The Grand Hyatt hotel’s head sommelier on championing smaller winemakers, biodynamic bottles, and what makes a good wine list.
By Charmaine Mok, HongKongTatler.com
Frenchman Nicolas Deneux is the Grand Hyatt hotel’s head sommelier, whose illustrious CV includes a lengthy term working with Alain Ducasse in Paris, at the Plaza Athénée. He came to Hong Kong in 2009, where he then continued his work at Spoon by Alain Ducasse at The InterContinental, before joining the Grand Hyatt this summer. In the second of our Ask a Sommelier series, we quizzed him on his thoughts on the Hong Kong wine scene, what makes or breaks a wine list, and whether biodynamic wines are worth their salt.
Hong Kong Tatler: Now that you’ve been working in Hong Kong for over three years, how do you think the wine scene has changed?Nicolas Deneux: Since I arrived the wine scene has changed a lot. Nearly four years ago, it was very stuck on classic French, talking about Bordeaux and Burgundy, or, at the most, shiraz from Australia. Now people are definitely more adventurous – they go for whatever they feel like, they are not so scared of ordering something new or unfamiliar. But sometimes, they still need to be pushed.
HKT: How did you tackle the Grand Hyatt’s wine list when you arrived? What changes have you implemented?ND: I just started to change the section for the wines by the glass, because this is the first impression the restaurant gives to the customer. I want to improve the wine selection by including more boutique or special labels. The percentage of independent wine producers on our list is still very small, but I would like to get it up to half or 40 per cent. There are no rules, as long as the wines are good.
HKT: So would you say you prefer independent winemakers to big brands?ND: I think it’s very important in Hong Kong today to bring new things and new names, not for the sake of doing so, but to bring something really good people may not know yet. Of course big brands are very important – we need them as much as they need us. But working with them shouldn’t stop us from helping small wineries or people who work very well but don’t have the same marketing power. I think this is our role as sommeliers: to go and find these niche products and help. I’m talking about winemakers who are basically farmers, who make amazing wines but just don’t know how to sell their product.
HKT: What then, is your opinion on biodynamic wines?ND: This is a word that can be used for the wrong reasons. But when it’s well driven this is something that definitely gives more to the wine. Biodynamic gives more importance to the terroir – the climate and the soil is more important than the grape itself. Biodynamic does help us to understand the wine better.
HKT: What makes a good wine list?ND: First it has to be easy to read. Some wine lists are very difficult to understand. From the format to the font to the colour, it has to be simple and clear. I don’t like them to have too much description. I’d rather have the staff be able to explain the wine in detail than have to read lots of explanation in the wine list. I also don’t think it is necessary to have a long wine list. I would rather focus on a reasonable wine list that has the balance between the brands that everyone knows and some wines that you may not see everywhere.
HKT: And what makes a bad wine list?ND: When you have the name of the wine but not the winery or producer’s name, or vintage. Very often in Hong Kong I go to some places and I see on the wine list, “Chianti classico.” Fine, I like Chianti classico, but I’d like to know what vintage – is it old, is it young? You need to have the vintage and the winemaker.
HKT: For novices, how would you detect a corked wine?ND: You sense a kind of mouldy smell and taste like wet wood and mushrooms. You get this bitterness and acidity that comes right up in your mouth, it’s not a nice feeling. Sometimes you can’t catch it if the wine is very lightly corked; for example when a white wine is served very chilled, you won’t notice it until it warms up a bit in the glass.
HKT: Is swirling the wine really all that important?ND: As for swirling, it’s very important as it forces the wine to move and breathe, though I’d say more so for young wines. When the wine is not 100 per cent ready to be drunk then it’s a bit tight, a bit narrow. So you can swirl it to make it breathe faster. That’s why we decant or carafe it, because it helps. However when you have very old vintages I wouldn’t do it so much because the balance is more fragile so you don’t want to break it. Don’t move it too much. I don’t always decant old vintages, I like to keep it in the bottle and let it breathe very slowly in the glass.
HKT: What is good to drink right now at the Grand Hyatt?ND: At Grissini, the Brunello di Montalcino, Banfi, 2007. It’s a sangiovese and 2007 is a Tuscan vintage that I enjoy. We pour this by the glass. 2007 is pretty young but it’s quite drinkable now.
