Terroir - The Madras Wine Club tastes Indian wine
Terroir - The Madras Wine Club organised its fourth event since its inauguration in January 2009 at the fashionable 10 Downing Street pub in Chennai with a tasting of UB's Four Seasons range of wines, on September 3, 2009, reports Chinmaya Arjun Raja.
Left: Members of Terroir - The Madras Wine Club
Mr Abhay Kewadkar, the Chief Winemaker and Business Head of the UB Wine division was present at the event attended by about 30 Terroir members. The evening started with a tasting of Bouvet Ladubay BRUT, a sparkling wine from the Bouvet Ladubay range, one of the prestigious Loire valley sparkling wine producers, which was bought by UB a few years back.
While the members were sipping the BRUT and making their palate ready and fresh to taste the offerings from Four Seasons, Mr Kewadkar gave a brief talk on the Bouvet Ladubay range and then introduced members to the Four Seasons range of wines made at their Baramati winery.
The five varietals of Four Seasons wines launched this year all over India are Chenin Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc, Blush Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz.
The Chenin Blanc was a clear favourite with the members of Terroir as compared to the Sauvignon Blanc. The red wines, too, were soft and easy drinking, without too many strong tannins. A few members preferred the white wines over the red ones and one of the members commented that India still needs a few more years to experiment before coming out with a really good red wine.
Mr Kewadkar emphasised that the Four Seasons range consisted of simple wines which are light in body and have low alcohol content. He also pointed out the " herbaceous" character of the wines.
Some members enjoyed both the reds, while I personally liked the Shiraz. All agreed that as this vintage happens to be the first vintage from Four Seasons, it was a good start. We were very confident that their wines would improve with each vintage under the able guidance of Mr Kewadkar who, right now, is India's only wellknown "Indian" winemaker which we should all be proud about.
Mr Kewadkar took questions from some members about the winemaking process at the Baramati winery and also shared with us Dr Vijay Mallya's preference when it comes to wines. The snacks offered by 10 Downing Street were a good accompaniment to the wines tasted.
After having organised tastings of imported wines from the old and new worlds, Terroir was proud to have the first tasting of Indian wines from the Four Seasons range. We now look forward to organising more such tastings to promote and popularise wines, "Made in India".
Mera Bharat Mahan!
