Louis Roederer Interview: VP Michel Janneau

Champagne Louis Roederer was founded in 1776 and is one of the few remaining family owned, independent Champagnes houses left. It’s fame has been such that by 1876 the house had achieved such a reputation for quality that the second Louis Roederer was asked by Russian Tsar Alexander II to create a special Champagne exclusively for him; Cristal. This became the drink of the Russian Tsars and thus was born the first ever Cuvee de Prestige.

The brand Louis Roederer has since become a symbol of quality and, although the exclusivity of Cristal to the Russian Tsars has since dissipated, making it one of the world’s most highly sought after Champagnes, the legend lives on in each bottle. In 2006 the management of the vineyards was handed down to the sixth generation of the family with Frederic Rouzard taking the reigns.

Although a family owned affair, it is still a big business and its executive vice president, Mr. Michel Janneau was here in Hong Kong earlier this week to promote the 2005 vintage of Cristal and to introduce lovers of Champagne to the other wines they make, wines which are made in slightly higher quantity than Cristal making them more accessible to the everyday drinker. We sat down with Mr. Janneau to talk Champagne right before pairing Mr. Janneau’s wines with some fantastic food at Ta Pantry.

Executive VP of Louis Roederer Michel Janneau

 

WTHK: How do you think that Asian food overall pairs with Champagne?

MJ: “Extremely well. I have always been fascinated with Japanese gastronomy and Japanese food but now I am discovering more about Chinese food and I have the feeling that Champagne will match extremely well with Chinese foods. I would recommend a good non vintage Champagne that can adapt itself to many kinds of gastronomic variations – thus our Brut Premier will go very well with Chinese food especially”.

WTHK: What is your favourite food to pair with Champagne?

MJ: “My favourite food to pair with Champagne is Japanese food. Japanese food matches very well with Blanc de Blanc, in our case, Cristal. In Europe, seafood pairs especially well with our Brut Premier which is our non-vintage Champagne. The Rosé Champagne we make pairs very nicely with meats like lamb. Pairing food and champagne together is excellent because Champagne is an extremely versatile wine”.

 

WTHK: Champagne is the only wine you can reasonably drink for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Do you agree and why?

MJ: “Alors, I agree! It is certainly one of the best wines for health, it is an incredibly interesting wine from that point of view. Now to the why…..there are several categories of Champagne and every one of them is able to adapt to different occasions. I would suggest that Blanc de Blanc is best for breakfast, either a vintage or a non vintage with lunch and one needs to discover the beauty of Rosé or Cristal for dinner. Why? These wines are wines of life. Bubbles, when they are elegant sparkle and facilitate digestion. You never get a headache with Champagne provided you are drinking a good Champagne”.

WTHK: Do you think that the exclusivity of the brand ‘Louis Roederer’ gives you an advantage in the Hong Kong market where luxury goods are so sought after?

MJ: “Of course! But I would not say that it is a luxury brand. The positioning of the brand and the way it is seen is mainly due to the little quantity that we produce. There are over 300 million bottles of Champagne produced annually and on one side you have ‘the industry of Champagne ’ – millions of bottles bottled day and night – and on the other side you have what I would call the ‘vine growers of Champagne’ – people like us dedicated and faithful to tradition. Cristal comes 100 per cent from our vineyards…which means that in most cases demand far outstrips supply”.

 

WTHK: What are your thoughts on decanting Champagne?

MJ: “I have probably been a bit conservative and for many years I did not do it and I only discovered it a few months ago. I think sometimes it is a great idea especially if you want to associate the younger Champagnes to some fish or some seafood. I have nothing against it and I find the idea very interesting”.

WTHK: What do you drink when you are at home?

MJ: “I drink a lot of Champagne! It becomes a real habit! It’s so relaxing to have a good glass of Champagne when you go back home. I drink basically Champagne once a day or once every two days, and Bordeaux. We are lucky enough to be owners of a few properties in Bordeaux. One of them is in St. Estephe called Chateau de Pez which is one wine whose price to quality ratio is excellent. So I drink Chateau de Pez and, faithfully Champagne”!

WTHK: If you could share a bottle of Champagne with any person, dead or alive, who would it be and why?

MJ: “Alors, I have big problems with my memory and naturally I have forgotten the name of this actress…..alors! She is a beautiful South African actress who has done advertising for Dior. I would love to share a bottle of Champagne with her as she’s beautiful, a great actress and comedian, intelligent and without a drop of snobbism. Alors….Charlize Theron! That is who I’d love to share a bottle with”!

Louis Roederer Champagne is exclusively distributed in Hong Kong by Wine Shop Asia and can be found on their on-line retail shop at www.wineshopasia.com