Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Coimbatore
Delhi
Hyderabad
Kochi
Free-spirited
|
It's versatile, it's popular, it has been paired with both chocolate and cheese : welcome to the world of new wine
|
Photo: Muralikumar K
WI-NOT? John Harris, immunologist turned wine taster, is happy to drink on the job
If you thought wine was the sole preserve of the upper echelons of society, who carefully pour different varieties of it into uniquely shaped glasses, well then, you haven't watched Sideways. This Hollywood movie about two somewhat dysfunctional middle-aged men who embark on a tour of wine country boosted Pinot Noir wine sales in the U.S. by nearly 16 per cent and also provides the ideal one-liner to prove that wine is now pretty much everybody's drink. Protagonist Miles, the connoisseur, watches as his companion Jack begins to demolish a glassful — "Are you chewing gum?" Miles asks, horrified at his companion's disregard for the `sophisticated' drink.
But wine, it seems, just isn't sacred anymore. Of course, chewing gum is certainly not the best pairing and sure, college kids on binges don't yet lurch around asking for another glass of a 1993 red, but the markets are opening up. And France is quickly being threatened by the `new' wine makers, in Australia and South America, for instance, which enjoy more flexible laws and regulations with regard to wine producing and now reach out to younger people who are less fundamentalist about pairing and more willing to experiment.
Australia, long synonymous with beefy men putting away gallons of appropriately masculine Fosters, is now acquiring a rather more genteel image as wine country. In Southern Australia's Yarra Valley — not far from Melbourne — high-end company Moet and Chandon was one of the first foreign investors. It has a winery called Green Point here which has just introduced four of its wines, two reds (Pinot Noir and Shiraz), a sparkling (Brut), and a white (Chardonnay) to the Indian markets, priced at approximately Rs. 1,700 a bottle.
Four varieties
Here to launch the wines, Green Point's Australian winemaker John Harris showed the stuff `new' winemakers were made of by admitting that he had been a Fosters man at college, had studied immunology, had eaten chocolate while drinking red wine (though not at the tastings for these bottles, so don't worry), hadn't grow up in a household which revered wine and has, on occasion, been known to reverently swirl around his water glass.
As course after course of an elaborate Chinese lunch at the Leela's glass-encased, high-ceilinged Zen restaurant unfolded, John pointed out smells, colours and textures of the four wines on offer. The fresh fruity scents of the Brut, the oak undertones of the Chardonnay, the delicate sweetness of the Pinot Noir and the depth of the Shiraz were noted as was the detail of the glasses: "Each glass has a separate shape to direct the drink to a particular part of your palate," John pointed out. As one of a select group of tasters travelling amongst Moet and Chandon's facilities, John shared some of the trials and tribulations of serious winemakers. He might have found it hard to gain audience sympathy for the "hard work and many hours" he routinely clocks in, since he has the rare privilege of drinking on the job and being paid to do so, but he did win appreciation for the strict discipline wine tasters employ and the conditions they work in. "No after-shave fragrance, no quick smokes during the tasting, no outside smells allowed in and expert opinion always solicited since we constantly need a fresh perspective."
About 75 per cent of Green Point's sales come from within Australia but it has a presence in 16 other countries. And the Yarra Valley has a 170-year history of winemaking, so perhaps greener pastures are right on hand.
HEMANGINI GUPTA
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Coimbatore
Delhi
Hyderabad
Kochi
|
