WINE
business. She explains, “I was very lucky to be in a position where I could open, serve and sometimes taste the world’s best wines. While on yachts with my husband we started to invest in wine and soon built ourselves a cellar ashore. (Another service we offer crew now with Onshore) The excitement and interest grew and so we decided to make it our life!” Onshore Cellars saw high sales in Champagne, Provence rosé, first growth Bordeaux and top Super Tuscans, so not much new there, but the big difference in 2017 was the sale of more Super Tuscans such as Ornellaia, Sassicaia and Tignanello over the first growth Bordeaux wines. A fact most likely due to the Italian wines drinking better at the moment, believes Jessica. Andrew Azzopardi, General Manager of No 12 Fine Wines and Provisions, comes from a background of food and wine lovers. He agrees with Jessica about the Super Tuscans from the Bolgheri region of Italy.
J
essica Evans of Onshore Cellars and her husband Ed, started out as yachties and that is where she first took an interest in wines, that later became a passion and now a thriving
Lafite, Latour, Mouton and top burgundies from Romanee Conti to name just a few. Trying these wines opened the door to the world of wine for me. It also led to my favourite drink of all time: On one of his charters he ordered 6 bottles of Romanee Conti Grands Echezeaux 1991 (for lunch times) – a wine that I will probably never taste again in my life – it blew me away! It was magnificent and now when people ask me ‘can you really tell the difference between a €100 bottle and a €2000 bottle?’ the answer is a resounding ‘Yes!’ ’’ Kim agrees with Louise about the rosé wines of d’Esclans Garrus and adds Chateau Minuty 281 to the list: Esclan and Minuty have provided the answer to a gap in the market with expensive rosés which are complex and elegant and can be paired with food.
This year, Evans at Onshore Cellars is excited about the launch of the 2015 vintage of the Super Tuscans, which their wine experts Rosie Clarkson and Master of Wine Rod Smith have enjoyed sampling at trade fairs in London. Clarkson describes the Super
Mike Shore of Berba based in Monte Negro grew up in Canada. His life-long love affair with wine began at University when he and his European friends drank Antinoir Chianti Classico during study sessions. This affair is one of the reasons he moved to Europe in 2007. The hot summer in the Adriatic last year had the rosé flying off the cellar and totalling 6,000 bottles over the course of the season. Champagne and Prosecco were of course also key players and Mike adds, “Burgundy is always a favourite of the superyacht market and 2017 was no exception, with Premier and Grand Cru whites proving to be as popular as ever.”
In 2014 Louise Sydbeck, General Manager of Riviera Wine, became the 100th woman in the world to be awarded the Master of Wine title. She can pinpoint her interest in wine dating back to her childhood where she chose Dom Perignon as the subject for a school project; “I have no Idea why as we have never had any real Champagne at home (Swedish countryside in the 70s…), or maybe that’s why, maybe my life lacked some glamour! Anyhow that’s when it all started and since then all I have done professionally has had to do with wine.” The superyacht industry is a conservative bunch when it comes to wine choices believes Louise and not much changes from year to year. “In my opinion, the only newcomer that has taken the yachting industry with storm is Chateau d´Esclans with its range of rosé wines, from Whispering Angel to the most expensive rosé in the world; Garuss. However, we have noticed an increase in popularity for top-end Napa Valley Cabernet such as Harlan Estate, Screaming Eagle and Hundred Acres.”
Kim Sheffield of Corkers Fine Wines first took an interest in wine when he worked as a charter Captain.“One charter guest in particular was a wine fanatic and he invited me to join him for a glass of wine on many occasions – he was drinking Chateau
Tuscan Sassicaia 2015 as incredibly complex with a beautiful structure and likens it to the to 1985 which was until now seen as the best vintage of Sass (100 Parker points). Azzopardi of No. 12 recommends the 2009 Super Tuscans and the ‘underrated’ 2007 Bordeaux. He adds, “I am also promoting Californian wines this year to support the industry after the wildfires raged across California in 2017. Now is the right time to open the Californian Cabernet you’ve been storing for the past few years.”
I think the underrated Bordeaux 2007 is drinking especially well at the moment, however they are becoming rather difficult to find. On the other hand, it may be time to open your Super Tuscan 2009 vintage since I think they are drinking superbly now. Mike Shore picks the Germans as his top tip for excellent value especially among the top producers like Joh. Jos. Prüm (Mosel) and Dönnhoff (Nahe).
Says Shore, “German Rieslings were the most expensive wines you could buy, costing more than even the top Bordeaux estates. A rather unfortunate 20th century and the diminution of the ‘Riesling’ brand made them unpopular except among top connoisseurs … but quality has a way of winning in the end and good Riesling is being rediscovered, and loved, by more and more people all the time.”
Sheffield at Corkers picks the vintages of high level appellations; 2006, 1999, 1996 and 1995 and suggest steering clear of most 2004s but do drink most 2003s now while the fruit lasts.
Different strokes for different folks and different regions tickle the taste buds of our experts: Sydbeck is impressed by the dynamism and quality of the wine industry in Argentina. There, she explains, the industry has used different sites and soils at different latitudes and altitudes and more modern wine making
ONBOARD | SPRING 2018 | 93
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