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| Australian winemaker David Baverstock talking about wines of Esporão with Arora |
The winemaking is being handled by David Baverstock,
an Australian married to a Portuguese and now living in Portugal for the
past 20 years. The evening had gained significance as David who is very
well known winemaker in Portugal, was present at the dinner explaining
about his wines.
But the protagonist of the evening was the Ambassador
Mendes himself. Very unassuming, soft spoken with dignified appearance,
he went around from table to table, asking the members if they were comfortable
and enjoying the wines and the dinner- thus conquering everyone's heart.
Talking about the concept of this evening and thanking
Delhi Wine Club for its support through the members'
presence, His Excellency informed President Subhash Arora, 'Portugal,
as you know, has a long tradition of making wines and makes some excellent
stuff. It is our job to support fine producers. When Esporão
decided to visit India and showcase their wines we spontaneously decided
to help them. They are one of the best well-known producers in the South
and I hope they will be able to sell well in India.'
Esporão makes wine from indigenous varieties of
super-ripe grapes that hint at the New World style-perhaps reflecting
David's philosophy. Generally powerful and fuller bodied Esporão
impressed. Monte Velho which I found very young and with the typicity
of the local varietals, is a very popular wine and finds its name on practically
every restaurant wine list, I was told
Each label of Esporão is designed by a well-known
painter. This is an idea that originated from Mouton Rothschild, the first
growth of Bordeaux, and makes its labels look attractive and unique.
Portuguese Appellation System
A word about the Portuguese appellation system is in
order, as wines are not yet well-known in this part of the world. Since
Portugal joined the EU in 1986, the wine laws have evolved and have become
similar to those existing in other EU nations. For instance Denominação
da Origem Controlada (DOC) is the highest category, equivalent to AOC
in France.
Wines having the potential to get this status are designated
as IPR wines, Indicação de Proveniencia Regulamentada. Vinho
Regional are regional wines, equivalent of the French Vin de Pays, much
more flexible, making many producers including Finagra to choose wines
in the category. Vinho de Mesa, like anywhere else are the lowest and
most flexible category of table wines.
Future of Portuguese wines
The growth of Portuguese wines will be as slow as its
promotion in the Indian market, where many countries have become very
aggressive. But for a wine connoisseur, the big attraction is their terroir
and the continued use of autochthonous grape varietals that include Touriga
Nacional, Tinta Cão, Trincadeira, Castelão, Baga and the
Spanish Tempranillo know in Portugal as Tinto Roriz and Aragonez, many
of which make the wine symphonies of Finagra.
The white varietals are Loureiro, Arinto and Antão
Vaz some of which the Delhi Wine Club members had the occasion to taste,
without getting into the complexity of the grape varietals.
With many progressive wine destination hotels like the
Hyatt, Taj, Sheraton, and Imperial looking to widen their spectrum, and
many restaurants like Olive Beach focussing on the Mediterranean cuisine,
coupled with the still decent and affordable prices, we should soon be
able to see these wines conquer our palates through the wine lists of
these entities.
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Subhash Arora
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