Raise a glass of Margaux: '. votre bonne sant,'

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Sun, 12/04/2005 3:41 PM  |  Life

Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Hotel Shangri-la's French fine dining restaurant Margaux organized on Wednesday an ultimate wine and dine featuring a four-course dinner and wine from Margaux, a village in the wine-producing region of Bordeaux, France.

Dozens of foreign and Indonesian wine enthusiasts enjoyed the dinner in the presence of Baron Geoffroy de Luze, owner of the Chateau Paveil-de-Luze vineyard, which was established in 1862.

Chateau Paveil-de-Luze featured vintages from five different labels: Chateau de Chantigrive Blanc 2004, Graves; Chateau Paveil de Luze 2002, Margaux; Chateau Paveil de Luze 1999, Margaux; Chateau Paveil de Luze 2000, Margaux; and Chateau de Rolland 2000, Sauternes.

Minutes before the exclusive dinner, Baron de Luze shared his thoughts about wine and his ""rebellion"" against the wine-drinking etiquette. Following is an excerpt:

Question: What is your view of wine in social life?

Answer: Wine helps people to communicate. It's a fact that if you have a good meal and you drink some wine, you would feel a lot more relaxed to exchange ideas, thoughts and feelings with people.

So, we are talking about wine consumption, good wine for pleasure, not for drinking, which is something totally different. And perhaps, also because wine is part of the food. It is a compliment to the food.

It is very seldom taken as a beverage to get drunk. People who want to get drunk, they drink other beverage. They go to wine because it is a compliment to the food they eat.

Are there any special etiquettes in enjoying wine?

Well, before inventing etiquette, as you say, very nicely -- this wine should be consumed and drunk with this and that -- I don't believe in etiquette. I believe in what is sensible and also what gives you pleasure, because we are talking and discussing taste.

If, which is my case, I like red wine with fish, I counter why somebody should dictate to me saying you can't drink red wine with fish.

So you see, etiquette, I would say, is not the thing. They are recommendations and suggestions through experience that most people enjoy their desserts and enjoy sweet wine.

But, it is true that (while) all white wines match well fish, not all red wines match fish. People recommend white wine with fish, but it is not a dictation.

What dictates your taste is yourself. I think so.

How about Margaux? Is it one of the best wines?

I think it is the best. Seriously speaking, I think it is one of the leading quality wines in the world for a number of reasons.

First, it is located and seated on a soil which produces wine of a character that is different from any other place in the world. You can't mistake Margaux wine for another wine. You may not like it, but it has a certain character.

If you ask whether everybody likes it, I would tend to say yes. It is a wine which is gentle and elegant. That is how I should describe Margaux wine. It is very well accepted.

Would you like to share your tips on how to enjoy wine?

I think wine is best enjoyed with food. You can just drink it, but it also depends on the time of the day. In daytime, it is better to drink wine after getting some food.

If you do not drink it with food, you can drink it in between meals. It would taste better if you got food some time ago, because if you got an empty stomach, perhaps you will not find a wine so nice. The wine will be aggressive to your empty stomach.

Therefore, they say from lunch onward you can drink wine all the time, in the evening, after or before dinner, and many people drink white wine before dinner.

People used to drink whiskey or cocktail, now more and more people drink wine before meals because they think it is less aggressive to their head -- less alcohol.

But, as a professional, we always taste wine on an empty stomach (between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.). Because, if the wine then tastes good, it is damned good.

How do wine and Indonesian food match?

Because, Indonesian food is very well balanced. You have spices but you also have sugar or softening things like bananas, et cetera, which take off the harshness of the spices. This has enabled wine to go with Indonesian food.

If the food is too spicy, like in Thailand, it is difficult to taste wine, because spice burns your taste buds and therefore it is blind. You cannot taste anything else. You cannot enjoy the wine.

Indonesian food is like Indonesian people, gentle, balanced and smiling. So, it enables a lot of combination with different wines. Of course, it depends on the dish.

But, there is also rice available. Rice is a softener of the spices. It helps to calm down the fire and then you can taste wines.

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