The semi-dry Chenin Blanc is a blend of Chenin fermented in stainless steel tanks and oak barrels. It has unique aromas of fresh tropical fruits like guava, apricot and pineapple. The oak aged component of this wine gives it good structure and complexity with very balanced acids.
This sparkling rose has an appealing bouquet of wild strawberries, red cherries and sweet spice. The palate is full with cherries, tropical fruit flavours and sweet face. Fresh spritzy and crackling with vitality.
Charosa Resrve Cabernet Sauvignon 2012: Dark ruby red with complex aromas of ripe fruits, black olive, vanilla, eucalyptus, chocolate with a hint of sweet spice. On the palate this wine is rich and soft, expressing ripe fruits like plum and raspberry.
Chateau d’Ori Chardonnay 2012: Fresh and pleasant with a distinct nose of pineapple and citrus fruit, this excellent Chardonnay distinguishes itself with a memorable finish. The wine pairs equally well with poultry and paneer, fish and vegetables.
Fratelli Sette 2011: A great fusion of powerful Cabernet Sauvignon, roundness and richness of Cabernet Franc teamed with the fine, elegant floral notes of Sangiovese. The pleasant and refined notes of wood are well merged with the wine, adding a balanced vanilla flavour, silky tannins and a vibrant finish.
Grover Vijay Amritraj Reserve Collection Red 2013: Fragrant perfumed aromas with elegant lingering dark fruits, spice, pepper. blackberry jam and violets. Well-balanced tannins.
Myra Reserve Shiraz 2013: Its medium-bodied palate has a soft finesse-filled tannin structure. Its gentle oak and vanilla nose and palate makes it a perfect complement for grilled meats and seafood and medium-spicy Indian food.
Nine Hills Chenin Blanc 2014: This medium dry, medium bodied wine is crisp and refreshing. It has light floral and fruity aromas with flavours of tropical fruits like peach, banana and pineapple.
Nine Hills Shiraz Rose 2013: Medium dry, this wine is crisp and refreshing. It is light to medium bodied with aromas and flavours of cherry and strawberry.
Reveilo Merlot 2014: An intense ruby colored, medium bodied wine with mouth filling flavours of ripe plums, black cherries and cassis complimented with spicy characters. Soft tannins and balanced acidity provide a remarkable structure to this wine.
Reveilo Late Harvest Chenin Blanc 2013: The aromas from the overripe grapes are purely of raisin grapes, dry figs, honey and dry fruits like almonds and nuts. On the palate, the sweetness is perfectly balanced with acidity, resulting in a very pleasant velvety taste.
Reveilo Syrah 2014: Strong aromas of pepper, smoke and red berry fruits, which follow through on the palate, with notes of spice and flintstone. Soft complex tannins give this medium bodied wine a good finish.
Reveilo Cabernet Sauvignon 2013: An extremely powerful bouquet of aromas with notes of black fruit and green pepper. The tannins are sweet and smooth giving the wine a long and persistent finish. The wine has an appealing mouth feel and is nicely structured.
Reveilo Sangiovese 2014: An intense, ruby coloured wine with aromas of raspberry, cherry and spice. The palate is soft and fruity with finely textured tannins and well balanced acidity giving the wine a rounded and lingering taste.
Reveilo Grillo 2013: The wine greets you with a bouquet of citrus, lemon, orange and grapefruit. It is a medium bodied wine with crisp acidity and a long mineral after taste.
Sula Dindori Reserve Viognier 2014: Grown on the distinctive red soil of our Dindori estate, the reserve Viognier is showing exotic apricot and lychee aromas followed by a lengthy mineral presence and fresh acidity on the palate.
Sula Brut Rose NV: A sophisticated, perfectly balanced bottle-fermented Rose sparkling wine. A blend of Chenin Blanc, Zinfandel and Pinot Noir grapes, this salmon pink palate-pleaser packs a million tiny bubbles in every celebratory sip.
Sula Brut NV: A blend of Viognier, Chenin Blanc, Sultana and Pinot Noir, this celebratory sparkling wine, made in the true methode champenoise style, is a creamy, complex nectar that goes down like a dream.
Sula Satori Merlot Malbec NV: A medium-bodied Merlot-Malbec blend with hints of black cherries and ripe red fruit. Well structured and smooth on the palate. “Satori” is a Zen term meaning “sudden enlightenment”.
Sula Sauvignon Balnc 2014: Herbaceous, crisp and dry, with hints of green pepper and a touch of spice at the finish, this wine is well balanced with good acidity.
York Sparkling Cuvee Brut NV: On the nose along with perfumed characters of lemons there are secondary characters of cheese and butterscotch. The 12 months less ageing gives it complex characters of cookies, cheese and cream on the palate.
Rioja – the home of the berry loaded, barrel-aged red wine made from Tempranillo and Garnacha – is one of Spain’s most important wine regions. Rioja was the very first Spanish region to be awarded DO status, back in 1933, and in 1991 became the first to be upgraded to the top-level DOCa. All top-end red Rioja is matured in new oak barrels; American oak is the preference, but many wineries use a mix of American and French oak. This contact with virgin oak is what gives Rioja wines their distinctive notes of coconut, vanilla and sweet spices. The amount of time that a Rioja wine spends in barrel shows whether it is categorized as Joven, Crianza, Reserva or Gran Reserva. Rioja Joven wines, which are intended for consumption within two years of vintage, spend little or no time in oak (jóven is Spanish for “young’). Rioja Crianza wines are aged for one year in barrel, and one year in bottle. Rioja Reserva wines spend a minimum of one year in oak, and cannot be sent to market until a full three years after vintage. Rioja Gran Reserva wines are the region’s very finest and most expensive wines. These undergo a total of five years’ aging, of which at least two years is spend in oak.
In Spain, wineries are commonly referred to as ‘bodegas’ though this term may also refer to a wine cellar or warehouse. For quite some time, the Rioja wine industry has been dominated by local family vineyards and co-operatives that have bought the grapes and make the wine. Some bodegas would buy fermented wine from the co-ops and age the wine to sell under their own label. In recent times there has been more emphasis on securing vineyard land and making estate bottled wines from the bodegas.
Charosa Selections Sauvignon Blanc 2014– Bright straw yellow. Lively intense flavors of tropical fruits with gooseberry and orange flavors on mid palate. The palate is broad, balanced and quite rich with tropical fruit and a grassy mineral freshness.
In 2005 legendary Malt Master David Steward of William Grant & Sons decided to create the world’s first triple malt combining single malts from three of Speyside’s finest distilleries. The whiskey Monkey Shoulder is a mix of single malts from Kininvie, together with single malts from Balvenie and Glenfiddich distilleries, both owned by William Grant & Sons.
The term ‘ Monkey Shoulder’ has a bit of whiskey heritage. It’s a reference to a condition that maltmen sometimes pick up while working long shifts, turning barley by hand. This had the tendency to cause their arms to hang down like a monkey’s, so they nicknamed it ‘Monkey Shoulder’. Today, although working conditions have changed, the name Monkey Shoulder lives on as an affectionate tribute, to honour the hard graft of all the maltmen past and present.
This superb blend, has resulted in a smooth, creamy, supple and very malty Scotch which is superbly well neat, over ice or in whiskey cocktails. According to the Monkey Shoulder website: “Some say it tastes just like riding bareback on the wild moors of Scotland with a flame haired maiden on Christmas morning. Others agree it tastes like 007 wearing a tuxedo wetsuit.” This is whisky to be enjoyed! We can’t wait for Monkey Shoulder to launch in India soon!
An invitation from the German Wine Institute inviting approximately 40 Sommeliers from around the world offered me a chance to experience wines of Germany first-hand.
On landing at Frankfurt we were whisked off to Weisbaden about 30 to 45 minutes away by road. This is a small town in the centre of Germany’s wine producing region of Rheinghau.
There is a great vibe in Wiesbaden, and Spital the bar we visited post the wine dinner at WeingutKoegler was fantastic. Weingut Koegler is a charming winery with a lovely restaurant surrounded by ancient homes. I highly recommend a tasting of some of their fabulous wines, including a beautiful Pinot Noir that has spent some time in oak.
The next day we visited the Geisenheim University or the German Wine Institute. This is where it got serious with a talk on German wines and a powerful session on German Pinot Noir. Unfortunately for Germany the international world mostly associates their wine with Riesling. While they are certainly masters at that grape variety, there is so much more to discover.
Get yourself up to the top of the Niederwald Park with the Niederwald monument and enjoy a majestic view of the river Rhine along with Rheinghau and Rhiehessen other bordering wine regions. Take the trail back down to the town where wineries and residential homes sit side by side and walk into a couple of tasting rooms to quench your thirst.
If you ever get a chance to visit the Ball de Weines in Weisbaden, don’t miss it regardless of the hefty ticket price. It’s one hell of a party that showcases top German producers who are part of the VDP association with a free flow of almost anything you like -. I spent my time drinking spirit made from Riesling and smoking some really fine Davidoff cigars in between bites of a very indulgent Black Truffle Risotto.
The next morning we headed to a wine fair showcasing over a 1000 VDP wines produced in Germany and then on to a town called Mainz in Franken about 2 hours away. This is a small university town, with a bridge where people converge to drink wine in the evening, very reminiscent of the Charles Bridge in Prague.
Please visit Juliusspital, a winery in the heart of Mainz, walking distance from the bridge. I was mesmerized by this place. For one, the revenue from the sale of their wines is used to sustain the hospital they run in the same complex. This is a state of the art winery with a jaw-dropping cellar that makes me want to go back to Mainz just to visit this place again. We stayed on the outskirts of Mainz in a hotel called Meintzinger, very close to the vineyards. I have always loved the German countryside and staying in a place like this was truly a pleasure. Very large luxurious rooms in a building that just spells Europe and everything I love about it.
The vineyards slopes in Germany are the steepest in the world and when seen up close you wonder how they manage to tend to their wines without breaking their backs. As one wine producer told us, there is a lot of pain in our way of wine making but when the wine is in the glass and we taste it the pain is all worthwhile.
There are many wineries in the region to visit, I was particularly moved by Weingut Horst Sauer for two reasons. Mr. Sauer doesn’t speak English but has the power to convey such intensity through his eyes. His wines are an extension of him and it is all pure passion.
The end of the journey was a tasting at Weingut Stein, I highly recommend this winery for their wines, the view of Mainz around you and especially because of their Michelin starred restaurant Ludwig Knoll that has some very fine wines from Germany and the rest of the world. The food was impeccable and the service exactly what you would expect. Rheinghau and the regions I visited are breathtakingly beautiful and Germany like always left me very satiated.
We’re proud to announce that Nikhil Agarwal was invited to SIAL China in Shanghai this May to represent the Indian wine industry at Asia’s largest food and drink show in the company of international wine buyers, wine producers and international media.
Nikhil conducted a seminar on the growth of the Indian wine market, insigths into the Indian consumer, the Indian wine industry as a whole as well as the scope for international wine in India. The audience of international wine buyers were guided through a tasting of a selection of Indian wine Nikhil. They sampled wine from Charosa Vineyards, Grover Zampa, Vallonne Vineyards and Myra Vineyards.
We recently hosted the 3rd edition of ‘Celebrating India’s Finest’, an evening recognizing winners of the ‘Indian Wine Consumer Choice Awards’, 2015 at Le Pain Quotidien, Colaba on June 13, 2015.
This celebratory evening was in honour of the winners of the 3rd edition of the Indian Wine Consumer’s Choice Awards held at the Sofitel BKC earlier this year. A pool of over 100 wine enthusiasts came together to evaluate premium Indian wines and create a list of their favourites through an unbiased blind tasting technique.
Winning wineries of IWCCA 2015 showcased their portfolio of wine to an audience full of wine enthusiasts at Celebrating India’s Finest this year. Over a 175 guests enjoyed a free flow of India’s best wines in the company of other wine enthusiasts.
A large spread of gourmet cheese and charcuterie by Fortune Gourmet and a selection of delectable appetizers by Le Pain Quotidien, Colaba made the evening even more indulgent. Guests were also seen buying and discussing Rocky Patel cigars brought into India by Cigar Connexion. The night was a combination of fantastic wine, great food and fabulous company.
Titan conducted an auction of an immaculate piece of their Nebula watch brand which raised Rs 81,000 via a silent auction. The entire proceeds from the auction went to Atma, our Charity Partner for the event.
All our guests were treated to complimentary service vouchers from Jean Claude Biguine, Gourmet Jam Jars and vouchers from All Things Nice.
Wining Wineries That Participated
