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 Based in Ho-Chi Minh City in Vietnam, Nicolas has been with Taittinger for two and a half years but was previously working there for three years with another importer handling Taittinger and a big wine portfolio He is their Brand Ambassador looking after the sales from Dubai to Japan and other countries around, including India. He says he handles sales of around 450,000 bottles in his territory out of the company sales of 6 million bottles, thus representing 8% of the sale. India is very small in the portfolio because of heavy loading due to taxes and other expenses but has been inching along, he adds.
Three wines were presented to the invitees at the opulent looking Oval Bar, starting with the staple Taittinger Brut Reserve which is Chardonnay heavy with 40%, the balance being Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. As usual, it was so crisp, fresh and elegant with the aromas of brioche and white flowers that it was difficult to say no for a refill only because two more labels were to be opened as we devoured the delicious snacks being served generously by the staff of JW Marriott who co-hosted the event. The dry Champagne with around 8-9 gms/l of sugar feels just right for the Indian palate, making it easy drinking.
Taittinger is the biggest family owned winery with over 200 hAs of their own vineyards. If one looks at a wine with a story, this is the company that spurned the offer from Vijay Mallya and he bought Bouvet Ladubay on the rebound, as the story goes. After a brief introductory speech Nicolas walks to a cabinet in a corner of the bar which when opened displays many exclusive bottles of wines champagne and liquor and can best be described as a ‘Temple of Bacchus’ for the Bacchus devotees. A bottle of Taittinger Prestige Rosé Brut had been positioned to be uncorked by him for the guests.
Prestige Rosé Brut has not been labeled after the importer, Prestige Wine and Spirits or vice versa as Sumit Sehgal, the Director of Prestige points out as we discuss the difficulty of selling Champagnes in India where Moet e Chandon almost monopolized the market. Nicolas points out they should be given the credit to have opened the Champagne market in India and ‘now it is up to us to take advantage and push our brands into the market.'
Prestige Rosé is simply a ‘delicious’ wine, and in my terminology it is really ‘SWAAD’. The colour is a bit too dark for a normal Rosé but the aromas of cherries and strawberries is abundant. ‘We use 30% Chardonnay and 45% Pinot Noir with the balance being Pinot Meunier but 15% (a third of Noir) is fermented as red wine and then put in the blend. An interesting step because that brings out the characteristics of Pinot Noir more. With more body and slightly higher tannins it becomes a wine that can handle meaty dishes as well. This was my favourite Champagne of the evening and I can stake claim to have finished the last drop. At Rs.6900 a bottle in Delhi Retail, it may be a bit expensive - the Brut sells for Rs. 5800 - but Nicolas defends the higher international price of around 25% because of the higher cost of production. The Champagne incidentally, is as zingy and pleasantly dry with 8-9 gms sugar but feeling a bit more dry on the palate-beautiful!
The Nocturne ‘Sec’ has just been brought into India-it arrived 10 days ago and will soon be available at around Rs.7500 Retail. This is supposed to be a night-club wine or ‘disco champagne’ because of the multi-coloured, fancy bottle. One must give credit here to our own ex-Moet Ashwin Deo whose ‘Turning Point’ wines have similar fancy and attractive labels. In fact he can take credit for inspiring Taittinger for the design.
The first sip of Nocturne and you notice the sweetness of the pale yellow coloured bubbly - 18 gms/l is not in- your- face sweet but most Indians would not be familiar or happy with the taste though its elegant, mellow and ‘non-acidic’ finish would please many more who do not drink champagne as they find it too acidic. It would also be a perfect bubbly with spicy Indian foods if they don’t have too much curry. The vegetarians would find it a delightful bubbly. I presume that at the FIFA World Cup 2014 where it is the Official drink, this would be the favourite Après-Football bubbly at the all-night parties.
I am sure Nicolas,who left for Mumbai this morning before returning ‘home’ to Vietnam, would agree.
Subhash Arora
Tags: Taittinger, Nocturne, Taittinger Brut Reserve, SWAAD, FIFA World Cup 2014 |