Zooming in on lessons

The Daily Dose Red 2016 from Wine Park is a 100 per cent Cabernet Sauvignon that uses organic grapes from a single vineyard in Solapur, Maharashtra

With lockdown in India being in place till at least 3 May, the only feasible way to reach out to wine-minded people is through remote tools: phone, email, video-conferencing and the like.

Here’s where Zoom, the new app for video-conferencing, web-conferencing and webinars, has taken the world by storm: its usage “zoomed” in March, giving a new twist to the term “going viral”. So much so that there’s a big pushback, with stories of privacy and security issues that put users at risk to hackers and pirates. Despite that, Zoom has emerged as the conferencing app of choice for many, and I’ve myself attended the following Zoom talks by leading wine producers:

March 31: Joel Payne on Austrian wines (23 participants): An American who’s lived in Europe for 40 years, Joel has been a sommelier, wine buyer, wine consultant, journalist and writer, best known for his German Wine Guide appearing annually since 1992. This was a tour de force of the wine scene in Europe, linking history and geography with the development of wine in France, Germany and, of course, Austria.

April 3: Giorgio Fragiacomo of Querciabella on biodynamic wines (47 participants): Director of exports at Società Agricola Querciabella of Chianti (Tuscany, Italy) since 2011, Giorgio talked about the evolution of biodynamic agriculture by Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925), who was involved with the Theosophical Society (among many other interests) and as such possibly influenced by Ayurvedic concepts when he expounded on biodynamic agriculture in 1924.

Going beyond organic and sustainable practices, biodynamic viticulture views the entire ecosystem as one organism and seeks to harmonise all its elements. Querciabella has been 100 per cent organic and biodynamic since 2010, going even further to eschew the use of any animal products.

April 10: Susana Balbo on Malbec and Torrontés (100+ participants): The first woman to qualify as an oenologist in Argentina (1981), Susana worked with various local and international wineries (Michael Torino, Catena Zapata) and was named among “10 most influential women in wine” by The Drinks Business in 2018.

Her winery, Dominio del Plata (now Susana Balbo Wines), was started in 1999. Susana, also known as the Queen of Torrontés, talked about the development of the wine industry in Argentina and the changes in wine quality over the last 40 years. Malbec has emerged as the signature red wine grape of Argentina, and Torrontés the signature white wine grape — both have partnered to put Argentina of the wine map of the New World.

April 22: Luca Currado of Vietti on Barolo/ Barbaresco and their differences (43 participants): Luca is the winemaker and president of Vietti Srl, located in the heart of the Barolo area of Piedmont in NE Italy. Vietti has been a family-owned and run winery since the late 1800s, and since 1961 has been producing top-end Barolos.

Luca talked knowledgeably about the three different terroirs in Barolo (Serralunga, Castiglione and La Morra) and the difference between the traditional and modern styles of winemaking (the former has an extended maceration, and the wines are aged in old vats of Slovenian oak and are more tannic). He also talked about Barbaresco (also made from Nebbiolo grapes) and how Barbera was the most “food friendly” of their wines.

Lockdown or not, videoconferencing on whatever interests you is here to stay — were that we could follow up with tasting the wines discussed.

Wines I’ve been drinking: Scraping the bottom of my barrel, I came across a bottle of The Daily Dose Red 2016 from Wine Park. With an innovative label and attractive price (Rs 900), this 100 per cent Cabernet Sauvignon uses organic grapes from a single vineyard in Solapur, Maharashtra. Fruity and still fresh, with a medium+ body, ripe tannins, and a long finish, what was there not to like?

Alok Chandra is a Bengaluru-based wine consultant