Full-bodied, at home

Few of us in India have a wine cellar or even a wine chiller — at most one will have a few bottles of wine for a “slightly special” occasion. For the rest, it’s a run down to a convenient retail shop when the need arises — something that can be done in all the metro cities (including Bangalore) and Goa.

Chennai is a glaring exception: in its wisdom, Tamil Nadu does not permit sale of wines through retail shops (which are run by the state-owned TASMAC), so one imbibes in hotels, restaurants or clubs (the “Horeca” segment), or brings in bottles from Pondicherry or Bangalore (or the friendly neighbourhood bootlegger). This, I am sure, necessitates wine lovers to carry larger inventories than in other cities.

Delhi is only slightly better: most retail shops here are run by state government corporations, with storage conditions resembling a sweatshop rather than a retail wine store. The saving grace is a few privately owned retail outlets that have quickly garnered most of the retail business for wines. Of course, nearby Gurgaon has several well-appointed retail outlets, and the Metro goes all the way up M G Road (that’s Mehrauli-Gurgaon Road, for the uninitiated).

Bangalore and Mumbai have some of the best-stocked retail outlets in India. Mumbai has the venerable Peekay Wines in Crawford Market (“the oldest wine shop in Mumbai”) and Juben Wines near the J W Marriott in Juhu (he’s even got a website) and many, many good retail shops in between. Bangalore has the Classic and Madhuloka chains and wines available at supermarkets like SPAR and Spencer’s — the newly opened Madhuloka Wine Boutique at the Bangalore Club has over 150 wines from all over the world and is probably one of the best-provisioned wine-only shops in India.

It’s just as well that most consumers don’t stock many wines at home, because storing more than 12 bottles of wines or spirits is considered illegal in most states — excise departments still go by rules framed decades ago, and seem to have a mortal fear of someone actually selling stuff (on which all duties applicable have already been paid) privately.

Contrast this with the overseas practice of building home cellars: people invest in good wines, as both the quality and value of such wines improves over time. This allows one the luxury of either sampling wines laid down many years ago or turning a profit on their resale. Google “private wine collections” to get an idea of how widespread this is.

Perhaps it’s time we all broke a few rules and started building private wine collections.

Wines I’ve been drinking: A Torres Gran Coronas 2005 (85 per cent Cabernet and 15 per cent Tempranillo) during dinner at the Caperberry restaurant in Bangalore, with the Torres Brand Ambassador Anna Manchon present to talk about the wine. The wine is a delightful experiment: great dark red colour, jam and berries on the nose, and a fruity and full-bodied taste (with the vanilla and oak balancing beautifully with the tannins). Priced at Rs 1,781 in Bangalore, I would rate the wine at 89 points.

Salut!

The writer is a Bangalore-based wine consultant