quality of Indian wines, which in some cases
are superior to wines from other well known
regions.” That much has been obvious and,
indeed, recognised at wine events like the London International Wine Fair, the Hong Kong Wine
Fair and ProWien.
With the quality right, Dass sees Britain’s passion for Indian culture and food as something
that will give Indian wine a unique excitement
factor. “The UK love affair with Indian cuisine
and all things Indian is just the beginning,” says
Dass. “As such, India is now one of the most
popular tourist destinations for Britons.”
He adds, “The growing number of wine
regions in the world – some of them thought
to be never possible – is a proof that the UK
consumer is on a quest for new wines from new
regions.” Therefore the quality of recent Indian
vintages, Britain’s love affair with India and its
openness to new wines stand Indian vineyards
like Namaste in very good stead.
NoN-INDIAN rEsTAurANTs
Whilst Dass thinks his wines are absolutely
perfect with Indian cuisine, he sees a real future
for Indian wines at non-Indian restaurants. In
fact, when I first met Dass he enthused how
well his award-winning Merlot tasted with aged
British cheddar cheese! “At first Indian wine did
not have a future in non-Indian restaurants. But
I believe that the ones that are now emerging do
have a future, and that the Indian wines that we
are offering will be seen in non-Indian restaurants,’ says Dass.
Alok Mathur – Co-founder and Director at
Soul Tree – agrees. He says, “You could have
said the same about Australian or New Zealand
or Chilean wines a few decades ago. Of course
Indian wine will have to go through a similar
evolutionary phase, but the time taken for this to
happen will be much shorter in a smaller, flatter
world than it was a few decades ago.”
According to Mathur – whose vineyard’s goal
is to present delicious but approachable wines
that show the best of the varietal and Nashik
terroir – wine experts should take Indian wine
seriously. “Indian wine will be a force to reckon
with in the not so distant future and wine drinkers and experts have the opportunity to not only
be a part of the process but to actually influence
its development and its future,” says Mathur.
He continues, “The visionaries and early
adopters in the trade, as well, will take the lead
in this and benefit from their early association
with Indian wines rather than risk being left out
or trying to catch up when the boom happens.”
Can India be the next great New World wine
region? Mathur says unequivocally yes! “We are
betting our lives and careers on it!” he says. “We
founded Soul Tree not only because we wanted
to bring Indian wine to the masses in Britain, but
because we well and truly believe that this is the
future.
“India has all the right attributes: the soil, the
climate, the agricultural heritage, the population
profile, and rising economic fortunes. However,
this will not happen by accident, in a vacuum, or
without the concerted efforts of the entire industry. We are determined to work with the rest of
the industry in putting the wheels in motion that
will make it happen.”
TOP
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Mathur says that Indian restaurants serving
Indian wine is a no-brainer. He says, “Indian
restaurants work hard to remain authentic – not
just in terms of the food they offer but also in
terms of the décor, the service, and the drinks
on the menu – and the one element that has
been missing so far has been Indian wine. One
just has to look at the tremendous success
enjoyed by Indian lagers in Indian restaurants
over the last couple of decades to see how
obvious the choice is.”
Laurent Chaniac – Wine Consultant at the
Cinnamon Club – agrees, saying ‘If you are
an Indian restaurant it makes sense to buy
Indian.” Chaniac says that – as it is with
French wine – when you eat a particular
cuisine it is best to pair it with a wine from the
same region. This, he says, generally yields the
best food-wine pairings.
Chaniac says that Indian wine reminds him
of where Australian wine was 10-15 years ago.
“Australia used to make big, rich and fruity
wines before they were at the stage where you
could taste their terroir.” He says that Indian
wine still has to find what makes it unique by
expressing its own terroir, which in his opinion is
very special. But as Australian wine eventually
rounded the bend, so should Indian wine, and
in the meantime we can enjoy a growing and
improving wine region and its big and powerful
wines. Indeed, Chaniac was quick to mention
that India does not lack the resources or expertise to become a major player one day soon.
Ultimately it is difficult to see a future for
Indian wine that is not bright. A few leading
vineyards who are utterly committed to making
Indian wine world class are already producing
quality wines… Imagine how much better they
will be in a decade? As long as the restaurant
sector continues to support Indian wines and
consumers remain enchanted by their novelty,
India’s vineyards will have more than enough
time to find their feet and turn their wine from
good to outstanding!
ANOKHEE
Imported by Barry Dass’s
Namaste, An