It's a question which crops up in discussions among Indian wine aficionados regularly, says Ruma Singh. A select group of invitees were happy to discover some very interesting options at a wine tasting of Domaines Schlumberger Grand Cru Riesling and Gewurztraminer wines held at Ista's Indian fine dining restuarant, Zaman, in Bangalore.
Guests at the dinner, including Vishwapreet Cheema, Michelle Sebastian of Ista, Rishad Minocher and Ruma Singh at the far end.
Port has always been a favourite with me, writes Reva K. Singh. In the days when wine imports were virtually non existent in India, family and friends returned from trips abroad bearing a bottle of Scotch for the house and, for me, a bottle of sherry or port. However, wine lovers in India no longer have to rely on frequent travellers to keep them supplied with their favourite tipple.
Cape Wine 2008 was South Africa's fifth biennial industry show. I thought it was very well organized with social events, seminars and wine tastings at producer stands plus individual vineyard visits smoothly orchestrated for a large number of trade visitors from around the world and the international press. The group from India included importers, wine writers and consultants. SI editor, Reva K Singh was there.
Pictured above is an aerial view of Meerlust Estate.
Never mind apprehensions of rain clouds filling the sky and continuous rain in the previous days. The weather gods obliged on the day itself and it was warm and clear as the preparations for the Chantilli Challenge, hosted by Champagne Indage Ltd., got underway with a wine brunch held at the Race Course, Pune, on Sunday, 21 September 2008, reports Brinda Gill.
`I support the four basic food groups – Cabernet, Chardonnay, Merlot and Champagne' read the words on the apron B. Shankaranarayan donned as he welcomed members of the Pune Gourmet Club and guests to celebrate the club's second anniversary. The Pune Gourmet Club is an informal group of food and wine lovers, who enjoy cooking and sharing their efforts with each other. Brinda Gill was present.
Bringing together the country’s community of wine importers, distributors, wholesalers and retailers, along with noteworthy large-scale buyers including hotels, airlines and restaurants, the India International Wine Fair is an important forum for international and Indian wine producers, exporters and marketers.
IIWF 2008 will take place in Mumbai between 11th – 13th December 2008. Sommelier India is a media partner of IIWF.
Sometimes wines stop selling rather abruptly through no fault of their own. That's the case with a certain Chilean wine whose sales in San Francisco have fallen off a cliff in recent weeks. The reason? The wine's name is Palin Syrah! Now if I was distributing that wine, I'd definitely move my stock from San Francisco to Georgia, Alabama and Texas. Palin would definitely sell well there.
Palin Syrah -- pronounced Pay-LEEN -- takes its name from a ball used in a Chilean-style hockey game.
As testament to Sommelier India's growing popularity in Southern India, The Hindu and Deccan Herald both featured the magazine in their papers recently. The Hindu highlighted Sommelier India Fun Facts while the Deccan Herald interviewed the publisher for "Bottled Poetry" on the wine culture down south.
The India-EU Wine spat came to life once again in the last week with the European Union launching new dispute proceedings against India at the World Trade Organization on Monday over taxes and restrictions on European wine and spirits imposed by Goa, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. For some of the best coverage on the topic, read this Financial Times article, the Wall Street Journal coverage and India's response covered in Business Standard.
Recent statistics from Sotheby's show that Asian wine buyers are multiplying. 35% of the sales were from Asia this year up from 21% last year. 58% of the top 100 lots were sold to Asian buyers this year up from 33% last year.
According to Assocham more Indians will consume wine in the next two years. The industry association projects that the country's wine consumption will nearly double to 9 million litres, from the current 5 million litres by 2010. Assocham has estimated that the Indian wine market is approximately 5 million litres in terms of volume and Rs 500 crore in terms of value.
Wine sales in India were 8,20,000 cases in 2007-08. Major cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, Pune, Bangalore and Hyderabad account for 80% of the demand for wine, the chamber said.
When the management team led by F&B Manager Suman Sharma was given the task of revamping the old favourite Jockey Club at the Taj Residency hotel in Bangalore, their brief to the designers was simple, writes Alok Chandra. Create the best contemporary fine-dining restaurant in the city, with the largest wine list.
The outcome was a radical change and Graze opened to a lot of incredulity from the old-timers. The management must have had some anxious moments as their traditional customers deserted the place.
“Drink healthy, eat wise,” says the line outside the Ivy Wine Café, Pune, one of the six such cafés opened in Mumbai and Pune, inviting diners to step in and enjoy a food and wine pairing. The café serves reasonably priced light meals and beverages along with a selection of about 40 wines that are either produced by Champagne Indage Ltd or imported by them, writes Brinda Gill
When the lovely Melanie Tesseron passed through Delhi we got the opportunity to learn about her family’s famous cognacs. With a high-end portfolio of numbered ‘lot’ cognacs, Tesseron has been described as one of the most exciting players in this luxury cognac category. Reva Singh reports. Since 1905 the Tesseron family has distilled, aged and blended old cognacs. They started out as whoesalers, selling some of their extraordinary stock of aged cognacs to bigger firms for blending.
We recently tasted five special blanc de blancs Champagnes with Daniel Lorson. Blanc de blancs is made entirely from Chardonnay grapes and is among the lightest and most refreshing of Champagnes, says Reva Singh. Champagne is not the only bubbly in the world, but it's the best known and most highly priced. It is also the standard by which other sparkling wines are judged.
Did you know that 15.5% of the world's vineyards are in Spain, making Spain the number one ranked country in the world in terms of area covered by vineyards? However, Spanish vineyards have a low yield meaning that Spain is only a third in production behind France and Italy. And even though most of Spain's wine is red, 61.5% of Spain's vineyards are white.
On Friday evening Sommelier India hosted a wine tasting in New York. The plan was simple - introduce the guests to the world of wine in a simple, fun and yet educational way. Shiv Singh reports. Rather than choosing to do an official vertical or a horizontal tasting, I consulted my local wine retailer and bought five wines from around the world (Napa, Bordeaux, Chianti, Rioja.)
In the world of fine wine, few names are held in as high regard as Steven Spurrier. He is the British wine authority who organized the Paris Wine Tasting of 1976, which unexpectedly shattered the myth of French wine superiority and promoted the expansion of wine production in the new world. He is also the founder of the Academie du Vin and Christie's Wine Course in addition to authoring and co-authoring over a dozen wine books.
The International Women’s Association in Chennai was founded by seven women in 1986, and Reva Singh, publisher and editor of Sommelier, The Wine Magazine was one of the founders.
Having lost touch with the organization all these years, she flew out to Chennai a few weeks ago to attend the Founders’ Day celebrations, and was delighted to discover that the club was not only alive and thriving but had grown to 300 members!
Reva Singh addressing members of the IWA at its Founders celebrations
Robert Goldstein, after declaring that he won an award for excellence from the Wine Spectator magazine by conning them with fictitious details, has set a war of words in the dispute-hungry blogosphere and wine circles. Vir Sangvi got us Indians also onboard last Sunday. But more on that a little later… Kulpreet Yadav reflects on the controversy that's gotten the wine world buzzing.
In an attempt to encourage grape cultivation and promote the wine industry, the Karnataka government has announced the establishment of two wine parks at Chickaballapur and Bijapur as public-private partnership projects. Business Today has the story.
In separate news, the Business Standard is reporting on United Breweries importing South African wine. Cinemawalla enters the Indian wine market and RNCOS publishes a report on the Indian wine industry.
The Festive Season is just around the corner and, as always, we are all on the lookout for suitable gifts. In an attempt to move away from those tired old presentation packs and hampers and move, instead, into the exciting and exquisite World of Wine, Vinner Enoteca Wines Pvt. Ltd. – VIN OPERA has come up with some super gift ideas. VIN OPERA’s fine Italian wines can be presented in leather Wine Cases or Wine Boxes with Accessories.
Bangalore has a thriving wine culture, but enthusiastic wine consumers like Stanley Pinto are none too happy. Here’s why.
I bought two cases of Indian wines made outside Karnataka yesterday. If you live in Bangalore, I strongly recommend that you do so as well because starting some time soon you could be paying 80-110% more per bottle. That’s absolutely true. Here’s what it’s all about:
Which are the best wine shops in town? The irrepressible Avininder Singh was commissioned to write an article. Here's his unedited report. The other day the Ed had this brainwave. “Go forth,” she said (she does get these Biblical moments). “And find me Private Liquor Shops in Delhi and compare them with those in Gurgaon”.
“My couture collections being presented this evening have been inspired by the elegance, warmth and sparkle of wines,” said Mumbai-based fashion designer Salim Asgarally, as he showcased three sequences of his creations at a wine, food and fashion evening, conceptualized by Jyoti Balani, in association with Champagne India Ltd and Le Royce Hotel, Pune.
Sunday 31st August, The Wine Society, New Delhi held its Annual General Meeting at The Park, on Parliament Street, reports K. Singh. Agenda, minutes and audited balance sheets, elections of a new committee, et al, went through without a hitch as all the 84 members present were itching to get down to the real business they were there for!
Based in Baramati, Maharashtra, Nira Valley Grape Wines Pvt. Ltd, reported as being the fourth largest producer of bulk wine in India, is producing its own bottled wines under the brand name of Celesta. On Wednesday, August 27, Celesta was launched in Pune. The wines are also available in Maharashtra, Goa, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh, writes Brinda Gill.
Harvesting began on September 5th, 2008 this year in Bordeaux. It is averaging two weeks later than most years due to the lack of sunshine. Chateau Carbonnieux in Pessac Leognan was the first to start This year there is less rot in the vineyards due to good weather in the last two weeks of August. Decanter has the story.
Indian wines are attracting attention in all quarters and here's another angle in the "Can Indian wines compete internationally?" blog debate. It's an internet clip that you might find interesting. Although I've watched Gary's show and exchanged notes with him, I don't know if I agree with him completely, but listen to what he has to say and tell us what you think.
Rosés – these light refreshing wines are ideal for the Indian summer. Enjoyed for long in France for their light, fresh, dry character, where Provence is the region most famous for its rosé, this style of wine is made all over the world. Try the Pink Elephant, a delightful, bright pink rosé from Portugal brought to us by the UB Group. Its intense fruity aroma of strawberries is carried over in your palate with a hint of sweetness, supported by delicious acidity and a delicate finish.
Tannins in wine have been described, particularly by novice drinkers, as having the effect of making wine difficult to drink compared to a wine with a lower level of tannins. Tannins can be described as leaving a dry and puckered feeling with a "furriness" in the mouth that can be compared to a stewed tea, which is also very tannic. This effect is particularly profound when drinking tannic wines without the benefit of food.
Tannins come primarily from the grape skins and the seeds and in biological terms are plant polyphenols that either bind and precipitate or shrink proteins.
Talking about the awards, Steven Spurrier, notes, "My role as Chairman is not to judge, but to observe. When a panel cannot agree, I am asked to mediate on a wine, offering an opinion which generally confirms where they were going in the first place. Each and every wine is judged equally, fully discussed by the panels and no wine is given the benefit of the doubt. The results speak for themselves." Steven Spurrier gives us a peek into the Awards Dinner and the wines that accompanied the meal.
The Pune Gourmet Club which has held a series of successful events over the last year, will be holding its 2nd Annual Meeting on September 21st, 2008. Latin cuisine will be the focus. Pictured to the right are members enjoying a Tapas evening with a selection of Revielo and Nine Hills wines in June.
