THE MAGIC OF MARGAUX

As China is poised to become its largest market, the fabled Bordeaux, label Château Margaux has set up its first overseas office in Hong Kong. HELEN DALLEY meets THIBAULT PONTALLIER, the chateau’s brand ambassador to Asia

WHEN ARRIVING AT IFC’s Isola on a sunny afternoon to rendezvous with Margaux’s Thibault Pontallier, I find a genial, instantly likeable young man bubbling over with the kind of unbridled energy – and no, it’s not the wine, he’s on orange juice – that only those below the age of 30 possess; his wide smile and open, rumpled shirt project an image of one resolutely at ease with himself.

Fresh out of business school – he graduated from HEC Paris with a double master’s degree in management – Pontallier has taken on the considerable role of heading up Château Margaux’s first overseas office, focusing on building relationships as robust as its wines with importers and retailers in Asia, and organising private dinners and tastings.

Prior to HEC, the youthful ambassador was employed in various capacities, including six months at Sherry Lehmann’s wine store in New York (“some customers were not very complimentary about our wine,” he shudders), a tasting assistant on Wine Spectator magazine and brief stints for a charity in Vietnam and the UN in Rome.

While some may cry nepotism of this new posting – his father, Paul, has worked at Château Margaux for the last 27 years and is currently general manager – there’s no denying that the younger Pontallier has thrown himself into this new role with the kind of boundless enthusiasm his father harnessed to put Margaux back on the wine map after the death of owner André Mentzelopoulos in 1977.

To connect with the brand’s burgeoning Chinese market, he studied Mandarin for six months in France before moving to Hong Kong, and he made a speech in Chinese at a recent gala dinner for the brand in Beijing. And yes, he loves to drink the stuff too, ever since dipping a finger in a glass at the age of three, sanctioned by his father.

Located in the Médoc region in France’s southwest, Château Margaux has been around for more than 800 years, although wine production didn’t begin until the end of the 17th century. Thomas Jefferson was a fan, exclaiming of the wine, “There cannot be a better bottle of Bordeaux,” while serving as US ambassador to France in the 1780s, and it was the only wine to receive 20 points out of 20 under the Bordeaux Wine Official Classification during the Second Great Exhibition organised by Napoleon III.

The chateau produces three wines: Grand Vin, Pavillon Rouge and Pavillon Blanc. They are found on the wine lists of the finest restaurants and hotels, including Petrus, Caprice and L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon in Hong Kong, where prices range from a modest $600 for a 2004 Pavillon Rouge to $17,000 for a 2005 Grand Vin.

As for the taste, Pontallier explains, “People who love Burgundy usually love Margaux…I often say it’s like an iron fist cloaked in a velvet glove, as first you get this soft, charming aroma in the nose, while the powerful, lingering aftertaste comes in later. In a blind tasting, people frequently get confused by it.”

So what does one eat with this complex wine? “My family usually pairs it with local food from the southwest like duck confit, pigeon, foie gras and roast chicken,” he says with a hungry look. However, with several dinners in China still lingering on his taste buds, including a gala feast on the Great Wall, Pontallier is beginning to appreciate how well their wines complement Chinese cuisine.

“The reds are excellent with Peking duck and Hainan chicken,” he says, “while Pavillon Blanc goes well with crab and lobster dishes. We really want to show people it’s not difficult to pair Chinese foods with Château Margaux.”

Since moving to Hong Kong in March, Pontallier has spent the majority of his time on the road, mostly in China, although Japan – currently its largest market, but soon to be eclipsed by the middle kingdom – and Singapore are also significant. The new ambassador has also found time to reach out to the local community, and last December, the brand’s Community Chest Château Margaux Evening at Chief Secretary Henry Tang’s private residence raised $5.2 million, with a Jeroboam of recently harvested Château Margaux 2010 fetching $288,000 at auction.

While he deems the Sino wine market “wild and exciting,” Pontallier admits they didn’t expect the brand to take off quite to the extent that it has. “The wine has been doing well in China for the last five years, but it was 2009 when things really exploded for us. In 2010, China accounted for 25 to 30 percent of our business – the year before, it represented 15 percent. Greater China is our biggest market now.”

Given China’s persistent thirst for all things luxury, particularly of French origin, it’s not surprising that the chateau can’t produce enough cases to slake mainlanders’ thirst for top French wines. “It’s frustrating that we can’t supply as much wine as the market demands, but our output is limited. China imported 10 million cases of wine last year, and we exported 10,000 – that represents just 0.1 percent, but we need to supply other markets as well.

“People have asked, ‘Why don’t you produce a cheaper wine?’ but we want to keep that exclusivity and sense of luxury. When we talk to business partners in China, we compare our wine to a very expensive tea, and they understand that.”

Indeed, its rarity is an attractive asset. “Many of our Chinese partners tell me, ‘Everyone sells Lafite, but we want Margaux, as it’s more exclusive and adds value to our business.’ We don’t want our wine in nightclubs or bars, just in the best restaurants and hotels. Château Margaux is more for wine connoisseurs, whereas Lafite…it’s about showing off a name, a label. It’s not their fault, it’s just the way it is.”

Pontallier may find the mainland craze for Lafite somewhat distasteful, but he is largely impressed by the Chinese public, particularly after a recent trip to the Shanghai Expo. “There’s this big desire for knowledge in China; people want to learn more about French wine than my friends in France!” While some may feel the demand for luxury goods and fine wine can’t last, Pontallier disagrees.

“Like the French, Chinese people like to drink while they eat, and at dinners, it’s becoming the norm for officials to drink one bottle per person, so wine is beginning to replace hard liquor like baijiu. The government is encouraging this, as wine is better for health with a lower alcohol content than Chinese spirits.” For Pontallier, 2011 is an exciting time to be doing business in China. “Thirty years ago, our position was completely different...the Americans felt they could create wines on the same level as us, but now people are coming back to old wines. My father often says that good wine gives you pleasure, but great wine gives you emotion – it can make your eyes fill up. At our gala dinners, there’s frequently a two-second silence where people pause to enjoy the wine, and that’s definitely one of the most rewarding aspects of my job.”.