The Sommelier India Wine Competition gets even more press attention. The latest coverage was in the Sunday Hindustan Times Brunch special where Vir Sanghvi discussed the competition and how context should or should not matter when tasting wines. He wondered whether wine ratings should be absolute measures irrespective of their category, region or price point. In his opinion, the Indian wines aren't up to snuff as yet though he did find a few that he liked very much. The Hindustan Times also announced the results in its main paper.

The International Food & Drink Expo India arrives in New Delhi. Don't miss it. When: December 2-4, 2009. Where: Pragati Maidan, New Delhi. Exhibitors from around the world, including Australia, Austria, Italy, France, South Africa and the USA are showcasing a diverse range of new to market products to Indian food, drink and hospitality professionals.

Successful restaurants constantly re-invent themselves and Sevilla at the Claridges Hotel in New Delhi is no exception, writes Rahoul B Singh. Dining alfresco on a November evening in an otherwise hot city is bound to be a pleasant experience. What's more, the new menu crafted by the restaurant's executive chef Ravi Saxena has helped put the hotel back on the city's culinary map.

At the recently held Sommelier India Wine Competition, over 400 wines were entered of which only 18 received Gold medals. This constituted a mere 4.3% of the wines tasted. However, the number of wines receiving some recognition (many got commended) was 55% of the total. Does this mean too many medals were awarded? Quite the opposite. At the Decanter World Wine Awards this year 67% of the wines received recognition and at the Japan Wine Challenge nearly 70%, with the percentage of award winning wines going up every year. This shows that wine is being better made now and therefore more wines earn recognition with each passing year.

Champagne continues to make the news. The International Wine & Spirits Records (IWSR) for November 2009 mentions that Rémy Cointreau's Champagne brand Piper Heidseick (soon available legally in India) in conjunction with luxury shoe-maker Christian Louboutin plans to launch an intriguing Champagne concept, writes Harshal Shah of Sommelier India

Not even a furious downpour in the early hours of 15 November on the day of the Bandra Wine Tasting experience could dampen Bandra's spirits for long, writes Suneeta Sodhi Kanga. The sun soon came out and bathed Mumbai in warm rays that soaked up all the unfortunate puddles and had the D'Monte Park Recreation Centre (DPRC) looking festive and welcoming again! And the Pune Gourmet Club (PGC) was set to take Mumbai by storm with the first ever Bandra Wine Tasting Festival under the Celebrate Bandra umbrella! Pictured above: Darius Chichgur, Pramila Sodhi, Suneeta Kanga and Shankaranarayan

The Sommelier India Wine Competition Gala Dinner was held on November 20th, 2009. The attendees, judges, producers and importers who participated all felt it was a resounding success. Over 400 wines were entered with approximately 55% receiving some kind of recognition. 18 of the wines were awarded Gold medals. Among these were three Indian wines - Four Seasons Viognier, Nine Hills Shiraz 2008 and York Reserve Shiraz 2008. View the complete results on the Sommelier India Wine Competition website. Watch for more information about the winners, the gala dinner and the charity auction and view photographs of the judging yesterday.

The Wine Society of India held an exquisite five-course dinner paired with fabulous northern Italian wines in the company of Dr. Cristina Maddalena of Luciano Sandrone, Piedmont and The House of Schiopetto, Friuli. This elegant event took place at The Tasting Room, Mumbai. Sandra and Farhad Bhabha, from Berkmann wine cellars co-hosted the event. Suneeta Sodhi Kanga, Sommelier India correspndent in Mumbai was present.
Left: Sandra Bhabha from Berkmann cellars, David Banford, from the Wine Society of India, Dr. Chistina Maddalena and Suneeta

The Sommelier India Wine Competition will be held between November 19th and 20th, 2009 at the ITC Grand Central, Mumbai. With over 400 Indian and foreign wines being entered from all the major wine producers and importers, the competition is set to be a resounding success. For details on attending the Gala Dinner, please email na@indianwinemagazine.com

Brindco, in association with Sommelier India - The Wine Magazine, recently hosted an exclusive wine dinner at the 360 Degrees restaurant of The Oberoi, New Delhi to introduce a fine selection of Italian wines and Italian food prepared specially by world renowned chef, Rolando Beramendi of Allegrini, which is a leading Italian wine producer from the Valpolicella area. Right: Brindco General Manager, Christophe Orlarei and Saurabh Srivastava with other guests.

With Indage Vintners in serious financial trouble (employee salaries haven't been paid in nearly a year), Sula Vineyards hopes to take advantage of the gap in the market by expanding aggressively. Sula's strategy has three parts - increase acreage under contract farming, increase capacity at its facilities and introduce mid-priced range to attract wine lovers.

Gourmet delicacies by candlelight...paired with 90 pointer plus wines from around the globe... what more can a wine lover really want? asks Ruma Singh. The members of the Bangalore Wine Club had their wish list for quality fulfilled when they gathered at Olive Beach, Bangalore, for the latest BWC event on 4th November, a sit-down dinner titled A Night with the Nineties.

It seems wherever you look in the world of wine reporting currently, the global buzz of the moment relates to the burgeoning demand for fine and rare wines by Asian consumers, says David Elswood, Head of Christie's International Wine Department.

Dharti Desai, CEO and founder of FineWinesnMore had the pleasure of hosting a fun-filled evening to announce the launch of MTB wines from Mendonza, Argentina at Blue Frog, Mumbai, on the 20th of October 2009. Suneeta Sodhi Kanga was there. Right: Dharti Desai, Mike Barrow, Suneeta Kanga and Craig Wedge.

The second Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC)'s International Wine & Spirits Fair is well under way. There are 520 exhibitors from 34 countries and regions. The exhibitor total has more than doubled from the inaugural Fair which took place last year. France is the 'partner country' for this year's fair and many of the activities and tastings organized have a strong 'French' theme to them. Sommelier India correspondent Harshal Shah reports from Hong Kong.

Don't miss the latest issue of Sommelier India. As a test case and special preview for our subscribers and readers around the world we are publishing the last edition of the year online. Tell us what you think of this new publishing format. With articles like The Changing Styles of Wine (Jancis Robinson), Going Sweet on Asia (Harshal Shah), What's a Medal Worth? (David Cobbold) and Gourmets of India, Rejoice! (Ruma Singh), this is an issue you won't want to miss. You can also subscribe to the print edition and receive it in the post.

The second edition of the International Congress of Chinese Cuisine & Wine (ICCCW) organized by Ch'ng Poh Tiong, well-known wine writer and publisher of Asia's second oldest wine publication, "The Wine Review" (since 1991) and the world's first "Chinese Bordeaux Guide" (since 2000), was a great success. The inaugural ICCCW took place last year in Beijing at the Shangri-la China World Hotel. This year it was held in Singapore between 19 and 21 October 2009. Reva Singh reports.

The flavour last week at Bangalore's fine dining restaurant and tapas bar, Caperberry, was distinctly Spanish - even more than usual. No wonder, as the evening of Thursday, 29th October saw the launch of week-long food and wine festivities in the form of the Spanish Food Festival in association with Torres Wines at the restaurant, reports Ruma Singh from Bangalore.

The Sommelier India Wine Competition First Annual Gala Dinner will be held on November 20th, 2009 at the ITC Grand Central, Parel, Mumbai. Be there as the winners of the 2009 competition are revealed. Book now to confirm your place by emailing info@siwc.in. Special thanks to our sponsors Kingfisher Airlines, Grape to Glass (Riedel), AutoHanger (Mercedes Benz), Cadbury and Vacu Vin.

This year Dubai-based Maritime and Mercantile International (MMI) - a subsidiary of The Emirates Group - won the prestigious Travel Retail Operator of the year award for its fine wine and spirit retail outlets, Le Clos, in the 2009 Drinks International Awards during the Tax Free World Association (TFWA) exhibition held in Cannes. Le Clos is located at the Dubai International Airport.

The Tulleeho Wine Academy is hosting regular training classes in Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore. This is the WSET® Level 1 Foundation Certificate in Wines and the WSET® Level 2 Intermediate Certificate in Wines and Spirits. The WSET is the educational affiliate of the Institute of Masters of Wine (MW). These courses are ideal for people interested in joining the wine industry though serious enthusiasts may value the courses too.

A wine tasting festival is being held on November 15th, 2009 at the D'Monte Park, Perry Road, Bandra, Mumbai starting at 11:30am. With several large wineries participating, the event will give you the opportunity to taste some of the best Indian wines and attend cooking shows too. Sommelier India subscribers get a special discount - a free fifth ticket and 50% off a wine bottle thermometer purchase at the festival if you buy four tickets. For more information visit www.winefest.in

The champagne house, GH Mumm launched the Cuvée R. Lalou 1998 in magnum at a dinner at Iggy's restaurant in Singapore on 18 October 2009 with Yann Soenen, Regional Director Asia-Pacific, Champagne GH Mumm and Didier Mariotti, Chef de Cave present. Guests at the dinner included food and wine journalists, editors, winemakers, wine consultants and educators as well as panellists of the International Congress of Chinese Cuisine and Wine organised by Ch'ng Poh Tiong.