For a Sommelier like me, opening such beautiful and rare bottles is a passion and a privilege. Spending some time with these ladies of a certain age is humbling and fills me with joy and happiness and pride. These historical bottles, legendary should I say, are rare gems you need to know how to pamper, preserve, admire and love.
2018 marks my 27th year working daily with high-end wines (and spirits) from all around the world and officially marks my 21st year as a certified Sommelier working in positions of head of purchasing and wine buyer in most places I worked for. And 21 years out of France.
I first worked for 6 years in Relais & Chateaux, top restaurants, trendy bars, and private catering, in various towns in France, including Bordeaux, Orleans, Bourges, Strasbourg and even a brief experience in Paris (1991-1997).
Then I crossed the Channel and moved to London (UK), where I worked for 5 years in top restaurants, private Club, and private Casino, and also met my American girlfriend (1997-2002).
Pushed by the desire to see new horizons and to concretize an old kid's dream, as well as following my girlfriend who was relocating to Manhattan, I crossed the Atlantic ocean this time and moved to New York, where I worked for 9 years as Wine Director, Wine Buyer and Store Manager for 2 prominent wine boutique stores (2002-2011). During that time I managed to get married to that same American girl I started dating in London a few years back and followed to NYC.
After 9 years in the Big Apple, and although I loved New York and was really sad to leave, the taste for new adventures and opportunities caught me again. We (my wife and our 2 kids) decided to see the other side of the planet and moved to Hong Kong, where we are still currently living and working (2011 to present).
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LeDomduVin around the world - Map courtesy of Google Map
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During all these years, I had the chance to work for very rich people with very good taste and more especially a lot of money in the bank to be able to buy the best wines in the world, including some legendary bottles going back to the early 1800s.
These rare and old gems were memories of the past, bought for investment or to be consumed or to be put aside to wait until perfectly aged and mature in order to fully capture all their complexities. They required to rest in ideal conditions, and they needed a seasoned and skilled Sommelier like me to provide all the care and attention these old ladies needed. And in 27 years, God only knows the number of these "vestiges" I had the pleasure and the privilege to open, taste, prepare, decant and serve.
As I never (or obviously "very rarely", should I say) opened such rare and expensive bottles for my personal consumption, having the chance to taste and prepare them was already a great treat and an opportunity to increase my knowledge as well as strengthen my skills and refined my palate.
Yet, in my 27 years career, I must admit that I never opened so many great, old and rare bottles prior working as the Wine Quality Control Director and personal Sommelier of the Chairman for the company I currently work for. The Chairman has one of the greatest collection of high end old and rare Bordeaux and Burgundy wines I have ever seen in my entire life.
And these bottles and I never get separated, I'm always there for them (😉).
During the day, aside of the administrative part and other things I do (like Market Analysis, Stock Valuation, Wine Inspection and Authentication, writing the SOP-Standard Operating Procedures, etc...), an important part of my job is to take care of these bottles in the various cellars of the company's restaurants as well as the warehouses where we store them. Basically, I'm responsible for the stock and everything regarding the cellars and warehouses'
- Conditions (Temperature and Humidity level, Ventilation, Airflow, etc..),
- Environments (make sure the cellars and warehouses are clean and clear of anything that could damage the wines, like humidity problems generating mold or bad smell, etc...)
- Security (CCTV monitoring, fingerprints access doors, magnetic or electronic door locks, etc...)
- IN/OUT movements, inventory, stocktaking, etc...
- Inspection of goods receiving and goods leaving the warehouse
These allow me to constantly be with these bottles, provide them with cares if needed and monitor their evolution and ageing.
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| At night, I put on my black Sommelier outfit © LeDomduVin 2018 |
At night, like a Wine Justiciary, I put on my black Sommelier outfit when the Chairman requests my presence for the service and once again to open, taste, prepare, decant and serve these rare gems for his dinners.
Although it happens that I serve wines for the Chairman as a Sommelier in one of the company's restaurants (
Le Pan,
Dynasty Garden or even
Matsunichi), funnily enough, the Chairman usually requires my services to open, taste, prepare, decant and serve his wines (and food sometimes) at his private dinners (with both business partners and/or friends) either
- when he invites very important Chinese and Hongkongese guests, as he knows I do not speak and barely understand Cantonese and even less Mandarin, so he is sure that I will not repeat a thing of what has been said around the table (😊).
- or, when he invites friends and/or very important foreigner guests (French, English, Europeans, Americans, Australians, etc..), as it is important for him to show them his "savoir-vivre" and "service quality" provided by a classically trained French-American Sommelier born in Bordeaux (moreover grandson of a winemaker from Bordeaux) as a Maitre D' and Sommelier to do the service for the night.
On June 21st, 2016, during one of these private dinners where I had (once again) to put on my Sommelier outfit for my boss, I had the chance to open, taste, prepare, decant and serve wines from 1957, 61, 62, 70, 82 and 89 ... it was truly memorable .... (read the post about this dinner
here)...
However, despite how "Grand" these wines were on the 21st, they were definitely at a lower level compared to the wines I opened, tasted, prepared, decanted and served at another one of my boss' private dinners a few days later, on June 26th, 2016.
This particular dinner of June 26th was one of these singular magical experiences that only happens so rarely, if ever... It was a wine dinner that all Sommeliers would dream of doing at least once in their lives ...
I must admit that for the past 6 years working for the Chairman, I have only opened extraordinary wines, like an anthology of classic, rare and old Bordeaux and Burgundy wines... And clearly, I must be one of the luckiest Sommeliers in the world to take care of and have access to such historic bottles...
However, that dinner of June 26th, 2016, it was even more special than usual... It was Mythical...
I opened a horizontal of 4 of the top Bordeaux wines from the 1945 vintage ... and although I opened many 1945 vintage wines in my career, it was mostly 1 bottle at the time... this time was quite exceptional as in front of me stood 4 bottles of 1945... a horizontal line up of highly sought-after legendary wines as I rarely had the chance to see or had the opportunity to prepare and serve ever before side by side... It was amazing
The dinner took place in a private apartment overlooking Hong Kong ... I let you enjoy the view.
