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With the Indian Wine Challenge, a laudable first in Wine
competitions in India, having recently announced its awards for 2007,
there was a fair groundswell of opinion amongst our members to be given
the opportunity to sample the choices of a very eminent IWC jury.
Our club management swung into action and we were indeed
fortunate to have our 4th meeting of the calendar year at the Aangan where
Chef Marcus proposed a one- off menu to marry fusion Indian cuisine with
6 of the award winning wines of the IWC 2007 from the stable of FineWinesNMore,
Mumbai, who are becoming more and more visible in Delhi too.
As if that was not enough to ensure a top of the line
evening ,the double whammy was the presence of Robert Joseph ,the prolific
and well respected wine writer who gave us a very interesting talk on
the Indian wine industry, the IWC and his expert take on the wines on
offer later on that evening . Robert’s presence that evening underscored
the very serious but subtle aim of the club to make our wine dinners not
only enjoyable but also educative.
It was also heartening to listen to Robert praising the
efforts and knowledge of our President, Subhash Arora. ‘I hope one
day a monument is made here in his honour for the stupendous work he has
done for the last 6-7 years to promote wine culture in India,’ he
said. We are sure the club will attain even greater heights under Subhash’s
passionate leadership.
Whilst Robert’s talk was riveting, the aperitif
wine the Sileni Cellar Selection Marlborough Sauvignon Bay 2006 was a
distraction! This silver medal winning wine is lively, bursting with citrus
flavours and has a refreshing finish. The tandoori duck spring roll with
sweet plum sauce was the standout finger food on offer.
Once seated for dinner, the spinach and morel soufflé was paired
with the Hans Lang Hattenheim Hassel Riesling Spätlese 2005. Spätlese
is a German wine term for a late harvest wine and this silver medal winning
wine was off dry, with a hint of sweet melon.
Our first Gold medal wine for the evening upped the ante many notches
- the Forrest Estate Marlborough Pinot Noir 2005, judged as the Best Red
Wine of the competition, was light bodied, spicy, with a fruity finish.
This wine shows how versatile a Pinot Noir really is –it was a perfect
accompaniment to the Scottish scallops with masala appams and coconut
chutney. It was a pleasant surprise to know that the hotel imports the
scallops fresh from Scotland everyday at a cost of Rs.210 each-pleasant
because the ridiculously low price we were paying for the whole dinner
with these excellent wines made us feel better.
For the main course, we had two red wines –not an easy task to
serve but the Hyatt service rose to the occasion as usual to ensure we
had both outstanding wines at hand to complement our individual choice
of either New Zealand lamb or the Trout risotto made with red wine sauce.
The 2004 Brokenwood Hunter Valley Shiraz on its own was a nice medium
bodied wine with soft tannins and a plummy finish. Unfortunately this
Silver medal winner was stacked up against a Gold medal winner, the Marques
de Murrietta Rioja Reserva 2001 which, as per the buzz on my table, won
hands down. The Rioja was an exceptional Tempranillo blend with an oaky
backbone, good structure and finish, which would be a bit too strong and
tannic for the trout but a natural match for the lamb dish.
And then onto what is fast becoming a fixture on our wine menus –
dessert wine, in this case a yet another Gold medal winner, the Wiltlicher
Klosterwerg Riesling Eiswein ’98. Eiswien or Ice wine is made from
grapes which have frozen whilst still on the vine and this example from
the Loosen Bockstanz stable had a concentrated sweet palate with well
balanced acidity.
Chef Marcus and his team conjured up an excellent fusion meal which was
very well received by our members –no doubt a lot of food for thought
for Mr. Tim Bruce, the new GM at the Hyatt, when the menu at the Aangan
next comes up for a change .The President of the Club, Subhash Arora earlier
welcomed Tim to Delhi and looked for the continued strong support of the
Hyatt to the Delhi Wine Club.
All in all a resounding success of an evening – pretty much evident
that the accolade of Best Wine Club in India bestowed by Wine Business
International in 2007 on the Delhi Wine Club was spot on !!
Arun Batra is a Delhi based management consultant, a food and wine
writer and a long time member of the Delhi Wine Club.
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