Interview:
Cameron Munter
the ambassador
of the United States of America
in Serbia.
Cameron Munter,
the ambassador of the United States
of America in Serbia, is an interesting
diplomat. Though representative
of a superpower in a small, troubled
country, he never misses an opportunity
to visit a new part of Serbia,
where he drops into village households,
sits with his hosts and, over
food and brandy, discusses things
ranging from agriculture to politics.
This is hardly useful in diplomacy,
so I had to ask him why he does
it. He seems genuinely interested
in Serbia and Serbs, especially
what they think and believe and
why. Mr. Munter is such an active
and busy being that one is almost
sorry to keep him for an interview.
On the other hand, he is a genuinely
optimistic and positive character
and one loosens up in his company,
only to realize how quickly a
professional diplomat in him processes
thoughts into careful words. Still,
this is a diplomat of a new model,
one who manages to make relaxed
jokes, have a relaxed chat about
wine, jazz, baseball and agriculture,
wasting no opportunity to place
a message he wants to put through.
This is, perhaps, because he truly
believes in those messages, or
at least most of them.
His function in Serbia contains
in itself power which he carries
with ease, but takes if seriously.
Just like everyone else in Serbia.
Special:
Bordeaux Primeur, millesime 2007
Professional Tasting
of the Greatest Bordeaux Wines
from the Latest Vintage
The best known
and the most recognized experts,
oenologists and traders, wine
aficionados - they were all here
to once again welcome with anticipation
what comes from Bordeaux. This
preliminary presentation of the
greatest 2007 wines was an ideal
opportunity to confirm or reject
the doubts about a difficult,
unpredictable, surprising vintage
2007.
Several hundreds of privileged
connoisseurs, going from one chateau
to another, from one tasting to
another, did their best to taste
as many wines and possible in
order to gain a clearer picture
and make more precise generalizations
and conclusions.
A team of three "Wine Style"
journalists was proud to be among
the chosen ones and to actively
take part in the tasting of the
best of the most famous wines.
Apart from tasting, our team also
visited the most important chateaux
of Bordeaux: "Ausone",
"D'Yquem", "Margaux",
"Lafite Rothschild",
"Pichon-Langeuville",
"Mouton Rothschild",
"Haut Brion", "Cheval
Blanc", "Latour",
"Coup de Mourlin" and
"Lynch Bages", where
they had the privilege and honour
to taste wines and talk to the
owners, CEOs and chief winemakers.
Here we present a summary of our
impressions from the Primeur tasting.
You were (probably) surprised
when you saw this headline the
"Matching Food and Wine"
section, but I was no less surprised
to find that in Serbian restaurants
it is almost impossible to order
avocado and dishes prepared with
avocado as a supplement or as
the main ingredient. I cannot
explain why this is so, but I
know avocado was always considered
a powerful aphrodisiac - all the
"Casanovas" who cared
about their image avoided consuming
it, at least in public. However,
this trend is long gone
Aleš
Kristančić: A Winemaker Keeping
up with World Trends
His charisma, enthusiasm and energy
make him truly unique. Continuing
a family winemaking tradition
that has lasted for eight generations,
Aleš Kristancic, the owner of
the Slovenian winery "Movia"
has found the best way to pack
the patina from the bottles into
a modern concept of living. And
his excellence in winemaking has
recently earned him a huge recognition
- he has been selected as one
of worlds twelve most influential
winemakers in a vote by twenty
distinguished journalists and
experts in the world of wine.
On that occasion, in April this
year Mr. Kristancic participated
in the event called "Wine
Creator", the first international
meeting of winemakers
Wine, of course,
comes from vineyards, but this
very popular sentence contains
the greatest paradox of all. Modern-day
research of the "customers'
preference" type brings new
criteria, which result in huge
shifts in wine production - the
tendency to create wine according
to the taste of the market, specific
market segments or even market
niches is gaining momentum
Business
club:
Adrenaline Addiction
to Retail
Rajko Mandić CEO
of "Delta Maxi Srbija"
He graduated
from the Faculty of Economy in
Belgrade, Department of Finance,
Banking and Insurance. After that
he earned his executive MBA in
the United States at the Harvard
Business School, where he attended
the General Management course.
His business career began in corporate
banking, after which he moved
on to "Delta holding",
where he spent the last six years
in retail as deputy CEO. Rajko
Mandić is currently the CEO of
"Delta Maxi Srbija"
and the officer in charge of strategic
commercial issue of the entire
retail group
©2007
Wine Style