|
Photos By:: Adil Arora
 If you meet Christophe Thomas, Export Director of the family-owned negociant and wine producer for the first time, you might feel he is a wrong person for the job. Burgundy wines are feminine, elegant and seductive whereas Christophe is strong, burly and masculine, who would be more suited to sell bold, powerful and full-bodied California Cabs or Bordeaux wines with a Michelle Rolland touch.
But as you start chatting with him, you find that the 8-year stint with Joseph Drouhin has made him very knowledgeable and passionate about Burgundy wines and the complex business. In one breath he would tell you the revenues of competitors like Louis Jadot, Louis Latour, Faiveley and Albert Bichot as he insists Louis Jadot cannot be considered a family owned company like Joseph Drouhin since they are owned by Americans who are not involved with day to day running of the winery.
Chirstophe has been to India several times before-even during his previous assignment with M. Chapoutier, the famous producer of Côtes du Rhône. During the chat he clarifies the role of a negociant in Burgundy. ‘Unless Bordeaux where the negociant is the principal middleman and buyer and promotes the brand and wine of a chateau, he plays a much larger role in Burgundy-right from buying grapes to wine in unfinished and finished form.’ Thus Joseph Drouhin is also a negociant like Albert Bichot; most of Burgundy producers are also negociant, he explains.
 The recently opened Ballroom/Banquet room at the Hyatt is aptly named ‘the mansion’. Styled after one of Hyatt’s overseas properties, it is a state-of-the-art mansion with chic décor and live stations with their own kitchen backups offering a unique, luxury gourmet experience for the guests. Built at a cost of Rs. 720 million, this is unquestionably the most uber chic banqueting venue in town with all the modern gadgetry and equipment-even if took over 3 years from planning to the execution stage. As Aseem Kapoor, Area Director and General Manager of Hyatt Regency Delhi proudly explains, ‘we took longer than initially planned since the concept was tweaked in the middle of execution, as we wanted to make it an interactive and modern venue that Delhi has not seen so far. We have live stations so the guests can choose Indian, Chinese and Italian food with creative desserts prepared in front of them. ’
If the proceedings of the evening are any indication, with about 150 people showing up when about 40-50 were expected and the way the F & B team of Somnath Dey and Shaji Paul handled it so efficiently, Delhites with no budgetary constraints have a winner of a venue on hand. With all the Top Chefs and the senior waiting staff in attention, it was a fabulous reception for Christophe and Maison Joseph Drouhin and the guests who went home exclaiming it was a fantastic event and a very successful evening.
What made the gourmet experience complete and special was a range of seven wines from the Maison. Joseph Drouhin La Foret Bourgogne Blanc (2012), La Foret Bourgogne Pinot Noir (2011), Chablis Reserve de Voudon (2012), Moulin a Vent (2012), Puligny-Montrachet (2011), Gevrey-Chambertin (2008) and Pommard (2011) were the nuggets that enthralled the guests.
 The wines were kept at different stations so the guests could either take the suggested wine or make their own selection. Although the personal preference of most guests vacillated between Pommard and Gevrey Chambertin, Puligny Montrachet was my favourite white. The wines were a great testimonial to the food and match pairing and it was left to the guests to form their opinion. The animated discussion on the wines and food pairing was a part of the interesting evening.
Burgundy is a complex commodity and generally not easy to understand because of the elegance and uniqueness of the terroir, with a sizable chunk of connoisseurs swearing by the region. I took the opportunity to ask him his experience with people’s knowledge of them in India. ‘I believe there is a mix of people. Globally, I’d say people have no clue about Burgundy. It is very complex even though we have Chardonnay and Pinot Noir only as the grape varieties used; this is because of our Terroir.’
 It really entrances Japanese people, says Christophe. ‘They want to know answers to questions that you won’t imagine, ‘ he says. And what is the proportion of red and white wine in their sales? Do they sell more red or white in Japan? ‘Volumes we do in Japan are 50-50. China on the other hand buys 80% red and 20% white. However, Burgundy has been having fantastic sales. At Joseph Drouhin we have had a record sales despite recession. This year also we sold 300,000 cases. We are also negociant. But we buy grapes and not wine. We can do Gran Crus- Charmes Chambertin is Grand Cru which we buy totally from outside.’
How is the market growing in India where Prestige is their importer? ‘In the Indian market, we are growing slowly and surely. Nothing is easy here-it is full of frustration.’ He also conceded that it was not necessary to have Premier or Grand Crus with Indian foods just like with Japanese or Chinese food. Village wines were fine with Indian food.
 He also explained the complications in marketing Burgundy wines. ‘On one hand we have the problem of lower quantities and higher prices-The 2012 and 2013 prices went very high and on the other the customers complain. Burgundy wines are not usually sold as En Primeur. He explains, ‘We don’t sell En Premier because we don’t know how the end product will turn out. For instance one of our popular Premier Cru, Clos des Mouches was declassified recently as we were not satisfied with the final quality as a Premier Cru.’
Christophe who was going to visit Chennai after Delhi would like to come back next year. I had met him 2 years ago; he could not make it last year since there was a clash in programmes with their partner Prestige. We shall look forward to seeing him and sharing some fine Premier Cru and Grand Cru wines, perhaps- at the mansion at Hyatt Regency, Delhi.
Subhash Arora
If you Like this article please click on the Like button
Tags: The Mansion, Maison Joseph Drouhin, Christophe Thomas |