To many people, Latour is the greatest wine estate in the world, the quintessential red wine producer, the source of some of the best wines ever. And this track record has spanned three centuries! Latour has been recognised for consistent quality.

IT is easy to confuse Frederic Engerer (if you don't know his name) for a dour English farmer. For the grim-faced, oh-so-proper French wine-maker always wears a stiff upper lip. Mention Chateau Latour, of which he is happily and luckily the president, and the stiff upper lip quivers somewhat to unbend into what must be a huge-effort smile for Engerer. It is of little consequence, fortunately, whether Engerer smiles or not, for his heart is forever in Chateau Latour, the legendary wine estate of Bordeaux. And in that business of wine-making, he is champion. No doubt about that.

India got a taste of some Grand Vin de Chateau recently when Engerer came over to introduce the wines to afficionados in Delhi and Bombay. His wine-dinners, interspersed with sparkling commentary on the fine product he is promoting, were terrific sellouts. Restaurant doors had to be shut, and the eager and willing (at Rs. 18,000 plus taxes a plate) who wanted to be part of the Latour dinners, had to be turned away forcefully. In Bombay, restaurateur and chef Rahul Akerkar was inspired to rise to dizzy heights in producing a menu at his fine wining and dining place Indigo that matched Engerer�s wines.

�What makes Latour so great,� I asked with some impertinence. Engerer looked, well, enraged. �A combination of the soil and microclimate at the vineyard in Bordeaux. It is the geography and geology. Terroir, the combination of soil, exposure and microclimate, gives the vineyard its unique complexion... this is the key to Latour�s character and quality,� he snapped viciously. �Is Latour the greatest wine estate in the world,� I asked dangerously. He looked at me, amazed. �Latour is recognised for producing one of the greatest red wines in the world,� he replied when he had recovered.

And it is true, Latour has been doing this for centuries (before Engerer came on the scene), during which the estate reportedly changed owners, changed wine-makers and changed winery techniques. Only the vineyards remained unchanged. �It is a 245-acre estate planted primarily to Cabernet Sauvignon, with a bit of Merlot and touches of Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc,� the Wine Spectator magazine reports. The vineyards are located around the winery and the small chateau on the property which is 200 yards away from the Gironde River in Bordeaux.

�Is the Latour red the absolute perfection in wine,� I innocently asked Engerer. He passed a hand over his face. �To many people, Latour is the greatest wine estate in the world, the quintessential red wine producer, the source of some of the best wines ever. And this track record has spanned three centuries! Latour has been recognised for consistent quality. Now many wines are produced from many chateaus that are quality wines. Very few of them create emotions, however. You can compare wines but not the emotions. And it is the emotions that build the brand. The image is just a label. A consequence. That is why Latour is completely different from other commercial wines,� Engerer said.

He was loosening up a bit. Not to the point where he would offer to open a bottle of the precious liquid that was carefully lying on its side in his hotel room where we talked. But enough to communicate that Latour�s reds were more than just aromas and flavours, they moved the connoisseur emotionally with each sip. �It is like listening to beautiful music or admiring a magnificent painting, a complex physical and emotional sensation,� said Engerer, becoming suddenly chatty. He told me that the day-to-day responsibilities of Latour fall on him and his team of wine-makers and vineyard workers. Before coming to Latour, he had no experience of wine other than being a wine freak. �Were you even then a Latour fan,� I asked. He actually beamed, �Yes, but I had only heard about how great the wines were.�

I will quote the Wine Spectator again to describe Latour�s wines with unique style: �They are powerful, sturdy and rich, no matter their age. Arguably they are the best expression of Cabernet Sauvignon in the world (although 20 to 30 per cent of the blend is usually made up of other varieties). Most experts speak of the firmness and raciness of Latour. The wine is more of a long-distance runner than a sprinter, though, Latour�s wines usually need eight to ten years of bottle age to lose their rough edges: they are usually best at 20 to 30 years old. You find yourself drinking a glass of Latour and thinking it still needs more time � even though it may be decades old.� For the record, Engerer had produced Latour wines of 1978, 1982, 1985, 1986, 1990 and 1991 for the Indigo dinner, the last-mentioned which Rahul Akerkar matched with a slow-cooked salmon and maa ki dal!

I asked him, finally, about food. �Does Latour go well with spicy Indian food,� I inquired curiously. By now, he was almost amiable. �India is a small market,� he replied, �We send 12,000 to 14,000 cases a year over here, and with this kind of quantity, I want to make sure it is distributed wherever the genuine ine lovers are.� I persisted, �Yes, but what about the food?� He hummed and hawed, �I would not hesitate to drink the young wines of, say, 1995 or 1996, with Indian food.

If the food is rich, it gets let down by the spice. The spice level kills the wine.� And I thought, with relief, of the grilled cinnamon quail, the brioche strudel of asparagus and leeks, the lamb chops grilled with balsamic and the truffle risotto that Rahul Akerkar had thoughtfully prepared for Chateau Latour and Frederic Engerer�s reds.