FINE Wine & Champagne India - Winter 2018

Residence’ of a Head of Mission. The European fine dining
best-in-its-class restaurant, Le Cirque, is a personal favourite.
A few iterative discussions with the General Manager, Louis
Sailer, and his team establish that the lovely wood panelled
main dining room can be re-arranged (and they are willing)
to accommodate our guests in a bespoke FINE formation.
The FINE Ambassadors’ & High Commissioners’ Table has
a new address!
Le Cirque offers a spectacular panoramic view of the capital.
This evening, these views are accentuated by the unexpected
thunder and lightning playing in the dense cloud cover.
Showers cool the sizzling summer temperatures but are
thankfully brief enough not to disrupt the city and derail our
evening.
A visiting international celebrity chef in-residence has been
keeping the entire team at the Leela Palace quite occupied,
but they have ironed out our dinner very meticulously
and efficiently. Much like a jigsaw, various permutations
and combinations have been worked over weeks to get the
many pieces into shape, to reveal the FINE picture. And the
transformation of Le Cirque does look stunning.
All-clear from Atul, Sumit and Sahil in the dining room and
kitchen to Tanu, the Le Cirque hostess, who greets our FINE
guests at her tenth floor lobby welcome desk and hands them
their table card. The customary click is against a larger-thanlife
image of the FINE Wine & Champagne India magazine
cover that towers the photo wall in the majestic Boardroom.
The Reception room soon fills with a vibrant chatter. This
year, the “Reception” red stays with South America. In what
will be his last presentation to the FINE Table – it is revealed
that the “most beautiful couple” on the diplomatic circuit end
their posting in India – H.E. Andres Barbe, Ambassador of
Chile presents the easy drinking Tarapacá Cabernet Sauvignon
from the Central Valley in Chile and remains optimistic about
the reduction of duties in India. Giving Chile company is the
“Reception” rosé from old world Europe. H.E. Gyula Pethő,
Ambassador of Hungary has worked hard through the year
to move his position in the presentation order and is thrilled
that he keeps his vow from last year’s edition and makes a real
jump from the last wine presented to the first! The Hungarian
rosé wine is the very refreshingly cool and fruity Günzer Tamás
from the “Mediterranean” Villány in the southern part of
Hungary – near perfect for the summer day.
As Chief Executive of FINE, I welcome our guests and thank
all heads of missions for their continued participation. All
anniversaries are special, maybe this one a bit more. The world’s
leading fine wine magazines in Finland moved on, smitten by
digital, and in the last year we moved on to being independent,
convinced about the future of print for those who appreciate
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FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA