. When visitors ask for a restaurant recommendation, our first reaction is usually to query ‘which style?’ or ‘which dish?’ On any city street you are likely to find Cantonese, Pekingese, Chiu Chau and Sichuan restaurants alongside a sushi bar, a Vietnamese noodle shop and a pizzeria – sometimes all in the same highrise building. 122 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA

FINE Spotlight Hutong FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 123

of chillies to espy the fiery-hot crab pieces, and the trick to eating this dish is not to let the crab touch your lips. Round off the dinner with an old standard: string beans with chillies and minced pork, with a small bowl of rice to calm the palate. Truly a spectacular experience, I always look forward to hosting visitors to Hong Kong, as they are my excuse to venture over to Hutong. 28th Floor, One Peking Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon www.aqua.com.hk Bo Innovation Bo Innovation’s self-styled ‘demon-chef ’ Alvin Leung pushes the Hong Kong envelope, and the restaurant may well be the first in the world with a sunglass-donned chef and tattoo-laden servers to win two Michelin stars. Typical Asian fusion cuisine begins with a European concept altered by Asian seasonings. Not so with Bo Innovation. The demon-chef deconstructs classic Chinese concepts and slips in a western surprise. A few of my favourites include braised eel with red wine jelly, fresh steamed clams with cream and stinky tofu (an acquired taste, ‘stinky tofu’ or is sometimes described as the Asian bluecheese) and ‘mac ‘n’ yak’ (Chinese rice-pasta with yak cheese derived from the Tibetan plateau). The degustation menus can be a mind-boggling sixteen courses, but most courses are sub-tapassized. Bo Innovation is a stimulating, exciting assault on the senses. Be sure to request a seat at the chef ’s bar to see the demon in action. Shop 13, 2/F J Residence, 60 Johnston Road, Wan Chai www.boinnovation.com Bo Innovation In our city, restaurants are famed for their specialties, not their chefs, so most people on the street would be able to tell you immediately which restaurant serves the best braised abalone, Peking duck, roasted goose, (pork buns), hairy crab or bird’s nest soup. Hong Kong people typically dine out several nights a week, which means most of our restaurants are busy, noisy, fast-paced and need an advance booking. As Chinese dinners typically comprise tables of 10– 12 persons, all sizeable restaurants offer private dining rooms for cozy exclusivity. Keeping up on the latest restaurant openings is one of our most popular topics of conversation, typically spoken of after “where did you just fly-in from?” Recent popular openings include The Commander, Mirror and Bloom. New restaurants open monthly, and part of the sport is to get to the table before they fold. Below are some of my tried-and-true favourites. Hutong Offering one of the most spectacular views in Asia, Hutong is a dazzling juxtaposition of Chinese antiques and breathtaking modernity, as evidenced by the weathered temple doors 124 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA encasing a ‘private’ glass dining room overlooking the Hong Kong harbourfront. Hutong is the perfect vantage point from which to watch the nightly Hong Kong laser show, where multicoloured beams of light are radiated in fantastical patterns from the city’s iconic high-rises. Hutong’s menu is Sichuan inspired, so do not expect shy flavours. Start the meal with a glass of bubbly and the simple and refreshing sesame cucumber salad to cool your palate before the chilli onslaught. Grilled eggplant topped with garlic and scallions should follow and then an order of prawns with salty egg yolk. To make this dish, fresh duck eggs are dry-packed in salt for a number of weeks and then boiled. The prawns are lightly deep-fried with a soft coating of this mashed salty yolk. If the pungency of salty duck eggs puts you off, then go with the gentler prawns in tangerine sauce. Hutong’s signature crispy lamb ribs are a must (even if you do not have a penchant for lamb), where the ribs are deboned and slow cooked and the skin crisply fried, with the two then being reassembled. My favourite dish is the deep-fried soft-shell crab served in a voluminous basket of cherry-red chillies: half the fun is ransacking the mountains Cépage Serving some of the city’s most sophisticated French-Mediterranean cuisine, Michelinstarred Cépage was recently opened by Singapore’s Les Amis group and features one of the finest wine lists in Hong Kong, with more than 2000 well-aged labels of excellent provenance (Les Amis is the owner of Vinum Cellars). Classic French décor is combined with post-Modern Chinese art, resulting in an elegant, stylish and quiet dining experience suited for a sophisticated business luncheon or an intimate evening for two. Toast the evening on the rooftop terrace with a glass of Bruno Paillard overlooking the Starstreet Precinct, one of Hong Kong’s latest bar and dining districts. The chef ’s work is skilful, delicate, understated and accented with Japanese touches. Some of my favourite dishes include silky organic Japanese egg with oxtail consume jelly and strips of black truffle; marinated black cod in Hooba leaf and ginger; shellfish bouillon with lobster

FINE Spotlight and many of these ‘incubator’ restaurants later became above-board fully-fledged eateries once they had developed a sufficient following. The Yellow Door was one of the first such private kitchens and it still operates on the fifth floor of a dodgy old building next to the world’s longest escalator, on the cusp of Hong Kong’s most celebrated bar and dining districts, SOHO and Lan Kwai Fong’s Hollywood Road. In this casual restaurant, the walls are decorated with now-collectible calligraphy brushed by an artist whose works both confounded and pleased the Hong Kong community for decades until he earned the affectionate sobriquet ‘Uncle Graffiti’. The Yellow Door serves delicious and no-holds barred authentic Sichuan and Shanghai cuisine. This is one of the few restaurants where it is possible to enjoy a full Chinese banquet-length meal (16 courses) at a table for two. Keep an eye out for the Eight Treasures Duck and a few local Cantonese pop-stars. 6/F, Cheung Hing Commercial Building, 37 Cochrane Street, Central www.yellowdoorkitchen.com.hk Cépage ravioli; and Iberian pork belly en sous vide with Iranian Beluga caviar and what else but champagne sauce. 23 Wing Fung Street, Wan Chai www.lesamis.com.sg China Club Though a members only club, American Express cardholders and most hotels can arrange entry to this Hong Kong favourite. Housed in one of the few classic buildings remaining in the heart of Central, the restaurant spans three floors of the former Bank of China headquarters. The question is whether the food quality, the retrodecor reminiscent of 1930’s Shanghai or the priceless post-Maoist artwork is the attraction, so while the restaurant is packed with locals, they are usually hosting excitable visitors. All dishes are tasty at the China Club, if somewhat ‘gentrified’ for western tastes. Jellyfish noodles, eggplant clay-pot, Peking duck, barbecued suckling pig and E-fu noodles are all popular favourites. The rotating array of lunchtime platters on Saturdays will change your ideas of the classic buffet forever. Stop by the “Long March Bar” for pre-dinner bubbles or venture up to the top-floor library for a cigar and squeeze through the narrow exits onto a magical balcony featuring one of the best insider views within Central. 13/F, Old Bank of China Building, Bank Street, Central Yellow Door Kitchen Shortly after the Asian Financial Crisis in 1997 there was a proliferation of ‘private kitchens’, illegal restaurants launched in high-rise apartments or warehouse buildings by talented chefs – many ex-executives in the financial sector – with a dream to launch their own restaurants. The Hong Kong government turned a blind eye Debra Meiburg MW Debra Meiburg has called Hong Kong her home for years. This Master of Wine is a celebrated wine journalist, TV personality, wine educator and in-demand speaker, who works towards broadening the experiences of the everyday wine lover. FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 125

The Pleasure of Wine Writing ...C Text: Pekka Nuikki Photos: Omas omplex, full, silky... Refined words form in rich ink on the pages of my tasting journal… and a seductive bouquet. From time to time I set down my fountain pen to rest on the weathered desk top and sip the red wine in my glass. Elegant and harmonious... I continue in the smoothly flowing ink: The Château Lafite 1797 remains a very enjoyable and lively wine, with... I taste the wine again, close my eyes and picture how it once matured in an oak barrel in Château Lafite’s dark, damp cellars in order to be just as enjoyable now, more than two hundred years later. The fountain pen that is writing my wine appraisal ...a fine, well-balanced aftertaste, eternal... has been made from that very barrel. 126 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA

FINE Lifestyle FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 127

The Pleasure of Wine Writing Although these days I type most of my critiques on an iPad, it is hard to think of a more suitable writing tool to describe a Château Lafite than a beautiful OMAS Château Lafite Rothschild limited edition fountain pen, which was made from the wood of historic wine barrels from the estate itself. It even smells of Lafite. Despite the iPad, my OMAS Lafite fountain pen has two important tasks. Firstly, I use it at elegant dinners, where it would be in bad taste, if not impolite, to bring an iPad, and where the pen functions as a part of my outfit, just as a fine watch or a pair of diamond cuff links would; secondly, it is what I prefer to use to sign my name. The individual and unique autograph is still considered a legally valid form of identification, although no one signature is the same as another. Anyone with any self-respect can identify himself with a signature. Our signatures are an important part of our identities. Throughout the ages, signatures have been used to start and end wars and marriages, and to validate countless agreements – from small purchases to treaties on national boundaries. Not even the United States Declaration of Independence came into effect until John Hancock, President of the Congress, had signed it with his flourish. Every American President since George Washington has used a pen to sign official documents. Dwight D. Eisenhower took the idea even further and created the idea of celebrating historical events with special writing instruments. He formally ended World War II with a new kind of ballpoint pen: the Esterbrook pen, which months later was on sale for the 128 FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA astonishingly low amount of 12 dollars in department stores all around the country. Eisenhower can thus be considered the father of limited edition and anniversary pens. Montblanc is perhaps the most renowned producer of limited-edition pens. One of the best-known is its Writers Edition, with pens named after famous authors. The designs of these pens incorporate a characteristic of their namesakes, as well as the author’s signature. The clip of the Agatha Christie is shaped like a serpent, whereas the Edgar Allan Poe has a raven on the nib. These pens are highly valued by collectors; for example, the Ernest Hemingway pen is worth about 3000 dollars on the American market! The Second Life of Krug The Italian company OMAS is also known for its fine pens, which are produced in limited, numbered quantities. Naturally, the OMAS Château Lafite Rothschild pen is the dream instrument of any wine writer. Even before the Lafite pen, however, OMAS had already made a special fountain pen for the Krug Champagne House. In 2004, OMAS launched its new “Essential Woods Collection” made of very precious and rare wood types. The restyling of the volumes of this wood collection enhanced the innovation and modernity of the products, being very elegant and contemporary. Silver finishing underlined the

Helmut Newton used his Montblanc 149 fountain pen to express his love of words. A classic example of this is the timeless phrase “I love you”, which is written on the shoulders and breasts of the models in his own hand. beauty and uniqueness of these writing instruments. OMAS decided to complete the wood pens with a limited edition realised in a very particular wood: the mature oak from Krug casks used for the first fermentation of all their champagnes from 1969 to 2002. This special wood represents the “memory of time”: the memory of the Krug family, handed down from father to son for six generations, and of winemakers who capture the personality of each wine and recreate, vintage after vintage, the essence of Krug. The pens are a reminder of this magnificent oak, shaped year after year by stupendous Krug vintages that are sensual to the touch, and which liberate the flavours of the various grapes and wines. The wood undoubtedly deserved a new lease of life, which took the form of the limited edition “Krug by OMAS”. Harmony of the senses, harmony created by wood and silver, and harmony developed by two passionate houses that celebrate the art of blending and the art of writing. Writing with Wine Barrels FINE Lifestyle The heart of the Fountain Pen is the nib. OMAS is well known worldwide for the performance in writing of its fountain pens. OMAS has studied its nib shape to grant the perfect mix of smoothness and performance. Made of either 18-carat gold, 14-carat gold or titanium, OMAS nibs are available with 11 different types of tip, so that the writer can adapt the technique to his or her personality. OMAS’s wooden pens are well known for their extraordinary balance, polished shine and surprisingly pleasant feel. They guarantee these characteristics by using rare natural materials such as cotton resin, celluloid, wood, titanium, gold and silver, which can be difficult to work. (work with or make work as a pen?) Extremely sensual, precious and selected from the rarest and most valuable elements, wood requires particularly long and accurate handcrafting to guarantee the desired result. During its history, OMAS has chosen many special, rare and precious kinds of wood for shaping the body of its pens, including snakewood, which is one of the rarest and most precious woods in the world; African ebony, a precious black, oriental and very hard wood; and Indian palm, which has a typical grain (what is a typical grain?) of streaks chasing one other. Perhaps the most exceptional wooden pen, however, was made from the very old wood of Château Lafite’s wine barrels. The Krug pen was a success and sold out in no time; a very limited amount – 843 fountain pens and 843 rollerballs – had been made. FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 129

Following the great success of the “Krug by OMAS” Series, OMAS decided in 2007 to launch another limited edition in cooperation with one of the most celebrated French estates, Château Lafite Rothschild. “Both trademarks are joined by a common philosophy that favours excellence, harmony and a passion for manufacturing exclusive and unique goods,” says Marta Cruciani, Marketing Manager for OMAS. One Lafite Cask Holds 1,797 Pens 1797 is the vintage of the oldest bottles preserved in the Château Lafite Rothschild cellars. The same magical figure is repeated in the writing instruments produced thanks to the joint venture between the two influential companies. The body of the pen was taken from the oak used for the casks where the precious wine had rested for so long. The unique rounded shape of the pen in this very special limited edition was inspired by the form of the barrels. The red enamel on the end of the pens is reminiscent of the intense colour of the Château Lafite Rothschild, while the silver finish gives a balanced contrast to the two other materials. The moment you put this fine designer writing device to paper, you will experience the ultimate writing feel. The overall look of Wine 130 Writing FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA the OMAS pen is as distinct a combination of style and character as Château Lafite’s wines. Naturally, only 1797 pens were made: 1000 fountain pens and 797 rollerballs. Solaia Pen: an Homage to Antinori’s 600-Year History As an Italian company, OMAS felt it was only a question of time as to when it would make a special edition pen for one of the leading lights of the Italian wine world. A natural partner was found in Piero Antinori, whose family has been making wines since their forefather Giovanni di Piero Antinori joined the Guild of Winemakers, the Arte Fiorentina dei Vinattieri, in 1385. Throughout its history, spanning 26 generations, the family has personally managed the business, making innovative and sometimes courageous choices but always maintaining an unwavering respect for the tradition and the land. Marchese Piero Antinori, the 25th generation president of the company, has brought in novel, dynamic and visionary views that have led to Italy’s recognition as a producer of worldclass wines. In 2010, OMAS corroborated its own passion for the wine world with a new limited edition dedicated to the prestigious Italian wine tradition. It pays homage to Antinori’s six-hundredyear history. OMAS and Marchesi Antinori, both symbols of the refined exclusivity of Italian products, went down an exciting path to create a prestigious limited edition that reflects the handcrafted tradition and the attention to testing and innovation of the two Italian companies. “It is a privilege for us to firmly link one of our writing instruments to a prestigious product like Solaia. We like to think that the collaboration between OMAS and Antinori gives life to an object that can celebrate a completely Italian excellence,” said Bryan Lee, Executive Director of OMAS. Solaia was first produced almost accidentally in 1978, thanks to Marchese Piero’s intuition. Solaia, meaning “the sunny one” in Italian, is a 10-hectare southwest-facing vineyard planted 351-396 metres above sea level. It belongs to the Tignanello Estate, which is located at the heart of Chianti Classico, 30 kilometres south of Florence. In 2000, it was the first Italian wine to be selected as Wine of the Year by Wine Spectator and it continues to grow and take on worldwide markets.

The oak of the Marchesi Antinori barriques, where the precious wine once aged for years, has now been revived in the Solaia Limited Edition. Elegant engravings recall the world of this famous wine: the family coat of arms and the vine plant (is this the right term?) dominate the cap surface, while the rhombus which is found in the Marchesi Antinori shield decorates the knob. The first historical Solaia wine year is represented by the 1978 numbered and limited edition in silver items produced: 1200 piston filling fountain pens and 778 rollerballs. The box, inspired by the Solaia wine packaging, reflects the wine’s fine taste and exalts the beauty and splendour of the precious writing instrument. OMAS also made a very limited Solaia High Luxury Limited Edition, adorned with precious materials. It is dedicated to the Solaia vintages, with each of the 25 unique pieces linked to a particular wine year. Art of Blending OMAS Marketing Manager Marta Cruciani explains that their artisanal philosophy has many similarities with fine wine production: “The skilful blend of design and handcrafting, the use of precious materials and the innovation all constitute the values around which each OMAS pen is FINE Lifestyle At the White House, Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy had at least nine secretaries who could imitate their signatures and deal with fan mail. For official signatures, Kennedy favoured the Parker 45 fountain pen, as did Presidents Ford, Nixon and Carter. developed. First and foremost, a pen is a creative tool and an attractive and fascinating means of expression. Imagining and creating these instruments requires a deep understanding of emotions and a passion for beautiful things.” “OMAS pens have always been characterised by their timeless, elegant and essential design and strong personality, which highlight the characteristics typical of Italian style and stand as examples of Italian creative excellence in the fountain pen sector. These valuable writing jewels combine to perfection aesthetic high quality, performance and a sophisticated image with the pleasure of writing.” “It is thanks to this tradition and uncompromising savoir faire that the design of OMAS pens is capable of harnessing and interpreting the spirit of the age, ensuring an ever more modern creative impulse and inspiration.” To conclude, I cannot resist asking Cruciani about the future of fountain pens in our increasingly technology-oriented world. “People use this kind of writing instrument, especially fountain pens, just for the pleasure of writing. OMAS’s fine jewels of writing are a perfect blend of aesthetic excellence and extreme ease of use, combining a sophisticated image with the pleasure of writing. Moreover, these precious writing instruments are considered luxury accessories, just like watches or fine wines.” > FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA 131

Pleasure of The History of Writing 132 Wine Writing FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA

C L I V E . C O M

B R I T I S H L U X U R Y I N T E R I O R S b y C L I V E C H R I S T I A N