| Grover Vineyards won a total of 3 awards but in true Olympic style, tops the table of winners with 1 Silver and 2 Bronzes, even though Four Seasons won 6 Bronze medals. This was followed by Krsma (2), Sula (2) and York (2). Thus, 5 Indian wineries have been awarded this year. This compares very favourably with last year’s performance when there were only 2 wineries sharing 6 Bronze models - Four Seasons (4) and York (2). Since one does not know the details of wines or wineries that take part in the competition (as a matter of propriety, the names of the participating wineries are not disclosed in such competitions though the competitions generally release the number of wineries participating from each country).
Results at a Glance
Here are the Results about the successful Indian wines in the alphabetic order, as taken from their website:
Dindori Reserve Shiraz 2011 (B) |
Grover La Réserve 2011 (B) |
Krsma Cabernet Sauvignon 2012 (B) |
Krsma Sauvignon Blanc 2013 (B) |
Ritu Barrique Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon Red Wine 2010 (B) |
Ritu Barrique Reserve Viognier 2012 (B) |
Ritu Rosé Wine 2013 (B) |
Ritu Rosé Wine 2013 (B) |
Ritu Sauvignon Blanc White Wine 2013 (B) |
Ritu Sauvignon Blanc White Wine 2013 (Canton, Dim Sim) (B) |
Sula Zinfandel 2013 (B) |
York Cabernet Merlot 2012 (B) |
York Shiraz 2012 (B) |
Zampa Chêne 2011 (B) |
Zampa Soirée Brut NV (S) |
Four Seasons, the Kapil Dev of Indian wines
If there were an all rounder in Indian wine production, like Kapil Dev in cricket, Four Seasons would be declared India’s best all rounder till date. This Baramati-based producer of Maharashtra won a Bronze medal in each of the categories it produces - White (Ritu Barrique Reserve Viognier 2012), Rosé (Ritu Rosé Wine 2013) and Red (Ritu Barrique Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2010).
Furthermore, it has also bagged a Bronze each in three food-and-wine competition categories - a specialty at this competition since the last few years. Ritu Sauvignon Blanc 2013 has won a medal in the Cantonese Dim Sum category; Ritu Rosé 2013 with the Peking Duck and Ritu Barrique Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2010 with the Beef Teppan-Yaki. Ritu is the export label of Four Seasons and will soon be launched in India. There are a total of 10 Asian food categories including the Indian Chicken Tikka.
No award for Indian wines with Chicken Tikka!?
The Indian producers always harp on Indian wines being the best mates for Indian food. Undeniably, there is a niche market for Indian wines in the Indian restaurants overseas. But it is surprising that no Indian wine won any medal in this category-including Four Seasons (though Ritu Rose 2012 had won a Bronze Medal in this category last year). It is not known how many, if at all any, entered this year in this category that was monopolized by Australian wines. Even they could manage only Silver medals, with no Golds awarded in this category.
Another relevant factor, in terms of consumer tastes and Asian judges in the competition-HKIWSC invites principally only Asian judges - one might have expected white wines to win accolades if one went with the old white meat-white wine and red meat-red wine theory. Out of the 7 silver medals awarded, a whopping 5 were from Australia. If you look at the colour of the wines, 4 were Syrah (Shiraz), 1 sparkling Syrah, 1 Pinot Noir and a lone white (Koshu) from Japan.
Chicken Tikka was introduced last year at the request and persuasion of Subhash Arora who has been a regular invitee at HKIWSC since the beginning. Despite the dismal performance of Indian wines this year in this category, there has been an increasing global interest in this match and it would certainly be included at the next year’s competition. In fact, Arora has been persuading the organisers to add yet another dish and is hopeful of a second dish, considering the global popularity of Indian cuisine.
Debra Meiburg MW, the Director and co-owner of the competition seemingly agrees with his assessment. ‘I am impressed at the quality improvement of Indian wines in recent years and the response of the international producers for the category of chicken tikka that might not be as delicious as in India but under the constraints, we do quite well.’ A frequent traveler to India with her husband until a few years ago, Debra loves spicy Indian foods and says, ‘I would be quite willing to accept the suggestion from Subhash for one more item in this category; I only hope more Indian producers will participate. Many producers submit more than one label for the same dish-for instance it could perhaps be a Chardonnay, Shiraz, Shiraz sparkling wine or a Shiraz/Cabernet blend from India for the chicken tikka. I congratulate all the winners for doing so well at this year’s edition.’ When asked about the possibility of their winning Gold, she said, ‘why not? I would hope they would go for Gold, especially in this category.’ She added, ‘at HKIWSC Gold is not easy to win as the judges are rather tight-fisted in awarding Gold. We abide by the panel’s decision. Therefore, the Silver won by Zampa Soiree Brut NV this time is commendable.’
Abhay Kewadkar, Chief Winemaker of Four Seasons is quite elated with the results, though he rues not achieving his target of Gold - he was one of the smart producers who realized the importance of entering wines in the food category as well, to win extra medals hopefully. He is known in private and in public to assert that wine should always be drunk with food and not by itself. His stand would seem to be vindicated by the medal tally.
Krishna Prasad who with his wife Uma reached Villa d’Este this morning to attend the World Wine Symposium (WWS) and present Krsma wines at the recommendation of Subhash Arora, a regular visitor to the prestigious annual conference attended by the global Who’s Who of the wine industry, was happy to learn about the medals for both his wines submitted - Krsma Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2011 and the Sauvignon Blanc 2013. He says, ‘our wines are Gold medal-winning quality and though I respect the judges’ award, we will not stop short of winning Gold.’ Great initiative from this connoisseur whose wines have not seen a day in the market so far! His desire to attend the Symposium, if only to meet the right people and the enthusiasm to share his wines with them and get the right feedback, speaks volumes of his grit and determination to win a Gold medal in this competition. Incidentally, Four Seasons had taken part in WWS and showcased their wines last year, along with another rising star Fratelli.
Surprisingly, producers in India do not seem to be fully aware of the food and wine category at the competition as I gathered while talking to Krishna Prasad in Hyderabad over the phone. Sumedh Singh Mandla, who has been recently promoted as the CEO of Grover Zampa Vineyards would not stop short of winning Gold at the HKIWSC in the very near future for the Zampa Soiree Brut and the recently launched Zampa Chene. He was also surprised when I told him about the food and wine category at the historical Launch of Chene at a Delhi Wine Club dinner on October 28, a day before it was officially launched in Mumbai. ‘We would have definitely entered in this category, if we knew about it.’ Perhaps, the organisers might take a cue from him and make a deeper and more direct connect with the producers in future, especially from India for participating in the food and wine match category.
The panel of judges including the VIP judge, the Australian winemaker Ms. Vanya Cullen and experts from across Asia, including Subhash Arora who was a panel president for the third year in a row, blind tasted around 1500 wines from 31 countries.
For the detailed results, visit http://www.hkiwsc.com/searchwine2013/wine
To look back at last year’s results, click here
Subhash Arora |