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| The wine revolution in India |
| Alok Chandra / New Delhi Sep 19, 2009, 00:35 IST |
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Since my first article for this column nearly five years ago, the number of wine labels available in India has grown so large that it’s now difficult to write about wines from individual countries and do justice to the subject.
Of course, no two cities have quite the same portfolio of wines available at either retail or in restaurants — and wine lists at most good hotels could range from a mere 50 labels up to the 500-odd labels at the Maurya Sheraton or Taj Palace in Delhi!
However, the real revolution is in the way attitudes towards wine have changed in India among owners of restaurants and hotels.
This was driven home to me last week while interacting with members of the Indian Heritage Hotels Association in Jaipur. I had used the “old school tie” (Mayo, Ajmer) to wangle a presentation at their meeting at the Rambagh Palace hotel on wine, and was quite prepared for at best an indifferent reception — after all, our thakurs and the scions of the royal families of Rajasthan are traditionally considered to be whisky-swilling die-hards with big moustaches and bigger egos.
Instead, what we had was an intelligent and informed audience (okay, some with big moustaches) willing to listen to why wines were “the next big thing”, and quite open to a range of suggestions about how they could benefit from a better understanding of the same. Indeed, some owners actively supported proposals for training their staff and for wine tasting sessions, and asked perceptive and probing questions about the industry, the recession, and ROI expectations.
The change in attitudes was reinforced soon after, during dinner at Zest, the new fine-dining restaurant at DLF Emporio mall in Vasant Kunj, New Delhi, that any foodie absolutely must visit (mind you, reserve a table in advance, and have plenty of Vitamin M).
Opened only a month back, Zest has seven different “live” kitchens (which means you can see your food being prepared at each), each with its own chef de cuisine (all directed by Executive Chef Julia), and what is probably the largest walk-in wine storage facility in a stand-alone restaurant in India. They presently list 180 wines and intend to increase this to 250 by December, and the walk-in wine room holds 1,400 wine bottles behind glass in a suitably air-conditioned environment. The restaurant also has a sommelier (the affable Davide Subani) on hand to help guests with their selections — probably also a first for a stand-alone restaurant in India.
So here’s a place that is as good as it gets anywhere in the world, with a world-class wine list, priced at anywhere from Rs 1,500 to Rs. 1,50,000 per bottle (you gets what you pay for) — what a huge change from the modestly-appointed eateries of yesteryear! May the tribe increase.
Wines I’ve been drinking: A Sula Dindori Shiraz Reserve 2006, tasted blind along with Steven Spurrier at an event organised by the Wine Society of India, fooled most of us: It was much better than the South African 10 Chapters Shiraz paired with it. The wine was elegant and smooth, with rich berry flavours, spice, some vanilla oak, and soft tannins and very drinkable.
Goes to show that we’re getting there.
(al.chandra@gmail.com)
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