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Photos By:: Adil Arora
 My journey towards promotion of wine had started in a small way one Friday evening in 1986. I had joined the prestigious Rotary Club of Delhi Chanakyapuri and it was my first social get together. There was whisky, beer and gin but no wine at the venue. Surprised, I protested to the President who almost chided me and said that wine was for women and in any case there were not many women drinkers in the club. I started lobbying for wine and soon convinced the Club to add wine to the beverage list. Of course, I was told to organise the wines, rather difficult chore those days available only from bootleggers.
I took up the challenge and by the time I left the club as a Past President a few years ago due to preoccupation with wine, we were consuming a couple of cases of wine at bigger events and there was no event ever without wine or without a majority of women and many men happily drinking wine-some men even graduating to Brunellos and Barolos and trying to grasp various nuances of wine besides its health benefits. A few wine appreciation evenings at different Rotary Clubs helped me promote the wine culture as well.
Dr. Ekta Chadha, a dental doctor and smile design consultant had her clinic upgraded recently to a chic, contemporary Studio –specialising in smile design to permanent implants. It was so impressive that I commented to her that this could be an interesting place to host a wine evening for the Delhi Wine Club- a novel idea in fact. She agreed instantly and even offered to chip in wine with catered snacks and music- and the idea for the evening was born. Since we could accommodate more people than the DWC members, I suggested inviting a few of our old mutual Rotarian friends many of whom had left the Club by now. I added a few members from the Indian Wine Academy Facebook group and we had a houseful on our hands-uncertain of how it would turn out but I was full of excitement due to the uncertainty.
 With such a mixed crowd, we decided to avoid the usual tasting of 4-6 wines with presentation of each wine but focus more on making it a memorable evening for all with wine being the common thread, even if playing a second fiddle. I procured a single brand of Prosecco to be reinforced with a few bottles she had in her fridge. A tough call but I had to relent and agree with a big sigh to the service of soft drinks as we knew that not all the Rotarian spouses (they are called Rotariannes, by the way) would have switched to wine. As a matter of principle I never insist anyone take wine or any alcohol if they don’t already.
Wine and Dental Hygiene
Wine is good for health but how is it for teeth and gums? There is no clear mandate whether wine is good for the gums due to anti -oxidants. Dr. Chadha gave a small talk in which she clarified that the acids in wine were positively harmful to the teeth, especially gums and one needs to get rid of the acid regularly or else . She recommended the use of warm saline water every night after drinking wine to help avoiding damage to the enamel by also flushing the acid out of the gums. She also suggested the use of a water based floss-like Water Pik to be used under pressure to clean the teeth and gums. That was an advice worth following.
 The evening was another tribute to Prosecco. Considered a welcome drink at any time of the day, a couple of glasses got everyone into the mood and one saw the old friends sharing their last few years of life-bringing yet another dictum to mind that wine brings friends together (with due apologies to whisky guzzlers who feel it makes male bonding better). In any case, wine is the only beverage served at the Delhi Wine Club events and saw about 60 persons (including a fourth being teetotallers) revel and consume 34 bottles. Perhaps, not what a wine doctor would recommend for good health.
But the smile that the wine, food and music brought to so many members and old Rotarian friends was worth the extra intake for the evening. To me this evening was reminiscing and celebrating that evening 29 years ago when I put the club and its 80+ members on a path of serving and drinking wine-and thus starting my journey to wine culture promotion.
The TRUTH is that the Rotary’s four-Way Test is equally applicable to wine as ‘it helps build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPs and is BENEFICIAL to all concerned’ is a FAIR statement.
I would drink wine to that!
Subhash Arora
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