Windy Peak to Sacred Hill, via south India

THE WINE CLUB

Being a wine writer, I have been pilloried in the past for suggesting that “the best thing to drink with spicy South Indian food is… beer!” By inference, no wine goes with any south Indian cuisine — which people from the north take to be all hot and spicy.

However, after sitting through a revelational pairing of wines with south Indian food at BonSouth restaurant in Bangalore recently, I realise that what kills the wine is not the spices but the chillies, which burn the tongue and make it imperative to have something cold to douse the fires with. And good south Indian food has complex spices — this makes pairing wines with them a real challenge.

De Bortoli is a well-known Australian wine brand: it has vineyards and wineries all over South Australia and produces over 3.5 million cases annually, including some outstanding wines at its Victoria facility (the Yarra Valley range of wines is top-rated by James Halliday). The lineup in India ranges from Windy Peak to Sacred Hill, and we had the privilege of having the wines introduced by winemaker David Slingsby-Smith.

We started with a collection of canapés: kane bezule (fried ladyfish), Karuvepilai eral masala (prawns), and button idlis, paired with the Windy Peak Pinot Chardonnay Sparkling Brut, whose crisp acidity was a match for the fried fish and curry leaf in the prawns.

Next came the nandu thokku (crab in a tomato paste-based masala) and chatte meen curry (prawns in red chilli and coconut masala) with appams, paired with the Yarra Valley Chardonnay 2007. Here I’ll admit that the wine struggled to express itself as the vanilla and buttery flavours were completely overpowered by the chillies and spices. A Riesling with its sweetness and acidity would, I think, have been better able to complement these dishes.

The Windy Peak Pinot Noir 2007 we had next adequately offset the kodi miriyalu kurma (chicken with cashew and poppy seeds) and chicken coconut fry along with Malabar parathas. The wine was served cool, and has complex cherry aromas and a smooth taste with yummy strawberry and spice flavours coming through.

By the time the Hyderabadi lamb biryani came around with the Yarra Valley Shiraz Viognier 2007 we were all a bit glassy-eyed, being quite satiated by the combinations presented. The biryani was spicy and feather-light, and the wine a superb foil for this dish as its peppery and berry notes came through quite clearly.

Last (but not least) was the Noble One Botrytis Semillon 2003, a dessert wine with a hugely attractive, intense, and complex aroma of apricots, oranges and honey and a sweet but superbly balanced taste that just went on and on.

Of course, the dishes were mostly dry, and few diners would venture to splash out on four different wines for any meal, but this was a rare experience, and I would not hesitate to recommend BonSouth (Koramangala, Bangalore) to all foodies.

(al.chandra@gmail.com)