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With the plethora of international wines now available
in India, Delhi Wine Club members have been exposed to a mind boggling
array of varietals from around the world –in fact in 2007 we tasted
over a 100 different wines!!
However the award of the “Finest Indian Red Wine”
by the Indian Wine Challenge 2007 to Seagram’s Nine Hills Cabernet
Sauvignon 2007 brought our focus closer to our domestic shores and we
decided to have an exclusive wine tasting from the Seagram’s India
line up.
We were fortunate to once again be offered a fantastic
outdoor poolside setting at Agni by Rifaquat Mirza of the Park Hotel –
a very staunch supporter of our Wine Club. With the weather being extremely
pleasant at this time of the year and with a gentle breeze wafting across
the pool, it was the perfect ambiance to sample the Nine Hills offerings.
We kicked off with the off-dry fruit driven Chenin Blanc
2006 and followed it up with the Sauvignon Blanc 2006 – Nine Hills’
brash new kid on the block . Before got on to the reds, we had the benefit
of listening to the experiences of Jean Manuel Jacquinot, a wine owner
from Champagne who as a wine consultant has nursed the Nine Hills wines
from its inception.
The Park, with its impeccable service, served up 9 delectable
snacks to go with the evening’s theme of 9. Their chefs have mastered
the art of producing wafer thin slices of pizza which don’t go limp
in your hand the moment you pick them up from the serving tray.
The 2007 Shiraz – awarded the “Seal of Approval”
at last years Indian Wine Challenge - was an easy drinking everyday wine
with a hint of fruit.
Rukn Luthra, Assistant Vice President, who has been involved
with the project since the time of conception, was very happy with the
response of the members who he said, ‘have a very discerning nose
and palate. They are also very forthright and if they have liked our wines,
we are thrilled. Of course, we shall strive to improve our wines further.’
The star of the evening, which everybody was waiting
for, was the award winning Cabernet Sauvignon 2007 – a ruby coloured
wine with a slightly spicy and acidic palate and muted tannins- a great
choice by the jury of the Indian Wine Challenge. Interestingly, this wine
paired very well with the anchovy pizzas!!
Nine Hills have made a very promising start, which they
must capitalize on with consistently high quality offerings as at their
price levels of Rs.400-500 ($10-12.50) a bottle, they will be taking on
the domestic big boys - Grover and Sula - head on. We, at the Delhi Wine
Club, would like wish Rukn Luthra and his team all success in the ensuing
wine wars!
Arun Batra is a Delhi based management consultant,
a food and wine writer and a long time member of the Delhi Wine Club
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