“What makes this festival unique is that it has been put together by a group of volunteers driven by Shankar’s passion!” said Ashvina Vakil, a member of the Pune Gourmet Club that hosted a first-of-its-kind wine festival in the city on 15th and 16th December. The club, initiated by Shankar Narayan, started off informally when a group of friends would get together for meals paired off with wines and steadily swelled in numbers.
Do not expect too much or too little from your wine. Unique, fine wines for instance should be reserved for occasions when they can be enjoyed with deliberate awareness of the unusual pleasure they provide. Save them for a contemplative evening with other wine lovers. If you choose an unsuitable wine there is the risk that a good wine will be wasted and the occasion itself badly served. Read on for a mulled wine recipe at the end article too.
The India Wine Show held at Krishi 2007, Nashik was a one-of-its kind and memorable. The India Wine Show was a reflection of how Indian Wine is making waves in the foreign markets. The highlight of the event was the participation of the foreign delegates, who presented their businesses and the new technologies that were showcased at the India Wine Show. Businessmen, traders, buyers, sellers, experts flocked to the India Wine Show. Most importantly, Nashik and its wine industry came into prime focus, as the visitors marveled at the growth of the Indian wine industry. Sommelier India was the official wine publication for the show.
Le Meridien, Pune had organized a wine appreciation event where General Manager Jaswinder Narang played gracious host to Juliette Monmousseau, Director Exports of Bouvet Ladubay.
Bouvet Ladubay has French style wines from the Saumur region which were paired with a five course sit down dinner.
When Pernod Ricard India’s “Seagram’s Nine Hills Cabernet Sauvignon 2007” was adjudged the Finest Red Indian wine at the first India Wine Challenge, a delighted Param Uberoi, Chairman and CEO, Pernod Ricard India Ltd stated, “When we launched our domestic range of Nine Hills wines in Nov 2006 to a limited market, we hardly expected that in a year we would win a definitive accolade for our wine.
There's no doubt that Nine Hills has come a long way in a very short amount of time. Seagram's launched Nine Hills pricing the wines between Rs. 450 and Rs.550 and expecting to sell 10,000 cases a year. The winemaker is Jean-Manuel Jacquinot.
Vinitaly 2008 will be held in Mumbai and Delhi. The Mumbai event will be at ITC Grand Central, 287, Babasaheb Ambedkar Road, Parel, Mumbai 400012 on January 15th while the Delhi event will be at Intercontinental The Grand Barakhamba Avenue, Connaught Place, New Delhi on Thursday, January 17th.
Mr. Paolo Da Castro, Italian Minister for Agricultural and Forestry Policies will be opening both events. They will also include tastings with over 60 wineries from Italy participating.
Also included in the programme is a seminar on Brunello di Montalcino, highlights from a project promoting Sicilian varietals and a guided tasting of 12 interesting wines from Sicily. To reserve a place at the seminars please contact vinitaly@lotusexhibitions.com
TV Star Simone Singh has launched Chateau d'Ori's range of local wines in Mumbai. The wines include a Viva, Merlot, Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernot Merlot and Cabernet Syrah. The collection of two whites and three reds are priced between Rs.350 and Rs.650. These wines will be first available in the Mumbai, Pune, Goa, Bengaluru & Kolkata markets with Delhi to follow soon after that. Simone Star is an Indian actress who played the title role in the popular television series Heena. She has also starred in Ek Rishta: The Bond of Love.
Speaking on the occasion, Ranjit Dhuru, Chairman and MD, d’Ori Winery Pvt. Ltd said: “Chateau d’Ori has endeavored to incorporate the best viticulture and winery practices from the Bordeaux region of France – home of the finest wines in the world – right from the cultivation of grapes to the winemaking process – we believe its a first in India.”
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Hot off the press are the India Wine Challenge results. 350 wines participated of which 140 won medals. According to Robert Joseph, this is standard and not overly generous in comparison to other competitions.
But only 35 Indian wines from 10 wineries participated in the competition. As Mr. Joseph mentioned to us in an earlier interview, this was a very small number. Most of these wines faired poorly but Indus Winery and Vin & Vouloir showed promise as newcomers. Sula stood out for its Sauvignon Blanc. Grover which had submitted its 2005s did not do well.
The Indian winners included Sula Sauvignon Blanc 2007 (Silver Medal), Vin & Vouloir Rose 2007 (Bronze Medal), Sula Dindori Shiraz Reserve 2006 (Bronze Medal), Sula Blush Zinfandel 2007 (Bronze Medal), Seagrams Nine Hills Cabernet Sauvignon 2007 (Bronze Medal) and Reveilo Chenin Blanc 2005 (Bronze Medal).
The Top Indian Red was Seagrams Nine Hills Cabernet Sauvignon 2007. The Top Pink was Sula's Blush Zinfandel 2007 and the Marquise de Pompadour was the top fizz.
Is this really an ad or a movie? Martin Scorsese plays a leading role in this promotional wine video clip. The story centers around a key to a box that houses a bottle of Freixenet Reserva and is made on behalf of Spanish winemaker Freixenet. Are you more likely to drink Freixenet wine after watching this? Freixenet is one of the most renowned and largest cava house in Spain, similar in quality, size and importance to France's Moet & Chandon.
(Cava is the Spanish sparkling wine equivalent to France's champagne.) The Freixenet cava business started in 1914. More on the ad at Businessweek.
A wine appreciation event was held on October 25th, in Spice Island, Le Meridien, Pune's fine dining restaurant to showcase wines from Château d'Ori. Chateaux d'Ori imports French style wines from the Bordeaux region. These were paired with a five course sit down dinner.
The meal included smoked salmon quiche with Greek salad, tomato, crabmeat and egg drop soup, mandarin sorbet, bresse chicken en croute with morel sauce and caramelized pear pie with green tea ice cream.Pictured above are guests at the wine dinner.
Wines made from certain grapes — chardonnay, semillon, the Bordeaux reds and so on — gain complexity and add layers of flavor when aged in new oak barrels. However, the type of barrel and the time in barrel can vary infinitely explains this Seattle Times article.
Oak may be sourced from various forests in Europe and America, and once harvested, may be air-dried or kiln-dried, aged for different lengths of time and then toasted to different degrees. Winemakers love to play with the wide range of flavors available to them, which they often compare to a chef's spice rack. This is all well and good, but the final results, as always, depend upon the skill of the artist.
Istanbul based Sommelier, Davide Zubani is looking to move to India and is interested in job opportunities in the hospitality business. He is certified by the International Association of Sommeliers. If you can help Mr. Zubani, please email zuba65@libero.it
The private wine dinner at Longchamps at the Taj Mahal Hotel, Mansingh Road, New Delhi on November 29, 2007, was a night to remember. Most of Bordeaux's first growths from the host's extraordinary private collection were served at the dinner. The wines were excellent vintages from Chateau Margaux, Lafitte, Latour, La Mission, Haut Brion, and Mouton Rothschild.
Tasting notes culled from some of the world's best and most distinguished wine writers framed for the benefit of guests
“I hope that with the help of publications like Sommelier India and hotels like the Hyatt, the India Wine challenge will become a widely used reference source for Indian professionals and consumers” says Robert Joseph in a wide ranging Sommelier India interview discussing the first India Wine Challenge. Read the interview to also learn about his disappointment with the small number of Indian entries and the hope that more participate in the years to come.
The winners of the India Wine Challenge will be announced during IFE India 2007 which is being held a at Pragati Maidan Exhibition Grounds in the heart of New Delhi from 06 - 08 December 2007.
An exclusive Burgundy wine tasting was held on November 29th, 2007 at the Taj Man Singh Hotel in New Delhi. 25 wines from 3 great producers - Domaine Bouchard Père et Fils, Domaine Faiveley and Château de Fuissé, covering a vast range of wines, were tasted.
The wines included mostly a selection of top Premier Cru sites, some Grand Cru's and featured two horizontals from the same appellation to explain the impact of terroir and the climat as each sub-plot is referred to in Burgundy.
Sanjay Menon pictured above with Stephane Soret, Head Sommelier at The Imperial, New Delhi and Varun Maniktala, the Spice Route Manager
The Wine Society of India and Steven Spurrier held a special wine tasting at the JW Marriot in Mumbai on November 23rd, 2007. Members of the Wine Society of India had an opportunity to taste premium wines from Australia and New Zealand. HDFC Bank Imperia sponsored the event.
