// Resident Wine Expert
Wines to look out for and try (think of the fun you could have if you show them blind at a supper party):
Catai Superior Cabernet Sauvignon, Shandong Chateau Junding Oriental Bordeaux Blend, Shandong Great Wall Huaxia Vineyard A Bordeaux Blend Great Wall Huaxia Vineyard B Bordeaux Blend
As for whites, I have heard (I confess I have not yet tried) only good things about many of the 'ice' wines coming from the remote Liaoning Region; intensely sweet wine with citrus notes and superb acidity made from frozen on the vine Vidal grapes.
AND SO TO INDIA…
With the Indian wine trade less than 20 years old, it has been difficult for the industry to keep pace with the evolving trade and consumer and in some ways I think India faces more challenges than China in moving forward, especially that as a tropical country it is possible to harvest two crops of grapes per year. The first crop is often discarded, but a second crop means that there is no period of dormancy for the vines, which is essential for the production of quality wine. However, the last ten years has seen a flood of investment and foreign expertise which may just see matters move from the experimental to credible.
Sula winery is probably the market leader, though Grover Vineyards are considered the pioneer of quality wines. Grover is situated in Karnataka State and Frenchman Michel Rolland is consultant.
Maharashtran (listed by Waitrose) is quite Californian in style and the Nashik Valley Zampa Syrah, with spicy notes is a little like a Côtes du Rhône on
steroids...both made by South African Nic van Aarde. I would like to try Ritu Viognier from the Four Seasons Winery.
Not to end on a damp note, whilst the above Indian wines are interesting, it would be wrong of me to suggest they are necessarily value for money, there are other wines out there, better quality for less and this perhaps is the chicken and egg question for India as a winemaking country. How do you marry commercial quality and pricepoint against your competitors when your export volume is relatively small and the consumer has no knowledge of them?
I have recently enjoyed what turned out to be a surreal day with friends Rebecca, Carole and Laurie. It went something (a lot) like this...
• Go on train to Bristol for the day for lunch. Bacon butty and two bottles of bubbles later, arrive at Bristol.
• Wander into random smart bar for a drink. Get invited by several young men to join them on their stag trip to Weston-Super-Mare. We declined politely, but they kindly
bought us a bottle of wine (after shooting their water pistols at us).
• Eat lunch at the Docks.
• Board train, only to be joined by Michael Portillo who was filming his train journey programme.
• Change trains only to be joined by two groups of football fans returning from their respective Premier League matches.
• Extreme 'banter' (for want of a better word) followed, with Rebecca, Carole, Laurie and I being the only others on the train and the only group separating the two warring factions! It was with admiration that I watched as Rebecca stood up and approached one chap who was particularly offensive and gave him a dressing down and a swift and very public lesson in manners.
• Luckily this coincided with the train pulling into our station where we hopped off a bit smartish...but I shall never forget the looks on their faces...absolutely
priceless...and pure class from Rebecca!
SANTE! x
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