Sommelier INDIA Volume 7: Issue 2, 2012 For Indians around the world who enjoy the good life SPECIAL TRAVEL SECTION BARGING THROUGH Burgundy VISITING FRATELLI Maharashtra PORT OF CALL Douro, Portugal BLAUFRÄNKISCH Red Wine Grape of Austria BANGALORE WINE CLUB Turns Ten OAK BARRELS InIn thethe makingmaking Restricted circulation magazine dedicated to wine lovers and the wine trade 62 26 ContentsVolume 7: Issue 2, 2012 ` 150 COLUMNS FEATURES 10 NOTABLE TASTINGS 36 WINE LOVERS’ COLLECTIVE Steven Spurrier assesses Bordeaux 2008, The Bangalore Wine Club completes a Domaine de La Romanée-Conti and Dom decade of celebrating wine. Ruma Singh Perignon 2003 reports 12 PRESS EMBARGOES RIGHT OR WRONG? 39 ALPINE WINERIES In an age of blogs and tweets, how relevant With the release of his first vintage, are press embargoes, asks Jancis Robinson Raghavendra Gowda talks to Alok Chandra about his future plans 14 WINE ON THE INDIAN MIND 74 Raghu Bahadur looks at how wine has 42 THE MANY AVATARS OF taken shape in the Indian imagination CHÂTEAUNEUFDUPAPE Harshal Shah on why the affectionately- the en primeur system and explains how SPECIAL TRAVEL SECTION named CNDP is sometimes great, and you can buy premium Bordeaux wines long 16 VISITING FRATELLI sometimes unequivocally pedestrian before they are released A visit to Fratelli vineyards in Akluj offers many diversions, writes Brinda Gill 52 ROLL OUT THE BARRELS REGULARS Oak barrels have a key role to play in the 67 WINE CLINIC 20 BARGING THROUGH BURGUNDY production of wine, notes Priyanka Dhar Your questions answered about wine Carol Wright samples the best of Burgundy’s food and wine on an 56 TERROIR OR TERRITOIRE? 72 CHEF’S TABLE unhurried canal boat cruise With modern advances in winemaking, Ruchira Hoon catches up with celebrity Steven Spurrier considers the term chef, Igor Macchia during his last visit 26 AMARONE MON AMOUR “territoire” more descriptive than terroir An attractive tourist destination, Verona is 74 RESTAURANTS FOR WINE LOVERS also the best place to discover one of Italy’s 60 BULLISH ON BLAUFRÄNKISCH Award-winning restaurants to visit: Megu top red wines, says Michèle Shah Eric Asimov describes how he got hooked in Delhi, Meadowood in Napa Valley and on the Austrian varietal Blaufränkisch, Yauatcha in Mumbai 30 PORT OF CALL despite the obstacle of the umlaut Anne Krebiehl braves the harsh terrain of 77 GLOSSARY Portugal’s upper Douro Valley to visit one 62 WINE’S WACKY WIZARD Proper names and specialist wine of the world’s finest producers of Port Ken Gargett on the success of Chester terminology used in this issue Osborne, the colourful owner of Australia’s 46 TRAILING THE VINE d’Arenberg winery 78 PHOTO FINISH By road and by air are not the only ways to SI wine moments to remember travel in pursuit of great wines, discovers 68 BORDEAUX STRAIGHT OUT OF THE BARREL Carol Wright David Cobbold unravels the mysteries of 80 LISTINGS Publisher, editor and owner: Reva K Singh. Co-publisher Shiv B Singh. Copy editor: Bunny Suraiya. Executive Assistant: Aienla Ozukum. Creative Director: Peali Dutta Gupta. Design: Shamik Kundu. Layout artist: TMJ. Printed at EIH Ltd. 7, Sham Nath Marg, Delhi - 110054. Sommelier India is a trade bi-monthly privately produced by CMI, Consolidated Media Int, C-320, Defence Colony, New Delhi - 110 024, India. Tel: +91 11 2433 1013. E-mail: [email protected]. Web: www.sommelierindia.com. For restricted circulation only. The views expressed in this publication are the writers’ own and not necessarily those of the publishers. Subscription price: `1500 two years (12 copies) and `1700 three years (18 copies); international $56 two years (12 copies) and $82 three years (18 copies) without postage. Cover price (single copy) `150. Editor’s Note Readers Write Regular reading Sommelier India has turned out to be a very interesting Vinous Pleasures on the Increase magazine. I read it regularly. The article on “Direct Wines” entering into India is interesting. Hopefully they will succeed in growing wine awareness in India. Unfortunately, I could not attend the Hospices de he thought that occurs to me as I write this note is how crowded my Beaune Wine Tasting and Dinner event in Bombay as I was social calendar has become with wine events. It must be the same for unwell. However, I participated in the auction this year and I Tyou and other wine enthusiasts, too. Best of all, major hotel chains am the owner of one-eighth share in two barrels! have become more proactive and serious about their wine programmes and the Jai Hiremath, Mumbai increase in wine dinners, tastings and promotions is a reflection of this. Stackable wine cabinets The trickle down effect on the Clubs is encouraging, too, since these institutions Your article on wine storage and cellar design was are such an important part of our social life, whether they are new clubs in informative. It made interesting reading, though I wish it had residential colonies or the venerable social and sporting establishments that “de-mystified” the various wine chillers that are now coming have been in existence since the pre-Independence era. Clubs are now offering into the market. I wonder if you can get stackable cabinets. members better and wider choices in wine and giving it the respect it deserves in Which affordable brands are available in the Indian market? an ocean of white and brown spirits. As a result wine service, too, has improved. Ronen Chatterjee, via email Not surprisingly, cost is always a major consideration and even stumbling block. More Wine Clinic, please I haven’t had much success in persuading Club committees that an Enomatic I enjoyed reading the Q&A on system for serving more wines by the glass is a worthwhile investment. When wiwine cellars. I hope the Wine that finally happens it will mark a quantum leap in the growth of wine culture. CClinic becomes a regular feature in the magazine. May I make a With the approach of summer, thoughts turn naturally to holidays and travel susuggestion? With space being abroad. This issue, therefore, has several articles for the wine traveller. Wine sscarce in small apartments, it holidays and vineyard visits make a wonderful break from city living. Most wwould be difficult to create a wineries welcome visitors and wine producers are typically great hosts. Our pproper cellar, so why not just special travel section starting on page 16, will provide you useful pointers. wwrap your bottles in newspaper and place them under your bed? Regardless of the chronic problems besetting the wine industry in India, wine They would lie undisturbed in producers are undeterred and Indian wines continue to improve in quality. the coolest place in the house I’m looking forward to tasting the first vintage of Alpine Wineries which since it’s the one room that is Alok Chandra writes about so enthusiastically (page 39). David Cobbold’s air-conditioned all through the night. By the straightforward analysis of Bordeaux’s En Primeur system of selling wine (page way, it’s a bad idea to store wine in the kitchen even if it’s 68) is both interesting and informative as is Priyanka Dhar’s article on barrel- in a temperature controlled chiller. Looking forward to the making on page 52. next clinic… V. Karlekar, Mumbai Finally, with so much going on in your wine life, be sure you don’t overlook our bi-monthly offering of entertaining and informative reading in Sommelier India Guide to the World of Wine in India as you partake of other vinous pleasures! Things got so busy during our last few weeks in Delhi that I didn’t have a chance to thank you properly for being a good friend and guide to the world of wine in India. It’s also been a great pleasure to watch the incredible growth of Sommelier India. I have no doubt that it will one day become one of the E-mail: [email protected] world’s most influential wine magazines, and it’s all due to your effort. — Jyoti Thottam, Time magazine’s chief of bureau for South Asia, via email 2SommelierINDIA On the Grapevine Wine News, Notes and Trends OVERSEAS NEWS Left over wine to From Sicily with love drink another day f you hate seeing left-over wine from WINE AND ART … A MARRIAGE MADE IN HEAVEN! ften referred to Ia half finished bottle getting spoilt, Oas the Jewel of here’s an easy way to preserve it. Wine Château Brane-Cantenac the Mediterranean, is damaged when exposed to an excess Sicily has come into of oxygen. To prevent this happening, enri Lurton, owner and Vinexpo 2011 he hosted a concert its own as an exciting make sure your open bottle of wine Hwinemaker of the 2nd Growth at his château with world famous tourist destination and does not come into contact with air. Brane-Cantenac in Margaux, has long soprano, Elizabeth Vidal. This year producer of quality Save small empty bottles such as the been a supporter of the arts. During he invited the famous oenologist and wines. Earlier this year 187ml screw-capped bottles used in amateur photographer, Eric Boissenot, the director of Sicily’s aircrafts or 375ml half bottles that are to exhibit his black and white, argentic Regional Institute for readily available in the local market. photographs of Brane-Cantenac. Wine and Viticulture, Wash the bottle and cap thoroughly Every year, Henri Lurton selects a Dario Cartabellotta accompanied a organoleptic features (the way they taste, with very hot water and detergent. photographer for his annual series delegation of major wine producers to smell and feel) Sicilian wines are a good When dry, fill to the neck of the bottle “Brane seen through the eye and lens India.