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Photos By:: Adil Arora
 When I was invited by Michel Koopman, the General Manager of Leela Ambience Gurgaon to attend a champagne wine dinner with four sparklers from Champagne with the Export Director Joel Neal Girard presenting the wines, I was really excited and asked him if we could make it a joint event with the Delhi Wine Club (implicitly an invite for 20 members enabling us to assign the event our number stamp; each event is numbered and published on the website since I founded the club in 2002. He readily agreed and thus the wheels were put into motion for the event No. 6/239.
There were a couple of other important factors. I have been invited and accepted to attend the International Wine Tourism Conference (#IWINETC) in Champagne from April 7-12, 2015, with visits to several Champagne houses. Honouring my recommendations, the requests of two other members of the club, Lavina Kharkwal (blogger) and Arun Verma (wine tourism) were also accepted. What better way to dovetail a club dinner with a historical moment in the club history where we have had the pleasure of taking members out-of –town to Vinexpo, Wines for Asia Singapore, World Wine Symposium (Villa d’Este, Italy) and Nashik (twice)!
From wine standpoint, the opportunity for members to meet and interact with Joel Neal Girard was too tempting to miss; one of the DWC objectives is to have members meet winemakers and producers as often as possible since these are the next best thing to learn about the wines and the winery without physically being present. There was yet another impelling reason. The Devaux D is a new series introduced in January 2015, I learnt from Girard and was first time introduced at Prowein 2015 where I had missed tasting it due to lack of time and several other commitments.
The evening started at the Rubicon Bar with Devaux Cuvee D Brut. Earlier planned at the same venue, Spectra PDR, Michel Koopman must have realised it would be impractical to  accommodate all the guests for aperitifs and this master of improvisation changed the venue at the last minute to Rubicon Bar. It turned out to be a smart move, also because the Bar offers a beautiful urban view from the room, especially when NH-8becomes a canvas of a thousand moving red lights.
Tasting and Drinking Champagne D -The starters kept on pouring in with the fresh and crisp wine with pleasant citric flavour and a long end. The dosage of 7 gms (6-15 gms) has made the wine perfect for the Indian palate, with the 60% Pinot Noir giving it nice body and aromatics, the balance 40% being Chardonnay. The bubbles were small and in plenty, yet not too aggressive. It went well with the Beetroot, goat cheese and pear salad that had a tasty mustard dressing and a crispy texture with the caramelised sunflower seeds. Rating 87/100 Food and wine 89/100
Devaux Ultra Extra Brut (res. Sugar 0-6 gms/liter) is a rather interesting wine, not easy to pair with Indian food and perhaps a bit too dry for the novices. But after a few rounds of such elegant champagnes, this would easily win your heart and palate. As Jean Neal explained, this was exactly the same Champagne as the Brut, but for the residual sugar which was lower at 2 gms/liter. This is champagne which people would love it or hate it. I loved it! It was a perfect paring for the delicious Sea bass poached with Champagne beurre blanc and served on the bed of creamy carrot purée and glazed baby carrots that imparted the crunchy texture in the mouth. Rating 89/100, Food and wine 96/100
 Devaux D Millésime 2000 was the star Champagne of the evening, not only because it was a magnum and hence was expected to give better aging and complexity to the wine. Slightly darker golden colour, with clean, floral and intense bouquet, Disgorged around 6 months ago, this wine is on the lees for more than 7 years. Despite seeing 14 years in the bottle, it was fresh though the bubbles were markedly less but pleasantly zingy on the tongue. Girard said it had 60% Pinot Noir and 40% Chardonnay and was produced only in the best years. With several Champagne producers making 5 Vintage Champagnes in a decade, it was interesting to note that they have made only 5 vintage champagnes this century. The elegant and well balanced, medium bodied champagne paired very well with the organic chicken filled with sundried tomato and Ricotta. Rating 94/100, Food and Wine 95/100
Devaux D Rose Brut with equal parts of Chardonnay & Pinot Noir and about 10% red base wine had a lot of red berry fruit aromas, lots of tiny bubbles to tingle your tongue. The sweetness of 8 gms/liter is just right to engage the India palate. With a lot of élan and finesse, this delicate bubbly is perfect for a summer afternoon but I am not sure if it was the right pairing with much sweeter and fuller-bodied Roaster pear Napoleon- a caramelized puff pastry dish-unlike the wine, the pairing didn’t excite me. Rating 90/100, Food and wine 82/100
I am a great believer in that Champagne can be the wine for a whole meal, even if the pairing may be a bit tricky as we progressively move towards the main course. Champagne has a way of clearing the palate with every sip like no other wine can, provided the bubbles are not too aggressive. It reminded me of my visit to Franciacorta where they have developed a Satèn version (equivalent of a Cremánt in France) made specifically for food. The evening was just an example of that. Hopefully, there are more such evenings to let people know that barring red meats generally, champagne is a good option to choose, especially when you are in a celebratory mood and even if you are a vegetarian.
It was also a lovely reminder that the Chef and the serving staff at Spectra are as good as any other 5-star property in the NCR. The service was quite efficient. Satisfying 35+ people with 2 magnums is not an easy job. Neenu Ranga, the Restaurant manager and her team handled the evening with aplomb. The bindaas GM Koopman donned his bathrobe towards the end of the evening and info-promo-ed the new programme ‘Bathrobe’ being launched Sundays from 4-8 pm by the poolside. Worth checking out. The Team Leela deserves a toast-with a glass of any Devaux D!
Menu Gallery
Video Vol 1 : Jean Noel Girard from Devaux presenting Champagnes to the guests
Video Vol 2 : Subhash Arora welcomes Delhi Wine Club members to Devaux Champagne Dinner at Spectra-Leela
Subhash Arora |