Featured User: Daniel Maquin

Daniel Maquin is a French national currently living in Warsaw, Poland. He has a wife and a 5-year-old daughter, Amelia, and before living in Warsaw, they spent 11 years in Paris. He is originally from Toulouse, France, just in between Bordeaux and the Languedoc region. He likes wine, soccer, running, cycling, reading, watching TV shows and going to the movies. Daniel is a Talent Acquisition Manager for an American Corporation in the finance industry in Warsaw. Delectable: What sparked your passion for wine? Daniel Maquin: I guess wine has always been around. My parents both come from wine growing regions (Bordeaux for my mother, Cognac for my father). One of my father’s uncle is a wine grower, my mother’s grandparents were wine merchants in Bordeaux, my grandfather used to be a consultant to wine growers, and close friends of my parents are either owners or wine directors in the Medoc area. There has always been wine at the dinner table while growing up and while it took me sometime to realize it, wine has been part of who I am from the very beginning. I remember tasting Champagne with a finger during New Year’s Eve with my cousins behind our parents' backs or asking for a sip of red Bordeaux on Christmas lunch. When I started working I met a couple of people who encouraged me going deeper into learning wine. A good friend had a wine shop in Pigalle in Paris for a while where I spent very long hours talking about wine and meeting with wine growers. A former colleague, who was a real wine geek, lead me to read absolutely everything I could find about wine, including web forums like “la passion du vin” which is absolutely mind-blowing for the French speakers out there. And I enjoyed watching Mondovino and reading Drops of God like the next guy of course. D: What wine region are you wild about right now? DM: I am in a long-term relationship with Beaujolais because I feel this is the region in France where your chances to buy and taste a masterpiece for a still very reasonable price are the highest. I like that there are wine makers over there who try new things and I respect a lot their craft. The ones like Foillard and Lapierre are my personal heroes, but Mee Godard is up there too. Lately I’ve been looking more into the Veneto wines of Valpolicella. Ripasso and even more so Amarone are really interesting to me. Especially Amarone which can be so different from one bottle to another, from straight forward, thinner wines with tannins to very wide and opulent wines made to impress. I like that you’ll always find some common markers in Amarone but that you are never sure what to expect with a producer you encounter for the first time. D: What is the most unusual wine you’ve ever tried? DM: It was a 1973 Mouzay Mignot Vouvray demi sec (sadly it was before I opened my Delectable account). The residual sugar had been eaten but the wine wasn’t oxidized nor showing aging. Its robe was still golden and its nose showed some mint and honey scents. The palate was very acid driven, not much matter but an overall fresh feeling. The finish was delicate and fruity, with a hint of honey. I had it on October 12, 2013 and remember it like it was yesterday. This was a beautiful moment. D: What is your golden rule for wine? DM: Never drink or taste alone, always open a bottle for at least 2 (usually my wife) to share opinions and discuss about the wine and its qualities. D: Say you’re not allowed to have wine, what is your second option? DM: Beer is the best option around here, top 5 country for beer consumption per capita according to Wikipedia. D: Choose a movie, book, quote, or song and pair it with a wine DM: I’d say Barry Lindon and some baroque, rich Sauternes like with a very strong acid backbone, and some refinement, noble touches, very sweet and round at first but developing tastes and layers of complexity and a very strong will and character. The finish is everlasting and full of drama. We had a 1955 Loupiac Chateau du Cros a while ago which was still holding itself to be paired with Barry Lindon, or more recently, 2007 Rieussec comes to mind. D: If you were a wine, what wine would you be? DM: I would most likely be a natural wine from the Fronton AOC . First this is the nearest appellation from Toulouse where I grew up. Then Negrette , the local varietal (at least 50% of the blend to be considered for AOC), makes for straight forward wines, a bit wild on the nose, very often exploding of violets at first, so rather communicative, friendly and enabling friendship and discussion. Those wines are never pretentious, always friendly and easy to decipher, and make for good companions to appetizers or grilled meat on a barbecue. And natural because I like to play close to my roots and to always remember where I come from, without bluffing or showing off.