Follow Richard Juhlin – the no1 Champagne expert in the world to Mexico. [read the full champagne story]
Estimated reading time: 10 minutes
Since Pål Allan and I traveled around the world and created our iconic book Champagne Hiking, I have made sure to leave the cold and dark Sweden for warmer latitudes every winter. Since I have five children with an age gap of 20 years between them, the family’s trips take on a very different character. Now my older children have carefully stepped into my bubbling Universe and Champagne Hiking has gained an ever-increasing space and importance. The most recent trips have been to Florida and the Bahamas as well as the pearls of the Indian Ocean, Mauritius, the Seychelles and the Maldives. This year, my sons Henrik and Melker requested a trip to Mexico.
One might ask whether Mexico is really the right country to travel to right now in an era of American Trumpism and uncertainty? Just as we landed in Cancun on the Yucatan Peninsula, we heard yet another piece of madness signed by the despotic American president. The Gulf of Mexico had apparently changed its name to the Gulf of America. I pointed this out somewhat jokingly to the charming staff at our luxury hotel. They turned their short, muscular necks and shook their heads, but otherwise kept their criticism of the United States low, since 95% of their guests come from the rich country to the north. Mexico is truly a country that leaves no one untouched. There are enormous problems with crime and drug-related violence here. Mexico City is one of the world’s largest and most dangerous cities, with similar problems to those in the African and Asian metropolitan giants. The refugee problem at the American border is enormous and kidnappings are more common than almost anywhere else. But in reality, crime varies greatly across Mexico, and many areas are very safe for tourists. For example, popular destinations such as Cancun, Playa del Carmen and Los Cabos have low crime rates and are closely monitored by local authorities to ensure the safety of tourists. At the same time, there is an ultra-rich and unique culture with Native American and Spanish roots. The Mayan culture of the Yucatan Peninsula is still very much alive, and a majority of the staff you meet in the tourist resorts are of Native American origin and still speak Mayan. Almost everywhere you can find remains of the Mayan culture, which had its peak during the classic period 250-900 A.D. The Mayan culture was very advanced with astronomical skills at the time and has left behind architectural masterpieces in the form of temples such as those in Tulum and the most magnificent Chichen Itza.
A trip to Mexico should offer a wonderful mix of ancient Indian culture, sun and swimming. There are colorful people here and plenty of culinary experiences to enjoy. The white beaches are bordered by an indigo blue sea, and here you can enjoy wonderful diving or snorkeling and magnificent nature experiences. We fell completely in love with the naturally water-filled sinkholes Cenotes that have arisen as a result of collapsing limestone that has created both exposed and cave-shaped turquoise blue miniature lakes with depths of between 50–300 meters. There are a staggering 10,000 different Cenotes in the flat landscape of the Yucatan Peninsula and we were guided to some of the most beautiful of them all. Unfortunately, we were careless with the cooling equipment and the standard bottle of Veuve Clicquot Brut we brought with us was too hot when we uncorked. Unfortunately, we just had to wash it out and stick to the mineral water.
As you probably saw in our Champagne Friday video, Melker jumped from 8 meters straight into the dizzyingly deep paradise lake while Stella and I settled for slightly lower heights. Since I am a security-conscious tourist, we went nowhere without the hotel’s own driver who guided us to the perfect and most pristine sinkhole lakes. For over an hour we were alone with nature and this felt almost as unique as when Pål, Henrik and I swam in the rare crocodile-free jungle pools in the Queensland rainforest. With a more magnificent champagne and better preparation, you can quite easily have a world-class Champagne Hiking at one of the Mexican Cenotes. I expect to see some of you in the Champagne Club achieve that considerably better than we did.
During our summer trips we are always driven by a desire for discovery and variety. Winter travel, on the other hand, has a focus on comfortable enjoyment of life and recharging the batteries in the warmth. That’s why I spend a lot of time with Per from the eminent travel agency Go in Style to find the right destination and the right hotel.
Ever since I saw the legendary films with Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire, I have dreamed of staying at the Waldorf Astoria in New York. It has not happened yet, but a few years ago the name was taken over by the Hilton group who created a Rolls-Royce version of their own concept. Cancun, Mexico’s most luxurious beach town, is lined with fine luxury hotels, but most of them are located next to each other almost in a Las Vegas-like way as if in their own city. Our Waldorf Astoria Cancun was located a bit away, separated from the noise, in a huge jungle-like mangrove park filled with wild animals that were kept away from the hotel by strict control of guards and barriers. You don’t want to swim with a crocodile even if it is less than half the length of our Australian saltwater crocodiles we interacted with while working on the Champagne Hiking book. From the well-guarded gate, we traveled 6 kilometers through the hotel’s natural park before getting off at the magnificent 10-meter-high door made of hardwood, which was held open by the first of all the charmingly smiling, service-oriented Mexicans who would come to take care of and pamper us for two weeks.
The entrance hall we stepped into is one of the most magnificent and impressive we have ever seen. Mexican marble and polished porphyry in a rarely seen abundance. Almost a little cold Nordic and a little less colorful than we expected from a Mexican luxury hotel perhaps. The specially designed scent was pleasantly subdued and was more like a pleasant background noise than the disturbance I often experience these days in these contexts. The rooms were more modest and slightly less impressive than the common areas. The balcony became our favorite with its view through the glass railing and with its miniature outdoor pool. The comfort was optimal with a dreamlike Spa and a well-equipped gym, which was oh so important to us, where we spent a record amount of time, especially during the first week. It was unusually cold and sunless for the time of year. The wind made it feel more like Gotland in June than the tropics. When the wind faded and the sun met us at the beach and the magnificent pool area, we immediately forgot that the weather had actually been substandard for half the trip.
The worse weather had a big advantage in any case. The sea air was wonderfully clean, extra oxygenated from the world’s second largest coral reef right next door and the temperature around 20 degrees was perfect for Champagne Hiking on our balcony. Half of the evenings we sat there and did contemplative Balcony Hiking as an aperitif with carefully selected world-class champagnes that we had brought with us in our suitcases. It had been a long time since I had been able to evaluate details in greatness so carefully on my own as here under perfect conditions. The beauty of the slightly more gray color scale was a little unexpected, but striking. The energy of the weather gave rapidly changing cloud formations and the large numbers of sailing birds and our friends, the four pelicans kept us company every time the bubbly drink of life gushed from our Reijmyre glasses. Somewhat unexpectedly, the 2012 Belle Epoque Rosé was the greatest experience and the perfect champagne for the place and occasion in stiff competition with the 2004 Louise Pommery Rosé which we enjoyed on a warmer day in the shade by the sea.
Apart from the champagne sessions, the meals were of course joint festive moments. We will never forget the sumptuous breakfast served by our favourite waiter with the apt name Servando. My children have long had a fondness for Mexican food, while I have been a bit reserved, to say the least. I am not a fan of spicy food, chilli, coriander or corn. The only Mexican thing I have previously adopted is avocado and the search for the perfect guacamole, as well as a unique experience I had with Dom Pérignon‘s winemaker Richard Geoffroy. He was extremely fascinated by gastronomic combinations with his world-famous champagne and, thanks to Bernard Arnault, had unlimited resources to explore the subject. One of the most unexpected and successful marriages he presented to me was a black mole made with about 20 different types of chilli, roasted sesame seeds, agave, grapes, hot spices and dark chocolate. Together with the 1978 giant, Dom Pérignon Rosé P3 in a magnum. Oh, my mouth is watering just writing the name. Are there any left? Will it just be a memory? Vincent help me!
The mole was so spicy that I was sweating profusely on my head and I was convinced that the good Richard was wrong and that the champagne would lose its fruit and drown in the tastebud-scorching heat, but he was right. A sensational meeting was born. We searched in vain for black mole, but got our fill of wonderful green guacamole so fresh and elegant that it was allowed to caress the palate almost every meal. The corn creations marinated in chimichurri were also wonderful and have nothing to do with the Swedish tacos and nachos that are customary on Friday nights in the Swedish suburbs. Pico de gallo, the Mexican tomato salsa, also became a new favorite, largely because the ingredients are of such high quality, but also because lime and fresh herbs play a much more important role in Mexican cuisine than I previously knew.
We made a few excursions to the heart of Cancun to feel the pulse, but the only thing worth highlighting was a fantastic restaurant called Harry’s Steakhouse, beautifully located by the calm lagoon and with a lively atmosphere that brought to mind 20th century Chicago or New York and with a plentiful partying crowd and above all with world-class meat. Kobe beef from Japan, American and Argentine perfect prime beef were presented reverently and the side dishes were also of the highest class. The most expensive and largest steak on the trip was still my 1.5 kilo Tomahawk for 400 euros that I ordered in one of the hotel’s three eminent restaurants, a little over-invigorated by Cristal. Malpeque was the best with a superb wine list and most clearly “fine dining” with a sumptuous smorgasbord of exclusive dishes with the sea in focus. Unfortunately, however, the fresh fish of the day was worse than we spoiled Scandinavians are used to. The Gulf of Mexico is simply too warm to produce the most delicate aromas, no matter how skilled the chefs are. Only the tuna and the imported hamachi were of the highest quality. In fact, my fellow travelers usually chose Jao, the ultra-Mexican gourmet restaurant, when their stomachs started to growl.
Despite the inspiration, I haven’t eaten a single Mexican dish since we got home, but my children have promised me to treat myself to a Mexican evening on Dia de Muerte with both black and green mole. I don’t know, though, whether they will play guitar and sing Mexican folk songs in Mexican hats or be content with having skulls on the table to give Richard Geoffroy’s black mole even more dramatic power. I coldly expect that I will have to provide the pink Dom P. myself.
RATINGS
Restaurants
- Harry´s Steakhouse, Cancun – 90 points (Mexico)
- Malpeque, Cancun – 87 points (Mexico)
- Jao, Cancun – 86 points (Mexico)
- Chaya, Cancun – 85points (Mexico)
Hotel
- Waldorf Astoria, Cancun – 95 points (Mexico)
