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 Valpolicella is Valpolicella, until it is La Poja-Subhash Arora
Of course, Andrea Bottarel, the visiting Export Manager of Valpolicella based Allegrini would not quite agree in public where he would like to say:
Valpolicella is Valpolicella, unless it is Allegrini.
Drinking Valpolicella Classico doc 2010 would make you tend to agree with him. But as he said at the first Wine Dinner organised by Madhulika Bhattacharya Dhall, owner of the 2-month old upmarket retail store La Cave (fortunately the prices are fixed by the excise department so one need not worry about them being higher, even by a rupee, even though the quality of storage and presentation is far superior and inviting), 2010 was a great vintage in Valpolicella just like it was in Barolo and Montalcino for Brunello and the Valpolicella doc 2010 was still holding pretty well and was an exceptional Valpolicella.
Valpolicella is one of the most affordable and quaffable red wines from Veneto and a perfect choice for pasta and pizza-goes well also with bhartha, mushrooms, keema samosa and many Indian dishes as well. It is made from the local grapes Corvina or Corvinone (majority), Rondinella and Molinara which is finding less and less use. Its usual shelf life is 2-4 years. Andrea, who has been handling exports for around 2.5 years in the company and was involved in winemaking in different countries prior to this job, says that their Valpolicella is more concentrated, fruity and age-worthy than the ordinary wine you find there. The 2010 was really concentrated with soft and ripe tannins and had good complexity.
But the apple of the eye for the family-owned winery since the 16th century is the La Poja Corvina igt wine which is made from grapes grown at a high altitude, single vineyard named La Poja and 100% single varietal Corvina. Not only is it an igt wine; a doc may use a maximum of 90% Corvina/Corvinone, and it was made as a table wine in its maiden vintage ( 1983) as the igt laws had not then evolved. In fact, Andrea said, the winery was fined for showing the vintage on the label (table wines cannot show vintage). However, the wine was liked tremendously and won many awards. Retailing in enoteca (wine shop) in Italy at around €70, it’s a connoisseur’s delight in Veneto.
 The 2009 was very young and slightly tight but full of red cherries. But the 2000 was simply awesome and made me sing-Valpolicella is Valpolicella unless it is La Poja 2000-very well rounded, soft and smooth, silky tannins that beg your pardon, with fruity flavours that dance on your palate, a long and complex end made this homogenous wine truly the protagonist of the evening-also an abject lesson to many that a well-balanced wine like this adds manifold to the pleasures of life when drinking it.
Allegrini has been imported into India for the past decade by Brindco and Aman Dhall who is also her supportive husband. When she knew through him that Allegrini export manager Andrea was coming to town, she decided to have a wine dinner for her exclusive retail customers and special guests at the relatively new upmarket restaurant –Q’la in Mehrauli. She retails the Valpolicella at the Store and can also organise La Poja which remains stored in the air-controlled warehouse of Brindco and is usually sold to On-trade.
The wine dinner also showed that she means business and it not just a salesperson sitting part-time at the Showroom and later delegating that job to some manager. The guests at the dinner were appreciative of her active advice on what to buy and what to try. She helps each and every customer visiting her Showroom by asking them who the wines being purchased are for, and what the budget is. There is enough population in Delhi with deep pockets and an increasing love affair with wines but unfortunately not enough knowledge. She acts as the informal education conduit for them. The direct connection with Brindco also helps though she frowns at any suggestion that she gets favourable treatment from the company through the bloodline.
 She has plans to make a difference in how the wines should be retailed and if the dinner last night at Q’la was an indication, there will be not only more of such dinners on the plate but several innovations as allowed within the law to make wine drinking the pleasurable experience that it is meant to be.
A quick word about the restaurant-it’s very elegant, with excellent and stylish presentation with an excellence wine service. The food quality was awesome with freshness one could smell on the plate and the texture, spices and colours well balanced, thanks to the innovative Chef Sanjay Chowdhury. The food service was a bit slow-one of the side effects being that one tended to drink more than the healthy portions of the elixir. But my 13 years of organising hundreds of wine dinners have taught me to have patience with the staff in a stand-alone restaurant and be generous in measuring this parameter-they just cannot compete with the 5-star hotels.
You may want to become a customer of Madhulika- it doesn’t cost anything extra. With the Gurgaon excise laws having gone haywire, there is not much fun in buying your requirements from there even as you could bring 2 bottles legally anyway - and drop in at her Store and be in her database for such wine dinners. Understandably, they won’t be complimentary the next time but with the implicit support from Brindco, you can expect a pleasurable wine evening at decent prices hopefully. Shopping at La Cave (even window shopping) is always a pleasure-which was amplified yesterday by the soft-spoken but knowledgeable Andrea Bottarel of Allegrini, who brought a lot-ta ‘joya’ with la Poja.
For an Article showcasing the opening of the store Le Cave a couple of months ago, please visit
La Cave- Wine Shop that also sells Liquor |