Meeting an important client for dinner? Here’s how to choose the right wine

Precipitous arrange? Check. Reservation at a fancy restaurant? Check. You are off to a power meeting with an important principal or customer, and you desire to channel your inner Don Draper.

Things become a lilliputian catchy when the sommelier presents you with the wine list.

You scan it and your mind is a blur, a seven-2nd lightspeed trip across the regions of the winemaking world. Is that a winery proper noun? That French give-and-take is familiar but is that a silent consonant? What exercise I pick?

To help you make the correct impression with your wine selections, CNA Lifestyle roped in 4 wine experts: Edwin Soon, wine author and consultant; Kenny Leong, freelance wine announcer; Anthony Charmetant, co-owner of Ma Cuisine restaurant; and Kelvin Tay, group sommelier mentor of The White Rabbit restaurant.

READ: The White Rabbit celebrates its tenth birthday with erstwhile-schoolhouse classics

Ma Cuisine owners Anthony Charmetant and Mathieu Escoffier. (Photograph: Ma Cuisine) WHAT KIND OF WINES WOULD YOU RECOMMEND TO SOMEONE WHO WANTS TO CONVEY HIS OR HER Condition IN A POWER Coming together?

Edwin Soon (ES): I'd recommend Bordeaux wines from top chateaus like Lafite, Margaux, Cheval Blanc, and d'Yquem. Burgundy Yard Crus from the appellations of Chambertin, Corton, Romanee-Conti would besides work.

Kenny Leong (KL): Bordeaux seems like a anticipated choice, while Burgundy offers more intrigue and refinement, and then you should take that into consideration if you'd similar your wine to convey more sophistication and discernment.

If you are the customer and have been given the liberty to choose, it's rubber to go for options like Gewurztraminer, Soave, or the undervalued Spanish reds. This not only lets your host know that your palate extends beyond the usual Chardonnay, Riesling, or Merlot, it also says a lot about how you cull to spend your money where it's worth, by avoiding the mainstream offerings that typically see higher mark-ups.

Kelvin Tay (KT): I'd go for a Burgundy, besides, equally the region's Pinot Noir has plenty of elegance and intensity. I could spend hours tasting and re-tasting them to see how they are evolving. My personal favourite is Domaine Henri Gouges Nuits-Saint-Georges, which I'd pair with a grilled Mishima wagyu flat iron steak cooked rare or medium rare.

The White Rabbit's Kelvin Tay recommends a bottle of Domaine Henri Gouges Nuits-Saint-Georges. (Photo: Kelvin Tay)

Anthony Charmetant (AC): Since the guests are in a business organization coming together, they may non take enough fourth dimension to explore a big, powerful, circuitous wine. I'd recommend a wine that is piece of cake to drink and understand, at a toll point they are comfortable with, and one that doesn't require much caption or additional time to exhale and decant.

I'd selection a Domaine Egly-Ouriet, Premier Cru Les Vignes de Vrigny, a champagne which is revered past wine lovers. Alternatively, a Crozes Hermitage Clos Des Grives Rouge (2016) from Rhone-based producer Domaine Combier. This is a Syrah that opens up gently with subtle fiery notes. The wine could exist paired with quick and like shooting fish in a barrel dishes such as our La Pissaladiere, a classic caramelised onion tart with anchovies.

ES: I'd also point to a toll rather than a vino on the wine menu, and ask the sommelier to suggest "something similar to this for the meal". The perceptive sommelier would know to suggest the appropriate wine but at the upkeep I had indicated with my finger-pointing, with the other diners none the wiser.Noted vino author and consultant Edwin Soon. (Photograph: Edwin Soon)

WHAT WINE ETIQUETTE SHOULD THE GUESTS AND SOMMELIER OBSERVE?

KT:

If a guest serves or pours a wine wrongly, we may propose (the correct fashion) but sometimes, depending on the client, we may have to accept a pace back. In my early days as a sommelier, I got told off past a invitee when I tried to correct him: "Young human, you are teaching uncle how to potable!" It'south important to build rapport with your guests.

AC: Nosotros will seat our guests in a more private area that is placidity plenty for them to talk business. When it comes to serving the wines, we like to be a silent player. Their needs should be taken intendance of with timely, smooth service, so they may focus on the serious context of the ability meeting in our hospitable setting.

Anthony Charmetant's option is the Domaine Egly-Ouriet, a champagne revered by wine lovers. (Photograph: Ma Cuisine)

WHAT Vino JARGON SHOULD I Apply IF HE OR SHE WANTS TO Print THE GUESTS?

ES: You lot tin can ask the sommelier about the vino's terroir, which is a technical term to describe a vino sense of taste that is influenced by the vineyard'southward growing weather, geography and altitude. You lot can also ask if the wine is absurd or warm climate. The quondam means the vino is more delicate, with a crisp acidity.

Freelance wine journalist Kenny Leong. (Photo: Kenny Leong)

KL: Just substitute normal words for wine-speak. For example, "olfactory organ" instead of "odour", and "bouquet" instead of "scent". You tin say: "What a gorgeous nose this wine has, the bouquet is alluring and intense."

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Source: https://cnalifestyle.channelnewsasia.com/dining/how-to-choose-the-right-wine-for-power-meetings-impress-client-238451

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