Four Bouvet Ladubay wines fromSaumur,
Loire Valley were served at a sit-down dinner organised
by UB , and attended by over 90 persons including members
of Delhi Wine Club.
Bouvet–Ladubay comes
to India with a wide range which includes both sparkling
and still wines. The flagship Bouvet Brut is complemented
by a Red and a Rosé sparkling, both made from
Cabernet Franc, the popular red grape of Loire Valley.
Hero of the Brut is Chenin with 80-85% presence, balance
being Chardonnay..
Patrice Monmousseau, the Director General
of the company who was on a visit to India informed
the audiance that their sparkling wines competed against
the best of Champagnes, at the fraction of the cost.
He added that he considered himself an 'Indian' now
as the company had become Indian and he was very happy
with the current owners.
The company had been with Taittinger
since 1974. It was fully purchased by Vijay Mallya last
year when his bid to buy over Taittinger was turned
down.
Informing the diners that Ladubay had
won over 270 awards in the last 30 years, Abhay Kewadkar,
the ex-Grover Wine maker, now the Director and the Business
Head of UB's Wine unit, said that with this All-India
launch of the Ladubay range, UB looked forward to take
the role of a leading player in the Indian wine market.
Patrice's daughter who is the Communications
Manager is also in India. She ended up getting the Delhi-belly
and could not attend the launch. She will be at hand
to lunch in other parts including Goa, Kolkata and possibly
Chandigarh.
Food quality and presentation at the
Intercontinental Grand was adequate with average service.
When the cappuccino machine in a 5- star hotel is not
working, it is an indication that details are neither
a forte nor priority with the management. This keeps
them lagging behind the likes of Hyatt, Taj, Sheraton
and Oberoi. Of course, they appear to be over-stretched
with the current renovations going on.
Ladubay range including the still Chinon
red will be available in all the major cities across
India for Rs. 1600-2500 a bottle.
Subhash Arora
November 19, 2007
