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| A Champagne Makeover |
| By Rajiv Singhal |
| On his first-ever visit to India, Patrice Noyelle was soaking-in this country with some friends as a guest of the grand-man of Indian hospitality, Mr. P.R.S Oberoi. "It seems that Mr. Oberoi loved our Champagne, and here I am to present it - santé bonheur", Patrice told me as I managed to find a moment on his schedule (even if it had to be in Gurgaon) to clink flutes of Pol Roger Brut Réserve sans année with him. |
| Pol Roger (depuis 1849) developed a formidable reputation in Champagne. And Patrice Noyelle is credited with significant achievements as President of the Board of Directors. When he was appointed in 1997, he became the first person outside the founding family to take this appointment in the 160-odd year history of the house. In 2013, he was appointed to the Supervisory Board presided over by Christian de Billy (fifth generation of the family) and handed over the reins to his Export Director, Laurent d'Harcourt. |
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Patrice Noyelle |
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| The challenges |
| Taking over a company that was run for generations as a family business is not easy, and Pol Roger was no exception. But Patrice is elegantly blunt – “I am kind of stubborn. I know what I want, and never give up!” |
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Maison Pol Roger |
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| What challenges did he face? "It was not easy to get into the system and "improve" it, because paradoxically, the underlying implication was that it was not good. I let others judge, but I managed to bring a lot of improvements." |
| "Almost everything needed attention. There were big hiccups in production. I was keen to invest in modern techniques like traceability and introduce computer controlled systems for consistency. And I hired Dominique Petit (from Krug) as our cellar master." |
| Patrice seems to be very fond of Dominique. "He helped me do everything best. Owning 90 hectares, we built on the long term contracts with growers bit by bit to get control on the balance grape needed for our ballpark 1.8 million bottles. But I had to back the cellar master with the best production tools, so I launched a plan to renovate the winery and in 2013, our new cellars showcased the completely re-built production tools." |
| At Pol Roger, they even started to get rid of certain batches that we believed were not good. And when they stopped using the taille, they were among the few cuvée only houses. As the dosage was cut from 12 g/l to 9 g/l, Patrice ignored sceptics who thought he was going too far because he was convinced that this was the right track. "We did not need the dosage, as we did not have anything to hide!" Dominique ensured that these changes were integrated in the Pol Roger style without any problem. |
| Pol Roger style |
| What is the Pol Roger style? "Fresh and fruity, but with a capacity to age. Pol Roger is one a very aromatic champagne, fine and elegant. An old bottle of Pol Roger cannot be oxidised!" |
| Patrice had the singular objective to take Pol Roger to its glory and considers himself fortunate that he arrived as the company was preparing for the year 2000. "Sales were not a problem. We could sell more than we possibly had, and the wines went on allocation. It was nice to see the momentum building, but in Champagne, you don't run! You have to take a long term view on the business! |
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Remuage (riddling) is done by hand |
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| What Dominique helped him do in the cellars, Laurent did in the offices. Bit by bit, Pol Roger built back distribution in France, and then around the world. They believed that it was very important to have a complete fit between the product being sold and the person selling it, and this guided the choices made - the conscious decision that Pol Roger took to be a premium champagne. When Revue Vin de France rated Pol Roger in the Top 10 Champagne (all members of the tasting panel had to agree unanimously), it made some noise in Champagne, and Patrice said to Christian de Billy, "we are there, now we have to continue". |
| Brit connection |
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Brit connection |
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| The Oberoi Gurgaon Sommelier Rakesh Awagadhe, who has been ensuring that the magical bubbles in our flutes never dry out, reminded us that it was indeed time for us to move to the special dinner hosted by the Oberoi Gurgaon to showcase Pol Roger's Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill 2004. Sir Winston's friendship with the house is legendary - he called it the most drinkable address in the world. Patrice elaborated, "the Britishness of Pol Roger cannot be denied, we have played on that. I had the pleasure and the pride to get back the lost Royal Warrant in 2003 - it was my Christmas present. And it was complete pleasure, joy and pride for Pol Roger to be the champagne for the recent Royal Wedding." |
| India |
| "It is a market where we have to go. We must be in all those markets where, one day, there will be a potential - even if it might take another 25 years to achieve it - and we are making some in-roads, step-by-step." Patrice's words are very re-assuring for the Indian champagne lovers. |
| Rajiv and Ritu Singhal were guests of The Oberoi Gurgaon. |
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