Nov 05: The recently opened Wine Villa in the upmarket Hotel Horizon on Juhu Tara Road is more than just a wine bar with 7 enometic machines of 8-bottle capacity, offering 56 wines by the glass –in a tasting shot measure of 15 mL, half- glass (75 mL) and a glass (150 mL), this is only a part of the restaurant which also offers spirits and cocktails with an extensive Menu and a very good view of the Juhu beach, writes Subhash Arora who feels it is an excellent business model that offers wine lovers an opportunity to taste several wines without burning a hole in your pocket
Partnered by Micky Panjwani and Roopanshi Bhatt who have together set up the Tea Villa Cafe chain with 16 outlets in Mumbai, Surat, Vadodra, Pune and counting, Wine Villa launched on October 12 seems to have caught the fancy of wine lovers in this part of town. According to Saurav Gunjal, Beverage Manager of Wine Villa, the customer is given a card which on insertion gives out the ordered quantity. The amount spent is added to the tab.It’s noteworthy that the customer gets chilled glass for every white wine to enhance the experience.
The Wine List curated by the well-known Sommelier Harish Acharekar as the consultant, has wines from Rs. 2000-18,000 as an option.An Amarone by the Pasqua family in Valpolicella at Rs. 18,215 as the most expensive bottle by the glass. At the lower end of the totem pole are a few Indian wines and a couple of Chilean wines listed at around Rs. 2000 a bottle. The prices for the 3 portions of the liquid are clearly mentioned for each wine along with the serving temperatures for each wine. There is a reasonably succinct explanation of vintage and 
grapes etc for each label (I wonder if they will change the plate every time the vintage changes or the listed vintage is not available with the distributor, though!).
The Prices are upmarket-keeping in line with the style, decor, location and ambience of the restaurant. But it offers an opportunity for everyone to taste different wines of choice. As an international wine judge at various wine competitions, Arora tastes around 50 wines a day. This means that all the wines-by the glass could be tasted without spitting, in one visit-consuming a total of 840 mL of wine- equivalent of 1.1 bottles –not advised for an ordinary wine drinker, but doable, all the same over 4 hours with some food. Sparkling wines are still not available by the glass but by the bottle only. Similarly more expensive wines like Barolo, Barbaresco and Brunello and the expensive French and Napa wines are available only by the bottle, for the moment. The labels on tap will be rotated frequently.
The concept is not new in Europe- Chianti Classico had it about 10 years ago, and other places but seems to be interesting for the Indian market which seems to be fascinated by the ‘wine on tap’ as they tout it. When I visited the Villa on Sunday afternoon, there were substantial number of inquisitive people, many young men and women trying out 15 mL portions. I was amused by a young girl taking out a glass of Pinot Noir at around Rs. 1500 for 150 mL with the help of her friend. I asked her friend if it was the first time she was visiting the Villa. ‘Oh, no! I come here every day with my friends. We order a bottle of Rose and finish amongst ourselves. My friend loves Pinot Noir so she had a glass of Pinot.’ The atmosphere is rather charged and makes one try out more wines.
Live band was playing on the Sunday afternoon. Some people had beer in their glasses while others had juices on their table. ‘We have clientele of all types. But it’s the wine that seems to excite the people a lot,’ says Gunjal.
These are early times to judge but the restaurant is surely headed for big success and the wine education ought to take a leap forward in this restaurant. One hopes that they start offering recommended flights soon or some discounts (like ordering 5 shots of 15 mL and getting one tasting shot complimentary) or such schemes to attract more people to try out different wines- working as an educational tool as well.
I will certainly visit the Wine Villa again during my next trip to Mumbai.
Subhash Arora
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