Posted: Friday, 27 January 2012 13:42

Special Feature: Sicilian Wines Seduce Indian Connoisseurs

Nero d’Avola is one of the several indigenous grapes that separates the island of Sicily from several other countries and perhaps ranks as high as Piemonte, Tuscany and Veneto for the number of indigenous varieties. There are varieties like Frappato (which when blended with this grape makes the only docg of Sicily-Cerasuolo di Vittoria).

Nerello Mascalese and Nerello Cappuccio are tongue twisting red grapes from the volcanic area of Etna that taste delicious on the tongue.  Malvasia Nera, Perricone, Nocera are some of the other grape varieties which most of the Indian wine lovers might not even have heard of, not to talk of tasting them. Master Class-Sicily was a unique opportunity where they could not only learn about these grapes but also taste several wines made from these grapes that include Sicily’s largest grown Cataratto, Carricante,  Grillo, Grecanico, Insolia, Moscato, and Zibibbo.

Nero d’Avola is also a variety which changes the personality with soil and terroir. In fact, as Arora who conducted the seminars along with Michele Shah, a known face to many because of her earlier visits to India, pointed out, ‘one could possibly do a PhD by studying in depth the effect of different regions and terroirs to get the optimum out of the grape which was earlier used as a blend in bulk wines or in blends exported to North Italy and France to get colour and high alcohol.

Introducing the Sicilian wines at each seminar held in Hyatt Regency Delhi (January10), Hyatt Regency Kolkata (January 11), Hotel Trident BKC Bandra (January 13) and Hyatt Regency Pune (January 14), Dario Cartabellotta, Director General of Istituto Regionale della Vite e Vino (IRVV) of Sicily was candid enough to point out in his introduction that Sicily was a bulk wine producer till 15 years ago when some producers brought in technology, made new investments and improved viticulture, thus improving the quality significantly making Sicilian wines offer an excellent price-quality ratio.

The tastings that followed at each of the Master-Classes were interactive and gave a taste of many of the following wines. Michele was able to draw out many known and unknown faces at each of the Classes to share their impressions about various wines, a full spectrum of which were showcased (sparkling, white, rose, red and dessert wines), at the seminars- partly at the tasting while others at the classy and elegant  sit-down dinners organised by the Indian Wine Academy with proper food and match at the venue selected in each hotel.

Arora emphasized that these events were not only wine tastings but were designed to get the participants learn about the gastronomy and cultural heritage and hopefully think of Sicily as a wine/tourist destination. Each visit to Sicily beckons you to return for more. Some invitees commented that ‘they had learnt more about geography than in school’.

The general feedback was that the people liked the wines, especially because of their excellent price-quality ratio- be it the fruity Grillo, mineral Etna Bianco made from Carricante and Cataratto grape, the light bodied Frappato, or different qualities and styles of Nero d’Avola or the two variants of sweet wines made with Moscato or Zibibbo, Moscato di Noto and doc Pantelleria respectively.

About a dozen wineries from different parts of Sicily- Tasca d’Almerita and Settesoli participated in these Master Classes, with passionate producers like Castel Venus, Colomba Bianca and Nicosia, interacting with the audience. Several of the wines tasted were much awarded and highly rated by critics and wine guides like Gambero Rosso and Luca Maroni.

Sicily is the largest island in Italy,rich in history, architecture and natural beauty. It has been fast gaining international acceptance of its wines, a majority of which are made from indigenous grapes found here only and are terroir driven. Often referred to as the Jewel of the Mediterranean and after 20 years of modernization, Sicily is coming into its own as a region where exciting and quality wines are also produced and the change showed in the class of the wines offered at the various tastings.

Master Class-Sicily was the first programme of its kind to be organized on such a large scale for Sicilian wines in India. It proved to be educational and informative besides being fun for those who attended. The events in each city were also supported well with the hotels.

Hyatt Regency Delhi had pulled out all stocks to make it a truly classy and elegant event well balanced with the quality of food and service. H.E. Giacomo Sanfelice, Italian Ambassador looked very pleased that the people he talked to, really loved Sicilian wines. Kolkata Hyatt marveled at handling the room overflowing with people with excellent seamless service and used the opportunity to showcase their Italian restaurant La Cucina, rather well-the visitors appreciated that the restaurant had been completed closed to public, being a full house for the event. The Consul General, Joel Melchiori said he was very happy that they had supported the event.

‘Mumbai can be a nightmare for any wine event as I have noticed on several previous occasions,’ said Arora. Unlike in Delhi where people are often accused of being  blasé about such events, Mumbai is notorious for apathy because of the chaotic traffic that makes travelling time from South of the city  to the northern suburbs, more than that from one part of India to the other by air. Being pre-warned helped us twiddle our thumbs for till almost 8 pm, an hour after the scheduled start; it was heartening to see a sudden surge of people filling the room. Trident BKC proved to be a perfect venue despite a couple of guests landing at the Trident in the South (at Nariman Point)- a point of caution for future organizers of programmes at Trident.

Group of Seven at Hyatt Regency Kolkata

The Sicilian visitors were pleased by the attendance and interest shown at these events- all of which were very well attended. For several invitees it was the first exposure to Sicily and its wines. It would be great to see some of their excellent price-quality wines available in retail in India soon. It would also be a great opportunity to see the visitors again in India as the producers seek distributors and taste them with even a wider set of wine professionals.

The following wines were tasted-in the order of service:

Subhash Arora