“The winemaker should touch the wine the less as is possible. I believe, that the nature is expressed the most.” Manuel Rodrigues
With a fortunate hand-on experience working on a vineyard in Chablis with his father a Portuguese-born Manuel Rodrigues had the doors open to enter the wine world with a glory. He used the knowledge he gained and further expanded his theoretical basis as he studied at the Hospitality School Bourges in Loire Valley, France.
At his tender age (25) he has already won numerous Young Apprentice and Young Sommelier awards and worked with such distinguished chefs as a 3-Michelin Star Santi Santamaria and tasted the luxury of a 7-star Burj Al Arab hotel as a sommelier in 2006.
He isn’t spoiled though by such a remarkable background. With his upbeat personality he openly shares with me his insights about wine and unveils his plans for the revival of the wine cellar at the luxurious hotel St. Regis in Singapore where he was recently appointed a Grand Sommelier.
The choice of three wines for today’s tasting at the Decanter, a breathtaking wine tasting room at St. Regis, discloses that he likes to give a chance to lesser known wine areas and is not fixed only on the Bordeaux and Burgundy as many top restaurants and hotels often do.
Decanter wine bar at St.Regis
As we taste the white crisp Alsace Riesling from Trimbach 2002 ( one of my favourite producers) he says: “I like Trimbach as he uses traditional methods in wine making. Great wine for me opens with time in the glass.” His honest approach to wine unveils as he claims that,
“the wine maker cannot lie as the nature of the wine should be expressed.” That the tradition is slowly dying out saddens him particularly in the case of France. “It is a pity that Petit Verdot is used less and less in Bordeaux, it adds acidity and extends the ageing potential of the wine.”
The respect for tradition seems to be correlated to his homage to nature. “The winemaker should touch the wine the less as is possible. I believe, that the nature is expressed the most.” As we taste his next choice of red Chilean intense and red fruit based Purple Angel by Montes 2007 he confesses: “This wine from the New World is great, there is nothing wrong with it, but you are not going to think where it comes from, how it was made or who is the producer.”
The wine is like a personality. The young but well experienced sommelier says: “When you taste the wine and talk after with the winemaker then you will think much more about how the wine is related to his personality.” The wine seems to reflect its “father”, the producer.
When I ask him what is the most fascinating wine region on the world for him I get s straight forward response. “I was lucky to be born there – Burgundy. It is so much about the terroir and I admire that.”
But, he remains open to exploring other wines. The Merlot based jammy and well balanced Les Bataux, Les Vins de Salins 2006 from Languedoc Rousillon in South of France pleases my palate and I dare to say that it will be appreciated by the sweetness seeking Asian taste as it is not at all punchy but boasts with yummy red fruit tones. Languedoc is becoming more popular not only in Europe but owning to sommeliers like Manuel Rodrigues now also in Asia.
The visitors of Singapore will notice his touch in the entire character of the cellar at St. Regis soon as he intends to “balance the wine list with adding more little known but excellent wines from Spain and Portugal”.
Lets get surprised.
If you have attended the tasting at the Decanter wine bar, please share your insights with me and the WINEBEING readers. I am very curious how this cellar develops over time.
