finding huge pleasure from something less well known or more inexpensive.”
And to this advice Helen Brotherton, Managing Director of Fine Wine Works adds, “Don’t get lured into buying something that needs laying down or keeping. Yachts are not natural or good places to keep wine for any time. Trade up, not down. A few extra bucks can deliver masses more wine for your money and don’t be afraid to ask for advice. Any ‘wine geek’ will happily share knowledge and boundless enthusiasm.”
And for your own personal pleasure, don’t be bullied by overbearing sommeliers. If the wine you’ve ordered doesn’t smell or taste quite right, say so! The duty of every wine is to be ‘delicious’ and if it isn’t, there is a good chance there may be something wrong with it – be brave and bite back.
Superyacht owners are not known to be adventurous souls when it comes to stocking their cellars or even particularly expert at the grape selection, so year on year, the wine merchants tend not to be deluged with challenging vintage requests. But still the odd surprise can spring up on the order sheet.
Explains Hervé, “Rosé wine is always very popular on yachts during summer time but white Burgundies were sold beyond my expectation! We are also increasing our stock of top Italian wines as the demand is also rising. Finally, Champagne is still among our top sellers.”
The more expensive rosés are beginning to be taken seriously notes Kim at Corkers; “Like Garrus from Chateau D’Esclans and
281 from Chateau Minuty, both with price tags of around 80 euros, quite a price for a rosé wine but this seems to be what the yachts want.” Louise adds Chateau Leoube, Chateau Gassier and Miraval to that list. She tends to try to encourage interest in a more diverse selection of wines, while of course respecting owner preferences.
An example of her success last year was increased orders for Nova Domus from Terlano I’Alto Adige, “A wonderful dense, crisp and aromatic wine and Domaine Richaume who I think makes one of the absolute best red wines in Provence!”
Andrew at No.12 reckons Laurent Perrier Rosé stole the show in the pink bubbles category. He also notes an increase in popularity of Spanish wines. He often suggests having a few bottles of the local wine when cruising Spanish waters and it’s easy to find some great quality. For Helen at Fine Wine Works, Italy remains strong for the classics and ‘must haves’ like Barolo and Brunello and huge demand for ‘Super Tuscans’ such as Sassicaia & Ornellaia.
“These,” she explains, “are
basically Bordeaux blends, sometimes with local grape Sangiovese too, yet are made with Italian flair, passion and style, rightly popular.”
Two recent events have strongly affected the yacht market wine-wise points out Mike Shore, Managing Director at Berba on Monte Negro: the spectacular 2009 and 2010 harvests in Bordeaux, which saw already high prices jump into the stratosphere, and four consecutive low yielding harvests in Burgundy (2011- 2014
inclusive) during which yields were down about a third, on average. “This,” he says, “created scarcity of supply at just the time that thirsty new markets (hello, Asia) were discovering Burgundy, again pushing prices way up.” So, the net effect of scarcity and price encouraged wine drinkers to look at other wine regions. And according to Mike, they were happy with what they found…
What are the Top Tipples for 2017? “One excellent example is Bolgheri, an area of coastal Tuscany that mirrors Bordeaux in terms of the grapes used to make wine, usually Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot. The top wines from this area: Sassicaia, Ornellaia, Guado al Tasso, Ca’Marcanda and Biserno (the latter technically in Bibbona) regularly receive scores equivalent or higher than their top grand cru classé counterparts, but typically sell at a fraction of the price.”
Another example is one of Mike’s favourite white wines: Cervaro della Sala (from Umbria). Like a good Burgundy it is made from a selection of top quality Chardonnay grapes and vinified in oak. But unlike in Burgundy, it is blended with 10% Grechetto to give it a note of freshness and food friendly acidity. “It is a brilliant wine and possibly Italy’s most rewarded white, but it’s available at half the cost of a typical premier cru Burgundy.” Look out for reasonably priced wines (under €20) in Alto-Adige/South-Tirol near Bolzano and in Friuli, like Jermann, for example.
For traditional French wine enthusiasts, Helen says now is the time to really get to grips with the great 2005 vintage, not only Bordeaux but also Burgundy,
ONBOARD | SPRING 2017 | 89
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