Never e-neuf of this classic red

By Kiran Ghuman, MD, Octavian Security UK

I have never had a bad Chateuneuf-Du-Pape.

Believe me, I’ve tried.

I was at the “Masters” awards this week and after a chat with the editor, Sam, the BusinessDesk team dropped me a line about reviewing some wine.

Oh, go on then!

The pressure was on and I knew I would have to approach this with rigour and diligence.

After all, Octavian is in an industry that requires an eye for detail, so I would have to be absolutely sure of this before I felt secure enough to make such a bold statement as NEVER having had a bad bottle of this classic.

The thing is, the name itself, thanks to excellent and consistent branding, is synonymous with quality. However, it is always backed up by the firmest of foundations (or “terroir” as I believe it is called) in that it never fails to deliver on taste.

You can have all the accolades in the world, all the heritage and brand equity but if you drop the ball on the basics you will soon lose that prestige.

Funnily enough, mention Chateuneuf-Du-Pape to a lot of people and many will expect an exorbitant price tag to go alongside the bottle.

That is not the case or at least it does not need to be.

There is a huge variety. We’re not talking Heinz 57 here but the conservative amount is 13 (lucky for some) although I am told some wine experts argue for 22 “authorised” grapes.

Well, I’m not counting. 

This variety means there is something for most budgets, from affordable to the truly eye-wateringly expensive and it is readily available all over the world.

What I really love is the beautiful balance. It has body, it has soul yet it is not too heavy.

There is always that wine that on first sniff you think “uh, oh, headache juice alert” but these are consistently reliable,  especially after a few hours of airing.

Sadly, I’m writing this at my desk ahead of a busy week here at our new offices in Bingham so any further “research” will have to wait.