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 Sauvignon Blanc 2015 from the Birmingham-based Soul Tree Wine founded by two alumni of Oxford University, Alok Mathur and Melvin Dsouza, is the only Indian wine to win an award in this round of the International Wine Challenge (IWC). This is generally accepted as the world’s most meticulously judged competition with each wine being judged tasted blind on three separate occasions by different judges. Results of Tranche 1 of the IWC 2016 were declared on 1st December, 2015. Subhash Arora had visited London in April 2015 to judge for two days at the second tranche of 2015.
With over 800 listings across restaurants, hotels, bars, and pubs in the UK, Soul Tree claims to be ‘perhaps the biggest selling Indian wine in the UK on-premise sector and has a growing international presence in Europe and North America’, according to Alok Mathur who adds, ‘We are pleased that the belief in the wine and the brand demonstrated by consumers and the wine trade alike has been endorsed by one of the most credible bodies in the world of wine.”
Indian has never ‘cracked’ the Gold in this competition though one Silver medal has been won in the past by KRSMA Winery, the Commendation being the mostly won awards. The IWC awards Gold, Silver, Bronze medals and Commendation Certificates which are the equivalent of consolation prizes meant to induce the producers to participate again in the coming years.
KRSMA set a record when at the IWC 2015 they bagged two ‘real’ medals – Silver for Chardonnay and a Bronze for Sauvignon Blanc 2014-the highest honour received by an Indian winery at this competition so far.
Here is a summary of Awards during the previous editions:
IWC 2014-Eight (C)
IWC 2013- Six- Bronze (1), Commended (5)
IWC 2012-Five (C)
IWC 2011-Three (C)
IWC 2010- One (C)
IWC 2009- Two (C)
IWC 2008 – Three (C) – by Indage Vintners described as ‘Champagne Indage’ in the official record of IWC
Rajesh Rasal who used to be the winemaker for Good Earth Winery is now the Soul Tree winemaker in Nashik. He says, “A lot has gone into improving quality by not only just borrowing from international best practices and applying them to the unique soils, climate, and conditions in India, but also in having the keenest eye possible on the production of good fruit with minimal intervention to produce wines that are a true reflection of the region.”
Over 6000 licensed Indian restaurants in the UK are a natural home for Indian wines and the demand is large enough to keep them busy for the next few years. “We have been adding around 10-15 new Indian restaurant listings for our wines per week. At this rate it will take us around 4 years to cover the UK Indian restaurant market but we are also finding rapidly increasing excitement and opportunities for the wines amongst more mainstream restaurants and bars, as well as among retailers,” a company spokesman says.
The International Wine Challenge was co-founded in 1984 by Charles Metcalfe along with Robert Joseph, who is still the Co-chairman. The quality of judges may be gauged by the fact that the 4 other chairmen are equally distinguished- Tim Atkins MW, Peter McCombie MW, Sam Harrops MW and Oz Clarke.
We congratulate Soul Tree for the Award and wish them luck for Gold in the next edition of International Wine challenge.
For earlier Articles on Soul Tree, please visit:
Tree Sharing Soul to Expand in UK
Selling Wines with Indian Soul in UK
Subhash Arora |