When Wine becomes a Magic Potion!

 Asterix fans would probably recall a particular issue of the famed comic series in which Getafix, the village druid- who makes the Gauls superhumans with his magic potion- embarks on an annual druids conference. The next few pages in the issue depict Getafix having a ball with his druid chums each of whom is accomplished in his own right. The druids also enter their inventions to compete for the coveted 'Golden Menhir" that Getafix ultimately ends up winning.

From: Asterix and the Goths (publishers- Hodder Dargaud)

Before you wonder if this post is about the Asterix series (which I  love to revisit endlessly) let me shift the focus back to our good old 'magic potion' viz. wine. Recently when a sommelier friend came visiting at Delhi, I approached a couple of close wine friends for a BYOB (Bring Your Own Bottle) gathering and the Gaulish druids conference was the first thing that came to my mind. Only here, we had different professionals  connected to the wine trade bringing in their unique experiences- and of course a cherished wine from their respecive personal collection. 

The visitor was Kamal Malik, currently the Head Sommelier of  the prestigious hotel Conrad Maldives Rangali Island. Kamal has been a close friend ever since the two of us embarked on a scholarship trip to Champagne. Hitting it off well, we kept in contact thereafter - exchanging wine notes and meeting up whenever the opportunity arose. And this was one such opportunity albeit a better planned one.

Apart from the two of us, the other vinos were Rajiv Singhal, the Ambassador of Champagne in India (under whose tutelage we had undertaken the Champagne trip),  Arjun Sachar, a young wine professional with a French cooperage and  the husband-wife team of Sumit and Chiquita Gulati  who own a wine savvy restaurant called Gulati Spice Market in the heart of New Delhi (also our venue for the evening). Our kitty for the proposed rendezvous was quite inspiring , with  a Champagne, a Burgundy Premier Cru, two Bordeaux Grands Crus and a Spanish dessert wine.

The wines (less the "Golden Menhir")

Came D day and we scrambled with pre chilled wine bottles to the venue. This was a meeting where no instructions had to be passed- the  importance of chilling, decanting and sequencing being a matter of unsaid wine propriety. The venue owners being on our side, we were good on the food front too. And so the indulgence commenced:

Champagne Alfred Gratien Cuvée Paradis

This was the first cork to be popped for the day. Being a worthy guardian of his protégé, Rajiv initially suggested that we serve the Champagne at number two after the Burgundy, but Kamal was able to convince him for serving the Champagne au début.

Alfred Gratien is an Epernay based producer widely known as an artisanal winemaker with a distinctly vinous wine style. Cuvée Paradis is their prestige offering with a blend of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. A delightful Champagne, it poured with a luxuriant mousse, thereafter retaining the visual appeal with a persistent bead of fine bubbles. Its complexity could be sensed right from the nose which expressed layered aromas of red and dried fruits. A lush and medium bodied palate followed by a lingering finish completed the experience.We were served an assortment of cheeses, dips and crackers and mildly flavoured tapas that made the match more than ideal. We couldn't have expected lesser from an  Ambassadeur du Champagne. Could we?

Château de Blagny Meursault 2006 by Louis Latour

 When Arjun Sachar discussed this wine with me before finalising it for our rendezvous, he was on better side of caution, given the wine’s vintage- being a white. However both of us decided to include it solely on its pedigree. After all it was from the famed limestone soils of  Côte  de Beaune! The wine did not disappoint either. Initially appearing as “over the hill”, it had us all discussing as to how good it must have been in its prime. The next sip and we were humbled because the aromas and flavours arrived as if from thin air. This was a delicately perfumed wine redolent of white flowers, peaches and melons. Nutty/ oxidative aromas lent it a pleasant complexity. The wine retained its acidity admirably well rendering it a good balance. Arjun received a well deserved pat on the back for deciding to open this wine just in time.

Château Giscours Grand Cru 2000 and 2009

A wine that was received by me as a gift  two years back, Giscours 2000 was preserved just for an occasion like this. What I didn’t  anticipate was that Rajiv would offer another vintage of this Troisième Grand Cru  to enable a mini vertical tasting. These two wines were undoubtedly the stars of the evening. Each of them decanted for an hour plus, they offered an entirely different spectrum of aromas/flavours that beautifully demonstrated the evolution of a high quality wine with time. While Giscours 2000 had gamey, meaty and tobacco aromas followed by a savoury palate of , bacon, chocolate and spice, Giscours 2009 was more sophisticated with characteristics of blackberries, vanilla, cassis  and berry compote.  Nothing could have matched the rustic Indian preparations of Burrah Kabab (Char grilled lamb ribs) and Galouti Kababs on Sheermal ( Finely minced pan fried lamb kababs over baked sweetened bread) better.

Up and close with the wines. Notice the corks of both Grands Crus with darker one (left)  of Giscours 2000 indicating higher tannin pigmentation

The decadent food pairings by Sumit and Chiquita Gulati

Our "Golden Menhir"

Torres Floralis-Moscatel Oro

Apart from playing generous hosts for this eclectic outing, Sumit and Chiquita Gulati also pitched in with this wine to round off the experience. Hence this surprise inclusion was no less than the "Golden Menhir" for all of us. Torres Floralis-Moscatel Oro  has a radiant golden colour with aromas of white flowers spice and honey. It has a luxuriant palate of honey, licorice, dried fruits and white pepper. The Moong Dal Cigar with Rabri dip (Cooked lentils in sugar syrup stuffed in filo pastry  and served with thickened milk dip) matched the voluptuous wine rather well.

From: Asterix and the Goths (publishers- Hodder Dargaud)

Thus concluded our "druids conference" where all of us felt like winners. More than anything, this was a rendezvous  about friends meeting on a common platform of wine passion and ‘letting the hair down’ without bothering about taking notes or pouring pre defined measures. 

After all  wine is no less than Getafix's magic potion! Isn't it?

Top (L-R) Rajiv Singhal, Kamal Malik, Arjun Sachar, Sumit and Chiquita Gulati, Me

Bottom (L) Rajiv doing the honours with the Champagne.

Bottom (R) Once a Sommelier- always one- Kamal Malik instinctively taking to wine service

The one thing you must do at Bordeaux

A visit to Bordeaux invariably implies venturing deep inside vineyard territory, getting a close view of the vines, and of course the opportunity to taste umpteen wines. But amid all the vineyard fervour one tends to overlook the latent beauty of the ancient Bordeaux Ville that beautifully dovetails the old world charm with modern day conveniences.

The enchanting  Miroir d'Eau at Place de la Bourse

The sixth largest city in France, Bordeaux town gives an impression of a story book world where the daily affairs go on with poetic fluidity and where you could look forward to meeting your sweetheart on a bicycle with a basket full of fresh flowers!  From the impeccably maintained tram that takes you in a jiffy to the Centre Ville  bustling with activity without being overcrowded, to a promenade down the expanse of Place de la Bourse with its famous Le Miroir d’Eau, (The Mirror of Water) Bordeaux City has more than a handful of options to engage the exuberant visitor. But what would be that one thing for a wine fan, without which his trip may well fall short of accomplishment? In my opinion it would be  a visit to Bar à Vin – a destination well known for its enviable collection of Bordeaux wines at prices that won’t make you recalculate your finances!

The entrance to Bar à Vin

The expansive interiors of Bar à Vin

Bar à Vin is situated in the Maison du Vin which is an 18^th Century building housing the Conseil Interprofessionnel des Vins de Bordeaux (Bordeaux Wine Council) and its associated establishments. The bar is at the ground level of the building with spacious setting and contemporary seating around wine bottles symmetrically organised into high walls that also act as giant partitions. As I went there alone, my preference was to occupy a place at the bar counter in order to get the advantage of the bartender’s company- a pretty mademoiselle who could communicate in English. Soon enough, my hostess presented the menus for wine and food whereby the geek in me got cracking straightaway. The wine menu had a selection of around 30 wines and I was told that this list was updated frequently to keep the varieties flowing. Major considerations for me while ordering the wines were:

• ·         Must try the famous Bordeaux Clairet- a wine that is difficult to find elsewhere.
• ·         Explore a type that I had not sampled in the estates during the previous four days.
• ·         A  Sauternes towards the end.

 I thus, narrowed down on the following:

·         2011 AOC Bordeaux Clairet- Château Penin.

·         2006 AOC Bordeaux Supérieur- Château de Reignac Grand Vin.

·         2009 AOC Sauternes- Château Haut Bergeron.

Blue cheese platter with Bordeaux Clairet

To pair up the above wines, I ordered an Assiette des Fromages Bleu (Blue Cheese Platter) for a price of 6 € that had three cheeses- Fourme d’Ambert, Bleu de Bresse and Bleu de Pyrénées . The tasting experience went as under:

The Wine menu

2011 AOC Bordeaux Clairet- Château Penin

Price per glass (150 ml): 2 €

Grape: Merlot

Clairet is the genre of wine placed in between the Red and Rosé due to its level of tannin and colour extraction being between the two. It is a casually drunk wine, the majority of which is consumed in Bordeaux itself (since it is supposed to be drunk young) and has been exported to neighbouring England since 18^th century. Château Penin is situated in the Graves region on the left bank of Dordogne river and produces mainly Merlot dominated wines .

Tasting notes

A bright and translucent ruby colour with aromas of red fruits- prominent being raspberry and red cherry. On the palate it was juicy and savoury with a light-medium  body and balancing acidity.  It best accompanied the creamy and buttery Bleu de Bresse which is a blue cheese made from cow’s milk and produced in  Bresse, Burgundy.

2006 AOC Bordeaux Supérieur- Château de Reignac Grand Vin

The Food menu

Grapes: 75% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Sauvignon

Price per glass (150 ml): 2.5 €

Bordeaux Supérieur is a notch higher in quality than generic Bordeaux wines- in that the grapes come from better notified areas. Château de Reignac is an estate on the western side of Entre Deux Mers (meaning Between Two Rivers) region otherwise famous for its crispy white wines. The ‘Grand Vin’ indicated on the label indicates it as one of the top offerings from the estate but it is not of relevance as regards formal classification system of French wines.

Tasting Notes

Deep ruby red colour with aromas of red fruits and oak. On the palate it was fruity with plums, cherries and black currant. The body was full with a light oaky finish. Went extremely well with all the cheeses but more particularly with Fourme d’Ambert that has a mildly sharp and nutty flavour.

2009 AOC Sauternes- Château Haut Bergeron

Grape: Semillon

Price per glass (150 ml): 6 €

The Sauternes region towards south of Bordeaux  is famous for its micro climate that promotes formation of ‘noble rot’ - a favourable fungus that causes concentration of grape sugars)  on susceptible grape varieties and Semillon happens to be one of those. The other grape varietals that can be used in Sauternes wines are Sauvignon Blanc and Muscadelle.

Tasting Notes

 A deep golden colour with an intense honeyed nose. Full bodied with medium acidity and flavours of tropical and dried fruits. The wine complemented the Bleu de Pyrénées made from sheep’s milk that had strong flavours. Good acidity level of the wine also managed the creaminess of Bleu de Bresse well.

To summarise the total experience, it was a wine trance of sorts where I just let my senses take-over time and again for a surrealistic feel- only to get intermittently awakened for taking down notes and clicking photos for posterity. For a total price of 16.5 € (plus a 5 € tip to the gracious hostess who provided me with knowledgeable company) it was a rare ‘value for money’ experience that spoils you for choice.

My trip to Bordeaux could finally be called accomplished!

With the gracious bartender

This article also featured in Spiritz Magazine Dec 13 issue

My French Connection!

Laurent giving me a bird's eye view of St Emilion, Bordeaux-
a UNESCO heritage  town

Meet Laurent Piaton! A forty something quintessential Frenchman who loves his wines in equal measures as his Fourme d’Ambert (one of the oldest French cheeses) ! Laurent & I met a couple of years back at a wine dinner when he was in India to promote his portfolio of wines.  LPVM, his marketing company exports wine to several countries across the globe and this time on, Laurent was on a ground level interaction spree with budding and experienced Indian wine enthusiasts. Being together at the dinner table we hit it off rather well as my curiosity towards French wines was well addressed by his in-depth background and a forthcoming demeanour. After a hearty dinner, we bade an optimistic “Au Revoir” with  an underlying reservation about a future meeting - considering that I was still a serving soldier with just an occasional interaction with the professional wine community.

Laurent and me at a Brasserie in  St Emilion

Fast Forward >> 2011 and my wine pursuits received albatross wings in the form of the Global Champagne scholarship! But would I have returned after the four days sponsored trip at Champagne? Not if I was a true blue wine maniac! So I thought it was worthwhile to contact Laurent to see if he could facilitate my adventure in the wine heartlands of France. Far exceeding my expectations, Laurent replied to my mail along with a proposed itinerary faster than a blink and even offered to accompany me to the wine areas in his stunningly beautiful  Peugeot SUV! My French wine adventure was on!

Destinations Galore in Laurent's Wheels

After the sejour at Champagne, I thus boarded the TGV to Bordeaux and started a further 10 days of hectic visits to wine estates that covered famed vineyards of Bordeaux, Provence, Rhone valley and Beaujolais.  Be it the UNESCO heritage town of St Emilion with its quaint setting, the interiors of Provence where finding an English speaking person was akin to looking for the proverbial needle in the hay stack , the wood fired oven pizza at Chateauneuf du Pape  or the picture perfect rolling vineyards of Beaujolais, it was the realisation of my longstanding dream of working hands-on in the Mecca of wines - all courtesy my French connection a.k.a. Laurent!

Wood Fired oven Pizza at Chateauneuf-du-Pape

There is no option but to describe my experiences individually  in  future blog posts so as to befittingly transmit the intensity of the passionate winemaking I came across at each wine estate. To that effect, I guess it would not be out of place to title these posts in plural as - “My French Connections”- having forged lasting relationships in the deeply passionate  world of wines!

 Laurent however, would always remain that special person who started it all for me.

Pour toutes les choses  vous avez fait pour moi - Je vous remercie Monsieur Piaton!

My French Wine Odyssey

 12 days, 16 wine estates all over France and a kickstart in the form of an all expenses paid trip. Sounds like a dream ? Indeed it was a dream that I realised when I took off for France on a Scholarship trip to the famous Champagne area by virtue of my fanaticism for wine that resulted in the award of a Global Scholarship by Comite Interprofessionel du Vin de Champagne (CIVC)- the apex body of Champagne producers. The Champagne trip was a hectic itinerary of 4 days and the wine freak in me could not just get around the thought of concluding the visit to the Mecca of wine (read France) so soon after having  made all the effort to reach there. Voila! I tapped one of my friends in France linked to the wine trade and fixed up an extended schedule to visit the other famous wine regions in a reasonable time frame- and my French Wine Odyssey was on!

My wine route chart in France worked out as  Champagne-Bordeaux-Provence-Rhone Valley-Beaujolais before returning to Paris for my flight back to India. The 12 days spent undoubtedly were super hectic but of immense value due to the exposure received in all aspects of winemaking from amongst the best and accomplished winemakers in the world. On the sidelines, it also afforded me an opportunity to put into practical use, my whatsoever knowledge of French language!
Having been to all these famous wine areas, I decided to chronicle them in my blog so as to share the experiences and possibly act as a guide to those who would like to proceed on similar sojourns. The blog posts would start in the same sequence as my route chart given above so watch this space for the first sub-post coming up on my Champagne experience in the coming week. I would encourage you to give comments on any queries or observations that you may have or if you would like to interact at an individual level, feel free to mail me at  ravi@ravikjoshi.com .

Au Revoir!

Tasting Bordeaux Grands Crus Wines: Vintage 2009

 

 Winning the Champagne Scholarship has done  many good things to me. One of these is getting invited to prestigious wine tasting events which I would not have otherwise foreseen myself as attending- being not originally from the Wines profession. So when I received the invite from the Group Ritu office (organisers of the event) to attend an exclusive tasting of the 2009 vintage of Bordeaux Grand Cru wines, my joy new no bounds. The prospective of tasting several Grands Crus wines within a span of two hours under one roof is an opportunity that any wine lover would give his right arm-for; and there I was with an invite in my hands!  This  was an inaugural  event in India  by Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux, an association of 132 grands crus estates that has been hosting tastings of Grand Cru wines from Bordeaux  worldwide.

Grands Crus are formally documented Quality Wine Producing Specific Regions (QWPSR) in Bordeaux, France with the initial classification taking place in 1855 A.D. (Napoleonic era) followed by subsequent additional classifications in the 20^th century after World War- II. These areas have strict regulations in place to ensure the right kind of cultivation and production practices to ensure consistently high  quality wines.

 The D-day  was 25 May 2012 and the venue- The Oberoi Hotel, Gurgaon, India. As I entered the lobby, I saw famous faces from the wine world engaged in intimate discussions. Picking up my registration card and a Tasting Note Book from the reception, I soaked in the ambience through the glass façade of the beautifully landscaped hotel. The event kicked-off shortly thereafter as we entered the expansive hall where tables with wines from different producers were set up in a quadrangular fashion with islands in between.  Carrying out an initial recce of the hall, I tried to figure out the optimal sequence of tasting the wines on offer and marked it on the respective pages of the very functional and thoughtfully crafted Tasting Booklet provided at the Registration Desk. For tasting (or Dégustation as the French call it) of  several wines on a single occasion, the widely accepted guidelines are:

• Whites to be followed by Reds and Sweet wines towards the end.
• Lighter to Fuller bodied wines.
• Subtle to intensely flavoured wines.

 Keeping with these guidelines, I started tasting the wines from various producers.The highlights of the tasting  were:-

Whites

 Bordeaux whites are produced using two main grape varieties viz. Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon. In certain wines  Muscadelle is also used. The proportion of these grapes is the main determinant (amongst other factors of soil type, production methods etc)of the final character of the wine. In the context of Bordeaux, while a Sauvignon Blanc predominant wine is more aromatic with vegetal and stone fruits (peaches, apricots etc) flavours, Semillon lends it more alcohol and the resultant fuller body. Muscadelle increases the aromatic character and smoothness of the wine. Psychological factor of  Grands Crus apart, most of the wines were refreshing and pleasing to the palate with my favourite top three being:

• Chateau Larrivet Haut Brion (Pessac Léognan)- 80% Sauvignon Blanc, 20% Semillon.
• Chateau Carbonnieux (Pessac Léognan)- 65% Sauvignon Blanc, 35% Semillon.
• Château Malartic Lagraviere (Pessac Léognan)- 80% Sauvignon Blanc, 20% Semillon.

Reds

 The reds from Bordeaux are more difficult to appreciate than the whites at a young age of three years. But seasoned tasters sample these mostly to figure out as to how these wines would evolve after a few years i.e. 10 years and later. The constituent grape varieties are mainly Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot with some wines having a proportion of Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot. The wines from the left bank of the Gironde estuary (flowing into Bordeaux from the Atlantic Ocean) are dominated by Cabernet Sauvignon, while those from  the right bank  have Merlot as the main component. This also translates into the reality that  the right bank wines are ready to be drunk comparatively earlier than their left bank counterparts; but then the desired point on the continuum between early drinkability and complexity is something which is based on personal preferences.

 As for me, I tried to decipher the various reds based on two parameters; firstly on the nature of tannins -whether they were round (pleasing) or square (not so pleasing) and secondly, the length of the wine i.e. the lingering taste in the mouth. It was a tough job though, because of the palate getting tired after tasting four to five wines continuously and forcing me to take a stroll every now and then  to the area where  water and munchies were placed to refresh the palate. My favourite reds were:-

• Chateau  Franc Mayne (St Émilion)- 90% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc.
• Château Gazin (Pomerol)- 90% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Cabernet Franc.
• Château Dauzac (Margaux)- 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot.

 True to the proverbial context, the icing on the cake was the sweet wine - an amorous Chateau  Doisy Daene from the famous Sauternes and Barsac area. With  87 % Semillon (The grape famous for its susceptibility to Noble Rot) and 13% Sauvignon Blanc, the wine had  a text book  balance of sweetness and acidity, so much so, that I felt compelled to ask for a second serving from the charismatic representative of the Chateau. Thus concluded my tasting experience on a heavenly sweet note and a lingering wish to get further such opportunities of grand tastings!

P.S.-  For a detailed slide show, please browse to the end of this post.