Wine baroness

Three years ago, when Melanie Tesseron (inset) was asked by her uncle to take over the family owned Chateau of Pontet-Canet in France, she knew almost nothing about wines. “It was an interesting learning graph,” says the 30-year-old who conducted a wine and cognac tasting session of her Pontet-Canet vintages at Ricks, the buzzing lounge of Delhi’s Taj Mahal Hotel.

“I sacrificed my career as a graphic designer to enter the world of enology. The transition was not natural. Although I had tasted and enjoyed drinking wine, I never cared for the tasting notes. I undertook a year-long course in deciphering wine language just to survive,” she laughs. Today, she is firmly in control of affairs of the 81 hectare vineyards of Chateau Pontet-Canet.

On her first official visit to Delhi, she describes the deep red 2001 Pontet-Canet as a “hidden treasure” which pairs perfectly with north Indian dishes like mutton or lentils. “Most of our wines go well with Indian food,” she says. Tesserron has been a lover of spicy Indian curries since her brother worked as a chef in Goa for three years. “At home, my brother would often make a mutton curry and we would pair it with Pontet-Canets of various vintages to check out which paired the best. During Christmas, the family gets together and gorges on Indian curries, washing it down with wines,” she continues. With a price tag Rs 15,000 upwards, these wines are available only in select hotels across the city.