After midnight

Midnight is when the “Witching Hour” is said to commence: a time associated in the West with ghosts, apparitions, and dark deeds. It’s also the time when one is (normally) having the deepest sleep —  a time beyond dreaming and REM. Perhaps the two are associated.

Wine is associated in the West with Christianity and the Church: Jesus is said to have turned water into wine, and sacramental wine is used in the Eucharist ritual by followers of the Catholic Church. Indeed, had monasteries and associated institutions not fostered wine-making during the Dark Ages in Europe, the wine scene as we know it would have been quite poor (no Champagne Dom Pérignon, for one).

So it is ironic when I came across a whole host of devil-themed wine labels and wineries. The best-known is possibly Casillero del Diablo (“Cellar of the Devil”) from Chilean winemaker Concha y Toro, which now encompasses a range of some 23 different wines priced between $7 and $25. Legend has it that the original owner Don Melchor, plagued by theft, spread the word that his cellar was haunted by Beelzebub himself — today, at international wine fairs, you cannot miss those cute girls with those two red horns, dishing out the wine to all and sundry.

The Bibi Graetz di Soffocone Vincigliata has a delightfully naughty label and story

Then there’s The Devil You Don’t Know from the Gorman Winery in Washington State, USA  — a Rhone blend (Syrah/ Mourvedre) that sells for $29.99, as also The Velvet Devil by Charles Smith Wines, a 100% Merlot from the same state, that retails for $9.99.

There’s also the Devil’s Staircase Pinot Noir from Central Otago, New Zealand that promises it “takes the willing down into the realm of decadence and Bacchanalian delights” for NZ$ 27. And, not to miss the Devil’s Peak Limited Edition range of wines from the Cape region of South Africa, as also Devil’s Rock, Devil’s Corner, Jersey Devil, Handsome Devil — the world almost seems to be a devil’s playground!

Conversely, there seem to be fewer God-themed wine labels. 

There is a plethora of deities associated with alcoholic beverages: Wikipedia lists 33, from the familiar Dionysus (Greek god of wine) and Bacchus (Roman god of wine) to the unfamiliar Li Bai (Chinese god of wine and sage of poetry) and Osiris (Egyptian god of the afterlife, and of beer and wine). 

An internet search throws up a few wines with names like Bacchus (there’s even a German red wine grape with that name) and Dionysus, the most prominent label available is Brahma Beer from Brazil, with some of the funniest commercials ever, although, one wonders how this got past our Indian troll army. 

Then, of course, is the little-known Krsma wine from north Karnataka — which could be interpreted as a quirky way of saying ‘Krishna’,  but is actually an amalgam of the names of owners Krishna Prasad and Uma Chigurupati.

So, what accounts for devil-themed wines outnumbering God-themed wines? Given the thousands of wine labels worldwide, producers are always looking to differentiate their brands from others, and being a little ‘devilish’ fits in nicely with the need to project a naughty or even evil image. 

So, the next time you ‘want to take a walk on the wild side’ you might think of the devil!

Wines I’ve been drinking: The Bibi Graetz di Soffocone Vincigliata from near Florence, Italy has a delightfully naughty label and story, being influenced by the lover’s lane going up to it’s hill-top winery; it features a kneeling woman and some amorphous images that leave little to the imagination. 

The wine itself is terrific; a blend of 90 per cent Sangiovese from 40-year-old vineyards, with coffee and wild berry aromas and a silky smooth taste. The 2015 vintage was rated at 90 points by Wine Spectator.

Alok Chandra is a Bangalore-based wine consultant