 Kareena Kapoor plays a tormented girlfriend in her latest movie Kurbaan opposite her real life beau Saif Ali Khan, who plays a terrorist. She was referring to her role and that of her boy friend.
‘ I am like red wine, which gets mature with time. As I grow older I will be more mature and a better human being, just watch out," she says. "In fact, Saif will also grow mature with age," she reportedly said to the interviewer.
It is a fallacy and a myth to think that every red wine matures with age. It is also unknown to most people that even white wine can mature and get better and more complex with age, depending upon the grape and winemaking process.
It is true that fine red wines, premium wines-vintage wines as they are often called erroneously, like great Chateaux wines from Bordeaux or from well known Domaines of Burgundy, Barolo and Barbaresco of Italy or California Cabernets and full-body reds from Australia, South Africa. South France and many other countries and regions will mature with age and taste a lot better and more complex.
It is also true that best of Burgundy whites and many wines similarly in Germany, Italy, other areas of France, Australia etc will age for many years and even decades, Sweet wines from Sauternes, Tokai, Germany and Italy will mature for decades. I have tasted many of them between 50-100 years old and they are still going strong.
On the other hand, more that 95% of wines-including the reds are meant to be drunk young, less than 10 years at any rate. Some reds like Beaujolais Nouveau, Italian Novellos are made to be drunk within a few months. Indeed, Italy, France and Spain are full of wines that are dispensed by the liter from the pumps- you can fill in your jerry can and drink up within a few days.
Surely, Ms. Kapoor is not referring to this red wine! She is talking of fine wine. Like our superstar Amitabh Bachhan who just completed 40 years of working in Bollywood. He is like a First Growth Bordeaux- the angry young man, very tannic in the earlier years, But, over the years has become complex, multifaceted and mature. He can still age well for many years- so long he is healthy and alive, he will keep on showing complex flavours, leaving a very long after taste.
She is also referring to Sachin Tendulkar who is a fine cricketer and is like a Gaja Barbaresco, Sori San Lorenzo or Sori Tildin-all super premium wines from Piemonte, These wines from Gaja are drinking very well but will still go on for many years. They are already well rounded, balanced and full of harmony; incidentally, 1989 was a very good vintage for this region of Italy.
What I think Kareena Bebo (her pet name!) is that you are like a fine wine- like a fine and sexy wine as a Burgundy Grand Cru-elegant, feminine with silky tannins and persistent flavours- one that matures in 15-20 years-unless she is a DRC (Domaine de la Romanee Conti) from a good vintage, in which case she can go on and on for many more years.
Subhash Arora |