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 “Wine is a many- splendoured thing, but you don’t need me to tell you that!” says Farzana Contractor, who drinks only wine, when she does drink. Robust reds preferably, or light and fruity whites, that’s what the editor, publisher, photographer of UpperCrust, India’s famed food, wine and travel magazine likes. Ask her to name grapes she favours and she goes; “Shiraz, Malbec, Pinot Noir and Riesling for sure- and Chenin Blanc."
“But I also like to try different wines. It goes with the premise. When you travel, you experiment. You must, that’s the fun of drinking wine. It never fails to amaze me, how the same grape can taste vastly different in different countries and even regions and vineyards. Or the very same wine, same vintage, seems different at different times,” she says.
Farzana has been doing enough in support of wine for over 25 years, first through her newspaper Afternoon Despatch and Courier and later through the UpperCrust, the glossy, beautifully produced magazine which has made inroads, even internationally. Says Farzana, “In the 80s and 90s, it was pretty much established that if you wanted to know about food, wine, restaurants, exotic destinations, you had to turn to Busybee (pen name of Behram Contractor-her late husband) and Afternoon.
“Our newspaper had developed a culture of writing about the good life and so even the international visitor in the world of food and wine wanting to explore business avenues in India would land up at the Afternoon House.” And it is since then that the Contractors have been writing about wine…
Farzana believes as a journalist, it is her job to discover new places and bring forth to her reader the enriching experiences that a wine holiday creates. She has been doing just that. She has travelled to vineyards in Italy, Spain, France, Canada, USA, New Zealand, Israel, among others and written extensively on wines and vineyards-some of them even before wine was allowed to be imported or there were Indian producers, barring a couple.
“Yes, I am glad that my endeavour has helped in what is happening now; people travelling for the sole pleasure of eating and drinking and understanding the culture of a country through these aspects. For example, my recent visit to Argentina which I wrote about in the UpperCrust mag shows that there are some wonderful wine hotels in Mendoza, the charming wine district. You can eat all the amazing grilled beef you want, with their superlative Malbec.”
It is not just the written word that Farzana indulges in. Through the UpperCrust Show, the annual food and wine exhibition of Bombay that she conceptualized over a decade ago, she has brought consumers and wine producers on the same platform. Much before anyone even thought about it, this woman was giving opportunities for people to taste different wines, not just from India but also abroad!
Wine growers from overseas were here with their wines and they not only found distributors for their products but also a market. Single-handedly, Farzana Contractor had created and helped grow the wine market. Tell her that and she will modestly say, “Hey, nothing of the sort, all I was doing was having fun in the UpperCrust Wine Alley, where the buzz was most contagious!”
To her credit also goes the fact that the first vat to find its place outside of a vineyard in India was at the UpperCrust Show. “Yes, the novelty of bringing a huge vat to the show, where our visitors went grape stomping, was huge. Young and old, all were at it, crushing grapes under their feet, enjoying themselves. We even got a DJ and some cool music would blare from loud speakers tied to trees!” And Farzana actually jived in the vat!
“Travel has been another big teacher, especially to wine countries. Wine tastings, wine dinners help immensely in formulating your own relationship with wine-drinking. I have met some wonderful vineyard owners all across the world, right from suave and sophisticated ones in Champagne district to easy-going, simple, Bermudas and Hawaiian-slipper wearing ones in New Zealand. Also wine-makers and wine guides and each of these have contributed to my learning and understanding of the intricacies of growing the fruit. As editor of a food and wine magazine, I make it my business to know as much as I can about grapes and Terroir, climate and location and what goes into the passion of making good wine,” she says. As a fellow journalist during a couple of trips to Priorat (Spain) and Sicily, I saw Farzana immerse herself in understanding their wines and winemaking so that she could share with her readers through her words and pictures.
Farzana Contractor has been contributing to the wine culture in India for more than two decades and continues to do so as the editor, publisher and photographer of the Food, Wine and Travel Magazine UpperCrust and the UpperCrust Food Show, the Food and Wine Exhibition, for over 15 years. It’s a pleasure to recognise her efforts to promote wine and welcome her for the second time to WOW 2015-Top Ten Women of Wine in India.
Subhash Arora
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