We are having a vodka martini lunch, a good choice for a hot day, and the perfect cue for Stephane de Meurville to expand on his current topic. “It is going to be a Belvedere day,” he begins, taking a generous sip, and everyone at our table laughs. “On a Friday it is perfect, but on a Monday it would have been tough for me.” Any allergies, our maître d’ politely asks. “Only bad Champagne or bad vodkas,” continues De Meurville, clearly in the mood for some fun. Later that night, the luxury vodka brand will be unveiling an artistic collaboration that they are calling Belvedere Studio B. It features designer Nikhil Thampi, actor-product designer Lekha Washington and the EDM duo, Lost Stories, with actor Sidharth Malhotra as curator.
This is De Meurville’s 18th month as Managing Director of Moet Hennessy India (part of luxury group LVMH), where the brand portfolio includes stars like Dom Pérignon, Moët & Chandon, Veuve Clicquot, Hennessy, Glenmorangie and Ardbeg, besides Belvedere. A Moet Hennessy veteran (22 years and counting), the 49-year-old Frenchman has been doing his bit to take some of the brands to the next level — when we last spoke, it was about Manish Malhotra’s limited edition bottles for Chandon Brut. It was sometime before Diwali, and De Meurville had observed how xennials were taking to sparkling wine in a big way.
White on track
Now, over the Japanese chef’s lunch platter at San-Qi, Four Seasons, he admits that while India is a huge ‘dark brown spirit’ market, white spirits like gin, tequila and vodka offer hope. “It is the super premium vodka brands (Grey Goose, Belvedere and Ciroc) that are really growing. We are growing far faster than the competition,” he says, referring to the IWSR 2017 report (a provider of data and analysis on the global beverage alcohol market). “They are still leading, of course. But watch your back, Grey Goose, we are coming!” De Meurville and his team are banking on Belvedere’s roots to make the cut at a time when consumers are conscious about natural and organic tags. “We are 100% organic, with only rye and water — Dankowski rye and water from Belvedere’s own underground artesian wells,” he says. Besides, they come from Poland, the ‘motherland’ of vodka with its 600-year heritage, he continues in a lighter vein: “Grey Goose doesn’t. I am French and I should know that.”
By partnering with Sidharth Malhotra and the other artistes, Belvedere wants to bring something exclusive to the table. “When we decided to take Sidharth Malhotra on as the face of Belvedere Studio B, we looked at his social media. Many of his 6.4 million followers on Instagram come from the north of India. It helped us know our market,” explains Neha Mansukhani, senior marketing manager at Moet Hennessy India, who promises other Studio B experiences for the South. That Sidharth is “always extremely elegant” helped, according to De Meurville, who continues, “Digital is not part of our DNA, but we are trying to be at least on the edge of the digital era. As a premium wine and spirits company, we are keen to learn different topics, and this is one.”
Up for challenges
A marathoner who settles for his gym over Mumbai’s busy roads, De Meurville agrees that it has been a long journey in India with many “ups and downs”. Recently, when talking to the media about the labelling requirements in the country and state taxes, Peter Gordon of William Grant & Sons had said selling spirits in the domestic market was like operating in 29 countries. “Working with 29 different countries is not difficult as long as we consider them as different markets and act accordingly,” insists De Meurville.
Later that night, at the Studio B launch at Mumbai’s Famous Studios in Mahalaxmi, I find him chatting animatedly with Sidharth, having traded his classic Pal Zileri suit for a Nikhil Thampi creation. Bollywood is in attendance, from Athiya Shetty to Nimrit Kaur and Vaani Kapoor. Lost Stories, back from travels in China and Amsterdam, impress with a super tight production, their first original track for a brand. (Rishab Joshi, one half of the famous duo, shares that they did 80 campus shows in 2017 alone!). As for Washington, her enormous starry ball hanging from the ceiling, that she calls A Drop of the Universe (see box), sets off a flurry of selfies. I am still unsure about Sidharth’s role as curator, but the paparazzi love him and his congratulatory hugs get the party going. As for me, I can’t wait for Belvedere’s next. After launches in Paris and London, Moët Hennessy will soon debut a new series of Belvedere single-estate rye vodkas, named after the villages in Poland where they are produced. With names like the Smogory Forest and Lake Bartezek, and notes like salted caramel and toasted nuts, they will be a welcome addition at Diwali this year.
