Indian wine
History
In the centuries that would follow, wine became the
privileged drink of the Kshatriya or noble class while the
lower caste typically
drank alcohol made from wheat, barley and millet. Under the rule of the Muslim Mughal Empire, alcohol was prohibited in
accordance to Islamic dietary laws.
However, there are written reports about at least one Mughal ruler, Jahangir, who was fond of brandy wine. In the 16th century,
Portuguese colonists at Goa introduced port-style wine and the production
of fortified wines soon
spread to other regions. Under British rule during the Victorian era, viticulture and winemaking was
strongly encouraged as a domestic source for the British colonists. Vineyards
were planted extensively through the Baramati, Kashmir and Surat regions.
In 1883 at the Calcutta International Exhibition, Indian
wines were showcased to a favorable reception.
The Indian wine industry was reaching a peak by the time the phylloxera epidemic made its way to
country and devastated its vineyards. Viticulture was believed to have been
introduced to India by Persian traders sometime in the 4th millennium BC.
Historians believe that these early plantings were used mostly for table grapes
or grape juice rather than the production of
an alcoholic beverage. During the Vedic period of the 2nd and 1st
millennia, the Aryan tribes
of the region were known for their indulgence in intoxicating drink and it
seems probable that wine was a current beverage.
The religious text of the Vedas mentions at
least one alcoholic drink that may have been wine related -sura which
seems to have been a type of rice wine that was fermented with honey.
The first known mention of grape-based wines was in the late 4th century BC
writings of Chanakya who was the
chief minister of Emperor Chandragupta Maurya.
In his writings, Chanakya condemns the use of alcohol while chronicling the
emperor and his court's frequent indulgence of a style of grape wine known
as Madhu.
It was a long road for the Indian wine industry to
recover from the devastation at the end of the 19th century. Unfavorable
religious and public opinion on alcohol developed and culminated in the 1950s
when many of
India's states prohibited alcohol. Vineyards were either uprooted or
encouraged to convert to table grape and raisin production. Some areas,
like Goa, continued to produce wine but the product
was normally very sweet and
highly alcoholic.
The turning point of the modern Indian wine industry occurred in early 1980s
with the founding of The
Tonia Group in the state of Goa.
With the assistance of French winemakers, The
Tonia Group began to import Vitis vinifera grape varieties like Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Pinot blanc, Pinot noir and Ugni blanc and started making still
and sparkling wines.
Other wineries soon followed as the emergence of India's growing middle class
fueled the growth and development of the Indian wine industry.
Climate and geography
While a large portion of the Indian
subcontinent is not ideal for viticulture, the large diversity of climate and
geology does cover some areas with suitable terroir for winemaking to thrive. The
summer growing season in India tends to be very hot and prone to monsoons. Many of India's wine regions also
fall within the tropical climate band.
Vineyards are then planted at higher altitudes along slopes and hillsides to
benefit from cooler air and some protection from wind. The altitude of India's
vineyards typically range from around 660 ft (200 m) in Karnataka, 984 ft (300 m) in Maharashtra,
2,600 ft (800 m) along the slopes of the Sahyadri to 3,300 ft (1000 m) in
Kashmir. Summertime temperature can get as hot as 113 °F (45 °C) and
wintertime lows can fall to 46 °F (8 °C). During the peak growing
season between June and August, rainfall averages 25–60 inches
(625-1,500 mm).
Wine regions
Vineyards in India range from the more
temperate climate of the northwestern state of Punjab down to the southern state
of Tamil Nadu. Some of India's larger wine
producing areas are located in Maharashtra, Karnataka near Bangalore and Telangana near Hyderabad &
one winery in Titari Village
of Ratlam District State Madhya Pradesh Ambi
Vineyard.
Within the Maharashtra region, vineyards are found on the Deccan Plateau and around Baramati, Nashik, Pune, Sangli and Solapur.
The high heat and humidity of the far eastern half of the country limits viticultural
activity.
The modern wine market in India is small; annual per capita consumption of wine in the country is a mere 9 milliliters, approximately 1/8000th that of France. Viticulture in India has a long history dating back to the time of the Indus Valley civilization when grapevines were believed to have been introduced from Persia. Winemaking has existed throughout most of India's history but was particularly encouraged during the time of the Portuguese and British colonization of the subcontinent.
The end of the 19th century saw the phylloxera louse take its toll on the Indian wine industry followed by religious and public opinion moving towards the prohibition of alcohol. Following the country's independence from the British Empire, the Constitution of India declared that one of the government's aims was the total prohibition of alcohol. Several states went dry and the government encouraged vineyards to convert to table grape and raisin production. In the 1980s and 1990s, a revival in the Indian wine industry took place as international influences and the growing middle class started increasing demand for the beverage. By the turn of the 21st century, demand was increasing at a rate of 20-30% a year. The city of Nashik in the state of Maharashtra is called the " Wine Capital of India “
Viticulture and wine
The heat and humidity of India's wine region dictates
many of the viticultural choices that are made in the vineyards. Vines are
often trained on bamboo and wire in
a pergola to increase canopy cover and to
get the grapes off the ground where they would be more prone to fungal diseases.
The canopy protects the grapes against sunburn and rows are spaced wide to help
with aeration between the vines. Irrigation is essential in mann]] has
been widely used. The tropical conditions often promote high yields which requires frequent pruning
throughout the year. Harvest normally
takes place in February and is usually done by hand. In the very warm wine
regions of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, grapevines can produce a
crop twice a year.
Southern India is home to several indigenous table
grape varieties that can also be used in wine production with Anabeshahi, Arkavati and Arkashyam being
the most common. Popular non-native grapes include the Bangalore Blue (Isabella) and Gulabi (Black Muscat).
The Turkish grape Sultana is the most widely planted grape
in India, cover more than half of the 148,000 acres (60,000 ha) planted in
the country. In addition to the imported French varieties that Chateau Indage
planted, Sauvignon blanc, Zinfandel, Chenin blanc and Clairette Blanche have started to
establish a presence in the Indian wine industry.
Indian wine
History
In the centuries that would follow, wine became the
privileged drink of the Kshatriya or noble class while the
lower caste typically
drank alcohol made from wheat, barley and millet. Under the rule of the Muslim Mughal Empire, alcohol was prohibited in
accordance to Islamic dietary laws.
However, there are written reports about at least one Mughal ruler, Jahangir, who was fond of brandy wine. In the 16th century,
Portuguese colonists at Goa introduced port-style wine and the production
of fortified wines soon
spread to other regions. Under British rule during the Victorian era, viticulture and winemaking was
strongly encouraged as a domestic source for the British colonists. Vineyards
were planted extensively through the Baramati, Kashmir and Surat regions.
In 1883 at the Calcutta International Exhibition, Indian
wines were showcased to a favorable reception.
The Indian wine industry was reaching a peak by the time the phylloxera epidemic made its way to country and devastated its vineyards. Viticulture was believed to have been introduced to India by Persian traders sometime in the 4th millennium BC. Historians believe that these early plantings were used mostly for table grapes or grape juice rather than the production of an alcoholic beverage. During the Vedic period of the 2nd and 1st millennia, the Aryan tribes of the region were known for their indulgence in intoxicating drink and it seems probable that wine was a current beverage.
The religious text of the Vedas mentions at least one alcoholic drink that may have been wine related -sura which seems to have been a type of rice wine that was fermented with honey. The first known mention of grape-based wines was in the late 4th century BC writings of Chanakya who was the chief minister of Emperor Chandragupta Maurya. In his writings, Chanakya condemns the use of alcohol while chronicling the emperor and his court's frequent indulgence of a style of grape wine known as Madhu.
It was a long road for the Indian wine industry to
recover from the devastation at the end of the 19th century. Unfavorable
religious and public opinion on alcohol developed and culminated in the 1950s
when many of
India's states prohibited alcohol. Vineyards were either uprooted or
encouraged to convert to table grape and raisin production. Some areas,
like Goa, continued to produce wine but the product
was normally very sweet and
highly alcoholic.
The turning point of the modern Indian wine industry occurred in early 1980s with the founding of The Tonia Group in the state of Goa. With the assistance of French winemakers, The Tonia Group began to import Vitis vinifera grape varieties like Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Pinot blanc, Pinot noir and Ugni blanc and started making still and sparkling wines. Other wineries soon followed as the emergence of India's growing middle class fueled the growth and development of the Indian wine industry.
Climate and geography
While a large portion of the Indian
subcontinent is not ideal for viticulture, the large diversity of climate and
geology does cover some areas with suitable terroir for winemaking to thrive. The
summer growing season in India tends to be very hot and prone to monsoons. Many of India's wine regions also
fall within the tropical climate band.
Vineyards are then planted at higher altitudes along slopes and hillsides to benefit from cooler air and some protection from wind. The altitude of India's vineyards typically range from around 660 ft (200 m) in Karnataka, 984 ft (300 m) in Maharashtra, 2,600 ft (800 m) along the slopes of the Sahyadri to 3,300 ft (1000 m) in Kashmir. Summertime temperature can get as hot as 113 °F (45 °C) and wintertime lows can fall to 46 °F (8 °C). During the peak growing season between June and August, rainfall averages 25–60 inches (625-1,500 mm).
Wine regions
Vineyards in India range from the more
temperate climate of the northwestern state of Punjab down to the southern state
of Tamil Nadu. Some of India's larger wine
producing areas are located in Maharashtra, Karnataka near Bangalore and Telangana near Hyderabad &
one winery in Titari Village
of Ratlam District State Madhya Pradesh Ambi
Vineyard.
Within the Maharashtra region, vineyards are found on the Deccan Plateau and around Baramati, Nashik, Pune, Sangli and Solapur.
The high heat and humidity of the far eastern half of the country limits viticultural activity.
The modern wine market in India is small; annual per capita consumption of wine in the country is a mere 9 milliliters, approximately 1/8000th that of France. Viticulture in India has a long history dating back to the time of the Indus Valley civilization when grapevines were believed to have been introduced from Persia. Winemaking has existed throughout most of India's history but was particularly encouraged during the time of the Portuguese and British colonization of the subcontinent.
The end of the 19th century saw the phylloxera louse take its toll on the Indian wine industry followed by religious and public opinion moving towards the prohibition of alcohol. Following the country's independence from the British Empire, the Constitution of India declared that one of the government's aims was the total prohibition of alcohol. Several states went dry and the government encouraged vineyards to convert to table grape and raisin production. In the 1980s and 1990s, a revival in the Indian wine industry took place as international influences and the growing middle class started increasing demand for the beverage. By the turn of the 21st century, demand was increasing at a rate of 20-30% a year. The city of Nashik in the state of Maharashtra is called the " Wine Capital of India “
Viticulture and wine
The heat and humidity of India's wine region dictates
many of the viticultural choices that are made in the vineyards. Vines are
often trained on bamboo and wire in
a pergola to increase canopy cover and to
get the grapes off the ground where they would be more prone to fungal diseases.
The canopy protects the grapes against sunburn and rows are spaced wide to help with aeration between the vines. Irrigation is essential in mann]] has been widely used. The tropical conditions often promote high yields which requires frequent pruning throughout the year. Harvest normally takes place in February and is usually done by hand. In the very warm wine regions of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, grapevines can produce a crop twice a year.
Southern India is home to several indigenous table
grape varieties that can also be used in wine production with Anabeshahi, Arkavati and Arkashyam being
the most common. Popular non-native grapes include the Bangalore Blue (Isabella) and Gulabi (Black Muscat).
The Turkish grape Sultana is the most widely planted grape in India, cover more than half of the 148,000 acres (60,000 ha) planted in the country. In addition to the imported French varieties that Chateau Indage planted, Sauvignon blanc, Zinfandel, Chenin blanc and Clairette Blanche have started to establish a presence in the Indian wine industry.
MAR 11, 2018
"There's no reason
India can't make some of the best wines in the world," says Mr Gaurav
Sekhri, 45, one of the co-founders of Fratelli wines, an Indian winery based in
the Western Indian state of Maharashtra.
The claim may seem ambitious,
but it comes from one of India's biggest wine producers, alongside the likes of
the long-established Sula and Grover Zampa vineyards.
Fratelli, which is Italian for
"brothers", was set up in 2006 by three sets of brothers from India
and Italy - the Secci brothers Andrea and Alessio from Italy, and the Sekhri
brothers Kapil and Gaurav and the Mohite-Patil brothers Ranjitsinh and
Arjunsinh from India.
Fratelli now produces two
million bottles a year - from classic Chenin Blanc, Merlot and sparkling wines
to the uncommon Sangiovese Bianco, a dry white wine made from the red
Sangiovese grape.
The wines - which have a
recommended retail price of between $38 and $57 - are available in Singapore
through distributor The Straits Wine Company. You can find them on wine lists
in restaurants and bars such as Shahi Maharani, Rogue Trader and Garibaldi.
They are also available on RedMart.
Mr Gaurav Sekhri says the idea
to produce a made-in-India wine was raised by his younger brother Kapil and the
Secci brothers while enjoying some wine during a holiday in Italy.
The conversation was as simple
as: "We don't get good wine in India, let's do that. But we need someone
with expertise in winemaking."
Noted Tuscan winemaker Piero
Masi was roped in and they found the right conditions for vine-growing in a
village called Akluj in the district of Solapur, 170km south of Pune.
"We had done some
research and found that wine in India made sense, because young people are
travelling abroad and they come back with a habit of enjoying wine with
food," says Mr Sekhri.
"But our brief to Piero
was, 'Please make wine that we are happy to drink ourselves and that we're
happy to serve in our home'."
Vine saplings were brought
over from France and Italy and grown over 97ha of land, making the partners the
largest vineyard owners in the country.
Their first vintage was
released in 2010. Fratelli now grows 13 different grape varietals and has 30
different labels - all in the span of eight years.
Slowly but surely, its wines
are gaining recognition on the world stage. For instance, Fratelli wines,
including the flagship Sette, were served at the World Economic Forum in Davos,
Switzerland, in January, during a dinner hosted by Indian Prime Minister
Narendra Modi for about 100 chief executives of multinational companies and top
Indian industrialists.
Sette - a blend of 70 per cent
Sangiovese with 30 per cent Cabernet Sauvignon - is made from the top 1 per
cent of grapes from Fratelli's vineyards and matured in French oak for 14
months.
Fratelli wines are also
available in London, the Netherlands and Japan, and the company plans to enter
the American market later this year with the launch of its latest release, the
limited-edition J'Noon.
J'Noon is a collaboration with
renowned French vintner Jean-Charles Boisset, who heads Burgundy's largest wine
producer, Boisset Collection. The name is a play on the Urdu word
"junoon", which means passion.
The wines in the range include
JCB No. 47 , a 100 per cent Chardonnay Brut; J'Noon White, a blend of
Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc; and J'Noon Red, a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon,
Petit Verdot/Marcelan and Sangiovese.
Mr Sekhri says it is a huge
endorsement that "someone like that saw potential in our vineyards and the
quality of wine we make to put his name to it".
He acknowledges that there are
challenges to overcome before Indian wine is widely accepted on the global
stage "because India is not as known for wines" and there is a stigma
associated with locally made wine in the domestic market.
"We're making some
high-quality wines that are very well-priced, but a lot of consumers in India
feel shy to serve Indian wines at their parties or dinners," he says.
But he is confident that
consumers will come around and that "eventually quality sells".
"(Globally,) wine is also
a very congested space, but in that aspect, it gives us an edge since India is
not an obvious country of origin."
That said, he feels there is
room for even more wine to come out of India.
"India has all the
ingredients - the soil, the weather and the market - so there's no reason why
we won't see more people getting inspired to make good-quality wines," he
says
Relaxing in an open meadow with a glass of your favourite wine sounds alluring. India has an age-old history with wines. Wine making in India started around 5,000 years ago. The tradition of making wine started during the Mughal rule. At present, India is home to some of the finest vineyards in the world.
Every year, thousands of wine lovers visit these vineyards to taste their favourite blend of wine and experience the art of wine manufacturing. These wine tours are gaining popularity with wine connoisseurs all over the world. We cannot talk about wine tours in India without mentioning some of our excellent home grown vineyards.
Here is the list of some of the best vineyards in the country:
1. Sula Vineyards, Nashik, Maharashtra
Among all the vineyards in Nashik, Sula Vineyards are the pioneers. Started in 1997, the name and fame of Sula Vineyards has become prominent among wine lovers in India as well as abroad.
Every year, Sula Vineyards offers wine connoisseurs an opportunity to cherish the taste of an eclectic variety of wines. Since the last few years, Sulafest has become one of the most popular wine tours in India and its admirers call it ‘The Mecca of Wines’.
[Wondering what to pair with your wine? Take up Rajasthan cuisine cooking classes!]
When wine is mixed with groovy music among a crowd of several thousand party-people, the fun and enjoyment will know no bounds! Sulafest is the perfect event that can and will surely fulfil this desire of wine lovers. In fact, Sulafest can be considered as the wine carnival of India.
This world-class winery is the perfect destination for wine tourism in India. Apart from exquisite parties and other varieties of wine, Sula Vineyards offer much more to visitors. A luxury three-bedroom bungalow, ‘Beyond’ and an Italian restaurant with some of the best chefs in the country make the Sula vineyards one of the best destinations for a luxury wine tour in India.
The event is organised in the early part of February and is visited by wine lovers from most of the corners of the world. Music plays an important role in this fest. DJs, musicians, rock bands, and music enthusiasts throng this place every year and create a history of wine touring in India. Apart from the Sulafests, wine tasting takes place all through the year in the Sula vineyards.
The vineyard has well experienced tour guides who give a detailed description of winemaking to visitors. However, the harvest and crushing sessions can be enjoyed only between January and March. The wine tasting session runs from 11.30 am to 5.30 pm. The session takes place every hour between the tour timings.
2. Chateau Indage Estate Vineyards, Narayangaon, Maharashtra
Photo credit: Ipshita Bhattacharya - flickr
Narayangaon, is synonymous to wine making in India. It has mastered the art of winemaking in India and is a perfect destination for wine tours. The Chateau Indage vineyards in Narayangaon are among the pioneers of the wine industry in India.
Located on the outskirts of Narayangaon; 85 km from Pune, Chateau Indage Vineyards is the perfect name for the lovers of red, white and sparkling wines. These vineyards produce the best variety of Chantilly wines in the world. On a whole, the Chateau Vineyards produces 32 different varieties of wines. Some of the varieties of wines that can be found in these vineyards are Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Shiraz, Malbec, Viognier, Grenache, Akravati, Arkeshyam, Ugni Blanc, Cabernet, Sauvignon Blanc, Merlot, Zinfandel, Muscadet, Semillon and Chenin Blanc.
[Learn more about spices on a tour in Kerala's spice plantation]
On every weekend, the Chateau Indage vineyards organises a 30-minute tour of the vineyards. This tour includes tasting of some of the best varieties of Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon. These vineyards are also the first and only producers of the bottle-fermented wines in Asia; they are the ninth in the entire world.
The vineyard has a wine shop within the premises that offers the tasting of different wines at affordable prices. The presence of guesthouses with luxury living rooms, restaurants serving exotic and tropical menus and excellent bars and lounges makes Chateau Indage an ideal destination for wine touring in India.
3. Chateau d’Ori, Dindori, Madhya Pradesh
The other name in the list of luxury wine tours in India is the Chateau d’Ori. Embedded with some of the finest methods of winemaking in the world, this 200-acre vineyard has three artificial lakes for boating and watersports, luxury farmhouses with jacuzzi, swimming pools and excellent wine tasting lounges.
The Chateau d’Ori has the largest Merlot plantation in India. The other varieties that are produced in these vineyards are Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, Sauvignon Blanc, Chenin Blanc, and Chardonnay. The ambience of wine touring in the vineyards of Chateau d’Ori is an experience of lifetime. Already a winner of several national and international awards, the Chateau d’Ori vineyards are becoming one of the popular names among the wine lovers.
[Good wine goes with good food. Find out more about the cooking classes we offer!]
The use of fertilizers and pesticides are strictly prohibited in the vineyards of Chateau d’Ori. The environment inside the vineyard has been developed in an eco-friendly way. Windmills, generating power from the natural wind, cleanliness, and the picturesque beauty of the vineyards make them an ideal destination for wine tourism in India.
Chateau d’Ori vineyards are located in Nheira-Ori hills at Dindori and are around 22 km from the wine capital, Nashik.
4. Grover Vineyards, Nandi Hills, Karnataka
Photo credit: Sandip Bhattacharya - flickr
When it comes to wine tours in India, the Victorian Bangalore emerges as one of the best names for wine touring destinations. The pleasant weather and favourable conditions for grape cultivation allow Bangalore to produce some of the best quality grapes in the country. These vineyards are located at the foothills of Nandi Hills; around 40 km from the IT hub. The slanting lands in this region of Bangalore are perfect for cultivating fine quality grapes. The natural conditions prevailing in this region are ideal for the cultivation of Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz, Viognier and Sauvignon Blanc grapes. These vineyards are among the best producers of red, white, and rose wines in India.
[Enjoy scenic views of the vineyards and paddy hills as you cycle to Nandhi Hills]
One of the most visited holiday destinations in Karnataka, Nandi Hills is fast becoming one of the top-notch avenues for the wine lovers. Filled with natural beauty and the reflections of history, this part of Bangalore has been a favourite wine touring destination for the last three decades.
The pleasant atmosphere and the highly rich natural beauty around the Grover vineyards are encouraging the luxury wine tours in India. Grover Vineyard also arranges personalised wine tours. These tours can be arranged by contacting the officials of the vineyards.
[Know about the history and tradition of Bangalore with Traditional Bengaluru Walk]
Normally, the tours start at 10.30 am. Visitors are allowed to take their own vehicles into the winery. After a brief instruction on the manufacturing process of wines, the wine tour will start. Visitors are also allowed to spend some time by themselves and take photographs. Detailed knowledge about fermentation, crushing, filtering, bottling, and packaging are given to the visitors. The wine tasting session takes place for nearly 60-90 minutes.
5. Zampa Wines, Nashik, Maharashtra
The journey from Mumbai to the wine capital, Nashik, is extremely pleasant. For wine lovers, this journey will not be complete without visiting the Vallee de Vin vineyards. Located on the Mumbai-Nashik highway, between Igatpuri and Nasik, the Valle de Vin vineyards are one of the new names in the list of wine tours in India.
[Explore lush green plantations on an eco tour in Kerala]
The wineries of Valle de Vin vineyards started producing wines in 2006. The main attraction of these vineyards is the Zampa wine. The other varieties produced in these vineyards include chenin blanc, sauvignon blanc, cabernet sauvignon, shiraz, and sparkling rose and brut. The atmospheric balance of the climate, the pleasant beauty of the vineyards, the never-ending rows of lush green plantations are encouraging wine touring in this vineyard and the number of visitors are increasing every year.
The guided tours to the vineyard start between 11 am-5 pm. The tour is available on both weekdays and weekends; the tour lasts for nearly 40-50 minutes. However, if not in the mood of tasting the wines, the visitors do not have pay for the tour.
6. Fratelli Wines, Akluj, Maharashtra
Located in Akluj; around 175 km away from Pune, Fratelli Wines is also one of the hotspots for wine admirers. The quality and blend of Fratelli Wines has successfully earned the title of being one of the best destinations for wine tourism.
The vineyards of Fratelli Wines thrive on their mystical location. The serene beauty of these vineyards is often compared with the European vineyards and is an ideal destination for wine tourism, making it one of the best locations amongst wine tours in India. These vineyards produce some of the finest quality red, white, rose, and port wines in the country. In the year 2009, Fratelli Wines came up with ‘SETTE’, a fusion of Cabernet Sauvignon and Sangiovese. This has become a signature brand of the Fratelli Wines and has earned plenty of admirers worldwide. At present, Fratelli Wines are producing 13 different varieties of wines: Pinot Noir, Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon, Marsalan, Petit Verdot, Merlot, Syrah, Cabernet Franc, Chenin Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Gewürztraminer, and Muller Thurgau.
Jancis Robinson APRIL 7, 2017
It’s a miracle that Indian wine exists at all. For a start, the tropical
climate is, shall we say, unhelpful. Extreme heat and months of monsoon rains
mean that although all the vineyards are in the northern hemisphere, they are
forced, by multiple prunings, into a southern hemisphere annual cycle — a first
rough pruning just before the monsoons arrive in May, then a second, more
precise one after the summer monsoons.
The growing season is
effectively from October to March. With a full range of wine styles, from fizz
to a concoction known as Indian port (about which Peter Csizmadia-Honigh writes
in his book The Wines of India, “I highly recommend that wine drinkers avoid
it”), harvest is prolonged. Last year, for instance, the leading wine producer
Sula was picking grapes to make base wine for the increasingly popular
sparkling wine category from December 15 and continued right through until
April 10. Its last red wine grapes had to be pulled off the vine before the
summer heat shrivelled them into raisins.
Asian wine specialist Denis
Gastin can only think of one part of Thailand that faces anything like the same
wine-growing challenges as India, but by no means all of the Indian wine
industry’s challenges are natural. Prohibition of alcohol is part of the
constitution (although it is not enforced in all states). Even the word “wine”
is negatively charged. So many of the holes in the wall selling hooch have been
known as “wine shops” that the recently reconstituted national organisation
governing wine production is known with fine euphemism as the Indian Grape
Processing Board.
The tangle of vague, illogical
and contradictory taxes and bureaucracy would cripple most nascent industries.
Every state has its own complicated system and levies its own taxes on wines
imported from other states — so, for example, Grover of the Nandi Hills near
Bangalore in Karnataka, the producer with the longest history, has merged with
Zampa in Maharashtra, the state to the immediate north, so that it can offer
wines at better prices to the lucrative Mumbai market, also in Maharashtra.
This means that wines carrying the same label will be different in different
states — but since only a small minority of Indians have even tasted wine, that
may not be the disadvantage that it would be in a nation of wine nerds.
It is presumably the enticing
prospect of the growing Indian middle class — with an estimated 35 million
potential drinkers coming of age each year, according to Fratelli, an
Italo-Indian joint venture near Pune — that has lured about 50 wineries, most
of them tiny, into existence. Although India has long been a major grower of
table grapes, the total area of wine-grape vineyards is about 2,500 hectares —
not that much more than its English counterpart, whose challenges are so very
different. Fratelli, Sette 2012 (£17.94 GP Brands) is a perfectly respectable
blend of 70 per cent tangy Sangiovese with Cabernet.
India’s Supertuscan? So
unfamiliar are most Indian authorities with wine that state officials require
not only each separate wine label to be registered — at considerable cost —
with each individual state, but also the expensive re-registration of brands
every time the vintage changes. Another problem is that by far the majority of
grapes are grown by smallholder farmers who know more about pomegranates than
wine, and are naturally inclined to maximise quantity rather than quality. The
founder of Sula, Rajeev Samant, inspired by Napa Valley during his time in
California, is cool about owning just 5 per cent of the vineyards that supply
the grapes for his 9.6 million bottles a year.
“We want to make fruit-forward
wines rather than complex ones,” he said from his newly constructed La Source
de Sula, an ambitious boutique hotel at his base, a dusty three-hour drive
north-east of Mumbai. “Ninety-nine point nine per cent of Indian homes have no
corkscrew or cellar, so making ageworthy wine is a conceit.” Samant must be
doing something right: Sula, close to the holy city of Nashik and offering what
he calls “wine and shrine” tourism, notches up 240,000 visitors a year, he
says. He also claims that the terrace overlooking his vines, his new reservoir
and, in the distance, the local dam, is the single place on earth where the
greatest number of people have had their first taste of wine.
Samant has introduced
Sulafest, a music festival, and has an amphitheatre, two restaurants, a gift
shop, a flea market and plans for a petting zoo. *** Nashik in Maharashtra, the
most wine-friendly state, is where the great majority of all Indian wine is
produced, despite its punishing climate. Annual rainfall is about 3,000mm (the
norm for good-quality wine production is closer to 500mm). However, none of it
falls during the growing season, so all the vines need continuous irrigation until
they are picked. The Grover Zampa winery is also in Nashik, but south of the
city — and a 45-minute-drive closer to Mumbai.
Like the Gurnani family, who
own the York winery down the road from Sula, the Grovers see tourism as an
essential part of selling wine and have just signed a deal to build a hotel and
visitor centre behind their winery, with views over their nearest dam. In the
nearest village, Sanjegaon, I observed two young women carrying giant steel
canisters of water on their heads, an old man in a white tunic swinging a flask
of water on his handlebars, a naked child pouring a jug of water over himself
by the roadside, and a girl of about seven tending to a bowlful of
washing.
Like Grover Zampa’s vines,
they are lucky enough to have ready access to water, but it’s so dry here that
clothes are hurled over washing lines all bunched up; no need to stretch them
out to get them dry. In India’s major cities, young people can now be seen
drinking wine in the smartest locales, even if the habit of combining wine with
food is still in its infancy. But wine is such a novelty for most Indian
palates that I find it quite amazing that the wines I list here are even
drinkable.
For wine lovers in India
Recommended
whites • Grover Zampa, Zampa Soirée Brut 2014 Nashik
Valley • Grover Zampa, Vijay Amritraj Reserve White 2015 Nandi Hills
Recommended reds • Fratelli, Sette (any vintage except 2010) Pune • Grover
Zampa, Insignia 2015 Nandi Hills Drinkable whites • Sangiovese Bianco 2016
Maharashtra • Fratelli, MS Chardonnay/Sauvignon Blanc 2016 Maharashtra •
Fratelli, Vitae Barrel Fermented Chardonnay 2015 Maharashtra • Grover Zampa, La
Reserve Blanc 2015 Nandi Hills • Soma Chenin Blanc 2014 Nashik Valley • Sula
Reserve Chenin Blanc 2016 Nashik Valley • Sula Riesling 2016 Nashik Valley •
Sula Riesling 2014 Nashik Valley
Drinkable reds • Fratelli, MS Red 2015 Maharashtra • Grover Zampa, Zampa Chene Grand
Reserve 2014 Nandi Hills • Grover Zampa, Insignia 2014 Nandi Hills
Nashik valley wine
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Nashik valley wines are
specially protected under the patent of the geographical
indicator in India for the region of Nashik district in Maharashtra, India, where it is produced from
several vineyards.[1] The
wine is produced in two types: red and white. The district has 29 wineries in
operation and consequently Nashik is occasionally
known by the epithet "The Wine Capital of India".
The product is
protected under the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration &
Protection) Act (GI Act) 1999 of the Government of India.
It was registered by the Controller General of Patents Designs and Trademarks
under the title "Nashik Valley Wine" and listed at GI Application
number 123 under Class 33 as an alcoholic beverage.[1] Under
the protection stipulations, at least 80% of the grapes used for making wine
are to be produced from the Nashik district, and manufactured and bottled with
labels within the district.
Geography
The product is made
by societies and several farmers in the Nashik district, which lie within the
geographical coordinates of 19°10′00″N 73°16′00″E and 20°53′00″N 75°06′00″E.
The terrain is hilly with elevation range of 2,000–2,400 feet (610–730 m)
with an inverse climatic condition with warm average day temperature of
26 °C (79 °F) and night cold temperature of 7–8 °C
(45–46 °F), which are ideal conditions for the growth of grapes used for
making wine with characteristic flavor of the Nashik valley. The soil condition
consists of red laterite with good
drainage conditions and generally with chemical properties suitable for growing
wine grapes. The water quality is also stated to be ideal for growth of quality
wine grapes.
The Nashik district
has 29 wineries in operation and consequently Nashik is occasionally known by
the epithet "The Wine Capital of India. In Nashik, about 8,000 acres
(3,200 ha) are under grape wine plantation out of a total area of about
180,000 acres (73,000 ha) under various types of grape cultivation.
History
According to the
Nashik district Gazetteer grapes have existed as a horticultural crop in Nashik
from 1950s. However, it was only in 1987 that Madhavrao More established a
Co-operative Winery known as Pimpane Co-operative Ltd in collaboration with M/s
Harbault & Fils Epernary France to manufacture wine from table grade
grapes. Chardonnay and Pinot noir were planted and the
Co-operative manufactured 500,000 bottles out of which 35,000 bottles were
exported to France and to some other countries in Europe. But due to problems
in harvesting this export was discontinued in 2003.
In 1996, Rajeev
Samant, a Stanford graduate, who returned to Nashik to do farming imported
grape plant varieties of Chenin blanc, Sauvignon blanc and Zinfandel and planted them in the land
owned by his family. In 1997, Kerry Damskey, a leading wine maker from
California's Sonoma Valley (the
largest wine producer in the Wine Country region) provided the expertise for
crushing of wine grapes. The first wine came to be marketed in March 2000 under
the trade name "Sula". Several other farmers joined him in
propagation of this effort. The wine magazine the Sommeliar India,
reported that Nashik Valley Wine was first marketed by Sula in 2000.
Production method
The grape varieties
raised in the Nashik valley are: Chenin blanc, Sauvignon blanc,
Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz, Chardonnay, Merlot, Riesling, Viognier, Tempranillo, Malbec, and so forth, and also Thompson Seedless grapes.
Plantation
Plantation of grape's own rooted saplings used for
making wines are normally planted on hill slopes with good drainage conditions
in a plot spacing of 8.5 by 4.5 feet (2.6 m × 1.4 m) or 9 by 5
feet (2.7 m × 1.5 m) to have a planting of 2,000 to 3,000 plants
per ha. Other methods of planting practices are to adopt "in-situ grafting
on dog ridge" or from other root stocks. Plantation is done from middle of
December to end of January. Harvesting is done from January end to middle of
April. Plantations are protected by trellising. Irrigation is an essential
requirement except during the rainy season. Harvesting is done by manual
labour. Fertilizers such as Nitrogen, Phosphate, and Potash of appropriate dosages are added
as nutrients at specified intervals. Intercultural operations such as rising
green manure crops to control soil erosion, conserve moisture by organic
mulching and clearing grasses by mowing on the borders at regular
intervals are also essentially practiced. Pesticides or insecticides are not to
be applied; however, fungicides are sprayed and the last such spraying is to be
done 45 days before harvesting. Pruning, training the plants to maintain
appropriate positions are essential. Harvesting is done during the winter
months when the temperature is below 20 °C (68 °F). Harvesting is
done by manual labour by collecting best bunches of grapes for crushing.
Processing
Crushing operation
of the harvested grapes "from whole bunch pressing to de-stemmed fruit
with or without skin contact" is done in pneumatic presses for white wine
grapes and by "destemer cum crusher" for grapes to make red wine. Enzymes are added to facilitate colour
separation and decantation. The extracted grape juice is collected in cooling
tanks to avoid bacterial contamination and for solid matter to settle at the
bottom; cooling is done to reduce the temperature to about 7–10 °C
(45–50 °F).
The clear fluid is
then transferred to another cooling tank where it is retained for about 24 to
26 hours with temperature maintained at about 20 °C (68 °F). Then the
fluid is transferred to stainless steel tanks for the first stage of fermentation
and then to oak wood barrels for the malo-lactic fermentation process. This
process takes a minimum of 6 months for red wine. Fermentation is facilitated
by adding yeast (usually Saccharomyces
cerevisiae and Saccharomyces bayanus in
suitable proportion to the fluid being fermented.
The fermentation process is
done in controlled temperature of 13–15 °C (55–59 °F) for a period of
15–20 days for white wine and at 25–28 °C (77–82 °F) for 8–10 days
for red wine. By this process sugar gets converted to alcohol and the wine is
ready for distillation and filtration depending on the status of fomented
wine;filtration is done with use of 0.45 micron filter and the wine is filled
in bottles. The bottled wine is kept for aging for a minimum of 3 months in the
case of red wine and 1–2 months in the case of white wine. It is only after
this ageing that the wines are marketed.
Quality
The Nashik valley
wine's quality is imbibed due to the high altitude at which the grapes are
grown and is marked by distinct high acidity with "specific acid-sugar
balance." Steven
Spurrier, a wine taster, has rated this wine to be between 13 and 17
of ‘Acceptable’ to ‘Very Good’ grade on a 20-point grading system.
India - wine's last frontier?
8 apr 2017
8 apr 2017
A version of this
article is published by the Financial
Times. See also Indian wine - a
progress report.
It's a miracle that Indian wine exists at all. For a
start, the tropical climate is, shall we say, unhelpful. Extreme heat and
months of monsoon rains mean that, although all the vineyards are in the
northern hemisphere, they are forced, by multiple prunings, into a southern
hemisphere annual cycle with a first rough pruning just before the monsoons
arrive in May, then a second, more precise one after the summer monsoons so
that the growing season is effectively from October to March.
With a full range of wine
styles, from fizz to a concoction known as Indian port, about which Peter
Csizmadia-Honigh writes in his definitive The Wines of India,
'I highly recommend that wine drinkers avoid it', and a ready source of local
labour, harvest lasts forever. Last year the leading wine producer Sula, for
instance, picked between 15 December for base wine for the increasingly popular
sparkling wine category right through until 10 April when their last red wine
grapes had to be pulled off the vine before the summer heat shrivelled them
into unfermentable raisins.
Asian wine specialist Denis Gastin can think of only
one part of Thailand that faces anything like the same wine-growing challenges
as India, but by no means all of the Indian wine industry's challenges are natural.
Total prohibition of alcohol is still part of the constitution (although
increasing restrictions on the spirits adored by so many Indian men may benefit
wine sales a little). Even the word 'wine' is negatively charged. So many of
the holes in the wall selling hooch have been known as wine shops that the
recently reconstituted national organisation governing wine production is known
with fine euphemism as the Indian Grape Processing Board.
The tangle of vague, illogical and contradictory taxes
and bureaucracy would cripple most nascent industries. Every state has its own
complicated system, and levies its own taxes on wines imported from other
states – so that, for example, Grover of the Nandi Hills near Bangalore in
Karnataka, the producer with the longest history, has merged with Zampa in
Maharashtra, the state to the immediate north, so that it can offer wines at
better prices to the lucrative Mumbai market, also in Maharashtra. This means
that wines carrying the same label will be different in different states – but
since only a small minority of Indians have even tasted wine, that may not be
the disadvantage that it might be in a nation of wine nerds.
It is presumably the enticing prospect of the
burgeoning Indian middle class, with an estimated 35 million potential drinkers
coming of age each year according to Fratelli, an Italo-Indian joint venture
near Pune, that has lured about 50 wineries, most of them tiny, into existence.
Although India has long been a major grower of table grapes, the total area of
wine-grape vineyards is put at about 2,500 hectares (6,200 acres), not that
much more than its English counterpart – whose challenges are so very
different.
So unfamiliar are most Indians and Indian authorities
with wine that state officials require not only each separate wine label to be
registered, at considerable cost, with each individual state, the states also
demand expensive re-registration of the brands every time the vintage changes.
Another major problem is that by far the majority of
grapes are grown by smallholder farmers who know infinitely more about
pomegranates than wine, and are naturally inclined to maximise quantity rather
than quality. Founder of the biggest wine producer Sula, Rajeev Samant (below),
inspired by Napa Valley during his time in California, is cool about owning
only about 5% of the vineyards that supply the grapes for his 9.6 million
bottles a year. 'We want to make fruit-forward wines rather than complex ones.
99.99% of Indian homes have no corkscrew or cellar, so making ageworthy wine is
a conceit', he said in his newly constructed La Source de Sula, an ambitious
boutique hotel modelled on a Tuscan villa at his base a dusty three-hour drive
north east of Mumbai.
He must be doing something right because Sula, close
to the holy city of Nashik and offering what he calls 'wine and shrine'
tourism, notches up 240,000 visitors a year according to Samant, who claimed
that the terrace below overlooking his parched vines last month, his new
reservoir and, in the distance, the local dam, is the single place on earth
where the greatest number of people have had their first-ever taste of wine.
(My picture at the top of this article is of Sula's traditional welcome
committee for foreign visitors.) He has introduced Sulafest, a music festival
complete with its own Hollywood-style giant white letters in the distance, has
an amphitheatre, two restaurants, gift shop, flea market and has plans for a
petting zoo. I do hope the animals will be tropical natives.
Nashik in Maharashtra, the most wine-friendly state,
is where the great majority of all Indian wine is produced, even though the
climate is more punishing than in less extreme Karnataka to the south. Total
annual rainfall is about 3,000 mm/118 in. (The norm for good-quality wine
production is closer to 500 mm.) But none of it falls during the growing season
so all vines need continuous irrigation until they are picked.
The Grover Zampa winery is also in Nashik but south of
the city and (what the Grover family are hoping is) a crucial 45 minutes' drive
closer to Mumbai. Like the Gurnani family who own York winery down the road
from Sula, the Grovers see tourism as an essential part of selling wine in
India and have just signed a deal that will allow them to build a hotel and
visitor centre on the hillside below behind their winery, with views over their
nearest dam. Note the interesting skyline in this part of the world.
In the nearest village, Sanjegaon, I marvelled at two
young women carrying giant steel canisters of water on their heads, an old man
in a flowing white tunic swinging a flask of water on his handlebars, a naked
three-year-old pouring a jug of water over himself by the roadside, and a girl
of about seven squatting over a bowlful of washing. Like Grover Zampa's vines,
they are lucky enough to have ready access to water, but it's so dry here that
clothes are hurled over washing lines all bunched up; no need to stretch them
out to get them dry.
In the major cities, on the other hand, young women
can now be seen drinking wine in the smartest locales, even if the habit of
combining wine with food is still in its infancy. But wine is such a novelty
for most Indian palates that I find it quite amazing that the wines I list
below are even drinkable.
FOR WINE LOVERS IN
INDIA
Indians apparently prefer red but I was more impressed by the whites.
Indians apparently prefer red but I was more impressed by the whites.
RECOMMENDED
Whites
Grover Zampa, Zampa Soirée Brut 2014 Nashik Valley
Grover Zampa, Vijay Amritraj Reserve White 2015 Nandi Hills
Grover Zampa, Vijay Amritraj Reserve White 2015 Nandi Hills
Reds
Fratelli, Sette (any vintage except 2010) Pune
Grover Zampa, Insignia 2015 Nandi Hills
Grover Zampa, Insignia 2015 Nandi Hills
DRINKABLE
Whites
Fratelli, Sangiovese Bianco 2016 Maharashtra
Fratelli, MS Chardonnay/Sauvignon Blanc 2016 Maharashtra
Fratelli, Vitae Barrel Fermented Chardonnay 2015 Maharashtra
Grover Zampa, La Reserve Blanc 2015 Nandi Hills
Soma Chenin Blanc 2014 Nashik Valley
Sula Reserve Chenin Blanc 2016 Nashik Valley
Sula Riesling 2016 Nashik Valley
Sula Riesling 2014 Nashik Valley
Fratelli, MS Chardonnay/Sauvignon Blanc 2016 Maharashtra
Fratelli, Vitae Barrel Fermented Chardonnay 2015 Maharashtra
Grover Zampa, La Reserve Blanc 2015 Nandi Hills
Soma Chenin Blanc 2014 Nashik Valley
Sula Reserve Chenin Blanc 2016 Nashik Valley
Sula Riesling 2016 Nashik Valley
Sula Riesling 2014 Nashik Valley
Reds
Fratelli, MS Red 2015 Maharashtra
Grover Zampa, Zampa Chene Grand Reserve 2014 Nandi Hills
Grover Zampa, Insignia 2014 Nandi Hills
Grover Zampa, Zampa Chene Grand Reserve 2014 Nandi Hills
Grover Zampa, Insignia 2014 Nandi Hills
·
Written by
·
Jancis Robinson
17 Nov
2012
Wine arrives in India
·
INDIA
·
·
·
This is a longer
version of an article also published in the Financial Times.
On my first visit to India, in
2002, I met one of the country's first wine writers, a young woman who told me
that her friends would routinely ask her, 'What's the point of wine? Whisky gets you drunk so much
quicker.'
How things have changed. Despite punitive taxation and
mind-boggling regulation and paperwork, India now has a thriving wine culture -
or at least the vast middle class and 'upper crust' (the name of an Indian
glossy magazine) do.
Taxes and duties on imported wine are imposed by both
national customs and the individual state. They are cumulatively so high that
consumers can pay 10 to 12 times the initial cost of a bottle when they buy
wine from one of India's relatively few but growing wine retailers. A basic
bottle of the leading imported brand Jacob's Creek, for example, could easily
cost the equivalent of £20 off a shelf, and many times more on a hotel wine
list.
The hotels, and in particular the major hotel chains,
played the crucial initial role in introducing Indians to wine, and they still
largely provide the settings for the wine dinners sporadically organised by
foreign wine producers trying to establish themselves in this small but growing
market. Château Margaux, for example, a first growth keen to repeat Lafite's
dramatic success in China, flew in Alain Passard of Arpège in Paris to design
and cook a vegetarian dinner to go with their wines last December, mindful that
40% of Indians do not eat meat.
Back in 2002 you could count the number of licensed
restaurants independent of hotels even in Delhi and Mumbai on the fingers of
one hand. Today the introduction of a special, much cheaper, licence for
establishments serving only beer and wine has encouraged many more cafés and
casual eating places to offer wine. There is now sufficient interest in wine
service for the most charismatic of young Indian sommeliers, irreverent
Magandheep Singh, to have forsaken the dining room for a consultancy and the TV
screen. But in general, Indians who want to sell wine have to submit to an
expensive and cumbersome process designed originally for the distribution of
spirits, which has been a deterrent.
Until Indians were introduced to wine, a typical
retail outlet for alcohol was a heavily guarded, steel-caged, none-too-clean
shop selling dubious spirits to even more dubious men. A major brake on the
development of wine culture in India initially was the poor quality of storage
conditions and transport for a liquid that is so much more susceptible to heat
damage than spirits and beer. But smart, well-lit, air-conditioned wine stores
are beginning to proliferate in India's newer shopping malls, affording women a
chance to handle and buy bottles, too.
Wine has opened the door to social drinking for Indian
women, who before its introduction into Indian society were expected to merely
watch while their menfolk downed whisky in great quantity before a late dinner.
Today wine and food are often consumed together, European style (although
dinner invitations specifying '8.30 for 11 pm' are by no means a thing of the past).
In fact, as one Indian political economist friend put it to me, wine
consumption can be regarded as a 'signifier' in Indian society, signifying not
only that the consumer has a certain level of material wealth but also that
they understand western mores.
What is remarkable is the speed with which India has
gone from a country where a tiny handful of the very rich drank nothing but the
most famous names in wine to one in which thousands, possibly tens of
thousands, of young, well-travelled Indians are beginning to appreciate the
nuances of a wide range of wines, both domestic and imported.
The founder and editor of the
country's leading wine magazine Sommelier India is
a woman. Reva Singh saw an opportunity back in 2004 'when India had no wine
culture', as she puts it, but today she has about 20,000 regular readers, and
subscribers in such 'second tier' cities as Allahabad and Shillong. Even the
prime whisky state of Punjab is being converted to the grape, she reports.
Wine bars, wine clubs and wine fairs are sprouting all
over the country. But what of Indian wine? Its quality has slowly been
improving, and it has the huge advantage of being less savagely taxed than
imports. One large company Château Indage that made sparkling wine with
imported French expertise expanded so rapidly recently that it went pop. The
founder of the most serious red-wine producer, Kanwal Grover, died recently but
only after establishing Grover Reserve Bordeaux blend, made with the help of
ubiquitous consultant Michel Rolland of Pomerol, as a seriously reliable Indian
red.
But the current leader of the Indian winemaking pack
is Sula, founded by Rajeev Samant, who returned from a career in Silicon Valley
in the1990s to found this dynamic wine producer in Nashik, in the state of Maharashtra,
about 120 miles north east of Mumbai, which had long grown grapes for the
table. This year Sula, now a tourist destination (the picture above is from
their website, showing a couple relaxing looking at their vines), will fill a
total of 4.5 million bottles and ship them to 20 countries. Sula's reputation
is founded on fresh, clean whites, especially the crisp Sauvignon Blanc that
can seem like nectar in India's sultry climate.
A week last Sunday Sommelier India organised The Great Indian Wine
Tasting, assembling some of the country's best-qualified palates to judge blind
up to four wines submitted by a dozen of the best Indian wineries. (Three
wineries' wines failed to make it because the relevant domestic airline refused
to fly wine on the basis that it is alcohol and therefore dangerously
inflammable.) The judges decided that overall Indian whites are better than the
reds, although since storage conditions constitute wine's greatest enemy after
taxation in India, it may be that whites, generally sold younger than reds,
have an inbuilt advantage.
There is currently no effective wine law in India and
therefore no controls other than cost on blending and labelling different
wines. T
he outfit in charge of wine is
known rather ominously as the Indian Grape Processing Board,
but India is a recent recruit to the OIV, the international body for wine
regulation and technical advancement, which bodes well.
Already there is considerable technical input from
abroad. Sula's winemaker is Californian. The relatively new Fratelli operation
is run by Piero Masi, ex-winemaker of Isola e Olena in Tuscany. However, the
special conditions in India's low latitudes (generally mitigated by high
altitudes) call for specific expertise in tropical viticulture which is very
different from the conventional sort.
But all are agreed that wine has finally arrived in
India.
The following
wines were chosen as best in a recent blind panel tasting organised by
Sommelier India.
BEST WHITES
Fratelli Chardonnay
Fratelli Chenin Blanc
Nine Hills Viognier
Reveilo Grillo
KRSMA Sauvignon Blanc
Sula Sauvignon Blanc
Big Banyan Sauvignon Blanc
BEST REDS
Grover Cabernet/Shiraz
KRSMA Cabernet Sauvignon
Four Seasons Barrique Reserve Shiraz
Fratelli Sangiovese
Sula Rasa Shiraz
Grover Cabernet/Shiraz
KRSMA Cabernet Sauvignon
Four Seasons Barrique Reserve Shiraz
Fratelli Sangiovese
Sula Rasa Shiraz
ROSÉ
Grover Shiraz
Sula Zinfandel
Nine Hills Shiraz
Grover Shiraz
Sula Zinfandel
Nine Hills Shiraz
SPARKLING
Zampa Brut
Zampa Brut
My first exposure to Indian wineries and vineyards
last month was a revelation. It's extraordinary in a way that anyone persists
with viticulture in such a hot climate with its months of monsoons, but about
50 wineries do, and I was told that there have so far been almost 1,000
applications for winery licences.
After China, India with its burgeoning middle class
holds out the promise of the world's biggest potential for market growth, but a
complex web of taxes and regulations seems likely to contain that growth for
quite a while yet (and is presumably discouraging many who have applied for
licences from proceeding).
As in France, wine may not be
advertised, but in India there are restrictions on even mentioning the word
wine. The magazineSommelier India gets round
this because it is considered a trade publication. Here's how its founder
editor Reva K Singh describes the current fiscal situation:
To begin with,
each state in India has its own excise policy and the liquor laws vary from
state to state. It's like each state is a different country because there are
different import and export duties between states and each one is a law unto
itself. Besides state taxes, there are various other charges between states
such as excise duty, special fees, label registration fees, etc.
The charge for an
out-of-state wine to enter Maharashtra [the most wine-friendly state] for
example is two rupees per bottle but the final cost ends up at 3,000 rupees,
some of it legitimate and some not, and so it goes.
The policy for financial
year 2018 is being finalised right now and changes are expected in many states.
The central
customs duty on imported wines into India is 162.6% before the various state
duties and levies kick in. The final retail price of an imported wine goes up from
eight times to 10 times its FOB price.
The add-ons are
customs and state duties, cost and freight charges, and storage costs in
bond . The wine importer also has to contend with trade margins and
marketing expenses that can add up to around 40%.
The industry is
afflicted by vague, illogical and contradictory government regulations.
According to the
most recent news, from 1 April, all retail stores, restaurant and hotels within
500 metres of a state or national highway will not be allowed to sell liquor.
This will have an adverse impact on thousands of businesses including many
major hotels, unless they can get an exemption.
About two years
ago containers of wine and luxury goods worth millions of rupees were turned
back or languished in our ports awaiting clearance. The root of the problem was
the heavy-handed strictures of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of
India. (FSSAI).
One can go on,
chapter and verse.
And here are the observations of a seasoned member of
the Indian wine trade:
Being a wine lover,
I always hate the fact that cost of wine is mighty expensive in both the food
service industry as well as retail segment in India. I firmly believe that this
as one of the key reasons for the slow growth of the wine industry in India.
This becomes a handicap not only for new trials and recruitment in this segment
but also compels wine lovers to shift to beer, RTDs, soft beverages or other
economical alternatives.
Local v
international wines
I worked in the import business for over nine years. Having worked with many producers and wine groups from over 16 wine-producing countries, I always experienced their discontent due to high and dual taxation. Also the varied policies and multiple levies across the country make it difficult to develop business organically.
I worked in the import business for over nine years. Having worked with many producers and wine groups from over 16 wine-producing countries, I always experienced their discontent due to high and dual taxation. Also the varied policies and multiple levies across the country make it difficult to develop business organically.
India has a
central taxation and the customs duty applicable on imported wines is 162% of
CIF. This is probably among the highest percentile of duty levied by any
country. As there is no central taxation on Indian wines, it seems to have
convinced them that this has been done to support the Indian wine industry and
slow down the progress of international wines in India.
However, after
gaining first-hand experience of running the business for Grover Zampa
Vineyards - the Indian pioneer, most-awarded and second-largest Indian producer
- for over four years now, I feel the growth of Indian wine industry is also
slowed by similar conditions. Even though there is no customs duty applicable
on domestic wines, the entry cost of doing business is very high, which is thus
a hindrance to its growth. The big concern here is that wine is pegged with
domestic spirits. The entry cost and barriers are similar in spite of the fact
that domestic wine industry is below 3 million cases as against 320 million
cases of spirits.
We were looking,
for instance, at the new policy for the state of Haryana. It came as a shock to
several domestic producers to learn that the cost of a licence has gone up to
two million rupees (about £25,000 or $31,000). It does not stop here. There is
also the cost of registration per label. Add to this the warehousing costs,
which can be easily absorbed by an Indian spirits company due to larger
volumes, but for a wine producer this is a big hindrance to conducting business
in this state. International wines on other hand do not require such an
extensive and expensive logistics process. As a result, several cheap
international wines are available in stores at lower prices than premium Indian
wines.
Variation between
states
Alcoholic beverages come under the state jurisdiction and every state has its own excise policy. This makes it tough for any wine producer and importer in India to conduct business. The end consumer price for a wine could increase by even 50% due to the varied policy structures between different states. You could compare the 29 states to 29 different countries with their own policies and routes to the market. This is also one of the reasons that many wine importers and producers do not even operate in half of the markets. The drinks industry was hopeful that GST [a possible system of indirect taxation currently being discussed] could bring some rationality and will ease the process to conduct business. Unfortunately, this segment will not be covered under the preview of GST so we need to wait and hope for a new initiative in this regard.
Alcoholic beverages come under the state jurisdiction and every state has its own excise policy. This makes it tough for any wine producer and importer in India to conduct business. The end consumer price for a wine could increase by even 50% due to the varied policy structures between different states. You could compare the 29 states to 29 different countries with their own policies and routes to the market. This is also one of the reasons that many wine importers and producers do not even operate in half of the markets. The drinks industry was hopeful that GST [a possible system of indirect taxation currently being discussed] could bring some rationality and will ease the process to conduct business. Unfortunately, this segment will not be covered under the preview of GST so we need to wait and hope for a new initiative in this regard.
Hotels v retail
The majority of premium international wines are consumed in hotels thanks to the DFEC, the duty exemption licence that was approved by the Ministry of External Affairs to foster tourism. This entitles hotels and restaurants to earn credits based on the foreign exchange earned by them. They can redeem their credits earned under the DFEC licence to offset the customs duty applicable on the alcoholic drinks they serve. Thus wine procured under this scheme reaches them at much lower value compared with other food service and retail segments. So the retail segment accounts for less than 15% of premium and fine wine sales, those with a CIF value of above $10 a bottle. The trend has shifted to wines below $4 CIF per bottle that can be retailed below 3,000 rupees on the shelf, a category that represents over 70% of all imported wines.
The majority of premium international wines are consumed in hotels thanks to the DFEC, the duty exemption licence that was approved by the Ministry of External Affairs to foster tourism. This entitles hotels and restaurants to earn credits based on the foreign exchange earned by them. They can redeem their credits earned under the DFEC licence to offset the customs duty applicable on the alcoholic drinks they serve. Thus wine procured under this scheme reaches them at much lower value compared with other food service and retail segments. So the retail segment accounts for less than 15% of premium and fine wine sales, those with a CIF value of above $10 a bottle. The trend has shifted to wines below $4 CIF per bottle that can be retailed below 3,000 rupees on the shelf, a category that represents over 70% of all imported wines.
The future
As a wine lover and wine producer, I really hope that wine can be detached from the spirits and beer segments and be recognised under the food industry's terms. With a uniform and rational duty structure across the country, the wine industry can bloom and pave the way for wine tourism, rural development, employment generation, higher returns to farmers for quality produce and the growth of other associated services.
As a wine lover and wine producer, I really hope that wine can be detached from the spirits and beer segments and be recognised under the food industry's terms. With a uniform and rational duty structure across the country, the wine industry can bloom and pave the way for wine tourism, rural development, employment generation, higher returns to farmers for quality produce and the growth of other associated services.
There are all sorts of peculiarities about wine in India, and not just the difficulties associated with selling it.
Such a relatively small
proportion of Indians are familiar with what wine should taste like that it's
admirable that the major wine producers take as much trouble as they do to
overcome the many disadvantages – fiscal, regulatory, social and natural – that
they face. In China, for example, there has been no shortage of producers
selling relative rubbish dressed up as wine to the legion of unsophisticated
consumers there (see our series on Chinese fakery, for example), but I found all of the wines below at
least drinkable, and recognisably made from the fermented juice of grapes. And
some of them were better than that.
Admittedly, I have tasted wines from only 11 of those
50 wineries in India, but this trip focused on the market leaders - Sula,
Grover Zampa, Fratelli and York, the biggest family-owned winery (most of the
bigger companies have some outside investors). More specifically, I was
surprised that all the unexpectedly competent sparkling wines we tasted were
all made using the painstaking traditional method, when I would have thought
that the average Indian consumer might have been perfectly happy with a
tank-fermented product.
Those with long memories will remember that the modern
Indian wine industry was pioneered by Chateau Indage and their Omar Khayyam
sparkling wine brand, launched with much fanfare in London in 1986. It was
initially made from Thompson Seedless and other table grapes that were widely
grown in India then. Having ambitiously extended its operations outside India,
it went into liquidation in 2011, leaving many a grape and wine supplier in its
wake. Many of the grape contracts were taken up by Sula and Grover. Other
farmers changed to table grapes or pomegranates, a more financially rewarding
crop, I was told.
I was interviewed by the local
correspondent of The Times of India in Nashik,
the country's centre of wine production – partly because of official encouragement
by the state of Maharashtra – and asked how I would rate Indian wine. A
difficult question, as you may imagine. In a comment I see went unreported in
favour of some of my more flattering observations, I said that if the worst
wines of the world were rated one and the very best 10, then Indian wine was
perhaps three overall. (This from someone who is on the record as saying she
doesn't like scoring wine!)
The sort of superior wines I was shown during my
extremely rapid immersion in Indian wines tend to cost about 600 to 700 rupees
(almost £10) a bottle retail, which makes them a 'super-luxury' item for most
Indians. Entry-level wines are predictably the most popular but apparently
there is much more demand for red than white, which is surprising in a way. You
might think that a refreshing glass of white (or rosé, for which there is
little demand), with perhaps a bit of residual sugar to complement the spicy
food, would be much more the thing. The residual sugar is sought after, I was
told – so much so that Fratelli, the Italo-Indian joint venture that shares a
winemaker with Isola e Olena in Tuscany, state as their USP that their wines
are bone dry.
I don't think it was just the ambient temperatures of
up to 40 ºC that made me more enthusiastic about the whites I tasted than most
reds. The reds tend to be very deeply coloured since in the dry climate grapes
are small and thick skinned. (Despite the ill-timed monsoon downpours,
irrigation is essential in Indian vineyards and right up to the moment of harvest
to stop grapes shrivelling.) Once these grapes are in the winery, the foreign
oenologists widely hired to advise new wineries rapidly back off extended
macerations once they have tasted the tannin levels that tend to result. Below,
Tempranillo grapes arriving at Sula winery in Nashik during my visit.
More seriously, however, many of the reds,
particularly the Maharashtra Cabernets, showed that sort of 'drains' or 'burnt
rubber' smell that used to be associated with South African reds.
Some hypothesise that this is a symptom of drought or
heat stress in the vines – and the vines certainly suffer. Those in the
lavishly touristic grounds of Sula looked absolutely exhausted, with limp,
shrivelled brown leaves (see below). Others mention the leafroll virus that
plagues some vineyards.
But Alessio Secci of Fratelli (a native of the Chianti
Classico town of Tavernelle; his mother helped him recruit Piero Masi) is
convinced it's a symptom of bacterial infection. A vertical tasting of their
flagship red, Sette, was a revelation. The debut vintage 2009 was a competent
Bordeaux blend, perhaps benefiting form the cleanliness of brand new equipment.
The 2010, on the other hand, reeked of the offending odour, and we (I was
travelling with fellow MW and winemaker Liam Steevenson and food and wine
matcher Fiona Beckett) were told that this was the year they used least
sulphur, at Tuscan winemaker Piero Masi's suggestion. Alessio reports that the
offputting aroma tends to increase in bottle, which is perhaps why it is caught
by wine producers early on.
Since 2010 Fratelli have been careful to use much more
sulphur at judicious stages, being aware that the heat tends to reduce the
amount of free sulphur, and are now fanatical about water quality and winery
and vineyard hygiene. They try to keep temperatures as low as possible when
grapes travel to the winery (early morning picking only is customary in India)
and during storage. In the vintages from 2011 onwards there was no trace of any
offputting odour, which suggests they may have cracked this problem.
The prevailing high temperatures are constant
challenges for the Indian wine industry, particularly as they affect transport
and storage. For this reason, wines tend to be stored for extended periods in
tank and are bottled only when orders have to be fulfilled, since it is so much
easier to cool a tank than extensive pallets of bottles.
Grape varieties
Chenin Blanc is arguably the most popular and
successful white wine grape in India, and tends to form the basis of the
growing band of sparkling wines. The entry of LVMH's domestically produced
Chandon into the Indian market shook up the sparkling wine scene and even the
ebullient Rajeev Samant, founder of Sula, admits it made him raise his game
(and prices) and jazz up the packaging of Sula fizz to compete. Chandon offered
such high grape prices, I was told, that the national shortage of Chenin Blanc
has now been followed by an excess.
Chardonnay has so far failed to thrive but this may be
a question of the wrong clones. Sula has had great success with the Sauvignon
Blanc they introduced to India.
As in the rest of the world, Indian growers have been
encouraged to grow Cabernet Sauvignon but this late-ripening variety seems far
from ideal. Grapes have to be picked before the seriously hot summer weather,
and monsoon rain, arrives in April. A second pruning that fires the starting
pistol for the growing season is not until October after the monsoon season,
and it can be difficult for Cabernet phenolics to ripen fully before harvest,
so there can be a certain amount of greenness in Cabernet-based wines.
Syrah, called Shiraz here, seems more reliably
successful, and there are high hopes for Tempranillo too.
Nashik, incidentally, is the modern spelling of Nasik.
These wines are not widely
exported but to anyone wanting to know more about Indian wine, I strongly
recommend Peter
Csizmadia-Honigh's The Wines of India. The link will take you to my last article on Indian
wines, and tasting notes on wines from even more wineries. See also www.indianwines.info
The 62 wines below are grouped by producer in
alphabetical order and then listed in the order tasted.
FRATELLI
The brothers (fratelli) in question are the Seccis of Tuscany and the
Sekhris and Mohite-Patils of India. Kapil Sekhri above presents a Sette
vertical at the Taj Falaknuma Palace in front of a deeply politically incorrect
painting (not his fault). Based a three-hour drive from Pune in southern
Maharashtra, they have had particular and distinctive success with Sangiovese,
now the major ingredient in their flagship red Sette and it is even responsible
for a surprisingly impressive white wine. Wines are made by Piero Masi, whose
main job is at Isola e Olena in Chianti Classico. UK importer is Hallgarten
Druitt & Novum, whose Steve Daniel has helped to make some of these blends.
Entry-level wine available in the UK, blended with
Steve Daniel to sell at about £7. Contains 15% Sauvignon Blanc.
Broad, honeyed nose. Very fresh and bone dry. Sauvignon Blanc rather gets in the way of Chenin Blanc character but it’s certainly a very refreshing drink.
Broad, honeyed nose. Very fresh and bone dry. Sauvignon Blanc rather gets in the way of Chenin Blanc character but it’s certainly a very refreshing drink.
12.5%
100% Chenin Blanc, free run. No acidification. Steve
Daniel helped with the blend.
Very dry and racy. Very correct though I think it’s brave to be done dry.
Very dry and racy. Very correct though I think it’s brave to be done dry.
13.5%
Inspired by an example from San Gimignano and the
popularity of Fratelli Sangiovese with Indians. The colour is removed by adding
charcoal to tank. It's good marketing too because their Sangiovese is getting
so much attention in India. 2,000 cases a year.
I thought it was a gimmick but I liked it. Good body and great balance. Lightly salty but very refreshing for a hot climate. Lower acid than Cabernet Sauvignon, but very good with food.
I thought it was a gimmick but I liked it. Good body and great balance. Lightly salty but very refreshing for a hot climate. Lower acid than Cabernet Sauvignon, but very good with food.
13.5%
Grassy nose. More
Sancerre than anything but a few fermentation aromas. Dry and zesty but not
that much fruit character.
50% Chenin Blanc, 30% Gewurztraminer, 20%
Müller-Thurgau. Also sells in Japan.
Off dry and very fruity if very slightly filter paddy. Would go well with Indian food. A little phenolic on the end. Interesting. Should develop well over the vintages.
Off dry and very fruity if very slightly filter paddy. Would go well with Indian food. A little phenolic on the end. Interesting. Should develop well over the vintages.
13.5%
Their most popular wine. E77 clone of Chardonnay –
very low yield but a distinguishing mark for Fratelli. Picked relatively
early.
Recognisably Chardonnay. Very like a jug Chardonnay from California. Absolutely fine. Nice texture; not much flavour or persistence. In a global context this is probably more like a 15…
Recognisably Chardonnay. Very like a jug Chardonnay from California. Absolutely fine. Nice texture; not much flavour or persistence. In a global context this is probably more like a 15…
(MS = Piero Masi and Steven Spurrier – they
communicate in French.) 80% Chardonnay, 20% Sauvignon Blanc.
Good balance of body (Chardonnay) and freshness (Sauvignon Blanc). Well integrated. Well done, Piero and Steven!
Good balance of body (Chardonnay) and freshness (Sauvignon Blanc). Well integrated. Well done, Piero and Steven!
13.5%
100% new French oak.
Round and nicely smooth and satiny. Some saltiness. Good energy.
Round and nicely smooth and satiny. Some saltiness. Good energy.
13.5%
Not yet released.
Sweet and oaky on the nose. Very embryonic and a bit light on fruit.
93% Sangiovese 'Bianco', 7% Sangiovese Rosso.
Pale strawberry. Tart and a bit fruitless.
Pale strawberry. Tart and a bit fruitless.
15% Cabernet Franc. Cabernet Franc has higher alcohol.
Sold in the UK. Bottled in November 2016.
Deep crimson. Simple juicy red that’s certainly clean enough but a bit pinched on the end. Very much blended to a price.
Deep crimson. Simple juicy red that’s certainly clean enough but a bit pinched on the end. Very much blended to a price.
60% Sangiovese, 20% Cabernet Franc, 20% Syrah.
Bright crimson. Peppery and juicy somehow on the nose. Light and lively with good acid balance and proper grown-up, dry red. Skiing wine, I suddenly thought – which is probably unlikely in India… Clean finish.
Bright crimson. Peppery and juicy somehow on the nose. Light and lively with good acid balance and proper grown-up, dry red. Skiing wine, I suddenly thought – which is probably unlikely in India… Clean finish.
13.5%
Bright garnet.
Very true colour! A bit fruitier than the average but the staves are a bit
obvious. They feel staves are necessary because Nashik wines are so oaky. 10%
in barrel. Pretty tart. Not sure about those staves…
100% Sangiovese. Barrel-fermented red. Very trendy!!!
They take the tops off 32 barrels (cheap labour!).
Dark crimson. Rude and raw on the nose. Very different from the other Sangioveses. Quite high VA. This cask sample tastes positively dangerous!
Dark crimson. Rude and raw on the nose. Very different from the other Sangioveses. Quite high VA. This cask sample tastes positively dangerous!
Very tough initially because they macerated as long as
in Europe. Mostly 60% Cabernet Sauvignon with 30% Cabernet Franc and 10%
Merlot. Planted in 2007 – the Sangiovese was not yet ready.
Still blackish crimson. Very obviously Cabernet with some sweetness and a dry finish. Just mellowing now. Very nice! Slightly tarry finish. Still some bite. Long. Fully ripe aromas. Why no burnt-rubber stink? Too small a batch perhaps, very new equipment, or luck.
Still blackish crimson. Very obviously Cabernet with some sweetness and a dry finish. Just mellowing now. Very nice! Slightly tarry finish. Still some bite. Long. Fully ripe aromas. Why no burnt-rubber stink? Too small a batch perhaps, very new equipment, or luck.
13.5%
50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Sangiovese, 10% Cabernet
Franc. They used very low sulphur pre and post fermentation because Piero was
used to that.
Mid crimson. Some of the telltale Cabernet Sauvignon burnt-rubber nose. Bit pinched on the end.
Mid crimson. Some of the telltale Cabernet Sauvignon burnt-rubber nose. Bit pinched on the end.
13.5%
70% Sangiovese, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon. Started to
work more cleanly with more sulphur.
Much cleaner and fresher but with the Sangiovese tang. Distinctive. Proper wine!
Much cleaner and fresher but with the Sangiovese tang. Distinctive. Proper wine!
13.5%
Exported to UK, Japan and Hong Kong. 70% Sangiovese,
30% Cabernet Sauvignon.
Dark crimson. Mellow and rich but lively and fresh. Real, perceptible Sangiovese. Fresh and lively and varietal and only slightly pinched and tarry on end.
Dark crimson. Mellow and rich but lively and fresh. Real, perceptible Sangiovese. Fresh and lively and varietal and only slightly pinched and tarry on end.
13.5%
60% Sangiovese, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon. Sample from
tank after barrels for 14 months, to be released in September 2017. 14 months
in oak, 60% new – French barriques. 30% made with barrel fermentation.
Very luscious and round. Still a bit round and raw. Falls away a bit on the end at the moment.
Very luscious and round. Still a bit round and raw. Falls away a bit on the end at the moment.
13.5%
GROVER
ZAMPA
The late Kanwal Grover was, with Chateau Indage, the
pioneer of the Indian wine industry. Today the company, the second biggest
after Sula, is run by his son Kapil and granddaughter Karishma with input since
1994 from Michel Rolland's team. Grover in the state of Karnataka merged with
Zampa of Nashik (shown above and once Vallée de Vin - sic) in Maharashtra so
that they are established in two states, which brings considerable tax
advantages. UK importer is Cranbrook but they have particular success in France.
100% Chenin Blanc. Aged on lees for 9-12 months.
Bought-in fruit. Traditional champagne method and all made in house. Dosage 12
g/l.
Fresh with some autolysis on the nose. Good sturdy stuff. Tastes drier than 12 g/l (if they make it too dry, it won’t sell in India). Well done. Not that long but in an Indian context it’s great!
Fresh with some autolysis on the nose. Good sturdy stuff. Tastes drier than 12 g/l (if they make it too dry, it won’t sell in India). Well done. Not that long but in an Indian context it’s great!
12.5%
100% Shiraz. Pale orange. Aged on lees for 9-12
months. Dosage 14 g/l.
Not quite the same interesting nose as the white; tad more industrial. Bit sweet and sour and a tiny bit phenolic. But not too sweet on the finish.
Not quite the same interesting nose as the white; tad more industrial. Bit sweet and sour and a tiny bit phenolic. But not too sweet on the finish.
You can have a pretty decent meal for two for 685
Rupees in India. The 2014 won the International Asian trophy DWWA. The 2017 will
be launched very soon – it's just a few months old.
Pale greenish straw. More Sancerre than New Zealand. Creditable nose but slightly watery, especially on the finish.
Pale greenish straw. More Sancerre than New Zealand. Creditable nose but slightly watery, especially on the finish.
90% Viognier, 10% Sauvignon Blanc. 40% barrel
fermentation, old and new barrels. Their Blanc was launched with vintage
2012.
Fairly full bodied. Not that recognisably varietal, lightly honeyed, but nice satin texture. Very light Viognier character but the texture is admirable.
Fairly full bodied. Not that recognisably varietal, lightly honeyed, but nice satin texture. Very light Viognier character but the texture is admirable.
100% Viognier. 40-45% barrel fermentation in new oak.
Named after India’s most famous tennis player.
Very obviously Viognier! Peachy and we’re definitely in the northern Rhône here. Sweetness from oak. Very slight paint-like aromas. But otherwise, this is very creditable. Though I’d want to drink it sooner rather than later.
Very obviously Viognier! Peachy and we’re definitely in the northern Rhône here. Sweetness from oak. Very slight paint-like aromas. But otherwise, this is very creditable. Though I’d want to drink it sooner rather than later.
100% Shiraz. Not a saignée (because it would be too
deeply coloured) but a very light pressing. They play with the lees to give
body. Bottled to order. This sample was bottled very recently.
Smells of a slightly syrupy Shiraz. But OK balance on the palate. No excess residual sugar.
Smells of a slightly syrupy Shiraz. But OK balance on the palate. No excess residual sugar.
Their biggest seller by volume. 60% Cabernet
Sauvignon. 'Big challenge to get quality increasing every year.' Unoaked. Not
even chips. Sold in September/October, but they can easily run out
beforehand.
Very dark colour. Greenness on the end. Rusty nails on the end. Falls away.
Very dark colour. Greenness on the end. Rusty nails on the end. Falls away.
80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Shiraz aged in barrel for
six months (30% new oak) and then a year in bottle.
Blackish crimson. Fairly rich and savoury with perhaps a little bit too much oak for some palates but it has a lot more grunt than the Art Collection red. Decent stuff that’s ripe enough. Though the finish is disappointing.
Blackish crimson. Fairly rich and savoury with perhaps a little bit too much oak for some palates but it has a lot more grunt than the Art Collection red. Decent stuff that’s ripe enough. Though the finish is disappointing.
Roughly half and half of their ripest Cabernet and
Shiraz with a tiny percentage of Viognier.
Blackish crimson. Salty and lively. Rather sudden finish. But well done on the front palate. Oak restrained.
Blackish crimson. Salty and lively. Rather sudden finish. But well done on the front palate. Oak restrained.
55% Tempranillo and 45% Shiraz planted in 2007/8 from
Maharashtra, co-fermented. 24 months in oak and then bottle aged. Very poor
soil so just 2 t/ha yield on Tempranillo.
Good quality oak on the nose, plus recognisable Tempranillo. Round and dusty and good combination of fruit and structure. Long. Proper wine! Though thechêne (oak) itself makes its presence felt.
Good quality oak on the nose, plus recognisable Tempranillo. Round and dusty and good combination of fruit and structure. Long. Proper wine! Though thechêne (oak) itself makes its presence felt.
300 magnums for sale in India only. At 5,000 rupees
per magnum, the most expensive wine on the Indian market. Row selection. 100%
Shiraz. One of their own single vineyards. Barrel fermentation. Double sorting
and no pumpover or plunging. 50 people involved!! Hand bottled.
Clean, sweet, spicy nose though not that obviously varietal. Acid a bit obvious. But it’s clearly modelled on Rhône not Barossa. Still youthful.
Clean, sweet, spicy nose though not that obviously varietal. Acid a bit obvious. But it’s clearly modelled on Rhône not Barossa. Still youthful.
600 magnums. More
tension and nerve than the 2014. Massive acid and tannin but good fruit
concentration too. Hint of black pepper. Much more supple than the 2014. To be
released October 2017.
SOMA
I saw signs for this winery while being driven around Nashik but did not visit. The wine was chosen by Vinod Pandey, the manager of the Taj Gateway hotel in Nashik, as one of his local favourites to be served with the first of a series of truly excellent Indian meals. Champion Canadian sommelier Élyse Lambert was a bit worried about the residual sugar level but I found it well balanced by the crispness of the super-clean Chenin.
I saw signs for this winery while being driven around Nashik but did not visit. The wine was chosen by Vinod Pandey, the manager of the Taj Gateway hotel in Nashik, as one of his local favourites to be served with the first of a series of truly excellent Indian meals. Champion Canadian sommelier Élyse Lambert was a bit worried about the residual sugar level but I found it well balanced by the crispness of the super-clean Chenin.
Clean, very
recognisably varietal and delightfully crisp rather than tart. It has a fair
whack of residual sugar, presumably to satisfy the Indian market, but I have
had many a commercial Vouvray that was worse than this – and the residual sugar
is quite a friend of Indian cuisine. Appley and refreshing.
12%
SULA
To many a visitor to India, and to many an Indian,
Sula is Indian wine and by far the dominant force in Nashik. If Grover is best
known for red, Sula is best known for whites that have refreshed many a
tourist. Founder Rajeev Samant (pictured above with his father and winemaker
Ajoy Shaw), a returnee from California, is a great showman and is unrepentant
about his desire to make commercial wine, and as much of it as possible. He
predicts that, from its admittedly small base, the Indian wine market will double
over the next five years. Advisor has long been Kerry Damskey of Sonoma. UK
importer is Hallgarten Druitt & Novum.
Just 15 cases. 'Chardonnay is ok for sparkling wine
but a bit weak and unproductive for still wine.' Picked at potential alcohol of
10.5%. About half went into used 500-litre barrels, with some bâtonnage. RS 5
g/l.
Very appley nose. Very fine bubbles and light wine. Embryonic.
Very appley nose. Very fine bubbles and light wine. Embryonic.
Mainly Chenin Blanc. Dosage 8-10 g/l.
Quite pungent nose and a little more autolysis than their Chardonnay Brut 2015. Clean and simple on the palate.
Quite pungent nose and a little more autolysis than their Chardonnay Brut 2015. Clean and simple on the palate.
Dosage 8-10 g/l.
Bit rich and broad. Denser than the regular Brut.
Syrah, Pinot Noir, Chenin. Dosage 14-15 g/l.
Pale strawberry pink. Very fine bead. Bit phenolic and sweet.
Pale strawberry pink. Very fine bead. Bit phenolic and sweet.
First variety they planted. 42,000 cases.
A little sweet with fermentation aromas. Slightly hard and metallic on the end. Slightly chewy.
A little sweet with fermentation aromas. Slightly hard and metallic on the end. Slightly chewy.
13%
Their biggest selling white. Off dry for the market –
RS 15 g/l.
Very good balance. Tastes less concentrated and varietal than the Soma version.
Very good balance. Tastes less concentrated and varietal than the Soma version.
12%
Ripest grapes with lowest yield from their own
vineyards. 15% in one-year-old French oak. RS 5 g/l.
Zesty and varietal. Reminds me of a good SA Chenin.
Zesty and varietal. Reminds me of a good SA Chenin.
13%
Sula is the only Indian Riesling producer. Always
picked early at 19-20 Brix. RS 15 g/l.
Smells correct and lively. Granny Smiths and very refreshing. Still slightly phenolic but not obviously sweet.
Smells correct and lively. Granny Smiths and very refreshing. Still slightly phenolic but not obviously sweet.
10.5%
RS 15
g/l. Light TDN. Proper, evolved Riesling aromas (diurnal temperature
helps). Crystalline
and so surprising for India!
10.5%
Bit tarty on the
nose. More like perfumed, off-dry white with crispness. Not bad though but a
real challenge because Viognier needs to be picked late.
14%
RS 15 g/l.
Fermentation and ‘super-technical’ aromas and phenolic.
20% whole bunch.
Fresh and lively. Their most fruit-driven red. Bit rusty nail on the end. But
nice fruity nose.
13%
67% Shiraz, 33% Cabernet Sauvignon! India’s most
popular wine, 100,000 cases plus. Over the years they’ve realised that Shiraz
is better than Cab.
That characteristic red drainy smell again…
That characteristic red drainy smell again…
13%
American oak but they’ve reduced the new oak to
15%.
Lots of tannin and dry finish. Tastes bone dry. Pinched. Bit acidic.
Lots of tannin and dry finish. Tastes bone dry. Pinched. Bit acidic.
Rich and round and
sweet and complete. Fresh enough. Just.
Shiraz with 3-4% Cabernet Franc. All French oak, 20%
new, 12-14 months.
Very sweet and round but slightly sweet and sour.
Very sweet and round but slightly sweet and sour.
Dark glowing ruby.
Has softened. Maybe even a bit too sweet and not fresh enough. Quite
tart still.
Almost 10% Shiraz.
Cassis nose rather than the drains smell but very pinched on the palate. Tart.
14%
Has softened and
has attractive liveliness. Still a little tart on the end but not fatally so.
14%
Half bottles. Picked 30-40 days later and trying to
dry the grapes on straw mats for two weeks. RS 100 g/l.
Very good acid-sweetness balance. Bite of dried skins. Good!
Very good acid-sweetness balance. Bite of dried skins. Good!
13.5%
VALLONNÉE
The Nashik red chosen to follow the Soma Chenin (see above).
The Nashik red chosen to follow the Soma Chenin (see above).
This is described as coming from the ‘Kavnai Slopes’
of Nashik. An enterprise run by the ex winemaker of Chateau Indage.
Very deep purple but hollow and tart and with the characteristic ‘drains’ nose of many a Maharashtra Cabernet Sauvignon. Not that much Cabernet character either.
Very deep purple but hollow and tart and with the characteristic ‘drains’ nose of many a Maharashtra Cabernet Sauvignon. Not that much Cabernet character either.
14.25%
YORK
This family-owned winery is beautifully situated close
to the shores of a dam that is now a lake that looks as it it comes straight
out of a Victorian watercolour of India. Like most of the other wineries
mentioned here, much play is made of the growing potential for wine tourism.
The apparently western name is inspired by the first names of the Gurnani
children. Kailash Gurnani studied at Adelaide and has winemaking mates all over
the world, and a sensible penchant for screwcaps. He struck me as the
best-informed of all the winemakers I met, which is why I was surprised not to
love the wines more.
Mainly 2015. 100% Chenin Blanc. 25% underwent
malolactic fermentation. The aim is prosecco meets champagne. Dosage 9.5
g/l.
Smells a bit sweet and frothy. Tiny bead. Sweet and sour. Doesn’t last in the mouth. Slight mouthwash effect. But it doesn’t actually have any grave fault.
Smells a bit sweet and frothy. Tiny bead. Sweet and sour. Doesn’t last in the mouth. Slight mouthwash effect. But it doesn’t actually have any grave fault.
100% Shiraz. Some
autolysis and broad and fruity and better balanced than the white. More to
it than the white.
10.5%
Bone dry. Smells
decidedly industrial and the whole is pretty tart with fermentation aromas on
the palate. I suspect this grape needs a bit of residual sugar.
12.8%
Kept on lees for two months unsulphured.
Clean but very light nose. Green and slightly oily but pretty chewy on the end. Difficult to spot the fruit. Very hard.
Clean but very light nose. Green and slightly oily but pretty chewy on the end. Difficult to spot the fruit. Very hard.
12.9%
100% Zinfandel lightly pressed. RS 5 g/l.
Sweet, rather sticky fruit. Very harshly acidified. Out of balance.
Sweet, rather sticky fruit. Very harshly acidified. Out of balance.
12.5%
Dindori fruit. Aged with oak staves for five
months.
Straightforward fruit. Drink young! Slight rusty nails end. Falls away but I’d drink it if I were on holiday.
Straightforward fruit. Drink young! Slight rusty nails end. Falls away but I’d drink it if I were on holiday.
13.5%
From Sanghvi. Aged in oak for four months or so. Costs
more to make than the Shiraz but sells for the same price.
A little green note on the nose. Pretty tart on the finish. Not much fun on the end.
A little green note on the nose. Pretty tart on the finish. Not much fun on the end.
13.5%
55% Cabernet, 45% Merlot in oak for six months or so.
'Merlot is tricky.' A bit in Sanghvi and a bit in Dindori.
Nose seems relatively free of greenness but there’s a certain syrupiness on the palate then a pinched finish.
Nose seems relatively free of greenness but there’s a certain syrupiness on the palate then a pinched finish.
13.5%
Name from owners’ grandsons. First vintage 2012 was
60% Shiraz. They skipped the 2014 vintage. 90% Cabernet, 10% Shiraz. 13 months
in oak, usually 55% French. Nine months in bottle.
Savoury and fresh and rather intriguing on the nose. Good constitution. Slight greenness and too young to drink but certainly ambitious.
Savoury and fresh and rather intriguing on the nose. Good constitution. Slight greenness and too young to drink but certainly ambitious.
14.5%
Drink 2019-2023
India gets its own wine guide
6 June 2016 Indian wine writer Magandeep Singh has just published
an update of his Indian wine duty survey and calculator. See here.
27 May 2016 As a counterpoint to all our coverage inspired by the
current International Cool Climate Wine Symposium in Brighton, we offer you a
survey of one of the world's hotter wine regions.
One of the best-attended
tastings I went to recently in London was a presentation of ... Indian wine. I
could hardly believe how many serious winos attended the tasting and launch of
a new book on Indian wine by Hungarian Peter Csizmadia-Honigh, the result
of his having won the 2014 Geoffrey Roberts Award. There were Masters of Wine, consultant winemakers
and wine educators by the dozen, as well as the likes of Jim Budd, Wink 'Jura' Lorch, Nayan Gowda and Michael Schuster.
I asked a few of them why, when there are so many
other, often poorly attended, wine events in London, they took the trouble to
turn up for this early morning event at Vintners' Hall. Many of them said it
was because they knew particularly little about Indian wine. Others knew
Csizmadia-Honigh from his days working for the Institute of Masters of Wine.
Several out-of-towners explained that it was particularly convenient because
the morning after the Real Wine Fair. Michael Schuster explained, 'I tasted a
couple of very passable Indian reds a few years ago, and was intrigued to see
what was happening. Perhaps the colonial in me (Kenya born and bred) was an
additional spur.' Wink said she came for the very practical reason that she
liked to support fellow self-publishers.
Peter Csizmadia-Honigh,
pictured above with vineyard workers near Bijapur in northern Karnatka, was
moved to write and publish, competently and exhaustively, The Wines of India to fill a gap. Although there
are about 50 wineries in India today, there was no single-volume reference work
about them. And the Geoffrey Roberts bursary made it all - 452 pages, 11
original maps and many a beautiful photograph by Gábor Nagy - possible.
He set off on a 2,000-km journey around Indian wine
country at the end of 2014 - not without difficulty since responses to his
initial emails to wineries were negligible. 'Perhaps my Hungarian surname put
them off', he observed.
Taxes on imported wines are extremely high in India
and there are many and various controls on selling wine in individual states.
This, along with increased prosperity, has been a spur to the domestic wine
industry – although apparently pomegranates are a more valuable crop.
Indian vine growers can
theoretically have three harvests a year but most try to harvest only once,
employing the tricks required for tropical viticulture. More common are two different prunings each year:
one in April or May before the monsoon and another before the beginning of the
growing cycle in August or September. Apparently, harvest dates vary
considerably according to the region and the timing of annual rainfall there. Efforts
are made to avoid fungal-disease pressure on the vines after pruning.
Peter reported that there is no shortage of foreign
consultants working in the Indian wine business, from France, Italy and outside
Europe; French and Italian grape varieties dominate. One expects French
varieties to play an important part in any new wine-producing country but the
Italian influence in the promising Fratelli winery has encouraged planting of
Italian varieties such as Sangiovese. Reveilo Wines produce Grillo and Nero
d'Avola.
Peter urged us to 'forget'
the V labrusca hybrids Bangalore Blue and Bangalore
Purple for serious wine production, 'but Indian producers need volume', he
explained, adding that wines made from them 'may serve to convert Indian
drinkers from whisky'. The wines he described as 'sub entry level' may be
'technically ok but too sweet for us to consider drinking them'. Some, such as
the famous Goan 'port' are fortified. (The ex-Portuguese colony of Goa has a
few wineries but no vineyards - and no drinkable wine other than Big Banyan,
according the author of The Wines of India.) I
saw on the back label of one wine the legend, 'Wine manufactured from grapes
grown in the state of Maharashtra and without admixing spirit/alcohol.'
The total area of vines in India is still only about
2,500 ha (6,200 acres), so the industry is distinctly nascent - and some
regions have only one producer. The two principal regions for wine production
are Nashik in the state of Maharashtra (with about 35 producers and a useful 16
ºC diurnal temperature variation) and Bangalore in Karnatka (with less diurnal
temperature variation but cooler overall). Temperatures rise as harvest approaches
and the vintners' drive is to reach phenolic ripeness before sugars are so high
that fermentation to dryness could be compromised. Below is a vista of Vallonné
Vineyards in the Igatpuri subregion of Nashik in Maharashtra, the state that,
in 2001, evolved a particularly wine-friendly policy. There were subsidies
available that, according to Peter, in some cases went to the unworthy and
unskilled.
Sula, established in Nashik by
a returnee from California, is the biggest producer, filling 10 millon bottles
a year now from 50,000 when it started in 2000. At one early stage, I was told,
Sula imported wine in bulk and blended it with Indian wine, but this no longer
makes commercial sense with the current high level of taxes on imported wines.
But Sula has to be the most active wine company in India. It imports a
portfolio of fine wines and spirits, has styled its winery as a major tourist
destination with hotel and 'farm to fork restaurant', and is now a wine
education provider for the Wine & Spirit Education Trust. See more
via their website. Below is Sula's chief winemaker Ajoy Shaw, a Master
of Wine student.
If Sula is particularly associated with crisp, modern
whites, the older company established by the Grover family is more of a red
wine producer and has long had the benefit of Michel Rolland of Pomerol as
consultant. (He had just had his first overture from the Grovers when we filmed
him for our BBC2 series in 1994.) Chateau Indage, an outfit that used to make
sparkling wine, was felled by an over-ambitious international expansion plan.
Some investment funds have invested in the Indian wine
business. Some of the newer boutique wineries have been established and funded
by some of India's richer families.
Soul Tree is an interesting business, crowd funded to
the tune of £350,000. It owns neither vineyards nor winery but is making wines
specifically for Indian restaurants in the UK and other export markets.
The spirits multinational Diageo at one stage had an
Indian wine brand and, having acquired United Spirits, it is now owner of Four
Seasons in Roti near Pune in southern Maharashtra.
Although the overall quality level of Indian wine is
increasing, I thought it was still relatively low, with some wines exhibiting a
sort of ashy character associated with water stress, and others simply lacking
much fruit concentration. The most impressive producer for me was Myra.
The 30 wines described below, all shown at the book
launch in April, are grouped by state then alphabetically by producer, with
whites before reds.
MAHARASHTRA
FRATELLI WINES
UK importer Hallgarten Druitt & Novum
UK importer Hallgarten Druitt & Novum
100% Chenin Blanc. Four months in barrel, seven months
on lees pre-disgorgement.
Creditable texture and balance with some definite Chenin character. I would probably swoon over this in India…
Creditable texture and balance with some definite Chenin character. I would probably swoon over this in India…
12.5%
White wine from
Sangiovese. Very technical. But well put together. Not sure I can see any
Sangiovese character. I have better memories of their still Chenin Blanc.
Slightly off towards the end.
Sangiovese, Cabernet Savignon, Cabernet Franc.
Quite respectably ripe with some oak still in evidence. Falls off towards the end and a little pinched but not bad.
Quite respectably ripe with some oak still in evidence. Falls off towards the end and a little pinched but not bad.
14%
MANDALA WINE
BRANDS
UK importer mandalawine@gmail.com
UK importer mandalawine@gmail.com
Slightly metallic
nose in which Sauvignon Blanc character can (just) be discerned. Very light on
fruit but it's not dirty - just a little pinched on the end.
Blackish crimson.
Rather dank on the nose. Sweet start but not much fruit weight. Astringent
finish.
Mid crimson.
Slightly rank nose. Light and sweet. Tart finish.
SOUL TREE
Soul Tree Wine
Soul Tree Wine
TA 6.8 g/l, RS 3.7 g/l. Screwcapped - the whole range.
Lots of guff about matching Indian spices.
Some varietal character and good grip on the palate. Honey and acidity. Well done!
Some varietal character and good grip on the palate. Honey and acidity. Well done!
13.5%
TA 7.1 g/l. RS 3 g/l.
Light and fresh. Green and zesty though without much fruit concentration.
Light and fresh. Green and zesty though without much fruit concentration.
13%
TA 6.1
g/l, RS 1.8 g/l. Zinfandel.
Pale rose colour. Something a little spicy about this actually! Good bone-dry end so no hiding behind sugar. The wine is made at Oakwood winery in Naslik by ex-Ch Indage winemaker. Clean and fresh.
Pale rose colour. Something a little spicy about this actually! Good bone-dry end so no hiding behind sugar. The wine is made at Oakwood winery in Naslik by ex-Ch Indage winemaker. Clean and fresh.
13%
TA 6.1 g/l, RS 2.4 g/l.
Dark crimson. Berry smell and then quite a bit of tannin. Staightforward.
Dark crimson. Berry smell and then quite a bit of tannin. Staightforward.
14%
TA 5.2 g/l, RS 1.8 g/l.
Very light nose and innocuous.
Very light nose and innocuous.
14%
TA 5.2 g/l, RS 1.8 g/l. Barrel aged for 12 months.
Pale ruby. Quite mellow on the nose but a bit thin and tart on the palate. I think it may always be a bit hollow.
Pale ruby. Quite mellow on the nose but a bit thin and tart on the palate. I think it may always be a bit hollow.
14%
Quite savoury
nose. Tastes bone dry and mild. Lacks freshness.
SULA VINEYARDS
UK importer Hallgarten Druitt & Novum and also in M&S as Jewel of Nasik
UK importer Hallgarten Druitt & Novum and also in M&S as Jewel of Nasik
TA 6.9 g/l, RS 1.6 g/l.
Extremely faint Sauvignon Blanc character on the nose but convicing enough in a greenery way on the palate. Tastes dry overall.
Extremely faint Sauvignon Blanc character on the nose but convicing enough in a greenery way on the palate. Tastes dry overall.
13%
TA 6.6 g/l, RS 6.5 g/l.
Definitely a hint of Viognier on the nose. Off dry and well balanced. More Languedoc than Condrieu but perfectly acceptable.
Definitely a hint of Viognier on the nose. Off dry and well balanced. More Languedoc than Condrieu but perfectly acceptable.
14%
TA 6.7 g/l, RS 0.5 g/l. 90% Shiraz aged in American
oak, with 10% Cabernet Sauvignon aged in French oak.
Mid crimson. Oak seems a little dirty. Astringent end. Pretty light fruit.
Mid crimson. Oak seems a little dirty. Astringent end. Pretty light fruit.
13.5%
YORK
WINERY
Neutral nose. Wet.
No faults but not much flavour.
13.1%
TA 7.35
g/l, RS 7.3 g/l. Zinfandel.
Saignée rosé colour. Clean, fresh and fruity. Off dry. I'd be very happy with this in India!
Saignée rosé colour. Clean, fresh and fruity. Off dry. I'd be very happy with this in India!
13.1%
TA 6.2 g/l, RS 3 g/l. 60% Shiraz, 40% Cabernet
Sauvignon. 13 months in barrel, predominantly French, with 25% new oak, the
rest second and third fill. 5,319 bottles produced.
Dark crimson. Swet fruit and just about clean and fully ripe. Classic cassis nose.
Dark crimson. Swet fruit and just about clean and fully ripe. Classic cassis nose.
14.3%
KARNATAKA
90% Viognier, 10% Sauvignon Blanc.
Definitely smells of Vognier! This is a new wine for them. A bit soft. Floral. Needs a bit more acidity.
Definitely smells of Vognier! This is a new wine for them. A bit soft. Floral. Needs a bit more acidity.
14%
TA 5 g/l, RS 2 g/l. Shiraz. Rosé with Michel Rolland's
name prominently on the label.
Slightly sweaty nose. Easy peasy with some sweetness and not quite enough acidity.
Slightly sweaty nose. Easy peasy with some sweetness and not quite enough acidity.
13.5%
TA 5.6 g/l, RS 2 g/l. 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20%
Shiraz.
Healthy crimson. Slightly rank nose. Light and fruity and frank with good fruit/acid balance on the palate. Simple but pleasing enough.
Healthy crimson. Slightly rank nose. Light and fruity and frank with good fruit/acid balance on the palate. Simple but pleasing enough.
14%
TA 6.2 g/l, RS <2 g/l. 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32%
Shiraz, 3% Viognier. Matured for 12 months in French oak.
Very posh bottle! Sweet oak on the nose - not much intensity. Acceptable but a bit thin - especially since I assume it is pretty expensive.
Very posh bottle! Sweet oak on the nose - not much intensity. Acceptable but a bit thin - especially since I assume it is pretty expensive.
14%
KRSMA
ESTATES
UK importer vishal@krsmawineries.com
UK importer vishal@krsmawineries.com
RS 2 g/l. 100% oak. Naughty heavy bottle and very
fancy packaging.
Dark crimson. Simple cassis nose. Restrained (sweet) oak influence. Rather pinched on the end.
Dark crimson. Simple cassis nose. Restrained (sweet) oak influence. Rather pinched on the end.
13.3%
RS 2 g/l. 12 months in barrel, predominantly French
oak. Naughty heavy bottle.
Very dark crimson. Mellow sweet oak on the nose. Very recognisably Cabernet on the nose. Have had worse red bordeaux than this! Quite a lot to get your teeth into though the tannins are still a little fierce.
Very dark crimson. Mellow sweet oak on the nose. Very recognisably Cabernet on the nose. Have had worse red bordeaux than this! Quite a lot to get your teeth into though the tannins are still a little fierce.
13.5%
MYRA VINEYARDS
UK importer Premia Wines
UK importer Premia Wines
Definite Sauvignon
Blanc character - more Loire than Marlborough. Very fresh and clean - good
balance and dry finish with enough fruit but not really that much
flavour.
13%
Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz. Very good labelling.
Family-owned boutique winery.
Mid crimson. Well-melded nose without either variety dominant. Gentle – lighter than the bottle looks but a comfortable drink already.
Mid crimson. Well-melded nose without either variety dominant. Gentle – lighter than the bottle looks but a comfortable drink already.
14%
REVEILO
WINES
Light nose and
rather watery on the palate. Not that refreshing and I can't really see any
varietal character. Wet.
13%
Pale crimson.
Slightly rank fruit. Light weight. Sweet start - varietal! Lightly
astringent.
13%
12 months in French oak.
Dirty oak on the nose. Thin and tart on the palate. No!
Dirty oak on the nose. Thin and tart on the palate. No!
14%
.
What a nice blog. thanks for creating & sharing such information.
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