FINE Wine & Champagne India - Winter 2018

Rafael Nadal and Novak
Djokovic will step out to
progress their bids to add a
14th Wimbledon title to their
names and claim this year’s
purse of £2.25 million.
FINE Sport
Photo: AELTC David Levenson
Our ‘prized’ Centre Court
tickets won’t let us see the
icon we have come all the way
to see – top seed Federer has
not been assigned to Centre
Court. Thankfully, a ‘swap’ is
organised and we get our space
under the Court No. 1 sun!
In a clinical display of what
has become his trademark,
Federer extends his record 32
set winning streak and swiftly
races to a match-winning lead
of two sets to love. The lanky
South African, Kevin Anderson,
serves to save match point in the
10th game of the third set. A very
casual backhand lobbed return
from the eight-time champion
drops wide of the base (and side)
lines! This is the turning point of
the match – enough to prompt
an end to my pilgrimage – I don’t
want to warrant eviction for
jeering and can’t bear to watch
further. The challenger fights
back and takes the game in a
five-setter. Game, set, match… Mr.
Anderson!
Inspired by Emperor Napoléon
Bonaparte, in ‘my’ defeat, I need
Champagne!
Lanson, the Reims-based
champagne house which has
been around for a little over 250
years, have been selected by the
All-England Club as the “Official
Champagne at Wimbledon” since
2001. At the very stylish Lanson
Marquee in the VIP Village, I
pick a smartly jacketed piccolo
(with a straw – paper not plastic)
over a flute of the Lanson Black
Label – truly refreshing and
delicious enough to overpower
my horrifying experience.
Photo: Singhal 2018
Photo: Singhal 2018
FINE WINE & CHAMPAGNE INDIA
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