'RI food matches Bordeaux wines'

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Sun, 05/28/2006 12:52 PM  |  Life

For the first time ever in Indonesia, a Bordeaux-style Feast of the Flowering of the Grapes was held on May 20 at the Hotel Dharmawangsa in South Jakarta. The celebration is a precursor to a (hoped-for) good harvest.

Called La Fete de la Fleur in French, the feast was organized by the Jakarta chapter of the Commanderie de Bordeaux. It featured a comprehensive tasting of 52 wines from the official 1855 Classification of Medoc and Sauternes -- two Bordeaux subregions famed worldwide for their red and sweet white wines, respectively. The event included a gala dinner.

On the sidelines, Arif Suryobuwono of the Wine and Spirits Circle newsletter interviewed Philippe E. Castija for The Jakarta Post. Castija is president of the Conseil des Grands Crus Classis du Medoc of the Official 1855 Classification and President of Borie-Manoux, a syndicate of nine wineries.

Following are excerpts from the interview.

Question: How was your production in 2005? Answer: In 2005 we made very good wines in all estates, particularly Batailley, Lynch-Moussas, and Trottevieille. They've gotten scores of over 90 points from critics all over the world. 2005 was a very rich and yet very fresh vintage for my wines and the major classified wines of Bordeaux. What's important here is the freshness of the vintage, thanks to the cold nights in Bordeaux, which keep the acidity in the grapes. As you know, acidity provides for balance, length on the palate and freshness in wine.

Is this your first time in Indonesia?

I made brief visits to Jakarta 20 and 15 years ago, and was on a long weekend holiday in Amanpuri in Bali 10 years ago.

Have you ever had Indonesian food with Bordeaux wine?

Yesterday I had gora-gora [what he meant was gado-gado, Indonesian vegetable salad with peanut sauce] with a classified growth red wine. I also had a rice dish with another classified growth red.

What classified growth wines did you have with the Indonesian food?

I don't want to mention their names.

Why not?

I don't want to be seen as advertising them.

Do Indonesian food and classified growth wines make a good match?

Yes.

But some people say Indonesian food is not a good match for the classified growth wines of Bordeaux because its strong, spicy and hot flavors will drown the red wine's complexities and subtleties.

Well, that reminds me of the situation 30 years ago when people said Japanese food would not go with wine. But now that's not the case any more. Now there is no problem having Japanese food with wine. It's a matter of an intellectual problem rather than a matter of taste.

What do you think of Indonesia as a market for the classified growth wines of Bordeaux?

Every market is different because every market reflects the personality and the philosophy of the population. The Japanese market is totally Japanese the way Japan is. The Indonesian market is a young market that wants to learn [more about wine], has the capacity to learn, has the money to buy wine, and has the intellectual capacity, too, for wine. Moreover, Indonesia is a noted tourist destination. A lot of tourists come to Indonesia and I believe this will fuel the development of the wine market in this country.

What about the potential of your wines in the Indonesian market?

There's a great potential for our wines here because Indonesians are interested in good things in the world, and they have also come to France to taste our wines.

What is the significance of La Fete de la Fleur for Indonesian wine lovers?

This proves there is great interest in wine in Indonesia. Think about it: today is Saturday, a weekend, and yet about 60 people are willing to leave their homes and weekend leisure to come to this event, where they are going to spend three hours on grueling tasting, not drinking. They are going to taste and spit, again and again, no drinking, build their memories, and think hard to discern how each wine tastes. This shows that there is a definite interest in wine here.

What's your role as the President of the Council of the Great Classified Growths of Medoc of the Official 1855 Classification? [The Classification, which took place in 1855, ranked 60 top chateaux in Medoc plus one, Chateau Hut Briton, in Graves, categorizing them as First, Second, Third, Fourth, and Fifth Growths. It also categorized 25 chateaux from Sauternes and Barsac as Great First Growth, First Growth and Second Growth. This system is considered vital to understanding quality in Bordeaux].

My role is, first of all, as defender of the 1855 Classification and its member chateaux, ensuring that their wines are not copied [counterfeited]; secondly, to raise the quality and image of our wines, and thirdly, to promote them.

Is the 1855 Classification still relevant today?

If it weren't, it would have disappeared. In the Medoc and Sauternes and Barsac, everything that should have been classified was classified. And this classification, the first of its kind ever done in the world, was the result of one hundred years (1750-1855) of experience, tasting, and notes made by brokers and traders.

As far as I know, the classification was mainly based on trading prices...

But prices always reflect quality and rarity. And this relates to the fact that the classified growth chateaux are in the best position to produce the best wines.

You must understand that the 1855 Classification is very innovative and creative. It's like a sort of laboratory for a culture of improvement. Up to this day, the chateaux that belong to the 1855 Classification still work on their plants [to improve them], and still research the soil.

They were the first to develop an automatic temperature control system, and the first to use stainless steel vats. They are also open to international architects. Ricardo Beaufill from Spain, for instance, has designed a circular cellar for Chateau Lafite-Rothschild. The cellar is not only beautiful to behold but also makes everything close for workers and thus shortens work time.

What do you think about competition from New World wines?

In our opinion, there is no real competition from New World wines because classified growth wines are the benchmark on the international market.

New World wineries always focus on classified growth wines. They even hire enologists and specialists from Bordeaux to improve the quality of their wines. We have always managed to produce good wine and there's not much good wine in the world.

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