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| High Commissioner Graeme Waters with his arms around Villa Maria
SB |
Everyone present was equally delighted. The
elegant and perfumed Villa Maria SB greeting the guests on entry was all
peaches and guavas, leaving a lasting impression on them all. 'Isn't she
delicious!', 'Isn't she charming!', 'isn't she elegant!' were some of
the comments my excited friends passed about this beautiful white lady
from Marlborough. She was sure fresh and very crisp and delightful.
The music in the background added to the atmosphere.
The sprawling lawns, well manicured were full of the High Commissioner's
friends and admirers. He has been very approachable and friendly diplomat
along with his charming spouse. Graeme W today was warm, welcoming and
inviting; Maria SB was cold, luscious and enticing. She had been selected
specially from the Cellar to be presented to her admirers.
Also present to welcome the guests were her siblings,
Pinot Noir who was very Reserve but feminine and elegant. She reminded
me of my days in Burgundy. I also crossed my lips with Seddon Pinot Gris
who was more French than Italian in her behaviour and taste. She also
had a fuller body than her Italian counterparts and was very crisp and
lemony in her mannerisms.
Merlot –Cabernet was a year older but too Private
and her personality was not really to my liking. I believe Riesling was
also there but I was so engrossed and smitten with Lady Villa Maria SB
most of the evening, that I did not get an opportunity to meet her. Perhaps,
Aman Dhall could introduce me to her later.
Her mentor, the Croatian-turned- New Zealander George
Fistonich who had set up shop in 1961 when there was hardly any wine production
to talk about and when the 'imported' was as fashionable in Newzea as
it is in India 45 years later. In fact he had christened her Villa Maria
in 1961 because it sounded very European.
George is a man of passion, vision and determination.
His love for wine is infectious. 'There have been only three days over
the past fifty years that I have not drunk wine', says the founder MD,
originally from Croatia. None of us can say this in India. Even the whisky
drinkers, except for the well known legendry journalist Khushwant Singh,
drinking with such regularity are gone by now.
It is this passion that has shaped SB's refreshing personality.
George had sent Charlotte Read, the future Master of Wine and the present
European Export Manager and her accompanist for the last 5 years to introduce
her to the Indians and help build stronger relations between the two nations.
Aman Dhall told me with élan, 'I'll make sure
that every visitor to top restaurants and hotels all over India will soon
know her and her siblings and enjoy their company.' With prices being
what they are, she may be easily accessible only to those, with deep pockets.
With Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough 2007 and siblings giving
company to the guests with excellent finger snacks going around and the
live music in the background, no one seemed to be in a mood to leave at
the designated, unearthly early hour of 21:00.
As for me...if I did not have a house guest from the
US and a bottle of my favourite Super Tuscan La Brancaia Il Blu 2002 waiting
for me at home, I would have been the last guest to leave this enchanting
evening.
We bid farewell to His Excellency Graeme Waters and are
ready to embrace his newly introduced Ambassador of New Zealand, Villa
Maria.
It appears that with the recent additions
of Babich, Astrolabe, Hunter, Ra Nui, Seresin, Huia and now Villa Maria,
wine relations between the two countries are going to get colder with
their enticing cork less whites and warmer with their silky screw capped
Pinots.
Subhash Arora
December 19, 2007
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