DWC Dinner #278: Robert Mondavi takes Center Stage at Lock and Key

Photos By:: Adil Arora

It’s not easy to organise a wine dinner of the Delhi Wine Club in Gurgaon, with a vast majority being from Delhi. But Rituu Memaani, a past member of the Delhi Wine Club who is now a hotelier and restaurateur, persisted with me to organise a wine dinner at her property. Though she runs Lock and Key, a lounge where cocktails are king, she is keen to make it a wine destination if not a wine bar and was hell-bent to have a wine dinner at her venue. When Lakeforest Wines, the new importers of Robert Mondavi since 2016, also showed keen interest to support the event, with their Country Manager Sherry  Anne Sudan promising all support, we planned the dinner on 29 April, a Sunday; mercifully, the traffic is at its minimum in the evenings then.

Not willing to take a chance, I insisted on tasting the food after checking out the place and instantly fell in love with the restaurant, the ambience, the attitude, the enthusiasm and the food which was really delectable. With GPS showing under 45 minutes (the time I take to travel to Connaught Place on a regular day from my residence in Defence Colony , I decided to give it all for the Sunday dinner.

Rituu had also organised a duo of musicians. On popular choice of the members, we had selected Retro as the Genre and we concluded that evening that not only food, wine and ambience but live music also plays a role in making the evening a pleasurable experience.

There were 5 wines- Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and the Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2014. The dessert was accompanied with Moscato which was liked by most people but I avoid desserts and dessert wines-so I abstained. Napa Valley, the king of wines tasted at Rara Avis was clearly the darling of everyone and went very well with the chicken dish and perhaps with the fish dish. I regretted substituting the original Pork chops in the Menu- it would have been a perfect food and wine match.

Due to some unexpected delays from the excise department, all the wines we intended to procure were not available and we were obliged to procure 5 bottles of Robert Mondavi Napa Valley from the Restaurant. This selection which was too expensive normally for the dinner (MRP-Rs. 6,000), at the restaurant had to be made out of necessity. Most members had forgotten , but in 2013 we had organised a similar wine dinner at Rara Avis Restaurant with Robert Mondavi Private Selection when the distribution was with Mohan Bros. Joe Milner, Vice President of Constellation Brands, owners of Robert Mondavi had hand -carried  2 bottles of Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon  2010 as allowed by Indian Customs, for tasting only.

The members had simply flipped tasting this beautiful wine then. ‘Full-bodied, dark red coloured, viscous wine with perfumed aromas and a taste of berry compote with oak lurking in the background was easily the best wine of the evening and an absolute darling for one and all. One must thank Subhash...” were the comments by our member Arun Batra in 2013 in his reportage.  

Thanks to the magnanimity of Lakeforest, we organised simple quizzes and gave away 8 bottles of Robert Mondavi Wines to the audience which seemed to enjoy the evening festivities. As Subhash Arora, President of the Club reiterated, wine dinners were not only about the dinner or the wines but the whole experience in which food was matched with wine and that there ought to be a sense of informality and conviviality to enjoy the evening which was even better today as several young members of the Young Indians (YI) of CII had also been invited to experience wines with dinner, thanks to the efforts of our long-standing member Varun Prakash who is also one of the YIs. It was heartening to see many of these members wanting to join the Club before the evening was over.

Despite the small gaps in the service due to various factors that included the late arrivals and disruption in service by non- members making odd requests, the event was a roaring success. Ranjan Pal who is a founding member from Gurgaon and gave a formal vote of thanks, says, ‘ Delhi Wine Club pulled off a major feat along with Robert Mondavi Private Selection wines. One of the best Gurgaon events ever in a wonderful location with unique ambience!’  

Madhav Singhania, President of the Young Indians, who was invited to give away several prizes thanked profusely the Club for making the evening happening and getting  the members an opportunity to pair wine with food and enjoy the evening.

Rituu memaani,  owner of the restaurant quipped, ’hats off to you and Delhi Wine Club. When I was a member of the Club  we enjoyed the meal with wine and went back- never realising how difficult it could be, organising wines and the problems faced because of excise department. When you are this side of the fence, you really appreciate what the Club has been doing. We all have been super tense for the past few days because of seemingly relaxed attitude of the excise department. We are also sticklers for rules and the problem got intensified. But I am glad we managed a legal solution in the nick of time.’  She had to turn down many of her regular customers due to the dinner and one must appreciate her lust for wine life to turn down sales.

In the same breath, she wondered when we could have another event at the venue soon.

For an earlier Article, please click

DWC Dinner: A Rara Evening with Robert Mondavi Wines

Gallery           Menu

Video-1 Wine Bottles Awarded for Quizzes at Dinner Lock-& Key

Video-2 More bottles awarded for Quizzes at Dinner Lock & Key

Video-3 Wine Presenttion by Lakeforest Wines at Dinner Lock & Key

Subhash Arora

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