 What impressed me the most about this free lance journalist, author, consultant, wine juror and well-known TV personality in England when I met him last September at the CapeWine in Cape Town, South Africa where we sat on the same table at a dinner full of top winemakers of that young nation, was that he was extremely humble, easily approachable and down-to-earth. He was soaking in the atmosphere without boasting about his enviable achievements.
I had read and heard about him, especially from my friend Robert Joseph with whom he co-founded the International Wine Challenge in 1984 and is still the Co-chairman. The fact that it has turned out to be the biggest and most important wine competition globally, with the annual entry of around 10,000 wines, has not changed him. ‘I don’t like to take part in many competitions now due to paucity of time, and I don’t get excited about the OIV conducted competitions since they do not allow discussion on the wines being tasted.’
Interestingly, both International Wine Challenge (IWC) and India Wine Challenge (not IWC, I have been told) founded by Robert Joseph in 2007 encourage discussion before judging each wine.
How did he get involved with the Indian Accent? ‘I have been in touch with Indian food and Rohit Khattar (owner of Old World Hospitality which owns the Accent) for 14 years. I know Charles Campion and Fay Maschler, the well respected and recognised restaurant critics and food writers for the Evening Standard in London. Friends of Rohit, they introduced me in 1994 to him when he was looking for someone to help with a proper wine list for his new London restaurant Chor Bizarre, a cousin of its Indian counterpart in Delhi. I helped him design the list and I have been a consultant with him ever since.
‘Most people in UK have a wrong notion about Indian cuisine. They think it is only chicken tikkas, daal or kebabs. I know there are so many regional specialties that it is necessary to understand different cuisines before settling down to select and pair wines. I did a lot of experimentation before designing the wine list, suggesting a minimum of two wines for each dish. So when he conceptualised this restaurant, Rohit asked me to help select the wines and here I am.’
What are his impressions about wine selection for Indian food? ‘We must understand the basics. People have individual tastes. Tannins in the red wines are not good for chillies which get accentuated by them and the chillies cause more bitterness of the tannins on the palate.’
 ‘Since I have enjoyed doing a lot of work with the Indian regional foods, I encouraged the regional diversity in the food and experimented enough before selecting the wines. I believe white wines go better with the hot Indian foods; slightly sweet variants like Riesling go well with many spicy dishes. I had to focus on gentle reds and not Bordeaux, Burgundy or Tuscan wines which would not match well, though Rohit insisted that many clients would demand Bordeaux anyway and a couple of those had to be incorporated in the list. The fruity, ripe, bright and blended wines from the New World would be more easily matchable with Indian food and that is why you will find more of those in the list.’
‘Remember, wine is not a natural part of the Indian cuisine. I can only hope that I am steering the course a bit by selecting and offering these wines for their palate,’ he adds.
What were the challenges he faced while selecting wines? ‘Vintage and availability have been the biggest problems,’ says Metcalfe. Vendors don’t seem to know or appreciate the difference between vintages. Then there is the problem of physical availability of various labels- I would select a wine from the importer’s portfolio only to be told that it was not available.
A few styles are just not available. For instance, one of the desserts would go very well with a Muscadelle, perhaps from the South of France. But despite our several queries, we were told it was not available in India. I wanted to add a Rioja which I think would go well with some dishes but I could not find the availability. I have just discovered that FinewinesnMore has Marques de Murrieta which I would love to add to the list.'
Charles Metcalfe has written the Portuguese guide with his wife Kathryn McWhirter and has already won the Louis Roederer International Wine Book of the Year 2008 Award for this book. He had written another book with her on the Wines of Spain and Portugal earlier. He also writes for magazines like Decanter, Wine & Spirit, and Wine Business International. ‘Writing a book is really time consuming but promoting it afterwards is equally time consuming and takes a lot of my efforts,’ he admits candidly.
 Portuguese wines are some of the best value-for-money wines and his book would be a big help to the importers and the restaurants in India, I suggest. I had spent two weeks going through the book last October and was fascinated by it. I know it is a goldmine of first-hand knowledge about the wines and food in Portugal. ‘I think I should maybe talk to the Portuguese Embassy,’ he says with a hint of smile. I concur.
A few journalists of the pretty species are waiting to let some of his wine knowledge and enthusiasm rub on to them. So I say my goodbyes hoping to see him in some part of Europe or perhaps if he visits India again. ‘Now that I have managed to break the barrier and come to India, I hope to visit more often,’ he admits with a tone of excitement.
Indians can learn a lot from one of the most interesting and best-known wine critics of UK. For now, when you visit the Indian Accent Restaurant at the Manor in Friends Colony and relish the wines with the food without any effort or awkwardness, you know the man who has created the wonderful wine experience.
Subhash Arora |