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Photos By:: Adil Arora
 29th August 2016 and I am headed to the ITC Maurya for the launch of a new wine label from the House of Hardys at Ottimo at West View hosted by the Delhi wine club in conjunction with the hotel and Sula Selections- the importing arm of the leading producer Sula. In keeping with my penchant for punctuality while also trying to be slightly fashionably late I did keep the necessary time buffer when I headed out of my house but holly molly ran into one of those terrible New Delhi city wide traffic jams with grid locks. Nothing moved and while my driver failed at out routing the traffic. Even the fact that John Kerry the US Secretary of State was also stuck in the traffic, I had frequent thoughts of U turning back after 2 hours of snailing through this sea of honking frustrated drivers. But I braved it all and at the end was at the hotel, fashionably late; there were many other guests in the same boat!
The event was slated to start at dusk and planned to be a part of the alfresco sundowners launched at the hotel and as jocularly mentioned by Subhash Arora, president of the Delhi Wine Club in his speech he chose the setting so that everyone could mingle around and interact with the brand ambassador of Hardys, Glen McGrath instead of him sitting on one table outside. The event had to be moved in because of the incessant rain, but it was good to see the general carmarderie and everyone interacting with Glen, and of course posing for photographs and selfies, though given his height they were an almost impossibility.
 Celebrating 160 years of winemaking, Hardys has crafted some of Australia's best known and most popular wines. In 1853, founder Thomas Hardy sent his first vintage from Australia to England with a guarantee of producing wines that reflected the regional character and flavour of sun soaked South Eastern Australia.
Hardys Brand Ambassador Glenn McGrath was born in 1970 in Dubbo, New South Wales. Nicknamed “Pigeon”, he was a fast-medium pace bowler and is considered one of the greatest bowlers in cricketing history, and a leading contributor to Australia’s domination of world cricket from the mid-1990s to the early 21st century. Known throughout his career for maintaining a remarkably accurate line and length, McGrath’s consistency enabled him to be one of the most economical and dangerous fast bowlers of his time. McGrath holds several world records including that of the highest wicket taker as a fast bowler. He was inducted into International Cricket Council’s Hall of Fame in January 2013.
“Having Glenn McGrath as our Hardys brand ambassador is an absolute honour. He is nothing short of a legend of the game. He has determination, he has commitment and he appeals to the public. He has abundant character and personality, and many of these traits are reflected in our wines” says Bill Hardy Fifth-generation family member and Hardys global brand ambassador, who had visited last year at another Delhi Wine Club dinner at Pullman Gurgaon (now La Meridian).
 Chef Massimo who is going to be at Ottimo for the next two months, had put up an impressive spread. We started the evening with Hardys sparkling Pinot Chardonnay along with a great bruschetteria, a cheese station and a nice array of cold cuts. The wine had a fresh nice zingy finish.
The initial speeches over, guests were seen hovering at the pasta station and the pizzas being cooked live. The service staff was efficient enough to find you in the gathering and serve it to you without you having to waste your time waiting at the live kitchen. Though normally I prefer Penne I tried the chicken ravioli which was just the right texture. Their pepperoni pizza is always going to be my first choice, not only for the taste but also because mostly you can’t get it wrong!! This was paired with the Hardys Limited Edition Chardonnay and Hardys Limited Edition Semillon Shiraz Cabernet, both medium bodied wines. I found the former to be slightly citrusy and fruity and in the latter I tried to understand “juicy finish “as the tasting notes suggested. A good point made by Subhash Arora was that he preferred Hardys to the monopolistic ubiquitous Jacob’s Creek since they Hardys generally used blends making their wines a little more flavoursome and consistent. I agree completely!
 If you are at Westview then you have to gorge on the grills. I loved my rosemary garlic Jaipur Lamb chops and the spring chicken. This was paired with Hardys Riesling Gewurztraminer and Hardys Cabernet Merlot. The former was a blend which didn’t particularly work for me but in the latter the blackcurrant notes and the balanced sweetness was awesome. A pleasant surprise was the presence of Ann Marie who looked really sharp with a beautiful dark colour sari. Export Manager for Accolades she is always Sharp (that’s her last name!). She had been present with the Sula Selection’s Brand Manager Prarrthona Pal Chowdhury at Lavaash by Saby where Mud House and Kumala labels were launched, again, at the Delhi Wine Club. She presented the five wines of the evening to the guests who were in a good mood by this time. She explained the philosophy of blending the wines but said one could not rule out the varietals in future.
 The presentation was followed by the ‘launch’ of the protagonist William Hardy wines which could not unfortunately be uncorked. We could not sample two of the William Hardy range of wines. The launch of William Hardy Limestone Coast Chardonnay and William Hardy Langhorne Creek Shiraz was the Raison d’être of the evening!! Indian excise once again was the spoil sport, thanks to the old policy being extended and no new labels being approved since April 2016. But we got to see the bottles and got some insights into the wines. Ann Marie said they would be priced around Rs. 2500. At that price they could surely find discerning buyer. I hope we will get to sample them soon, perhaps at another wine dinner or in another interesting format in the near future.
I missed the dessert trolley in my penchant to get a snap with one of my all time favourite cricketers though did my cointreau and coffee end of the evening ritual popped out into the terrace to see if the traffic had thinned and walked out after a nice high five from Glen.
I was told the party continued quite late than expected. As always a Delhi Wine Club evening is fun, educative and entertaining.
William Hardy by Hardys, I think, will be all over the wine lists.
Rifaquat Ali Khan Mirza
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