Wine taster says the right bottle is up to you

By Harry Bhaskara

JAKARTA (JP): "It is very difficult to say which wine is the best because it depends on the individual," said Madame May- Eliane de Lencquesaing.

To Lencquesaing, a great name in the world of wine lovers, the statement she made in front of an audience of 80 people at the William Kafe Artistik at the end of November summed up her personality.

With a 300-year history of winemaking in her family, she certainly knows what she is talking about. The statement of this lovely woman, who looks much younger than her 75 years, reflected her modesty and honesty.

"Like art and music, one's affinity to a wine depends on personal choice. Some may like Picasso and Mozart, others Van Gogh or Beethoven," she said prior to her tutorial and wine tasting program at the artistic cafe in South Jakarta.

Lencquesaing, proprietor and administrator of the famous Chateau Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande in France, treated the audience to a range of vintages, 1997, 1996, 1995, 1994, and closed with vintages 1990, 1985 and 1975 (magnum).

The guests, more women than men, regularly held their wine glasses and turned them in a circular motion on the table before placing them in front of their noses to smell the bouquet.

They held high standards and knew the quality stuff from the mediocre. A guest who sat next to me and one who sat in front of me immediately asked for a substitute.

"This is a very common thing to happen and it happens to all kinds of wine. Sometimes the cork leaks and we know about it right away after we smell it," said one.

He said that there have been discussions to change the technology of capping the wine bottles but so far the cork has remained.

As the guests dined on their first course of French Spring Chicken Salad and Black Truffles preceded by four different aperitif wines, including the famous Chateau Bernadotte, the energetic Lencquesaing revealed part of the history of her wine- making family.

She said winemaking was traditionally done by women, including her family.

"Perhaps because it is like giving birth to a child," she said. "Every year there is a new vintage."

Her famous chateau of 300 years is owned by only two families.

"Imagine the love it takes to keep it running," she said, adding, "women are beautiful wine makers".

Like a weather forecast expert, she recalled in detail the characteristics of the season of a vintage produced by her chateau.

One season may be very hot and dry, another rainy, and all of these factors have their respective effects on the wine produced.

She also recalled the difficult days in the 1930s and 1940s when a succession of tragedies occurred in France, including World War II.

"For 10 years there was no wine to sell. We removed the furniture from our houses and sold them to pay the workers," she said.

When the Germans took the horses, she said, her family resorted to using cows to plow their vineyards.

The 75-hectare vineyard of Chateau Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande is located in the lands of Pauillac, bordering that of Chateau Latour. It extends into the terrain of Saint-Julien.

John Read, editor of In Vino Veritas, a Jakarta-based wine magazine, said that the history of wine dates back 10,000 years.

"So it preceded Christianity and Islam," he said.

He has a way to test whether a wine is good or bad.

"Pour just a little wine, about one-eighth of a glass. Hold the glass quite tightly on the surface of the table and make a quick circular movement three or four times.

"Then hold the glass high and position your eyes in a straight line with light or lamp in the room. If it is a good wine you will notice in the inside of the glass very thin traces of wine drops," he said

"One form that the wine drops can take follows a linear line where the wine surface passes the inside wall of the glass during the shaking. This one is called the 'body' by wine lovers. The other drops are vertical lines, hence the name 'legs'".

He added: "Yes, wine has both a body and legs, just like human beings."

And how did Lencquesaing's wine fare against this test? We tried the 1995 vintage and yes, it did have "body and legs".

Lencquesaing said 1995 was a very special year. The vintage was on the top list that year.

A guest who is a director of a giant cigarette company said that there was a renewed interest in wine in the last 10 years.

"People believe that it could help to enhance your health," he said.

Another guest said: "We never have quality evenings like this in Jakarta. Not like in other places."

William Wongso, proprietor of William Kafe, told The Jakarta Post that Jakarta was usually shunned by wine experts.

"Most of the time while they are making an Asian swing they stop in Singapore," he said.