The mother of all vines

THE WINE CLUB

All that material on different types of wines in preceding columns has reminded me to include a piece on the origins of the wine grape Vitis vinifera, which is said to have originated about 5,000 years ago in southern Transcaucasia (Armenia & Georgia), and from where it was spread to Europe by the Phoenicians, Greeks and Romans "" and thence to the rest of the world with the spread of colonisation.

Do remember that there are over 10,000 known varieties of vinifera; while French authorities list "only" some 220 varieties as having commercial significance, there are hundreds more indigenous vine varieties in Italy, Portugal and Spain "" so take heed when your friendly neighbourhood wine expert talks knowledgeably about only four to six varietals!

Vine varieties may be named for the colour of their berries "" which vary from black (noir), red (rouge), violet, pink (rose') and grey-pink (gris) to yellow (jaune), green (vert) and white (blanc).

So we have Pinot Noir (the black grape of the Pinot varietal "" made famous in the cult movie Sideways) and the Pinot Gris (a mutant Pinot) both being related, though the Cabernet Sauvignon (a red wine grape) is completely unrelated to the white Sauvignon Blanc.

The practice of naming the grape varietal on wine labels was started in the 1960s by winemakers in California eager to differentiate their stuff from French wines (typically, a wine made from at least 75 per cent of a particular grape can be termed as so-and-so varietal), which are commonly named after the region or commune where the wine is made (hence Bordeaux, Chablis, Burgundy, Champagne etc).

The most widely-planted vine varieties are the 'noble' French vines: Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, Syrah (shiraz), Merlot, Sauvignon Blanc and Semillion "" which perhaps is why the home-grown expert usually talks only about wine made from these few grapes.

Legend has it that the process of wine making originated in the city of Shiraz (Iran) 7,000 years ago, and that the Syrah grape was brought to France in the 13th Century CE by a returning crusader (who went on to found Hermitage, which is still a 311-acre site in the northern Rhone producing the eponymous wine).

This grape was found particularly adaptable to conditions in the Barossa Valley of Australia "" where it came to be called Shiraz, and notably serves to produce Australia's most famous wine, Penfold's Grange (originally there was a "Hermitage" appended to the name) that sells today for between $125-250 per bottle in the US.

While I'm not arguing that Shiraz is the "mother of all vines", the grape produces very dark, full-bodied, powerful, alcoholic wines with good ageing potential that are almost spicy, and which respond well to oak.

The Shiraz grape has proved particularly adapted to growing in India, where it is blended with Cabernet Sauvignon to produce a delicious Cabernet Shiraz red wine by both Grover and Sula Vineyards, priced at between Rs 300-450 per bottle.

Imported Shiraz includes the Two Oceans from South Africa (Rs 700) and the Oxford Landing (Rs 1,250), Peter Lehmann Weighbridge (Rs 1,225), Trioss (Rs 125), Tahblik (Rs 1,550) and the Green Point Victoria (Rs 1,800) "" all from Australia.

Highly recommended with Indian cuisines (as someone said, this is the only wine with the bxxxs to face up to spicy Mughlai dishes). Enjoy!

(al_chandra@vsnl.net )