58 July 2012

Big valley

After Bordeaux and Burgundy, discriminating wine collectors should look to the Rhône, writes Robin Lynam

B ordeaux, as usual, dominated this year’s Vinexpo wine show in Hong Kong. (It is the Bordelais who orga-

nize it.) But there was also a more balanced representation of other French wine regions than previously, and of the wines of the Rhône Valley in particular.

The Rhône is perhaps the most impor-tant of the French regions for red wine after Bordeaux and Burgundy, and in the range of styles it produces, arguably the most varied.

The region boasts some of the oldest and finest vineyards in France. With signs of Bor-deaux fatigue setting in among fine wine col-lectors in Hong Kong and on the mainland – and with there being not nearly enough high-end Burgundy to go around – the Rhône is the obvious region to look at next. Like Bur-gundy it offers good quality wines at a range of price points.  

The river Rhône runs from the Swiss Alps into France and down to the Mediterranean. But although the Valais area of Switzerland, through which it passes, is Switzerland’s most productive wine country, it is on the wines of the northern and southern Rhône in France that its claims to greatness rest.

The north is Syrah and Viognier country. Syrah – generally called Shiraz in the New World – originated here and is the only red grape authorized for use in the region’s appel-lation d’origine contrôlée wines.

Viognier is the signature white grape, and along with Marsanne and Roussanne is gen-erally permitted to be blended with Syrah, as well as being used for whites – particularly notably in Condrieu.

Powerfully aromatic whites made from the Viognier grape in the Condrieu appellation are among the best the Rhône has to offer.

After hours

The Hermitage and Côte-Rôtie appella-tions are the twin jewels in the crown of the northern Rhône, but good value reds are also to be had from Cornas, Saint-Joseph and Crozes-Hermitage. Côtes du Rhône is a term often used generically for the less distin-guished wines of the entire Valley, but is tech-nically a specific appellation in the southern Rhône.

Some of the better wines from the region are designated as Côtes-du-Rhône-Villages. Some villages previously under the Côtes-du-Rhône-Villages appellation now enjoy appel-lation d’origine contrôlée status in their own right, notably Gigondas since 1971, Vacquey-ras since 1990 and Vinsobres since 2006.

The greatest of the Rhône’s sweet wines, the dessert Muscat de Beaumes-de-Venise, also comes from the south.

Syrah is extensively planted in the south-ern Rhône, but the dominant red grape vari-ety is Grenache. Most of the region’s wines are blends, and other  widely planted grape varieties include Carignan,  Cinsault and Mourvèdre.

The most famous of the southern Rhône appellations is Châteauneuf-du-Pape, the

rules for the production of which were for-malized in 1923 and provided a template for the whole French appellation d’origine con-trôlée system.  

High quality producers include Château de Beaucastel, Clos des Papes, Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe and Chapoutier. Chapoutier is one of the Rhône grower-traders with interests throughout the region whose name is a good indicator of quality.

Another is Guigal, which is particularly known for single vineyard Côte-Rotie wines, which have done much to elevate the region’s reputation, but has many other vineyards in both the northern and southern Rhône. 

The big names such as Guigal, Chapoutier, and Delas Frères have in many cases been established for more than a century, but there are also new producers making high quality wines, often according to organic or biody-namic principles.

Chêne Bleu, which makes excellent reds, whites and roses in the southern Rhône, is a good example of this.

Many Rhône wines are meant to be enjoyed young or relatively young, but good Châteauneuf-du-Pape is often at its best at around a decade old, though that may vary from vintage to vintage.

Spicy, peppery Syrah wines from Hermit-age and Côte-Rôtie can be highly enjoyable when young, but deepen with a few years cel-laring and are often more complex and satis-fying at between five and 10 years of age.

Mature Hermitage should appeal particu-larly to Bordeaux lovers looking for similar wines to high-end clarets at a more reason-able price. The style is often similar. Good white Hermitage wines can also mature impressively with long keeping.

Côte-Rôtie wine is made at Maison Chapoutier S.A. Tain-l’Hermitage, near Drôme in the northern Rhône.

July 2012 59

Time to empower

Women’s watches needn’t be heavy to impress, write Akua Achampong and Jemelyn Yadao

Af

that commands respect, the metic-

ulous addition of gentler rose or sil-ver coloured leather straps evoke a new

type of power watch. These timepieces encapsu-

late a design that is clean, classic and almost androgy-

nous but with feminine accents.

Some luxury watch-makers are showing signs of being unmoved by these large-faced women’s chro-nographs and have instead

responded with new power watches for women.

Typically, these watches are for day-to-day use, ele-gantly simple and dedicated to subtlety and sotto voce detail. Most importantly, they are far from being adaptations of men’s watches and exert their power in a different way, a way that incor-porates more womanly details and less steel.

Geneva’s Vacheron Constan-tin, for example, offers a wide vari-ety of women’s watches in classic styles, including the Patrimony Tra-ditionelle small model, which like the rest of the Patrimony collection puts timelessness in the fore of its design. Cases are available in white gold or pink gold and straps are alli-gator leather.

Furthermore, gems are used in a way that does not distract or interfere with function-

Apowerful watch for a pow-erful woman needn’t emu-late that of her male coun-

terpart. Her watch should exude power in addition to strength and elegance.

Once considered the ultimate power watch for a successful woman, the stainless steel chro-nograph has dominated female wrists in recent years making watches larger and more mas-culine with the typical links and splints strap.

This style of watch continues to be adopted by women, but conventional ideas of a heavy steel watch being associated with confi-dence and authority are changing.

Hublot, for instance, has recently express-ed its alternative approach to what watches worn by strong women should look like. The Swiss luxury watchmaker introduced a pair of limited edition watches as a way of prais-ing strong, dynamic women. The design of these two timepieces is the result of Hublot’s collaboration with Monaco-based Zegg & Cerlati. Hublot’s Big Bang Zegg & Cerlati watches are available in rose gold and stain-less steel.

The two models measure 41 millimetres, have 100 metres of water resistance and come with a 42-hour power reserve. Only 50 of the 18-karat rose gold version were made available while 100 of the polished steel ver-sion were made.

Hublot’s Big Bang provided a happy medium between a sturdier atypical watch and a modest traditional watch. While these models may have a steel-like design

ality. For instance, in some models, the dials are adorned with diamond-set hour-mark-ers but still keep with the watch’s elegant yet understated look.

Similarly approaching women’s watches this way is French luxury manufacturer Breguet. Its Classique collection includes a 30 millimetre watch with the bezel and lugs titivated with 64 diamonds. The natural

mother-of-pearl dial provides a touch of feminine grace to this monochro-

matic timepiece.Breguet’s Reine de Naples

collection for women eschews simplicity and instead aims

to capture a celebration of femininity. The models,

inspired by an early watch A.L. Breguet cre-ated for Maria Carolina

of Austria – queen of Naples until deposed

by Napoleon Bonaparte – feature power-reserve and

moon-phase complications, egg-shaped cases, dials deco-

rated with diamonds and eccen-tric Arabic or Roman numerals,

striving for poetic touches rather than mannish ones.

Judging from the evolving product lines of luxury watch-makers, professional and success-

ful women now have an array of choices not limited to chunky, masculine watches.

Chronograph watches are still, undeni-ably, among the biggest sellers. But for a woman, being comfortable enough to build on her femininity and not to overwhelm is perhaps empowering in itself.

A Breguet Classique 5177 in rose gold

Vacheron Constantin's Patrimony Traditionelle