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November 04 2008 |
Within 10 minutes after we published the Article U.S. report on the Indian Market Released, we got an email asking me that the sender was interested in buying the report.
That shows the dearth of good and reliable information in the market and the expected quality. Incidentally, the report has not been made by us though in all modesty I must admit we helped the authors along in giving valuable inputs. It was generous on the part of Jim Gore who had come with the team, to promise me that whenever the report came out, I would be the first one to get it.
True to his word, he sent it to me before mailing to his contacts and sure enough it was on our website on 4th morning. So we are globally the first ones to publish- not a first ..more |
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August 28 2008 |
For the last 2-3 days I have been in Paarl, 50 kms from Cape Town where I have been invited for a tasting of South African wines for South African Airways (SAA). There have been a total of over 900 wines tasted over 2.5 days by a panel of 12 judges split in two groups. There are several eminent judges including Dave Hughes, an honourary Cape Wine Master, who has been doing a research on taste and/of wines for over 15 years, Susanne Wessels, the ' woman winemaker of the year' for last year and many sommeliers, journalists and other tasters.
Years ago when I was a judge at the Vinitaly wine concorso, we tasted about 60 wines every day for 5 days. Most non- tasters did not believe me and thought that would ..more |
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August 16 2008 |
It is well known that it causes me mental agony when people refer to wine as sharaab. I have written and argued that wine is not sharaab, which historically refers to liquor- distilled spirits that have an alcohol content of over 40%. Traditionally, sharaab also has slight negative connotation not usually known to be associated with wine which is simply a lifestyle, food related product, I believe.
I also abhor people referring wine lover as a wino. This term is used explicitly for an indigent wine-drinking alcoholic. The dictionary also defines it as an informal slang for a destitute person who habitually drinks cheap wine. A wino is a chronic drinker, a person who drinks alcohol to excess habitually. There is not much of a disagreement on the use of this ..more |
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August 13 2008 |
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 Continuing with my dialogue of wine and friendship, I had met Prasanjit Singh, the EAM, practically Deputy General Manager of Hyatt Regency, Delhi 3-4 years ago, with my friend Sourish Bhattacharyya, to fix a wine dinner for the Delhi Wine Club.
Since then he has become a close friend and has supported many events of the Club. After 4-years at Hyatt, I think, he has decided to move on, to handle bigger responsibilities. It was natural that we have a dinner in his farewell, even though he was a bit reluctant.
A beautifully laid out center table for 14, with 4 round tables of 9 in four corners, with one temporary wall, dividing the Ball-room into one half for us, and rolls of black cloth background with three big projectors showing the several wine dinners hosted by or held at Hyatt, the setting was complete for a Bollywood set where the millionaire hero like Amitabh Bacchan would host a private, elegant dinner for 50 special, personal guests. There ...more |
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I had gone to the Polo Lounge at the Hyatt day before yesterday, to meet a bunch of guys from New York who had been in touch with me and were in Delhi for a couple of days. It had suddenly poured causing a big traffic jam which saw a young under- wine- drinking age girl nick my car and a long delay in arriving at the meeting.
The young man I met was an amazing fellow. The Russian born Gary Vaynerchuk migrated to the US with his father who opened a store in 1983 under the name of Shoppers Discount Liquors in New Jersey. He has helped take the business to new heights and made it a $60 million a year business- half of which is through the on-line store he started. Gary runs the 'Wine Library' and also hosts his own TV show on the web at tv.winelibrary.com. M ...more |
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Besides the health benefits and lifestyle changes wine also helps build friendships. Therefore, delWine chose the Friendship Day last Sunday to start a wine blog for its readers.
Working 24*7 to bring out delWine twice a week puts me in straitjacket at times and affects my free spirited healthy lifestyle. This has inspired me to initiate a wine blog, initially on this website, where wine lovers can discuss any wine topics, and choose to be anonymous, if they like, using their own handle.
Don't like what is happening in Maharashtra? Surely, you are fed up with the high taxes. A particular retailer sold you a duff bottle and would not give you a replacement? Want to find where in Bangalore you can find a reasonably priced Chablis, Chianti Classico or Cava? You are not happy with screw caps and want to start a discussion with like minded people but do not want others to know who you are? This blog will be the place where we shall help you initiate the discussion.. so long as it is in colloquial and acceptable language and relates to wine and food, the two topics our website is dedicated to. We ho...more |
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