Hervé Dantan’s parents bought their first colour television with impeccable timing for their son’s future calling as chef de caves of Champagne Lanson, the Official Champagne Supplier of the All England Club.
The new TV set arrived at their home in the illustrious wine-making region in north-eastern France shortly before the 1980 Championships which concluded with the thrilling five-set final between Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe – an epic that is regularly voted the greatest sporting contest in history.
"It was the first sport event I saw in colour," recalls Dantan. "And I have never missed a Wimbledon final since. It was fantastic. I was completely mesmerised by the game, the long tie-break in the fourth set, Borg falling to his knees as he retained his fifth consecutive title."
Those vivid images - of Borg, the Ice Man, in his iconic red Fila tracksuit top, McEnroe, his fiery combatant, in red headband and striped sleeves, and the green grass worn bare by a fortnight of mesmerising play – painted Centre Court as a very special place.
Many other finals cemented that impression: 1985 when Boris Becker won at the age of 17 and Dantan was supposed to be helping his wine grower parents prune the vines; 2001 when Goran Ivanisevic overcame Pat Rafter; and 2008, ‘the worst for me’, when his idol Roger Federer was beaten by Rafael Nadal.
"The image I had from when I was young is that Wimbledon is the temple of tennis, that the place is more important than the players," he says. "In the 1980s I never imagined I’d be here, it’s completely a dream. When I come here, I am in the temple.
"I feel it. I am so proud to provide the Official Champagne for The Championships, Wimbledon. It’s a wine for love and joy and celebration. It’s about the sun shining and people having a good time, enjoying the tournament, eating strawberries and cream, and drinking our Champagne. It's an honour."
Chef de Caves is the title given to the chief winemaker at a Champagne House. For 256 years, the expert winemakers at Lanson have been crafting Champagne using traditional methods and grapes nurtured by vine growers from more than 150 different villages, often in partnerships that stretch back many generations.
Each year, the perfectionist grape-to-glass process of blending begins with a blank page. "There is only one certainty – and that is the proportion of grapes in the blend," he explains. "For example, with Black Label, it is 50 per cent Pinot Noir, 35 per cent Chardonnay and 15 per cent Pinot Meunier. We compose from reserve wines and from the new harvest. We prepare many different blends, many samples and after many tastings, we find a good combination."
Dantan likes to understand the mood of where the Champagne is served, "to learn how we can keep improving the winemaking process to be a la hauteur or at the top of our game".
For The Championships, he draws the analogy of his job as arbiter of taste as being on a par with that of the tournament umpire overseeing the draw.
"We start with a big palette. Of the 150 villages that supply us with grapes, you have the famous ones, the classified grand crus, and you have some crus that are not classified, like the qualifiers at Wimbledon. We blend them, sample them, and gradually narrow them down to the blind tasting, when the best wins. We blend wines with so many personalities – discreet, elegant, powerful. We never know at the beginning who will win, only that at the end we will know we have the best."
Four different styles are available in the bars and hospitality marquees in the grounds. Lanson Black Label Brut NV, Lanson Rose Label Brut Rose NV (the UK’s No.1 Brut Rose NV Champagne), Lanson Extra Age; and the limited edition cuvee Lanson White Label Sec NV, the first Champagne designed for experimenting with aromas, for example by adding a fresh strawberry, a zest of a lemon or even a sprig of mint.
The bottle of the cuvee is white to reflect the all-white clothing rule upheld at The Championships and for the occasion Lanson even adds a limited edition foil featuring the All England Club’s colours and logo.
Dantan considers Champagne Lanson particularly suited to the English Garden Party theme in SW19. "Not only do you have toasty brioche notes, you have a large palate of flavours with fresh notes of citrus, apple and pear mingled with white flowers. It is a really good match, not just a freshness in the taste but also in the nose," he says.
