Life should be a cinch for a wine-loving pop star. As you travel the world, guitar and leather trousers in place, hirsute roadies ply you with Dom Pérignon and Grand Cru Burgundy. That's the theory. The reality, according to Chris de Burgh, is different. 'I do drink on tour,' says the Irish singer-songwriter, 'but it tends to be beer, not wine, and I make sure I drink at least two litres of water a day. Being hydrated is a key thing for a singer, especially if you're spending three hours on stage five nights a week, and wine dehydrates me faster than beer.'
De Burgh occasionally buys (and drinks) wine when travelling but finds some countries more appealing than others. He's just played in Estonia, Poland and Russia, for example, none of which would feature on a wine buff's list of favourites. South Africa is a different matter: 'I've been going there for many years, and I really love the wines.' So much so, that he alters his backstage drinking patterns. 'I've been there four times in the last 10 years and after a show I've got into the habit of opening a Cape red and white every night. I've got to know the cream of the crop: Meerlust, Thelema and Plaisir De Merle.'
As befits a man who was born in Argentina, lives in Dublin but is often abroad, de Burgh has cosmopolitan tastes. His collection contains bottles from New Zealand, Australia, Argentina, South Africa, Italy, Spain, the Lebanon, Canada and (most important) France. He has a few bottles of Penfolds' Grange, Australia's most famous red, but doesn't usually enjoy wines from Down Under. 'The first confrontation I had with an Aussie wine was a well-known Cabernet/Shiraz and it reminded me of boiled sweets. I find a lot of Australian wines unsubtle.'
It was a French wine that provoked de Burgh's interest in the subjectwhen he was only 14. 'My dad had a dream of living in an Irish castle, even when we were in Argentina, and in 1960 he found a place without any heat or running water. We had no money, so it was tough.' In the summer months the family opened the castle as a hotel to make ends meet. As well as providing in-house entertainment on his guitar, the teenager was put in charge of pouring wines. 'We had a cellar with a few good bottles of Burgundy in it, but it was easy to be the sommelier: it was basically a choice of red or white.'
Then a shipping magnate called Joe McNerney came to stay at Château de Burgh. In his luggage was a bottle of world-famous Sauternes, a 1962 Château d'Yquem. 'One evening he beckoned me over to his table and gave me a glass of this nectar. My eyes rolled around in my head and I thought: "This is amazing." That's when my love of wine began.' And how well did he sing in the living room concert that night? 'One of my better early shows,' he laughs.
De Burgh keeps most of his wine at his home in Dublin, although he intends to move later this year to a country house with two cellars. 'I've got about 300 bottles here and some cases stored at warehouses in England. I tend to cherry pick from various sources and I like to collect single bottles rather than cases.' His favourite merchants are Farr Vintners (020 7821 2020) in London and Findlaters (00 353 1 475 1699) in Dublin, but he also buys a lot of wine at auction. 'People think I'm a rich, bullshit pop star but I keep my wits about me. I read about wine every day.'
There are some famous names in his wine racks, including Châteaux Haut-Brion, Lafite, Latour, Margaux, Lafleur and Mouton - but de Burgh insists he's not a label drinker. 'I don't want to have to make love to a bottle of wine every night. If you take out a bottle of great red Bordeaux, you have to go through the business of decanting it and serving it properly. Sometimes I just want to open something simple and share it with friends.'
It was with friends that he first drank 1970 Château Suduiraut, another favourite Sauternes. De Burgh was giving a dinner party before a rugby game and had invited Donal Spring and Mickey Quinn, two former internationals. 'Mickey didn't touch alcohol in those days. He sniffed the Roederer Cristal I served, briefly tasted the 1982 Talbot and the 1955 Lafite, but still he didn't swallow anything. When I pulled out the Suduiraut, he finally relented; he's been a wine drinker ever since.'
His second choice, the 1976 Torres Mas La Plana Black Label Cabernet Sauvignon from Spain, was also enjoyed in convivial circumstances. 'Terry Wogan and I used to be directors of an ill-fated radio station and would meet for lunch from time to time. I ordered this in a restaurant and Terry loved it. It was a turning point for him. I get a thrill from turning people on to wines they haven't tried before.'
Occasionally someone returns the favour. The 1985 Antinori Solaia ('absolutely extraordinary, with none of that lingering sour taste I get from some Italian wines') was served to him at Luigi's restaurant in Frankfurt, while another favourite Cabernet Sauvignon-based blend, the South African 1984 Meerlust Rubicon in magnum, was a gift from owner Hannes Myburgh. 'A mutual friend told him I loved his wines and he sent me a case in 1999. I've still got a few bottles left.'
De Burgh's last two picks are both French. One is the 1976 Louis Latour Corton Charlemagne ('you taste the honey, the nuts and the butter, but this is an emotional experience too'), and the second is undeniably a collector's wine. The 1945 Ch¿teau Lafite was bought from a hotelier who was going out of business. 'When my third child was born, I came home from the hospital, pulled the cork and drank the whole bottle on my own. Not many things compare with the thrill of standing on stage in front of 15,000 people, but this certainly did.'
