Straight from the wine capital

The Union of “The Great Wines of Bordeaux” was formed in 1973 — an association of 132 grands crus estates producing wines of the highest quality in the area around the town of Bordeaux, which is situated on the river Gironde, near the French coast.

Member chateaux include some of the most famous Bordeaux Crus: Cheval Blanc, D’Yquem, and Mouton Rothschild, as well as many of the grands crus from the 1855 classification of estates from the left bank of this most famous of French appellations.

Which is why, when invited to a tasting and dinner of wines from 30 of these chateaux at the Sofitel Mumbai on Thursday, a bunch of us came charging up from Bangalore. Where else would one get the opportunity to taste so many terrific wines and to meet so many of the owners?

As many would know, Bordeaux is both the region and the collective name for the wines produced there, principally reds. Red Bordeaux is always a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, with some Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot thrown in; white Bordeaux (yes, it exists) is always a blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon. Proportions vary from estate to estate, with “Cab” (as Cabernet Sauvignon is colloquially known) tending to predominate in the estates north of the city and Merlot in Saint Emilion and Pomerol.

So imagine, if you will, a large hall, with stalls set up around the wall and in the centre, and you take a wineglass and go from stall to stall tasting (and sometimes spitting) wine after wine. The wineries represented range in size, from tiny (producing no more than a few thousand bottles) to small (producing up to 500,000 bottles). The common factor is that of quality, for this area has grown grapes and produced wines for hundreds of years. And the year, for all the wines offered for tasting were from the 2009 vintage.

I am partial to Cab-dominated blends and so find the wines from the Margaux, Pauillac, and Saint Julien areas simply terrific. So for me tasting wines from Chateau Lascombes, Chateau Lynch-Bages and Chateau Beychevelle (respectively) was particularly memorable, as were the Chateau Lynch-Moussas and Chateau Gazin (Pomerol) wines.

The event was organised by Rajiv Singhal of Fine Wine & Champagne India magazine; the 35-strong delegation included Sylvie Cazes, president of the Union Des Grands Crus de Bordeaux, and most of them repeated the tasting and dinner in Delhi on Friday before winging away to Hong Kong for the 2012 Vinexpo Asia-Pacific, starting on May 29.

What stands out is the absence of any “official” functionary. While there is some support from the EU, this is an industry-driven initiative: wine people work hard to sell their product, even if it is “The Best of Bordeaux” (the tag line for the 39 wines of vintages varying from 1995 onwards available at the dinner) and has a provenance going back to the 12th century!

As we declared at the dinner, “Vive le France!”

Alok Chandra is a Bangalore-based wine consultant