Spreading the Word about Wine

Christian Vanneque was a participant in one of the most momentous events in the history of wine. More than 30 years later, he is bringing his love of vino to Jakarta, Bruce Emond writes. 

It has gone down in history as The Judgment of Paris, a day when French wine was cut down a peg or two from its supreme position.

In a Paris hotel on a late May day in 1976, the best French wines went glass-to-glass with their peers from California. At the end of the day, after nine judges did a blind tasting of the finest whites and then reds, the winner was – quelle horreur – the New World upstarts.

“At that time, there was no talk, no recognition of New World wines. Some of us had heard of California wines, but most of the time it was discounted [as unimportant],” said Christian Vanneque, who was then a 25-year-old sommelier at La Tour d’Argent, one of Paris’ top restaurants, and a member of the panel of judges.

During a recent trip to Jakarta from his Bali home, he remembered that some of the French judges were trying too hard to recognize their own wines instead of getting on with the job of tasting. “Blind tasting is a lesson in humility,” he said.

Organized by a British wine shop and wine school owner based in Paris, Steven Spurrier, the event and its results could easily have become a curious but forgotten footnote in history.

Vanneque, who also was part of Spurrier’s school, insists the event was not designed as a “contest” to show up the host country, but a celebration held for the U.S. bicentennial. 

The French press did not show up for the event; Vanneque wryly describes their absence as “typically French, a bit arrogant. It wasn’t that they feared anything, it’s just they thought it wasn’t relevant”.

But a young Time magazine correspondent, George M. Taber, did come by, filing a report that was picked up by the publication. Taber’s story (he later expanded it into a book) also interested other media, and it developed a life of its own.

The storm of publicity was not welcomed by French winemakers: There was angry talk that it would endanger the local wine industry, with vineyards becoming idle wastelands as foreign producers grabbed a share of their market.

“It was an immense boost for the California winemakers … French winemakers were shook up on the commercial level,” said Vanneque, who already was acquainted with California wines after befriending American director John Frankenheimer in the early 1970s.

“For the first time they realized they would have to compete with wines from the New World.”

Although French wines remain the world’s most revered, Vanneque is convinced the event helped change the wine landscape, removing its elitist aura and opening the way for acceptance of wines from the U.S., Chile, South Africa and Australia.

The globalization of wine has brought the onetime favorite tipple of nobility to a burgeoning breed of wine lovers, including in expanding markets in Asia, from China to India and Indonesia.

No wine snob or fawning patriot to the French wine cause, Vanneque, 57, is glad that one of the major ramifications of the event has been the introduction of the love of his life to new, younger consumers.

“For the young person who is becoming a wine lover, there are more opportunities to taste the good quality wines from places like Chile, instead of breaking the bank for the top French wines,” said Vanneque, who moved to Bali to start a publishing business six years ago.

“You have to keep it fun.

He has remained focused on wine, and is now interested in sharing his knowledge with others by opening a wine school in Jakarta, probably next January.

“It will be very convivial … the Academy of Wine will be not only a place for wine-tasting classes, but done on a level and scale that nobody has seen before, like we did at Academy of Wine in Paris, much more lively and entertaining,” he said.

It will be a private club, he added, but he does not want a “pompous, formal club”. He wants it to reach out to younger connoisseurs, who will be able to purchase almost any wine at cost At the wine bar, humorously named The Wine Circus. Many wines will be offered from both the Old and New World which have never been imported into Indonesia before. There also will be classes for prospective sommeliers.

Vanneque still has his special place in history to be proud of, even if the event upset some of his countrymen. 

In a reenactment on the 30^th anniversary of The Judgment of Paris last year, California wines again took the top honors. Vanneque said the French wines had been overrated years ago, and fared even worse the second time around.

I don’t know if I will be able to go back to France. After a second time, they will kill me,” he was quoted as saying in Time after the tasting.

Making a Match

From his late teens, Christian Vanneque learned the ropes as a sommelier, knowing how to recognize a fine vintage and also painstakingly deciding on the appropriate food and wine pairing.

He likens the art to being a “matchmaker”.

“I would have to go out to the vineyards regularly early in the morning; because you have to have the knowledge of them, as well as your proprietors and your wine cellar.”

He does not snicker at the use of wine with Asian cuisine, even heavily spiced Indonesian food, believing that they can make perfect partners.

“Ethnic foods, like Thai, Indonesian, Chinese and Vietnamese, can be paired with wines from France or from the New World. I personally have made some interesting food pairings with Indonesian food … with spicy food, you have to offset it with a slightly sweeter, mellow white wine.”

But there are four food “enemies” of wine, he added, where there “is no hope of cheating”. 

• Vinegar: For obvious reasons, wine and the sour-tasting condiment clash.
• Chocolate: “Absolutely a no-no, unfortunately. Perhaps only champagne, or something sparkling may work with chocolate. Other than that, you cannot.”
• Asparagus: The “worst” for wine, Vanneque says. The bitterness and acidity of the asparagus overcomes the taste of wine and gives it a bad taste. 
• Eggs: The combination of the yeast and albumin present in the egg tend to make wine taste dull, Vanneque says, regardless of the vintage.

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