KEY POINTS:
Josselin de Gesincourt is sommelier at the Langham Hotel's award-winning Partingtons restaurant. The 28-year-old Frenchman has worked in Paris and Ireland and is now studying for the rare accolade of Master of Wine. He has worked at the Langham for a year and would like to see New Zealanders become more adventurous in sampling other than sauvignon blancs, saying the country's unique and diverse terroir is a "a fantastic land where you can make superb wines of many varieties".
What led you to become a sommelier?
I discovered my passion for wine in Cork, Ireland where I worked for the only restaurant in town selling wine and no beer. I trained as a sommelier at Tour d'Argent, a renowned French restaurant with a 900sq m wine cellar and a wine list many say is bigger than the Bible.
How does a sommelier enhance dining?
A sommelier can transform a nice meal into an experience. Every restaurant in town with an interest in wine should have a sommelier.
What rules are meant to be broken?
Today a lot of things have changed. I love drinking a young, fresh syrah with tuna, or a chardonnay or riesling with red meat. It's how you prepare the food as well - if you have a tuna with kumara puree, this can be matched with red wine. The extra tannins from the tuna fat will be covered by the puree.
I don't think any "rules" should exist; food and wine are just a question of taste. If you prefer to drink white wine with meat, I respect that, it's your own taste. My job is then to suggest the white that will be the best match.
What's your personal favourite food and wine combination(s)?
Some examples that I particularly enjoy are: Foie gras with coteaux du Layon from the Loire valley; Asian food (especially sushi and sashimi) with gewurztraminer and gamay noir, beaujolais with Peking duck, ultra brut champagne (no sugar) with oysters and game food with Bordeaux blend which has been aged for two to five years, bringing out game flavours, leather and mushroom.
What is the most embarrassing moment in your hospitality career?
I had just started as a commis sommelier in a simple restaurant in Paris. A lot of clothes designers would come in for dinner. One day I served Christian Lacroix who ordered a nice bottle of Bordeaux: Chateau Seguin 2000. I decanted it but when I took the carafe to serve him, my hands were slippery and wet (due to emotion and nerves) and it fell on the table, spilling wine all over his trousers. I felt ridiculous, but was impressed when he said: "I didn't like these trousers anyway, they weren't mine." I offered him another bottle and he ended up coming back to the restaurant every week.
What would you do if you weren't a sommelier?
I think I would still work in the wine business, but as a retailer in a wine cellar as I used to do in France. I can't imagine my life without a bottle of wine around me.
Other than Partingtons, where would you recommend readers dine?
Vinnies - Geoff Scott will prepare you a fantastic meal with some really interesting wines. A little bit further out, lost in the countryside, enjoy Bracu in the Bombay Hills with Peter Thornley.
Your favourite wines?
I love Burgundy wines, especially Meursault and Puligny Montrachet or just white Burgundy, but I really don't have a favourite. It depends on my meal, my mood and what I have in my cellar.
Favourite champagnes?
I really like Salon champagne, but unfortunately it's really expensive. I love rose champagne, especially Dumangin, Laurent Perrier or Taittinger.
Favourite other drinks?
As my palate was educated in Ireland, I love Murphy's and all kinds of beer. In New Zealand I found Moa beer superb quality, and really good with food.
What do you wish customers would understand about your job?
We sommeliers love wine, wine is our passion, but we are not here to get drunk. I wish guests understood how much learning goes into becoming a sommelier. The sommelier is a guide in this big international maze of wines. He has the mission to explain, entertain, and please the guests. He is an artist trying to create a masterpiece with the chef de cuisine.
TOP TIPPLES
To accompany a traditional Christmas dinner
If you have oysters, match them with champagne brut or ultra brut, sauvignon blanc or a dry riesling. For the traditional rack of lamb, a pinot noir from central Otago is perfect, or a Marlborough pinot noir. For something stronger a Martinborough pinot noir. If you have ham or turkey, try a cabernet sauvignon (go for Waiheke Island), a syrah (from Hawkes Bay), or even a malbec or tempranillo. And with the pavlova, a light and fresh dessert wine such as a late harvest riesling is good, but even a sauvignon blanc or pinot gris can work well.
To accompany a Christmas Eve seafood supper
Sauvignon blanc, dry riesling, or even some aromatics such as chenin blanc, viognier or gewurztraminer are perfect.
To take to a Boxing Day barbecue
Rose, rose and rose. Start with a bubbly rose, champagne or sparkling. Follow this with a fresh Ti Point rose from Matakana and finish with a heavier Ata Rangi rose.
Toasting in New Year's Eve
New Year's Eve is only once a year, so enjoy some of the champagnes you may not drink often. I especially recommend Dumangin, Bollinger, Philipponnat, Nicolas Feuillatte and Taittinger.
A picnic by the beach
It's good to start with a bubbly. I'd also recommend a fresh, crisp sauvignon blanc such as Clos Henri, Cloudy Bay, Tohu or Gravitas, or a bottle of lightly chilled fresh pinot noir.
