I never believed in the perfect food and wine pairing. Actually, I have never believed in it until the dinner, last night, in Hong Kong with PFV (Primum Familiae Vini), “The leading Wine families”. Until the precise moment when we were served “marinated scallops, caviar and lemon confit” with the 1990 Riesling Kabinett from Egon Müller. Just magic, a rare and precious moment.
Today, the prestige of PFV is unrivaled in the world. What is the secret behind this success? An association is firstly complicated to set up and to operate. Then, the goal of an association is not to put forward a few names, but to make each name shine in a way that could not be achieved separately. The association is somewhat like blending the “vins clairs” of Champagne. Tasted alone, a large number of grands crus are fabulous. But when they are perfectly blended, they express their full potential and complexity as they never did before.
For Champagne houses, you need a cellar master to make this perfect blend. For PFV, you have a brilliant ambassador called Christophe Brunet. The members of the PFV association are all famous names in the world of fine wines: Château de Beaucastel, Champagne Pol Roger, Domaine Hugel, Egon Müller, Drouhin, Antinori, Tenuta San Guido, Torres, Vega Sicilia, Château Mouton Rothschild, Symington. They all know how to focus on their unique qualities in order to give a meaning to this association. The fact they all belong to the world’s finest wine producing families probably explain why they go so well together and why also their wines went so well together, side by side, during the dinner.
The 140 guests came from all over Asia and gathered for the event organized by Ficofi. If the time of “irrational exuberance” is behind us (read this article published today), there is however still in China a strong desire to discover and to share a unique wine experience. Probably stronger than ever. This is certainly what you may have thought if you had seen the many young Chinese people returning from the auctions held by Christie’s earlier and enjoying this unique moment with passion. This is also the magic of the perfect Association.
(Write to VitaBella info@vitabella.fr)
