INDIANWINEACADEMY.COM

Italians Dream of French Wines Too ... Italian wine aficionados have voted Sassicaia, Brunello di Montalcino from Biondi Santi and Barbaresco Gaja as the three ‘dream wines’, along with five wines from Chateau Petrus, Margaux, Romanée-Conti, Dom Perignon, and Chateau d’Yquem, according to a recent online survey.

The survey also declared Barolo, Montalcino, Bordeaux, Champagne and Chianti Classico as the most important areas of wine production- giving thumbs up to the prestigious Italian and French regions.
Surprise omission from the podium is a total absence of New World wines-despite illustrious wines like Opus One from Napa Valley (collaboration between Robert Mondavi and Barons de Rothschild) and the Australian cult wine Grange, now under the Penfolds colossus. ‘It is obvious that the wines produced in California, Australia, Chile and South Africa have too short a history, and even though their quality has come up very fast, the respondents have chosen to exclude them in their list of dream wines,’ reason the sponsors of the survey.

The list of wines for an ideal wine cellar of the dream wines for the passionate from all latitudes begins with Sassicaia, the Super Tuscan from Tenuta San Guido in Bolgheri from Marchesi Incisa della Rocchetta, a relatively new winery (1968) that achieved the cult status at the international level.

Same unconditional admiration was showered on the Brunello di Montalcino from Biondi Santi which introduced the “prototype” of Brunello at the end of the 1800’s from Tenuta Il Greppo by Ferruccio Biondi Santi. Wine Spectator included the 1955 vintage as the only Italian wine in the ‘Top 12 wines of the last century.’

The signature Barbaresco from Angelo Gaja is one of the most appreciated and valued Italian wines across the ocean that signifies the spirit of Piedmont in the bottle.

Château Petrus, the Merlot based iconic wine from Pomerol in Bordeaux is the stellar wine whose preciousness is quite independent of the vintage. Romanée-Conti is the rarer and one of the most expensive labels of the world from the village of Vosne-Romanée from Burgundy, which produces the grand crus- Romanée-Conti, La Tâche, Richebourg, Romanée-St-Vivant, Grands Echézeaux, Echézeaux and Montrachet.

Chateâu Margaux is one of the five celebrated Premier Grand Cru Classé of 1855 classification of Bordeaux. The Dom Pérignon, of Moët ET Chandon (which is today part of the luster group of LVMH), was the first champagne defined as ’prestige’. The first harvest for the DP was in 1921, but the product was released and sold to the public only in 1936, after the Great Depression, says the website.

Chateâu d’Yquem is the king of Sauternes wines. The institution is a point of reference for 150 years, full of irresistible fascination and prices. Belonging to the Lur Saluces family from 1785, Château d’ Yquem is today owned by LVMH too.

Many of the other citations for other grand wines are for the ‘old Europe’ and include Champagne Krug, Barolo Monfortino, Tignanello (Antinori) , Masseto (Frescobaldi), Château Lafite Rothschild and Vega Sicily from Spain.

The survey was carried out by the Italian website www.winenews.it along with Vinitaly. The profile of the people who participated in the online survey gives a clue to the wine selection. Most of the voters (82%) were men; 54% were between the age of 30 and 45 years; they were well educated (85% had finished high school or a college degree) and enjoyed success at the socio-economic levels (they were entrepreneur, bankers, lawyers, commerce graduates, engineers, doctors, architects etc.).

It is quite an Indian Paradox that although lower quality and cheaper wines are more popular due to high taxation, all the above dream wines are being imported and are available in the restaurants of many 5-star hotels, the astronomical prices at which they are sold, notwithstanding.

The article is based on the rough translation of the content available on the Italian websites, published last week-editor