MONSIEUR Jean Berchon, international director of public relations at Moet & Chandon, the world's most renowned champagne house, takes his job seriously. At 3 o'clock in the afternoon for our meeting at the Oberoi's Frangipani, he turned up with a bottle of champagne tucked under his arm! I watched him walk briskly into the restaurant looking like a young Michael Caine, intelligent eyes twinkling behind horn-rimmed glasses, and I knew he would be one of the

great characters of the French wine industry. He was dressed for Paris in summer. A black coat over shiny grey trousers. A partially hidden bright, blue shirt that was absolutely no match for the brilliant yellow tie. And scuffed-up moccasins in brown suede. He started by telling me about his early morning flight from Delhi to Bombay. "A punishment flight," he exclaimed. "Know what time I woke up? At 5 o'clock! If you are going to ask me what is the secret of my health after this, I shall tell you. It's champagne!" And he waved the bottle of M&C in my face and called for glasses and an ice-bucket. I thought he was like a freshly-popped bottle himself. Full of sparkle, and bursting with that zesty effervescence all romantic and emotional Parisians are supposed to possess.

Monsieur Berchon was on a mission for M&C to India. The champagne house, in a tribute to the millennium, had created a priceless magnum called the Espirit du Siecle. It was a blend of the most extraordinary vintages of the 20th century that M&C had encapsulated in a bottle. And a clever business strategy to share the quality and prestige of their champagnes with the world. M&C had made only 323 of these magnums. Twenty-three they buried in a time capsule in France to be opened in the year 2043, on their 300th anniversary. And the rest M&C was gifting to people who had made outstanding professional contributions to their country, and had won eminence internationally. He had come to make that presentation and show off the Espirit du Siecle.

While he threw himself into the ceremony of pouring out his champagne, I ordered a cup of coffee. Experience has taught me never to drink tea in five-star hotels. But Monsieur Berchon was plainly affronted. "What! No champagne?" he demanded. "Come, we will have coffee another day. Espresso, not this American coffee. Espresso's stronger. Now you drink champagne with me. It is a drink you can have any time of the day. I drink it all the time. It is a good wine, not strong like a spirit, but light and romantic. Even women drink it." Women liked coffee, too, I said. "Ah, yes, they do," he agreed. "But they love champagne!"

It was strictly champagne lesson time that afternoon at the Frangipani. The M&C office in Epernay, France, had informed me that Monsieur Berchon was a direct descendant of the Chandon family. He was also a passionate drinker of wine, a connoisseur of fine cigars, and a collector of vintage cars.

Now, after his first glass, he was inviting me to visit him in Paris and see his cellar of 2,000 rare wines, his humidor of 3,000 cigars, and his garage of cars. And to drink champagne, of course! "Remember Louis Pasteur," he asked me. "He had said that of all the drinks that he knew, the healthiest was champagne. So let's do what the doctor said!"

I learnt that champagne is made of three grapes only. Chardonay. Pinot Noir. And Pinot Meunier. Its first fermentation takes place in stainless steel vats. The second, that produces the bubbles and the fizz, is in the dark green bottles. Champagne has no tannic at all. It is complex and light, and can match many cuisines. "Especially Italian, French, Spanish and Japanese," Monsieur Berchon said. What about Indian, I asked. "Yes, Indian too, we are working on matching Indian cuisines with our champagne. We want our range of products to develop in India, because there are some champagnes that are perfect to be paired with Indian cooking."

What did he do for M&C, apart from drinking their champagne around the world, I asked. "My department creates guidelines for promoting M&C worldwide," he explained. "This is a public relations job, not marketing. It is the creation of goodwill. We decide what kind of events will enhance M&C worldwide. Like fashion. After 30 years of association with motorsport, M&C has now picked up fashion. We owe our success to women! They are stylish and elegant. Not unlike our wines!" But did a market leader like M&C, whose champagne bottles were being popped every second somewhere in the world, need PR people at all? He looked shocked.

"Always... to enhance our awareness. Take India, a young wine-drinking country, but not very aware of wine... and within the world of wine, what is champagne. How to drink it, serve it, stock it, because it is more fragile than wine. It is my job to develop goodwill events for such countries not just looking at the trade, but also at the potential and the proven customer."

I asked him about the Espirit du Siecle. Had he tasted it? "Six times, fortunately," replied Monsieur Berchon dramatically. "An exceptional experience. Eleven vintages in one bottle. First on the palate, you taste the younger vintages. The young aromas, like fresh fruit, a little acidic. Then you start feeling the secondary aromas of the wines of the 1940s, 50s and 60s. Then, in five minutes, come the very delicate, very thin aromas and scents of 1900, 1914, 1921. Pure elegance and sophistication.

Light and subtle. The experience comes five, six minutes after you have drank the wine. It is the mark of a fantastic wine. Memorable! Great! Unique, in the universe of wines. Unbelievable! These aromas don't exist in living nature. They have been made by aging. You are tasting something that doesn't exist around you and me. It isn't easy to explain... even if you know wine."