Cultivating vine appreciation

[L-R]Eric Artiere, Julien Coron(top), Ritwik Shastri and Sebastien Duvocelle

How would you like to see the industry change in future?

Artiere: I think if you look at September and October 2008, we have been badly hit since then with a difficult year. But that period seems to be coming to an end — it’s not totally finished, but things are getting better.

We are at a stage now where quite a lot of people are coming to Margaux, experiencing what we have to offer. But it’s not like in the past, when things were so busy — it was go, go, go all the time at outlets in Dubai.

So in future if we could maybe go back to a situation approaching that, not the same but approaching it, that would make a big difference in the coming year.

Shastri: I think we’re going to see people moving more towards drinking a wider range of vintages and grape varieties, so our suppliers here will bring a broader variety in.

Duvocelle: I think the future is in the hands of independent outlets, such as Margaux. At the moment, hotels are supplying these independent outlets with their licenses — but in future, who knows; maybe we’ll see real free-standing structures being permitted licenses.

Of course, we have to bear in mind the cultural side of where we are living — so whether that is asking too much, I don’t know. But the only way to progress and really nurture this business will be to have free-standing outlets with licenses.

Coron: I’d like to see more sommeliers operating here and consequently having more buying power.

And with greater communication within the sommelier community, we could group together to request that our suppliers bring in a certain product; that way we could actually set the trends regarding what people are drinking.

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