|
 When you meet Jeffrey Davies, the first thing that impresses you is the smile in his eyes and his straightforwardness. But he also has a sharp wit and steady focus as I discovered during the 2-hour interview with him last week. He is perhaps the first American to have become a Bordeaux Negociant.
California to Bordeaux: an unprecedented path
The trajectory of Jeffrey Davies is far from predictable. In 1986, he founded his négociant business, Signature Selections, in Bordeaux where he lives and works to this day. Davies is also co-owner of Clos des Truffiers, a Languedoc vineyard regarded by many wine writers, including Jancis Robinson and Robert Parker, as one of the finest in Southern France.
Robert Parker says about Jeffrey Davies, “I knew of him long before I ever met him (in 1983 at a little chateau in Pomerol)... he was the European writer/Bordeaux expert for the defunct Les Amis du Vin magazine... the first serious wine magazine, and in its day, excellent until the now deceased publisher ran it into the ground... Jeffrey's reports from Bordeaux were part of my required reading long before I left the practice of law to pursue the unlikely dream of wine criticism... his reports turned out to be remarkably accurate... but of course the magazine eventually failed, and he went on to form a highly successful brokerage firm that has long been on the cutting edge of Bordeaux...!”
Excerpts from the interview
PV: Your wine journey has been such an unusual one. Coming from the USA and succeeding in the Bordeaux wine business. How did it happen?
JD: it started in 1972-1973 when I was an exchange student. I spent my Junior year at the University of Bordeaux. With the exception of the courses by Professor Emile Peynaud at the Institute of Enology, I spent far more time in the vineyards and wineries. By the end of that school year, I knew I wanted to come back to Bordeaux soon after graduation. I enrolled at the Institute where I had the pleasure of having Emile Peynaud again as one of my professors, with whom I became good friends. He was amused to see a Californian coming to Bordeaux to study wine rather than UC Davis, in my home state.
PV: What made you stay in Bordeaux? I mean in business?
JD: While I was a student at the Institute, I worked in the retail wine trade in Bordeaux, notably at La Vinothèque and later at Badie. However, after graduation I moved to New York where I was hired by one of the major retailers to set up his Bordeaux department. His Bordeaux selection was already outstanding so I pioneered the first comprehensive selection of "boutique" California wines ever seen in New York- like Ridge, Mayacamas, Château Montelena and more. This was in 1976- the year I got married to my Bordeaux-born wife, Françoise. (Incidentally, the year in which Judgment of Paris for the Top Bordeaux and California wines took place-editor)
Inspiration for Robert Parker
Later, I went on to set up the wine import division for a company based in Kansas City, in the heartland of the US. We had a very comprehensive selection of top German estate wines, together with the wines of Etienne Sauzet and Domaine de la Romanée-Conti. By the way, we found the 1973 Montrachet awfully expensive at around $30.00 then! During this time I also began collaborating with the first wine appreciation club in the U.S., called Les Amis du Vin and its magazine, "Friends of Wine". Launched in 1971, this was the first wine periodical published in America.
Eventually, my wife and I returned to Bordeaux, where I worked as a journalist, first for the leading French wine and food magazine, "Gault Millau" and then as the French editor of "Friends of Wine". Robert Parker told me one day that it was in reading one of my first articles in that magazine, "The Evolution of Red Bordeaux: 1955-1975" that he found the inspiration for his first Bordeaux wine book, Bordeaux from 1961 to the Present! In fact, he got much of his early wine knowledge from the Les Amis du Vin wine club that was based, as he is- in the state of Maryland.
Gradually, I moved from wearing my journalist's hat to that of a commissioned agent for a number of Bordeaux estates, helping them get a foothold in the U.S. market. From there, I transitioned into my current role as a Bordeaux négociant. I think I was the only American négociant in Bordeaux for years!
PV: Why did you choose to stay and live in Bordeaux?
JD: Because I loved wines and the people who made them. I loved the passion that was still rampant then – even though it is slightly less now. I loved the artisanal quality of so many of the wines and those who crafted them. I still do, even though there is a tendency worldwide including Bordeaux towards what I would call "industrial strength" wines which, too often, share the lowest common denominator factor.
PV: The face of business is changing so fast in every discipline. What major changes have you seen in the Bordeaux wine trade, during the last decade? Has the arrival of new players in the field been detrimental to the global business of Bordeaux wines?
JD: Clearly there are two competing tendencies. As Bordeaux and the rest of the wine industry try to "go global", there is the tendency to create "industrial strength" wines with sufficient "critical mass" to enable them to be marketed 'round the world, much like beer and spirits. But beer and spirits are not, for the most part, anchored in any sort of "terroir" consideration and they do not vary in quality or in quantity with every passing vintage. So, in managing my company, I do not follow that model even if I respect the efforts of those who market such commodities.
Outsiders and new players in Bordeaux
 On the other hand, I think the arrival of what you call "new players in the field" has had an incredibly positive effect on the overall quality of Bordeaux wines. I would even go so far as to say that it has been the arrival of investors from outside the confines of Bordeaux who have consistently pushed the envelope where the quality of its wines is concerned. This started centuries ago with the English and the Irish. It continued with continental Europeans, many of them wealthy bankers like the Rothschilds and the Périere family. More recently, in the 20th century, it was the Americans (e.g. the Dillon's purchase of Haut-Brion). In the last quarter of the same century, it was the Japanese with their involvement in Lagrange and Beychevelle.
Meanwhile, successful Parisian entrepreneurs also began to invest here. Chantal and Gérard Perse at Pavie are notable examples. Now many people are up in arms over the Chinese investments in Bordeaux where they have bought some 70-odd châteaux. But when I see what someone like Hong Kong-based financier, Peter Kwok is doing with the Right Bank vineyards he has purchased (Haut-Brisson, Tour St. Christophe, La Patache), I am very encouraged, au contraire!
PV: For our Indian readers, could you throw some light on the points of significant difference between the wine business in Bordeaux and the USA?
JD: I don't really think of them as points of difference. In Bordeaux, we tend to think that the world revolves around the wines of Bordeaux. That is, alas, not the case in the U.S. where over 80% of the wine consumed is produced domestically. That leaves less than 20% for the rest of the entire wine-producing world, both old and new! Consequently, the U.S. is far and away the world's most competitive and demanding wine market. Conversely, the amount of non-Bordeaux wine consumed in Bordeaux is probably less than 5% and most of that is made up of other French wines, notably champagne! So, we have to be very good in selecting those wines that we offer in the U.S. market, focusing on the notion of value for money, if we are to maintain market share there.
PV: How are your wines liked in the USA?
JD: Based on the press that we have enjoyed from the likes of Robert Parker, James Suckling, The Wine Spectator, and a new "up-and-comer", Jeff Leve, I think they're proving to be rather pleasing to American palates. Perhaps the fact that I am a native Californian helps me to select and tailor many of my wines to what I perceive to be the American palate, even if that is a gross generalization.
PV: Tell us about your friendship with Robert Parker
JD: It is a friendship that dates back to the late 1980s and I value and respect it to no end. Whether or not Bob was the world's foremost wine critic and whether or not I was in the wine business, I would still relish his friendship. Why? Because we both share a similar sense of humor - a trait that is increasingly important in this less than amusing world – and we are both pretty down to earth, we enjoy a lot of the same music-hey, we grew up during the 1960s and 1970s when much of the best-ever American music was recorded! We enjoy cars, and we both have been married for longer than anybody else we know: Bob and Pat since 1969 and Françoise and I since 1976! The Guinness Book of World Records keeps pestering us about that! (laughs)
PV: Commenting on the effect of Robert Parker's "100-point system" in the global wine market, you once said, "Below 90 you can’t sell it. Above 90, you can’t find it." What do you think about “Parkerization”?
JD: I'm not sure if I'm the author of that quote but it is largely true, although I think the bar has moved even higher to above or below 95 points! Parker had the foresight to develop a very simple system of scoring wines that was immediately understandable to consumers everywhere – even if it's unfortunate that they don't spend a bit more time reading his actual commentaries, as opposed to the scores alone. I think his unparalleled talent as a taster, his incredible memory of all that he tastes, and his herculean work ethic, together make him the most influential critic – in any field, at any time in history. Yet he remains totally down to earth and humble. Once you've tasted a number of wines that he's rated, I think it's pretty easy to infer which wines you'll like and which you may not, by having compared your relative appreciation of a certain number of wines-much like you can do with a restaurant or film critic.
PV: I believe you are planning to enter into the Indian market. What are your expectations and goals? Are you planning to introduce only Bordeaux wines from your portfolio of wines?
JD : Yes, I am preparing to enter the Indian market which I feel has a huge, but as yet largely untapped, potential. I'm convinced that as India's consumers learn more about wine, starting with their own indigenous production, they will come to form a significant wine market. This will take time, no doubt, and the current system of duties and taxes on wine, imported wine in particular, will slow that development. We will aim to make some of Bordeaux's most prestigious wines to top hotels and restaurants in India, while focusing on what I call "value" wines which we would like to jointly promote with local wholesale distributors in the main cities of India. Beyond Bordeaux, we also offer a portfolio that includes wines from the Languedoc in southern France, a grand cru blanc de blancs Champagne house, and a number of so-called "boutique" Napa Valley wineries from California. I imagine that this will require lots of hard work, training, and education in the marketplace. Luckily, we do share a common tongue, namely English: that should facilitate communications!
Signature Selections: Fine wines from the “Old” and the New World
Signature Selections' portfolio is an exhaustive one. The portfolio boasts wines not only from Bordeaux but also from the Languedoc-Roussillon, the Loire Valley, Champagne, and California.
In Bordeaux he has selected wines from all the prominent appellations as well as great value wines from Bordeaux Supérieur, Castillon, Graves, and Fronsac. In Champagne, he works with the Grand Cru Champagnes of R. & L. Legras (Chouilly), a family whose roots in the region go back more than 200 years. He has worked with a number of growers in the Languedoc-Roussillon since the early 1990's. Robert Parker wrote about some of Jeffrey’s wines from the Languedoc, commenting, “Château de la Négly (La Clape) is among the finest 4-6 red wines made in the Languedoc..." later opining that “Château de la Négly may be the Languedoc-Roussillon’s finest estate." His California selections include "boutique" wines from Schrader Cellars, Blankiet Estate, and Realm Cellars, all from the legendary Napa Valley.
No mean feat: formidable press coverage
 Jeffrey says that his greatest satisfaction in this endeavor is finding and introducing new and exciting wines to the American and other world markets. His wines have received extensive acceptance in the trade, and won accolades from wine writers around the world including Robert Parker, Stephen Tanzer, James Suckling, The Wine Spectator, "La Revue du Vin de France" and Katsuyuki Tanaka (Japan’s leading wine writer and taster). But it is ultimately the consumer's support that matters most to him.
He is profiled in Stephen Brook's superbly researched and well written book, Bordeaux: People, Power and Politics(Mitchell Beazley - 2001). He is a recurring figure in William Echikson's Noble Rot: A Bordeaux Wine Revolution (W. W. Norton & Co. - 2004), and is regularly quoted in newspapers and magazines ranging from "Le Figaro", "Le Monde", and "Libération", to the "New York Times", "The Wall Street Journal", and "The San Francisco Chronicle". One of England's most celebrated wine journalists, Jancis Robinson MW also hailed his work in the Languedoc.
Ironically, Jeffrey Davies' success story in France, and in the Bordeaux wine trade, reflects the very essence of the American dream! He avoids focusing on the impossible, preferring instead to concentrate on opportunities, and transforming possibility into reality. Conquering the Indian market might be one of his biggest challenges, but if he succeeds, Indian connoisseurs will truly benefit from his experience. Only time will tell.
Jeffrey Davies can be contacted at: signatureselectionsbordeaux@gmail.com and jmdavies@signature-selections.com
Pallavi Vatsa
If you Like this article please click on the Like button
|