|  ‘Which wine did you like the most, Mr. Antonio Galloni’ asks the bearded man sitting next to Aubert de Villaine at the dais facing 50 people with 8 glasses holding red wine, who have been sipping and spitting wine as if they were sitting in an examination hall, with pin drop silence for the last half hour. The iconic winemaker and co-owner of Domaine Romanée Conti (DRC), a highly respected producer of Burgundy listens intently as Galloni says, ‘I think as we go back to the old vintages, I find that it is not as much terroir as the vintage that is playing the role here.’
Galloni is the former Italian critic of Robert Parker, the world famous wine critic whose 100-point rating system could catapult or trash a wine sales graph of a producer by his score. The bearded man is Francois Mauss, organizer of this ticketed tasting event restricted to 50 persons who have paid €900 (Rs. 75,000) each just to taste 4 vintages of Grand Cru vineyard estates in Echézeaux and St Vivant in Burgundy.
Premium and Rare Wine Tastings
I can’t not help reflecting on what some people had told me during one of my visits to Burgundy-late Prime Minister of India Mrs. Indira Gandhi was a wine connoisseur who was very fond of wines from these vineyards and traveled the Burgundy roads often to taste her favourite wines. Earlier, Aubert de Villaine had introduced the iconic wines from two of his top Grand Cru vineyard estates in Echézeaux and St Vivant in Burgundy.
Welcome to the third 90-minute premium tasting of the World Wine Symposium. Welcome to Villa d’Este- one of the top five hotels of Italy rated as the Best Hotel by different rating agencies and recently as the fourth Top Honeymoon Hotel in the world in a TLC episode on TV in India. The grandeur of the hotel and the two similar tastings in the romantic hotel setting by Pierre Lurton, CEO and Chief Winemaker of the top red wine producer in Saint Emilion Cheval Blanc and a tasting of the Rieslings by the top producer of Mosel in Germany, Egon Mueller, complete the trilogy that would make any connoisseur salivate even if he could not afford the additional cost of €2600 for these optional tastings. Reason? It is highly improbable that you could find such an event with wines as old as 1967 for the red Cheval Blanc or white Riesling Scharzhofberger Auslese 1959 Egon Mueller or the pair of DRC 1979 from the Grand Cru Echézeaux and St. Vivant vineyards in Burgundy. This was in the presence of these wine celebrities who could compare with likes of Amitabh Bacchan, Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan in Bollywood.
What is World Wine Symposium
 Conceptualized by the wine expert, journalist and a wine judge Francois Mauss of Luxemburg, this international event has been organised every year since 2009; this was the fifth in the series. Supported by wine producers like Gaja and Antinori, the event is a congregation of wine producers, winemakers, wine stakeholders, journalists and affluent connoisseurs at the majestic Villa d’Este. The 3-day extravaganza debates issues facing the wine industry and discusses the possible solutions.
I had met a group of registrants from Malaysia last year. They would mostly hang around together at meal times and re-dinner wine tastings in the evening, but not to be seen at the seminars. Why had they spent so much money if they were not keen to attend the seminars? ‘Where else could we get an opportunity to taste so many excellent wines with fabulously delicious meal for this kind of money and meet dozens of wine celebrities during our stay at a dream hotel by the beautiful lake’, they reasoned.
Tasting with top producers
Registration for the event is not cheap. At €3850 a couple without including the air-fare, most Indians would balk at the idea of burning such a big hole in the pocket for three days of fun. But the affluent few who want a bigger bang for their buck, find it a true value-for-money deal. The biggest attraction is the wines-their quality, variety and the possibility of tasting with the owners many of whom pour the wines during the open tastings. It’s not a common sight otherwise to find the likes of the Cult wine producer Bill Harlan of Napa Valley pour his iconic wines that retails for over US $1000 a bottle (Harlan Estate 2001 sells for $1100, if available). One could taste over 100 wines from around 20 producers including India.
Seeing producers present the wines gave me an idea a couple of years ago to have one or two producers showcase Indian wines as well and with the support from Francois Mauss, we had Four Seasons and Fratelli partake last year with Abhay Kewadkar and Alessio Secci pouring their wines. It was KRSMA wines of Karnataka that were represented by its owners, Krishna Prasad Chigurupati and his wife Uma this year. The Hyderabad-based couple runs marathons together and holds Guinness World Record for being the only couple on the planet finishing the marathon in seven continents and the North Pole. Their Cabernet Sauvignon has not even been released in India yet but was appreciated a lot by several experts. Interestingly, Uma has crafted a slightly sweet wine made from Moscato grapes that is exclusively for her friends and has become quite popular too.
Villa d’Este
Located at the foot of Italian Alps in Cernobbio, on the banks of Lake Como, one of the most romantic lakes in the world, enticing several visiting artists, writers and philosophers to set up base here over centuries, Hotel Villa d’Este is truly a destination-an embodiment of a legend. Many of the legendary romances are said to have begun in this hotel- Elizabeth Taylor and Nick Hilton, Frank Sinatra and Ava Gardner, The Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Ari Onassis and Maria Callas, Rita Hayworth and Orson Welles are just a few of them.
Built in 1568 by a rich Cardinal with a passion for art and converted into a hotel in 1873, it became the destination of choice for European aristocracy. The list of its clients includes King Albert of Belgium, Queen Beatrix of Holland, Queen Sonia of Norway, Woody Allen, Michael Douglas, Catherine Zeta Jones, Bruce Springsteen, Madonna, fashion icons like Donna Karen, Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein and of course George Clooney who has built a property nearby.
 The normal cost of a room during the low season as this, is €600 going up to €1430 a night for the lake facing suite; the same would set you back by €2400 a night in summer, if you booked well in advance. Vikas Singh, the former Solicitor General of India and his wife Meenu who were a part of the group this year managed to get the lake facing suite only because it was given to the Senior Supreme Court Lawyer K.K. Venugopal who could not finally make it but his son Krishnan and his wife Sue were allotted the room and had to leave a night earlier. C.S. Vaidyanathan, another senior Supreme Court lawyer on his second consecutive visit, was assigned a lake facing room that costs a more affordable €660 a night. At any rate, it is a great experience staying at Villa d’Este.
It is often said that fine wine tastes even better in the company of friends and the ambiance. La Veranda Restaurant with roll-up glass windows providing a fabulous all-around view offers a Gastronomical Delight. One may sit with his friends at the same table or sit with ‘marked’ people for networking. Not only is the food sublime but the staff that serves it is also legendary where we could witness a ballet of maitre D’s and sommeliers in their finest suits, attending to minute details.
Not only do they know the dishes and the Menus prepared before hand, they also know the guests very well. Neelima Tripathi a lawyer from Delhi and wife of former Solicitor General Parag Tripathi, who were a part of the Indian group, is a vegetarian. Once the staff knew about her food preference, she was always served a vegetarian option wherever she was seated. I ordered a macchiato the first night after dinner and sure enough, I would be asked after every meal if I wanted a macchiato. I loved the Egg Benedict on the first day, prepared with ham and generous shavings of white truffles on top and found myself offered the same every morning- what a memorable experience, that!
Not only Food and Wines
The sumptuous endless meals with diversified wines from various countries in a dream ambiance are a major attraction even for those who are there to focus on the seminars throughout the day. But most accompanying wives are not interested in attending the discourses. The close-by shopping heaven across the border, in Switzerland is Fox Town where famous international brands are available at genuine discounts of 60-70% (several of our group would testify after their second visit!)The boat cruise around Lake Como is a must. The 10 hA of gardens, a magnificent example of Italian renaissance landscaping provide an opportunity for leisurely walks. The Mosaic is yet another work of art in the garden-an Italian national monument.
Take a walk through the manicured gardens, go for a swim in the indoor heated and covered swimming pool or rejuvenate yourself at the Spa. There are a few 300-500 year old trees including a magnolia that leave you wonderstruck. If you are a F1 lover, you even get to test-drive a Maserati which I found quite exciting. There were classical music performances as interludes for the musically inclined.
 Villa d’Este (VDE) organised Cookery classes for a limited number of ladies by the Executive Chef Michele Zambanini. The programme was so popular and useful that the two Indian participants Arvinda Arora and Meenu Singh wanted to repeat, as different dishes would be taught could not be accommodated. VDE runs cookery classes regularly for their guests too.
Those of us who participated at the World Wine Symposium were picked up at the Milano Malpensa Airport 83 Kms away but I chose to take a cab to the close-by Como train station from where I could conveniently continue by train to the airport without any glitch.
Villa d’Este is a destination with classic elegance where grandeur and tradition meet seamlessly with modern facilities -providing a timeless luxury. You can indulge yourself in this place of ultimate comfort and an aura of a bygone era and feel like a king, queen or a movie star. But at the World Wine Symposium in Villa d’Este you can do much more; every meal is a gastronomical journey with excellent and several unique wines like we had Tokaj from Szepsy after a talk by him at the seminar earlier in the afternoon. Here one rubs shoulders with the kings, queens and rock stars of the wine world and have a 3-day crash course on fine wines on the side.
Subhash Arora
This article was written for and published by UpperCrust for their First quarterly Issue in 2014. Click the following pages to read the article-editor
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Tags: Villa d’Este, Lake Como, World Wine Symposium |