Enriching Wine Trail!

Posted by: Rohit Gupta

Belonging to a beer-guzzling age group, I’m not very well acquainted with the sophisticated world of wines and winery.  Yet, when I got a chance to attend an exclusive blogger meet; a wine trail event organized by Four Seasons Wine at Ardor, I made up my mind to explore this uncharted territory!
Ms. Jyothi, from Four Seasons acquainted us with the basics of wine, so that we can proceed on to the tasting with a touch more finesse!
Note: To all the vodka and beer loving youth, you can’t put a wine bottle in the boot of your car just like that! Sorry.

The only thing I knew about wines before was that they were of two types, red and white. I also knew that they were paired with different types of food, the source of the knowledge probably a food show owing my habit of mindlessly scrolling TV channels. But that was it.

Now after attending the event, I thankfully know a bit more. We were served three different wines, two red and one white. Shiraz, Chenin Blanc and Rosé: sweet names I must say!
As most of the wines have a European origin, and subsequently the French pronunciation does have its peculiarity, I won’t mind to declare that it is a bit hard to recall many names! But, what’s there in a name!

Four Seasons have their vineyard in Baramati, Maharshtra. There are some particular conditions which are required to grow grapes suitable for wine; in terms of the soil, the temperature difference between the day and night, the water requirement etc. For the more enthusiastic ones: study about Viticulture. You’ll at-least appreciate the Roman indulgence and the rich history!

My tryst with Wines!

I no doubt collected tidbits of wisdom while sipping on wine along with some sumptuous kababs and paneer tikkas!

• Wine takes time to mature. It matures in stored drums, in a cool and dark environment. Some types can also mature for up to five years after packaging into the bottle! The bottle states the year of packaging.
• Wines can also be classified into still, sparkling, aromatized and fortified wines. The grapes used have seeds, and the tannins in the grapes contribute to the color and feel of the wine.
• The temperature of serving a wine is crucial, and can make or break the whole experience. Moreover, you also need to check the texture, cloudiness and aroma before taking a gulp.
• All champagnes are sparkling wines, but the reverse is not true. Suspiciously reminiscent of a mathematics class, eh?
• The pairing of the food should go along with the type of wine. While the red wine leaves your mouth somewhat dry, the white one tends to leave your mouth watery.

I think the wine-culture in India is surely catching up. It feels good to get a leg up and make a leap from a novice to an intermediate. I’ve also got something to brag about the next time I hold a glass of wine. Cheers!

Related articles

• Let’s Talk About Wine! A Blog Series for Beginners (giftblog.arttowngifts.com)
• A Wine Tasting Session with Four Seasons

Tagged: Chenin Blanc, four seasons wine, http://www.fourseasonsvineyards.com/, Sparkling wine, Viticulture, Wine, wine in india

Posted in: Off the track