Indian wines - The Road Ahead(1)
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It is a common perception that Indian wines have 'come a long way, baby' but they still have some way to go before they measure up to international winemaking. Rajeev Samant invited seven leading international winemakers and wine experts for the first and biggest-ever international tasting of Indian wines in early November at his Sula Vineyards. |
The panelists were in India for the final phase of the India Wine Challenge 2008 organised by Robert Joseph, and included Gina Gallo (Gallo of Sonoma), John and Brigid Forrest (New Zealand), Vanya Cullen (Cullen Wines, Australia), John Quarisa (Australia), Roberto Bava (Italy) and Mike Ratcliffe (South Africa). Also present were Vikram Doctor from the Economic Times Mumbai and myself. Sommelier India editor, Reva Singh, missed the tastings because of a delayed flight but was present for the panel discussion in the evening.
We tasted 45 wines in 10 different categories - all from wineries in and around Nasik, as samples from other wineries (Indage, Grover, Big Banyan) were not submitted. However, this represented nearly 75% of all wine labels available in India as of date, and was sufficiently representative to allow the panel to draw some very interesting conclusions. The panel discussion was held at the stunning new amphitheatre next to Sula's winery complex, and was attended by many neighbouring winery owners and winemakers as well as invitees from Nasik and Mumbai.
Essentially, what emerged was the following -
• Indian white wines were considered better than the reds. Some of the Chenin Blancs approached world standards with good fruit definition and honeyed, nutty notes - in particular those from Vinsura, Sula, Vin & Vouloir and Chateau D'Ori, all 2008.
• Both the sparkling wines from Sula and Vinsura were considered reasonably good.
• The Sauvignon Blancs were generally clean and subtle, but tended to be acidic and subdued, without the cut grass and guava aromas found in the best varietals - with the exception of Chateau D'Ori and Sula 2008.
• The Sula Viognier 2008 stood out as a unique new wine with an aniseed background and good drinkability despite a high 14% v/v alcohol content.
• The standard of the rosé wines tasted was generally good. They were fresh and aromatic, in particular the Nine Hills Shiraz Rosé 2008 and the Sula Blush Zinfandel 2008.
