When we stayed at Constance Halaveli in the Maldives three years ago, we met Jérome Carlier, head sommelier of the resort. We had an aperitif with champagne sabrage in the beautiful wine cellar and even today, our kids still remember this experience. In the meantime, Jérome has moved to an other Constance Resort : Le Prince Maurice in Mauritius.
There as well, he set up an incredible 175 sqm wine cellar. With 22.000 bottles from 17 countries, it has become the biggest wine cellar in the Indian Ocean.
Constance Le Prince Maurice Wine Cellar
We were looking forward to see Jérome again and when we told him that we were coming to Mauritius, a magical evening in the wine cellar was quickly organized.
It was a pleasure to navigate the cellar and discover amazing bottles, from small production in South Africa to the greatest Bordeaux wines. Fun fact, the cheapest wine (Vin de Pays de l’Hérault, cuvée Les Creisses at 35€) and the most expensive and exclusive one (Romanée Conti 1996 at 13.000€) are both from France. One of their most amazing bottles is a magnum of a Vin De Constance from Stellenbosch, South Africa, one of Napoleon’s favorite sweet wines.
Then it was time for some quiz. For that, Jérome took out the game “Le nez du vin“, literally “the nose of the wine”. We all gathered at the dedicated area for the wine tasting. The aim of the game : open one of the 54 small bottles and smell it deeply. Then, tell the others what it was. Some scents are easy to recognize, such as vanilla, cherry or smoked wood, but others are much more tricky to identify. And it’s amazing to see how difficult it can be to put a name on the smell even if you know it well. It was a great moment and the kids had a lot of fun too.
An evening in the biggest wine cellar of Indian Ocean
Of course, we had to catch up the last three years and it was such a bliss to do so in this environment, with a bottle of Billecart-Salmon Brut Rosé and some delicious appetizer from the kitchen.
So if you’re visiting Le Prince Maurice and are interested in wine, make sure to visit the wine cellar. Jérome can organize a wine tasting evening or a Champagne sabrage experience. To be sure not to miss it, you can even book it in advance via Le Prince Maurice Online Concierge.
Note that it’s very cold in there but they have some pashminas to keep you warm.