|
 The evening started with Chardonnay 2015 which was very clean, fresh and crisp with generous apple and citrus flavours with a slight hint of Oak. As Krishna explained, only one barrel was fermented in a barriques after second pass while the others were in the stainless steel tank and blended, giving slight complexity but no dominance of oak-and no malolactic fermenttion. Thankfully, the couple does not like the presence of too much of oak in their wine. A very well made wine, the wine has been a recipient of a Gold Medal at the San Francisco Wine Competition this year.
A magnum each of 2012, 11,14 and 15 were double decanted over an hour by the efficient Sommelier Karanbir Singh Gulati, a member of the delWine Tasting Panel which had already tasted the wine a couple of weeks earlier at another private tasting, and who is also the F & B Manager of Pullman Aerocity.
Pioneers of Hampi Hills
Chigurupatis have been truly the pioneers of the Hampi Hills Appellation approved by the Karnataka government. ‘In fact, we fought with the government for two years to get the appellation approved. They were willing to give us Hampi valley but that made no sense since we are located in the Hills at a height of 550 meters where we feel the soil is different and special as we have seen from various grapes cultivated,’ Krishna Prasad said to a very interactive audience who were very impressed with the quality of the Cabernet Sauvignon that retails for $45 in New York and is available at various top-quality restaurants there as well. There is no winery within 400 kms of KRSMA Estate. There is no history of even agriculture in the land which is arid with little rain and where only millet grew when he bought the land in 2007.
Interactive session
Krishna also emphasised that though it gets quite hot in summer with the temperature going as high as 40-42°C, in winter (December -February is the main harvest season) it fluctuates between 12-22°C giving freshness and crispness to the grapes. ‘It is cooler than Napa and many parts of Australia,’ he added.
‘The existing plants are in 40 acres but we are planting 20-30 acres every year until 250 acre max are planted’, says Krishna who is in the process of buying more land but says they don’t want or plan to exceed this size.’ They are currently producing 5000 cases and in 2-3 years hope to produce 10,000 cases.
When asked by someone whether they plan to make blends, Krishna replied that he does not believe in Blends but varietals since the purity and typicity of the grape is well showcased. But they may consider blending later. But more likely, they would take the same varietal from different plots, ferment them separately and blend them together for the same varietal to get the best wine.
 The Chigurupatis produced the first vintage in 2010. But Krishna, the perfectionist as he is, was not very happy with the wine and decided not to sell in the market. Therefore the first vintage released was 2011, of which only 6 magnums are left in the winery library after one magnum was consumed at the delWine Tasting. An avid student of the art of winemaking with an open mind, he says the vintage is once a year and that is the time to learn. If you miss out, you have to wait for the next year. This explains his changing and evolving style of winemaking which is fruity and powerful wines but with elegance and longevity being an important element.
Similarly in 2013, he wasn’t happy with the wine to be classified as KRSMA. So he decided to declassify the wine and after lot of deliberations, decided to name it as K2- according to him, he named after K2 mountain (I fail to get the message of the label as I feel it is merely representative of K(risma) and being the 2 (second) wine of the Estate). In any case, it was interesting to see people really liking this wine too and at Rs. 800-half the price of the magnum, it is perhaps one of the best red cabernets in India. At Rs. 1500 a bottle, it is not easy to find magnums in the Bangalore market.
TASTING OF 2011-15
As in Bangalore last year, we started the presentation of the red wine from the oldest vintage of 2011. Krishna suggested that the tasting should be starting from the oldest vintage since it would help one understand the evolution of the wines.
Vintage 2011 ready to drink
2011 was oaked for 13-15 months, said Krishna. It was a medium bodied wine with the colour switching more towards brick colour. It was extremely well balanced but felt slightly fragile-drinking beautifully with some balsamic notes, elegant, good structure and delicious balance. The most favourite for Tristan de Lomenie who had kindly supported the tasting whole-heartedly, liked it the most (perhaps this was the most French in style!) Many felt it would go for 10 years. I have doubts it will mature even for 5 years more as many expected. I think it is nearing its peak and may evolve in the bottle for a couple of years after which the slide down might start. Krishna felt it had evolved into a better and more complex wine since tasted in September last year at the historic tasting. The tannins were decidedly softer and more ripe.
2012 and 2014 were fruitier in style and people were divided in their opinion which was a better wine. I believe 2012 is drinking the best and will continue to do so for the next 3-5 years but 2014 will evolve into a better wine eventually and will prove more age-worthy.
 Krishna seems to be more proud of 2015 which was tasted from the barrel samples in Bangalore asa surprise entry into the Vertical Magnum Tasting of 3 vintages-then the first-ever vertical tasting of Indian wines in Magnums. I had felt it was too early to taste at a public forum as it was but a barrel sample! I observed from my Tasting Notes in delWine ‘Though the wine is still in the barrel, it was poured to give an idea about the evolution. This is somewhat like En Primeur tasting. I am not sure many people in India can analytically look at the possible evolution of the wine. I for one did not particularly care for the aromas though the flavours were smooth. The aromas were bland and slightly pale and stifled on the nose. Apparently, sulphur has been added during vinification and is playing havoc with the nose. It reminded me of Chianti Classico Anti Prima where the producers are wary of showing their latest vintage from the barrel as they are afraid those who are not experienced enough, may not understand them and be unduly and prematurely critical about them.’
I am not expert enough to have tasted barrel sample 2015 and predicted which direction it would take though the wine has now become very clean on the nose and had intensity of red berries and fruit heavily masked with tannins. With the vines having gotten 4 years older than the wines of 2011, one could feel more concentration of fruit and that is a positive sign for KRSMA 2015 specifically.
The wine quality in general of KRSMA Estate wines is on a continuous northern path and hopefully Krishna and Uma won’t rest until they have reached the level of top Napa Cabernets. They have already set a benchmark for Indian Cabernet Sauvignon and with Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay also following suit at various international forums, they are in a very enviable position of being perhaps the best boutique winery in India already.
Subhash Arora |