Grover Kicks off the 25th Year Celebrations at Leela Ambience Gurgaon

Having tasted their never-released La Reserve 1997 in around 2005 at a special Delhi Wine Club Dinner at the Olive Bar and Restaurant in around 2005 when Kapil Grover had been invited as a special guest, I was very excited to be at the venue- The Leela Ambience Gurgaon on time at the early hour of 6:30 pm (which alas could not happen thanks to the traffic which after a quiet couple of days had turned nasty today). I was disappointed as I rushed to the ball room-Vertically tasted  wines were still available to taste but only 2011, 2013 and 2015 when I expected wines from the previous decade as well  to see  the evolution in the bottle for over 10 years. Sumedh Singh Mandla, CEO told me that unfortunately the Grover Library did not have wines older than 2011 of which only a handful of were now available.

Many people were surprised that it was still alive- I wasn’t.  La Reserve has been their work-horse and barring a couple of controversial years when the quality was in question, it has always been the ‘Red Wine of India’ in the previous decade. A blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz and French oak, it has been their flagship wine and used to sell at Rs. 440 in Delhi during that time and was always my pick as the best red wine of India. Therefore, I was not surprised it was still drinkable. It had supple tannins and slightly high acidity that is the hallmark of the structure. It was past the prime but with ample fruit and still could last another couple of years. The 2013 was on the other hand disappointing for me today and 2015 was still young and vibrant and the typical, easy- to- drink La Reserve with a lot of fruit and good balance.

Food and Wine pairing

The food-and wine-pairing was next on the agenda. Conducted by Karishma Grover, it was also a showcase of the culinary prowess of Diya Restaurant and the chefs had taken great pains to make the right impression. Starting with the Paapri-Brut and ending with Lamb-chop-Vijay Amritraj Red Reserve Collection, every dish had its charm. Although I am not sure if I would ever want to have sparkling wine with chaat-paapri, the staple delightful street food of North, South and West India, it was a divine combination, I must confess.  In general, the wines were very well matched with the dishes.

Let’s Party

Divya Restaurant is where the action shifted after the interesting technical half upstairs. The center of attraction might be the wines, but the protagonist was Michel Koopman, the suave and passionate General Manager of The Leela Ambience. He was everywhere making sure the arrangements were impeccable and that the guests had a great time- promoting Diya was also in his agenda and he did it with aplomb. There were live stations serving several interesting dishes-you must visit to taste them. It was enormous opportunity for wine connoisseurs to pair food and wine but happily missed by most guests who had their own ideas enjoying the wines, food, music and a lot of bonhomie, making one senior member of the hospitality industry remark that a substantial number of guests appeared to be non-wine drinkers while many wine professionals seemed to be missing.

I countered by saying that many of the guests were perhaps through the social connections of Kapil Grover who was very visible  throughout the evening, milling around and chatting with everyone. Incidentally, Kapil Grover was ‘Editor’s Choice’ and the recipient of ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ at the delWine Excellence Awards held last year at Pullman Aerocity. What seemed to be intriguing though, was that no senior person from the erstwhile Zampa Vineyards was present. For the uninitiated, it was Grover Vineyards journey through the 25 years since 1992 but Zampa also hooked-up through the merger and now it is the story of Grover Zampa Vineyards.

Next stop would be St. Regis in Mumbai. delWine wishes them a celebration party as great as the Leela Gurgaon and wish them many more such milestones.

Subhash Arora

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