Lexpert Magazine

LEXPERT MAGAZINE | MARCH 2016 69 TRAVEL Martinique: French Flair Meets Caribbean Cool Looking for a truly luxurious island getaway? Look no further When it comes to determining the quality of the sparkling Shiraz put before me, I have a duty to set my prejudices aside. e question is, How do you determine objectively if a specific wine is good or not, even if you wouldn't order it in a restaurant? First of all the wine has to be "well-made." is is a broad descriptor, which has more to do with negative concepts. Is it free from flaws? Is its colour true? Is its nose clean? Are the fla- vours agreeable and is the finish long? When you order a wine in a restaurant, you are about to make a financial contract with the manage- ment of that establishment, and it's in your best inter- est to make sure that the bottle in question is sound before you commit to forking out for it. at's why the waiter pours you a taste. Your first response is to look for faults. Are there foreign bodies floating around in it? Does it smell like your son's hockey bag? (A good idea is to sniff the butt end of the cork that the server has just removed. Since it has been in contact with the wine during its life in the bottle it will have picked up any off odours, such as 2,4,6,tri-chloroanisole — a kind of cork taint that smells like a swampy basement.) Or does the wine taste like lemon juice with a splash of vodka? Once you have determined that the colour, the bouquet and the taste are satisfactory then you can start prais- ing the wine's virtues. But when you have to write professionally about a wine, you must deconstruct it, breaking down its components and then seeing how and if they come together. e ultimate virtue of a wine is balance — the harmony of fruit, acidity, alcohol, tannins and (if barrel-fermented or barrel-aged) oak. e greatest compliment I can pay a wine is to say that it's seamless. All of its parts work together. is will ensure that the wine has elegance and finesse. e next point of praise is length — how long the fla- vour lasts in the mouth once you've swallowed it. e French, bless them, have even devised a measurement to calibrate how long the flavour lasts in the mouth. It's called a caudalie, a term derived from the French word caudal (tail). One caudalie represents one sec- ond. A fine wine can have a finish that lasts up to 10 caudalies, or even longer. For me, the added marker for quality is if the bou- quet and taste of a wine have a floral grace note. ose winning dogs, the best of their breed, no doubt had some kind of harmony of form, and their personality was the floral note that I look for in great wines. But on a purely personal level, none of those canines could hold a candle to my 11-year-old wheaten terrier — Pinot the Wonder Dog. And that's where subjec- tivity comes in, whether for pets or wine. WHEN IT COMES to Caribbean getaways, your daydreams likely transport you from the client's boardroom to places like Jamaica, St. Lucia and the Baha- mas. But if what you're seeking is a spot that marries French flair and Caribbean cool, it's time to add Martinique to that list. > Food: What do you get when you marry the French love of buttery pastries and foie gras with a Caribbean flair for curries and stews? Meals that bring you to your knees in gratitude. You can spend a week trying various iterations of the island-original Chicken Colombo (a curry-like spice created on the island from a fusion of its southeast Asian and African ancestors), hire a private chef to take you out on a catamaran sail and casual dinner at sea or plan your day around five-star dining experience (thanks in part to an Alain Ducasse trained chef) inside the whimsical Le Zandoli at La Suite Villas (pictured above), which overlook the lights of the island's capital of Fort-de-France. Whatever your choice, leaving hungry won't be an option on an island where cuisine is consistently rated among the best in the world. www.la-suite-villa.com > Clothing: Willem Germany's funky unisex shoe creations mean you can take a colourful part of Martinique home with you. His T.I.N.A.S (is Is Not A Shoe) creations play off the traditional Espadrille designs of France, with fabrics that shout originality and showcase the Caribbean island's joie de vivre. Each iteration of the footwear is handmade in limited qualities, so chances are slim you'll spot someone in a similar pair. Once they're gone, they're gone. www.isIsNotAShoe.com > Shelter: Book into one of Villa Veo's 60 properties on island. e mix of studios, flats and villas sprinkled across the country offer you a choice of loca- tions and styles. Cap D'est offers a secluded upscale experience and a Guerlain spa. Prefer a boutique hotel experience? Hotel Plein Soleil is a designer's dream. Incredible artwork, a stunning setting and the requisite dirt-road drive to get there combine to leave you feeling like you are in your own private hideaway. www.villaveo.fr; www.capest.com; www.hotelpleinsoleil.fr | DETOURS | Heather Greenwood Davis is a lawyer and award-winning freelance writer. Reach her at heather@globetrottingmama.com. Tony Aspler is the author of 17 books on wine, including his latest, Canadian Wineries. PHOTO COURTESY OF LA SUITE VILLA

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