Sept 09: Tea & Wine, a new label introduced last week for the tea-infused wine by the French Pernod Ricard, makers of the all India-famous Jacobs Creek in Australia has been introduced as white and red wine on an experimental basis and is being retailed in Australia by Dan Murphy, writes Subhash Arora who feels it could be successful in India too
Several years ago during one of my visits to South Africa I was very impressed with the idea of having coffee with Pinotage. That was a few companies making lower-end styles of wines with distinct coffee aroma and flavour. Although many wine critics described it as nothing short of diabolical, some even brushing it aside as a cheap stunt to sell more, I quite liked it and bought a couple of bottles for less than 50 SA Rands, if I remember correctly!
What if there were wines that reminded you of Darjeeling, Nilgiri or Assam tea, I wondered! and forgot about it till I read a news report last week announcing the launch of tea-infused wine by the Jacobs Creek label- owner Pernod Ricard in Australia-combining the flavours of both.
Tea & Wine launched a white and a red variant last week to be sold initially in Dan Murphy’s retail stores. Both are infused with complementary organic tea- unoaked Chardonnay 2018 with Egyptian Camomile blossoms and the Red Cabernet Sauvignon 2018 incused with Sri-Lankan tea.
Speaking at the launch, spokesperson Helen Herges who was part of the group that initiated the concept and took it to execution, says idea came spontaneously when a group of colleagues was discussing plans for the weekend, all featuring either tea or wine a couple of years ago.
They felt that both the beverages served the same ritual of letting your hair down at the end of day’s hard work and just relaxing. ‘We thought – do you actually have to choose? Or could we combine the two? It made perfect sense to us,” says Helen.
However, it was not a simple case of blending the two. The winemakers behind Tea & Wine spent two years perfecting their techniques and flavour combinations. While she did not reveal the final method that succeeded, Helen did share that there were several spectacular failures that lead to a significant amount of wine lost in the experimentation.
“First, we tried the obvious. We were brewing tea and blending it into wine, and then we tried to brew tea in cold wine. It was barely drinkable, but not very great. We then moved on to the little bit more ‘out there’ methods. We were drying grapes on a bed of tea leaves, inspired by the Amarone in Italy. We even tea smoked a barrel to finish the wine in, which was inspired by the Chinese tea smoked duck, says Helen.
Tea supplier for the brand is Corinne Smith who co-founded an organic tea Bar in Sydney. She said this first release is just a taste of what’s to come in the world of tea infusions. Tea & Wine first came on the radar at the Sydney Tea Festival in August 2018. Herges and Smith set up a stall with tastings of two white and two red tea infused wines. Using the feedback of tasters at the festival, they set out to create the final ‘blend’ that forms the basis of the brand’s launch.
The first two wines are now available at select Dan Murphy’s stores across Australia, with Herges hoping to make further steps into retailing on- and off-premise in future. They have selected Dan Murphy’s Retail liquor stores right now at around A$15, as the flagship stores where guided tastings are being offered and the can people really experience the product. ” said Helen.
“It would be great to see it at venues, like book store wine bars, a wine and painting night. It’s not a party wine, and it’s like a wine that’s a warm hug.”
With Fusion the in-thing in gastronomy, it is expected to do well even in India where it is still the key separator in gastronomy and still not out of fashion though it has seen the high point. Indians love tea and if they get 2 relaxants and flavours for the price of one ( I am certainly not one of them though would be willing to try it with an open mind), they might even just go for it-especially as an evening drink, right back from work, possibly even in place of tea. With Jacobs Creek already well ensconced in India, it may be even a better place than Australia and with the wide distribution channels in hand, Pernod Ricard might do well to try out at special events in India.
One can say it with almost certainty that the idea would be panned by critics and wine writers but it may have a niche market with tea lovers who have also taken a shine to wine, especially in India.
The big question for the moment is if it can at all be categorises as wine since infusion is a strict no-no in wine making in most parts of the world.
Subhash Arora
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