Hurry and sign up for this very special wine trip organised by the folks at Amfora Wine, Nanda and Ranjit Gupta, who are importers of Italian wines and very familiar with the region. They are organising a vineyard and gastronomique tour of Italian vineyards and fine dining restaurants in the first week of September 2008, for a select group of 12 couples ( 24 people). Eat and drink the best at Michelin starred restaurants and buy wine at vineyard prices.
Cost: approximately Rs. 1,50,000/- (Plus taxes). Contact: + (91 11) 2923 2823 ext: 22 Miss Manailu. Email: manailu@amfora.com
India's oldest and largest winemaker, Château Indage announced its third Australian acquisition today. It has bought over Australia’s VineCrest, a premium boutique winery in an all cash transaction. VineCrest is situated in the Barossa Valley which is 60km northeast of Adelaide. VineCrest has one over 100 awards, commendations and medals in the past five years. The winery specializes in premium quality Barossa Shiraz, Sparkling Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Semillon and Late Harvest (desert wine). It also has a sweet red, ruby and white ports.
Last week Sommelier India published the ratings of the white wines from Steven Spurrier. This week the ratings of the Reds are being published. Among the Cabernet Sauvignons Vins & Vouloir 2007 came in first followed by Sula Cabernet Sauvignon-Shiraz 2007 and Seagrams Nine Hills 2007. Seagrams Nine Hills was the winning red at the Indian Wine Challenge. Read on for the results.
The saga over alcohol tariffs in India continues with the Scottish Whiskey Assocation (SWA) complaining to Indian officials over the duties levied on imported spirits across India. Last year the Scottish industry, won a 20-year battle against the tariff system forcing the central government to lower taxes from 550 percent to 150 percent.
The SWA is complaining that the ruling is being flouted by new levies being imposed by individual states reports the Times of London.
Read more...
Maharashtra has recorded a 60% growth in its wine production over the last year. The state continues to dominate the country's wine industry, producing 94% of India's grape wine. According to the Times of India which reported the story, the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation's (MIDC) department of wine production show that 2.11 crore litres of wine were produced across the state's 57 wineries this year, as compared to the 1.32 crore litres produced last year. This represents an annual growth rate of 40%.
The state's total investment in wine-making is around Rs. 328 crore and close to 8,000 acres of land are now under cultivation for wine production. Read the Times of India story for more information.
Releasing the manual “Alcohol Atlas of India” prepared by the Indian Alcohol Policy Alliance (IAPA), the Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare, Dr. Anbumani Ramadoss asked the media to create awareness about the adverse social, economic and medical effects of alcohol abuse among the masses. He said the reach of media has multiplied manifold and this issue should form an important agenda of the media.
Some of the highlights - women are catching up with men in alcohol consumption and Indians have an average of five drinks per sitting. The Health Minister's speech is published in its entirety after the jump.
Read more...
At a tasting of over 40 wines from 11 wineries organized by Rajeev Samant of Sula, Indian wines were rated in a first ever tasting by the famous British wine writer and taster, Steven Spurrier. “It was a unique experience for me,” writes Spurrier in the latest issue of Sommelier India, May/June 2008.
Read the whole story in print. SI is available by subscription and at select locations, including Oberoi Hotel bookshops country wide and at select Taj Hotel bookshops. Meanwhile, given below are the scores on a 20 point scale and Spurrier’s tasting notes for the white wines: 10 = bad; 11 = poor; 12 = mediocre; 13 = acceptable; 14 = fair; 15 = good; 16 = good+; 17 = very good; 18 = very good+; 19 = excellent; 20 = superb.
Watch the blog for tasting notes and scores for the red and rose wines to be published next week. Below are the tasting notes for the whites with Sula's Chenin Blanc doing the best.
Indigo, a standalone restaurant in Mumbai has been listed among the top five best restaurants in India, as part of San Pellegrino’s World’s Best restaurants 2008 New Regional Recommendations. It also won an Award of Excellence from Wine Spectator, for the 8th year in a row.
Seventeen wine enthusiasts sat for an examination on Saturday, the 29th of March '08 in Mumbai. The Wine and Spirits Education Trust (WSET) of UK offers the world's most comprehensive and contemporary Wine Education Programmes. The good news is that KBR School of Wine is the only wine school in the country to be affiliated and associated with WSET and they offer these courses nation wide. Currently, KBR offers two levels of the WSET courses: Foundation Level I and Intermediate Level II.
Globus Wines, Part of Globus Vision Group has taken over Haiko Supermarket’s liquor category and entered into an agreement with Hiranandani Constructions, a leading developer in India to open further such exclusive high-end Wine stores across all its locations in India.
Wine Spectator explains that Allegrini is withdrawing Wine from DOC over Screw Cap. Marilisa Allegrini says, "We think a $14 to $15 non-Classico Valpolicella with a screw cap has a better chance on the market than a Valpolicella Classico, with a cork, costing 20 percent more."
Wine Spectator also ranks its top ten wines of 2007. At the top of the list is the Clos des Papes Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2005 which gets 90 points and costs $80. That's not a bad price for such a highly rated wine.
Decanter Magazine reports that Brunello is stepping up controls following the shocking fraud investigation in which hundreds of thousands of bottles of top Brunello were impounded - and the sale of the 2003 vintage suspended.
Bulls lumber down dusty roads, cow-dung patties bake in the sun, and women in bright saris pluck grapes from manicured fields, their bangles jangling with every toss. Welcome to India's wine country. This sleepy town in western India, long famous for its grapes, has become the subcontinent's Sonoma Valley, the heart of a $100 million industry that has seen annual growth of more than 25 percent annually since 2003. Read the CNN/Associated Press article for more statistics.
In the latest issue of Sommelier India, Chardonnay makes a comeback, Reveilo reveals some secrets, Waiheke Island wines are discussed in awe and we learn that wine tastings are governed by an unwritten etiquette. Pick up the latest issue of Sommelier India for these original articles and more designed to be of interest to Indians across the globe who enjoy drinking wine. Its our largest issue yet. Don't miss this issue with original contributions from some of the best wine writers in India and around the world!
Subscribe now so that you start receiving your copies immediately and renew your subscription if it is ending. And help us spread the word about Sommelier India across the country and abroad as the publication gets stronger and stronger with your support.
The Indo-Italian Chamber in collaboration with The Gourmet magazine is introducing India's first sommelier course targeted at students and professionals in the hospitality industry.
The course will be held over three weeks - two of which will be in Mumbai and one in Italy. Upon completion of the course, students will receive an International Sommelier diploma. That's the certification handed out by the Federation of Italian Sommeliers and Restaurateurs and is recognized by the European Union. Topics covered will include wine-processing, organoleptic wine-tasting techniques and wine-serving. Each course will have a maximum of 30 students. Download the course brochure
or contact Maneesha Pereira at the Indo-Italian Chamber for more information.
Champagne Indage Ltd (CIL) acquired Australian Vintage Loxton winery for $60 million (Rs. 2.4 billion) in an all cash transaction. The acquisition will increase the production capacity of CIL from 32 million litres (3.5 million cases) to 122 million litres (13.5 million cases) per year. Loxton is situated in Riverland, South Australia and is the fifth largest winery in the country.
It has an annual crushing capacity of over 80,000 tons and an annual capacity of 90 million litres. It is also configured to handle smaller batches of more premium fruit, sourced predominantly from the Riverland vineyards.
