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The Grover Art Collection Series Sauvignon Blanc 2014 has bagged the International Trophy in its Category. This is the best singular achievement by an Indian winery so far-especially because the wine has to go through various stages before finally being awarded the coveted trophy. All wines that are awarded a Gold Medal by various panels are re-tasted by the top-level panel consisting of Steven Spurrier and Jeannie Chow Lee MW, the two permanent co-chairs assisted by Gerard Basset MW and a couple of other judges to make sure the Gold is well deserved. All Gold Medals are then pooled in to determine a Regional winner. All regional winners are then tasted blind by this top panel to select the International Trophy winner.
Grover La Reserve 2013 Blanc, the recently launched Vijay Amritraj Reserve Collection white and Chene Grand Reserve have all won a Silver medal, according to our sources. The Zampa Brut, Cabernet Shiraz and Viognier in the Art Collection Series have apparently won a Bronze each. There may be a couple of Commendations too since our sources suggest that a total of 9 medals have been won by Grover Zampa alone. Our queries to Grover Zampa did not yield any confirmations but the hidden smiles indicated the people were very pleased with the results. A senior manager did confirm that he had learnt that the Sauvignon Blanc had won a Gold Medal. The Trophy pickings are done on the last date.
A Silver medal for Chene may be satisfying for GroverZ since the earlier edition had none but the wine deserves better attention. It is too young for judging at a competition and one wonders if it was decanted before pouring. It opens up after an hour or more after opening. But being a judge at several international competitions including DAWA last year, the judges surely did the best at that moment. Perhaps this vintage should be sent for judging again next year to try for the Gold.
Vijay Amritraj may not have won Silver or any Medal at the Olympics (he was past his peak in 1988 when Tennis was added back into Olympics in 1988 after a gap of 20 years) but Amritraj would be thrilled when confirmed that the Vijay Amritraj Reserve Collection –a barrique fermented Viognier, won a Silver at the maiden appearance; this fan of Grover Zampa wines has been collaborating with the winery to come out with the final taste flavours for the VA Reserve Collection, according to GroverZ.
The results will be announced on October 22 and may be viewed on DecanterChina.com and are under an embargo. Therefore, the authenticity of these results cannot be guaranteed. I appreciate the importance and sanctity of the embargo and we are publishing whatever my journalistic hat could bring on the table.
However, it has been confirmed by more than one source that the Sauvignon Blanc International Trophy 2014 has been won by Grover Zampa. This would be a historic moment for the company and a tribute to the Indian wine industry. Of course our sources may not even be aware that there are two centers of production of GroverZ wines- Bangalore and Nashik. In fact, most of the wines entered (Bangalore winery does not produce sparkling wines yet but is in the process) could be from Bangalore and hopefully the results announced to the public would indicate the winery of production. Despite the best of efforts on keeping the consistency, Maharashtra produces wines that are more predominant in the aromas that are herbaceous and with more vegetal characteristics causing polarization of opinions of different judges for the Sauvignon Blanc.
At the last year’s competition in which Subhash Arora had also participated as a judge, there were a total of 13 medals bagged by Indian wineries with the sole Silver won by Fratelli Chenin Blanc 2013. There had been 9 Bronze and 4 Commendations. For details, visit
Historical Gold already in India’s pocket
The historical milestone of Gold for Indian wines at a delWine-recognized International wine competition was achieved earlier this year when the first-ever Gold Medal was won by KRSMA Sauvignon Blanc 2013 at the San Francisco International Wine Competition 2014. Most likely, it has also won a Commendation for one wine but it’s not clear which one. After entering Bangalore market, KRSMA is focusing on the US market where its marketing formalities are in place and the first lot is currently under shipment for the New York based distributor. For the relevant article in delWine, Click Here
Interestingly, KRSMA, which is known to make very good red wines has won a Silver for a white Sauvignon Blanc where a red has been relegated to the Commendable stable. There have been a couple of minor additions taking the total medals won to quite similar to the last year, except that Grover Z seems to have taken a big leap in cornering the prizes. The results will be announced, strangely, on October 22, a month later but perhaps to have the print edition get the limelight.
One of our sources has also indicated that Ritu Sauvignon Blanc from Four Seasons has also won a Bronze medal-confirming that the Sauvignon Blancs from India should have a bright future in the Asian markets.
Attention now shifts to the Cathay Pacific Hong Kong International Wines and Spirits Competition (HKIWSC), the oldest international competition in Hong Kong, that enters its 6th edition on October 6-9. Since its inception, the competition is linked with the Hong Kong International Wine and Spirits Fair where the winning wines are showcased and thus have an additional PR opportunity for showcasing and tasting. The award winning wines are scheduled to be showcased at the Hong Kong Wine Show on November 6-8.
Subhash Arora
GroverZ is the shortened name we have created for Grover Zampa Vineyards for media reportings.
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Tags: Grover-Zampa, Grover Art Collection Series, Vijay Amritraj, KRSMA, HKIWSC |