<div>When my book <em>Buying and Drinking Wine</em> in India was released in 2007, several people quipped that buying presented more difficulties than imbibing.<br /> </div><div>They were right. Back then, a ‘wine shop’ was a humorous misnomer and bottles purchased at any liquor store came with the unspoken caveat, “Bottle may have been languishing here or under the sun, for an indeterminate period of time”.<br /> </div><div>Fast-forward to today and things have changed drastically, even though, ironically enough, the problem remains the same. The choice has swelled to over a 100 different brands and, consequently, when it comes to selecting, we are, once again, truly stumped.<br /> </div><div>Before I even begin to share names of wines that I have found to be great buys within a given budget of, say, Rs 4,000-6,000, let me tell you that there was only one way of selecting these: by picking up a bottle, uncorking (or unscrewing it) and taking a sip. In short, no point systems, no extensive grading sheets, just a group of fellow vinos who nodded their ayes or signalled their nays and, a few years on, we have our own little basket of wines that are ready for recommending.<br /> </div><div>To kick off, the first wine would have to be sparkling, and champagne obviously cannot be ignored. My favourite would be Billecart-Salmon (pronounced beel-caar saa-maun). Krug, of course, is eternally awesome but it is also frightfully expensive. Both make some of the most elegant and distinct styles of bubbly but Billecart manages to remain characteristic. Its uniqueness of flavour and zing, with a marked fruity-toastiness on the palate, makes it one of the best champagnes out there. The next bubbly of choice would have to be either Cava (Raventos is the brand of choice) or Prosecco (Carpene Malvolti is the king of Proseccos). The only good Indian sparkling wine worth mentioning is Soirée by Zampa — they manage to make an elegant sip minus that awful aftertaste often found in other wines from the Nashik region.</div><table width="150" border="0" align="right" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3"><tbody><tr><td><img src="/image/image_gallery?uuid=4cc3d12a-4b89-4c56-919e-12a195480d32&groupId=816580&t=1363971890134" width="150" height="333" vspace="3" hspace="3" alt="" /></td></tr><tr><td><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><strong>RED & WHITE:</strong></span><strong> </strong><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 128);"><strong>Piccini makes almost 12 per cent of the Chianti sold worldwide; Yering has been making wines for almost two centuries</strong></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div><br />White wines are perhaps the least sought after category on Indian shelves — it may have something to do with the notion that reds are better, not just for health, but also to climb the social ladder to being a savant. It would be hard to choose just one wine here as the variety on offer is tremendous. Among the dry wines, my pick would be a Riesling from Australia and Lindeman’s makes a highly affordable one. The only problem I have with dry Rieslings (the way almost all Australian Rielsings taste) is that they are very austere in taste; I much prefer the German variants. Clemensbusch and Robert Weil are two top houses that make Rie­s­ling in the Mosel and the Rhine regions, respectively.<br /> </div><div>Riesling in Germany follows a simple geographical style definition: the more up north the region, the sweeter the wines may seem as they are allowed to have more sugar to balance the extreme acidity which also gives us the much-needed crispness to the wine. And, as another German winemaker, Reinhard Löwenstein (also from Mosel), recently explained to me, it is incorrect to judge sweetness in a wine simply based on sugar content because wine is a far more complex beverage to be subjected to such mathematical measures and comparisons.<br /> </div><div>However, just to be safe, for those who like it dry with a hint of oak, Australian Chardonnay is the one to try. D’Arenberg and Yering Station come racing to mind. The former for soft, lightly toasted styles of Chardonnays and the latter for being one of the oldest houses in the country — it has been making fine wines for almost two centuries! They also come from different regions in Australia — as far apart as France and Bulgaria — so the wines, in spite of being Chardonnays, are quite different.<br /> </div><div>Moving on to the reds and the variety is mind-boggling. My favourite countries would have to be Italy and Chile. Chianti is always a lovely and fun red to have and the versions by Piccini and Baron Ricasoli are absolutely fantastic. Piccini makes almost 12 per cent of the wine sold as Chianti in the world, whereas the wines of the Baron are much smaller in number. Yet, both the wines symbolise tradition and all that defines old-school winemaking.<br /> </div><div>Chile is becoming quite the value-for-money region and wines from the house of Montes are second to none. Los Vascos is also a great producer with some very silky wines. Try and avoid Carmenere by most Chilean producers for I feel that they are doing a better job with their Cabernets and Merlots.<br /> </div><div>Another country that I feel needs a mention is Spain and Tempranillo or Garnacha-based reds are seriously under-rated wines. Torres makes a lovely wine called the Gran Muralles with four autochthon Spanish grapes and as far as uniqueness goes, there are few wines in the world that can compete with it. And, in case you wish to drink local, nothing compares with Fratelli Sette. <br /> </div><div>So much for recommendations; it is now for you to go forth and choose. Remember, in the end, when you are out there, it isn’t just about price or region, even aesthetics matter. So if you end up falling for a bottle with a pretty label, don’t feel any lesser of a connoisseur. <br /> </div><div>I’m sure that’s how Picasso too would have picked ’em. <br /><br /><em>The author is India’s first French-qualified sommelier.</em><br /><br /><span dir="ltr" id=":1q8" style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal;">(This story was published in BW | Businessworld Issue Dated 08-04-2013)</span><br /><br /> </div>
