Love in a Hot Climate
Three weeks in India is surely three weeks away from wine?! Dearly Beloved, a devoted beer drinker, must have (secretly) been punching the air! Then in a country of over 3,000km I say … “India’s largest winery is right where we’re going … Sula Vineyards!” Dearly Beloved doesn’t miss a beat “Of course we must go!”
The visit to Sula
Excitedly we pull up. Great branding, where are the vines?! The answer is (mostly) about 1000km North, near Mumbai – but I’m prepared to go with the flow … I mean, there’s a winery, and a tasting room! And it’s a great time to visit – with harvesting just finished, there’s grape juice in the air, presses in action, and the stainless-steel fermenting vessels a-bubbling with the good stuff!
It’s not only the vines that are growing – three enormous aircraft hangars are going up. Business is booming for India’s largest and “most awarded wine brand”, making a palate-exploding range of varieties, from Chenin Blanc to Zinfandel.
The wine
So, with a climate that hits 36 degrees at harvest, and never falling below 20 degrees, what’s the wine like?!
My top wines are theirs – the Dindori range. The ever reliable, come rain or here lots of shine grape that is Chardonnay once again delivers. Peach and apricot, with lemon, good weight and balanced acidity. The Dindori Syrah is also good … rich black fruit, and spice from ageing in French and American oak.
The others are less effective. With the heat acidification is a given, and it seemed over-played in the sparkling rosé, Grenache rosé and dessert Chenin. Then the Rasa Syrah was a real puzzle … I’d been expecting big, ripe fruits – but it was light, with quite harsh oak.
Incredible India
And for all of that – are 2 million bottles sold a year wrong???!! And on every up-market restaurant menu selling for the same as Bordeaux.
The ambition, the aspiration is just so ‘Incredible India’. Everywhere we went, no matter what obstacles, stuff was getting done. The whole country full of a positivity, energy and aspiration. I wondered if that’s what it was like in England’s Industrial Revolution. A sense that anything is possible.
So, a massive thanks to @michelle_wander_vine for prompting me to seek them out! To @ritu.singhal for the low-down. And to our amazing friends Monisha and Medappa for being the tour guides of the gods.
CHEERS AGAIN TO INCREDIBLE INDIA!!
