One Sommelier's Fairy-Tale Success
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THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. Friday - Sunday, February 10 - 12, 2012 | W3 WINE One Sommelier’s Fairy-Tale Success [ Wine ] BY WILL LYONS There are few who have earned the sobriquet “the world’s greatest wine taster.” The late Harry Waugh, one of England’s most gifted wine merchants, who was so popular in the U.S. that he had a dining room in a restaurant in Tampa, Fla., named after him, was one. Robert Parker, the Baltimore- based wine critic who invented the 100-point tasting scale, is probably another. Michel Bettane, the French wine critic who wrote for La Revue de vin de France for more than 20 years, could be thought of in this bracket. But when it comes to qualifica- tions, one man has sniffed and slurped his way through more wine examinations than perhaps any other. That man is Gérard Basset, 54 years old, who boasts not just a Master of Wine qualifi- cation, but also a Master Somme- lier, and a Wine M.B.A. from the Bordeaux École de Management, for which he wrote a thesis on the psychology of the wine list. If that assett B d wasn’t enough, in 2010 he was r a r named world champion by the As- Ge sociation de la Sommellerie Inter- nationale (ASI) in Santiago, Chile. who are much more qualified and in Hampshire. In 1994 he co- I think the natural wine move- tend wine tasting is an exact sci- If anyone can claim to be the those who are not. founded the Hotel du Vin chain in ment has brought an element of ence. “It’s not,” he argues. “It’s world’s greatest sommelier, it is “I very much believe you have Winchester, selling it 10 years almost rebellion.” highly subjective. probably him. to carry on learning. For all the later to MWB Group Holdings for But he’s not inclined to say “Some days you don’t taste Not bad for a man who left courses I have done, yes, they £66.4 million. Not ready for retire- more, as, far from being a wine well,” he says. “If you feel tired, or school at 16 with no formal qualifi- have been beneficial, but I have ment, in 2007 he opened TerraV- bore, he doesn’t wear his knowl- if it is later in the afternoon.” He cations, began his career washing done them because they are very ina—a boutique hotel with a edge as a badge of honor or pre- smiles. Even the best are fallible. dishes at a hotel on the Isle of Man Napa-inspired restaurant—in the and, in 1977, when he first came to New Forest with his wife Nina. Drinking Now Britain from his home in France, If anyone can claim This is where we meet, at first knew absolutely nothing about over a glass of water, but later a wine. So last summer, when it was to be the world’s greatest glass of Côte-Rôtie, a dense, dam- announced he was to be awarded sommelier, it is probably son-flavored wine made on the an Order of the British Empire in hills of the northern Rhône, not the Queen’s Birthday Honours List, Gérard Basset. far from where he grew up in the fairy tale was complete. Firminy. It is a wine that hasn’t “It was such a beautiful day,” succumbed to the sometimes pol- he says, in an accent that retains interesting, fascinating.” ished, overripe, high-in-alcohol much of the character of his first He believes wine lovers are liv- style found in increasing numbers language. “If I go back to my ing in part through a golden age, in his favored Napa. childhood, I was very anti-royal. as across the board quality has “We are moving to a point We thought these English people never been higher. He cites the where the American domination were crazy—we, after all, killed quality of wines in France and It- of wine through publications such our kings. But when you live in aly, which have come back with a as the Wine Spectator and the in- England, you understand more the new, lighter style. But he also la- fluence of Robert Parker is reach- importance of the monarchy. It ments the fact that most of us can ing a plateau,” he says. “People took me a while, but slowly I be- no longer afford the very top are a bit fed up with all of these came quite fond of the queen.” wines from France. big wines. I like some of them but In the end it wasn’t the queen “If you were comfortable a few when you taste them and they are who bestowed the medal (for years ago,” he says, “and you had 15.5%-16% alcohol, it is too much.” Alpha Domus D’Oliveira Côte-Rôtie, Fortis services to hospitality) but the a good job and were earning a He points out that the natural- Hawkes Bay 2009 Medium Dry Madeira Stéphane Montez— Princess Royal, Princess Anne, good living, not mega-rich; you wine movement—wines made New Zealand Aged5years Domaine du who charmed him with her French could afford Château Lafite or La- from organic grapes by artisans Price: £14 or €17 Portugal Monteillet 2008 while the band at Windsor Castle tour. But now, who can afford to with very little intervention in the Price: £23 or €27 Rhône Valley, France included two Edith Piaf scores in spend £600 on a bottle of wine to winemaking—in many ways is a A fascinating wine. Price: £32 or €39 their playlist. “It was a nice drink at home?” reaction to the sometimes forced, Viognier is a white There is an awful lot touch,” he says. “The whole day He began drinking wine at viticulturally exceptional wine grape variety better of unexciting Madeira The Côte-Rôtie was very special.” home as a boy growing up in styles seen on the market today. known for its mellow, on the market but that vineyards are some of There is something intrinsi- France. Back then, he used to mix From a winemaking perspec- honeyed character, shouldn’t put you off. the oldest in France, if cally intimidating about being in it with water—two parts wine, tive, the wines have never been found in the Rhône This fortified wine not the oldest. They the company of a sommelier. No eight parts water, a drink he still better but, he says, like football, appellation of Condrieu. from the volcanic hug the slopes that matter how much you know about enjoys to this day. It was football you can’t have a team full of 11 This example comes island that sits in the stretch upward from wine, when you walk into the that brought him to England, exceptional players. In the final from New Zealand and Atlantic Ocean, off the the Rhône river. a) hushed theater of fine dining and when his hometown club, AS blend you sometimes need has an attractive, coast of West Africa, This wine is made by ir are handed a leather-bound wine Saint-Étienne, then one of the top grapes with too much acidity and gentle perfume on the can be hugely the exciting producer as Made list with its countless bins and clubs in Europe, came to play Liv- tannin, in other words, grapes nose. The wine has rewarding and not too Stéphane Montez, who ir ve li vintages, the heart always skips a erpool in what would now be the that might be left on the sorting been fermented in expensive, either. This adds around 15% O little faster. Not so in the com- Champions League quarterfinal. room floor today. barrel, which imparts example displays an Viognier to the blend, D’ es ( pany of Mr. Basset. Modest, al- Liverpool won 3-1 in what has “In old Bordeaux vintages such a distinctive creamy, attractive amber hue in giving it a lift. in W most to the point where he is de- gone down as one of the most his- as Latour ’61 or ’69, they didn’t brioche character with the glass, with a sweet The nose is inviting, n ee ferring to your wine knowledge, toric matches in the club’s history. have sorting tables. I think we a little note of ginger. almond note. with a distinctive r eG It matches superbly Texturally, it is as light damson and black- l he admits to being a generalist It must have left an impression on have gone toward a style that is ob N who can never “know it all.” the young Gérard, as he returned too polished and that is why we with scallops, which as a butterfly and I cherry character. / n a bring out its mineral found it matched with This wine is superb l “If you say ‘I know everything’ a few years later, eventually set- get so many jammy wines. There’s e h then you never learn,” he says. tling in the south of England, room for everything but when it backbone. a variety of cheeses. with steak. W n “You learn from everyone, those where he worked as a sommelier is too one-sided, then it is wrong. Jo.