Reserves of India Tasted at Enoteca Bangalore

I am very happy when I see young enthusiasts at such wine events where they can taste wines together and interact freely and not sitting quietly because of the wine experts in the limelight and causing them to bottle up their desire to learn by asking questions and clear their doubts.

Enoteca, the educational  unit of Madhuloka, the biggest retail chain store in Bangalore for wines and spirits, had organised an interesting  evening  on Sunday October 15 where 12 Indian Reserve wines from the Indian stable were being tasted blind. Snacks and Dinner that accompanied the tasting was for a mere Rs. 1200 –and included a semi-sweet Chandon Delice as the welcome drink-wines were obviously sponsored. This was a deal that cannot be missed by any wine enthusiast. Not only were the wines being tasted blind, there were local winemakers or the reps present so one could ask any questions including the wine making process, styles of wine making, sourcing of grapes and such allied questions.

I was in Bangalore as a part of the faculty for teaching the First level of Alfiere Italico- wine course being inaugurated on 14-15 October and so I was requested to attend the tasting. I had other plans for the evening but what made me cancel in favour of attending the event was the opportunity of tasting the New Release of KRSMA Cabernet Sauvignon 2015 (this was purported to be the first –ever tasting in Bangalore after the Release of the current vintage in the market). The other one was the first-ever Release of the SDU Winemaker Selection. 

After a special welcome I was requested to say a few words-an opportunity I used to tell the young enthusiasts to focus on the colour, Smell, Flavour and the after taste of the wines and how they should rate the score but beyond everything else, enjoy the tasting and not worrying about the quality of their rating.

There were 4 white wines and 8 red wines for tasting. Although it was too much to ask them (or even a Master of Wine or a Master Sommelier) to guess the winery, vintage and the grapes but the concept of comparing on their palate and storing information in their olfactory memory cells would help their future tasting prowess as well as the desire to taste more wines tremendously, I said, asserting that the alcohol level must also be a part of the tasting notes.

The following 12 wines were tasted in the order of service- though of course, it was not known before the bottles were unmasked after a round was completed.  (Right column is for MRP as disclosed by the organisers). ‘Gaurav Thapar, Manager of Enoteca conducted the proceedings quite proficiently. The participants were very serious in their rating and the enthusiasm was infectious. Whatever, the result, they would have surely enjoyed learning a few things about wine, wine tasting and their palate.

At this point, the score is not important though it’s a good indicator of the choice of participants. I would not like to talk about the results since they can be detrimental or overly benevolent to some wines. In fact, I must admit, I was at a strong variance with a few of the wines at the top and bottom end of the spectrum.  What is important is that all of them enjoyed the tasting and made them express their honest opinion.

Although it was a not-to-be-missed event and at Rs. 1200 with 12 wines, snacks and dinner, it was a steal and in fact it had been already closed a day before, according to the social media accounts.  However, the incessant rain, the flooding of the streets and the 33,000+ puddles (according to some media estimates) made some people hold back and the number fell below the expected numbers. But those who did brave the weather enjoyed themselves thoroughly, discussing their scores with others and talking to winemakers too.

 That was an interesting evening that should get frequent repeats in a similar format, with slight improvements.  It was particularly gratifying to see the youth getting attracted to wine-and the penchant of Bangalore people to learn about wines  is a good sign of times.

Subhash Arora

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