|
Photos By:: Adil Arora
 Imagine being welcomed with a chilled glass of Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin (VCP) champagne, followed by the iconic Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc from LVMH-owned Cloudy Bay! With a Chardonnay from Chateau St. Michelle in Washington, Chianti from the well-know Tuscan producer Marchesi di Frescobaldi from their historic Castiglioni Estate, topped with Rupert and Rothschild Classique-the evergreen Bordeaux blend from South Africa which I once rated as the best value for money quality wine available in Delhi, with each paired well by one of the 4 WSET Diploma Holders in India, Gurjit Singh Barry!
The evening becomes enchanting especially in the company of Sanjeev Kapoor, the EAM of F & B who along with Michael had shared the plans and ambitions for revamping the wine programme at Leela Gurgaon, barely a few weeks after he had taken over the role of the new General Manager. With the delicious Italian cuisine crafted by the Master Chef Christian Cabrera Rubio, Zanotta is an excellent venue for having an interactive gourmet affair. And before I forget, if you have a sweet tooth for wine, a Moscato Vino Liquoroso served might have helped you with sweeter dreams at the end of a stellar evening as you finally hit the bed at the hotel or your home. You don’t have to be a rich politician to afford this classy wine dinner. Shell out Rs.3000+ taxes and you have earned yourself a memorable evening.
 The Leela Ambience Gurgaon seems to have developed a magical formula to entice people to try and enjoy wines from their Cellar which is constantly being revamped, thanks to the initiative by Michael who is ably assisted by his compatriot Sanjeev Kapoor. Almost a year ago when I met the wine appassionato, Michael had told me that one of his missions was to make the Leela Ambience a wine-friendly hotel where customers could actually order a bottle of wine and enjoy their meal with it. He stressed to the Finance Department there was no point in having fancy wine lists with high prices based on low beverage costs, with guests not buying them. The importers were filtered, the wine lists attenuated-both in numbers and price to make them more attractive and new programmes initiated.
One of the most successful wine programmes devised by a 5-star hotel sees a different flavour and venue for a wine dinner every month for the guests, many of whom are regulars, says Sanjeev, as I get a refill of the VCP. Hotel guests couldn’t expect a better deal to spend an evening in the company of Michael and Sanjeev both of whom are mostly present as during this evening. Sommelier Gurjit Barry goes from table to table explaining the various wines and different nuances. An almost full house of 42 covers (the balance 20+ are allocated for the walk-in customers who like to order A-la–Carte meals with or without wines). As an added bonus, there is a complimentary tasting of different wines before each such dinner.
The programme was started for some inexplicable quirky reason on All Fools Day on April 1 this year and the journey through the world of wine will take 11 months to cover. But hey! what is the BBQ & Beer dinner next month doing in the middle of the sophisticated yet fairly informal wine and dine affair, I wonder. Reminds me of wine tastings at international competitions where after a long day of tasting dozens of wine, the judges are inclined to switch to beer for a change.
Each evening is themed; this evening was Bigger, Bolder and Better. The impression given by the nicely designed ‘Cellar Stellar’ brochure detailing each event (hats off to the hotel for planning the wine dinner calendar a year in advance) was that the wines would be ‘Bigger’ because of the size of the bottles so many might have been expecting magnums being uncorked. I did not see any ‘Bigger’ bottles in the evening but the highly perfumed Sauvignon Blanc from Cloudy Bay is certainly ‘Bolder’ than many other wines in the same grape varietal category. The VCP champagne could be classified as ‘Better’ than the ubiquitous Moet Chandon (both owned by the luxury goods and fashion house LVMH).
 What did surprise me-and disappointed me in a way, was that most of the guests were expats. If we are to see wine culture grow in India, we ought to be seeing more people from the land biting the bait of such a high quality wine dinner at such exciting prices. The reverse is rather painful to ponder-lack of Indians at such a value-for-money wine dinner implies that the wine culture in India has yet to evolve at the pace one would like to see- or perhaps there is a section of the affluent who do not see the merit in an evening where one can let the hair down, sipping quality wines with a quality meal in a group.
Leela Ambience, Michael Koopman and his team deserve a round of applause for making sincere efforts to promote wine culture through these well-priced wine dinners. Whatever the detractors of such events might say, this is an excellent way of promoting wines in India-and eventually the hotel too. One hopes this programme continues and that the final Wine Price List will also be user friendly and user’s pocket friendly.
Subhash Arora
If you Like this article please click on the Like button
Tags: Michael Koopman, Hotel Leela Ambience, Gurjit Singh Barry |