A full house was awaiting to meet and talk to her at dot 7 pm, over several premier and super-premier international and Indian wines from the House of Sula and Fratelli, 16 of which were being dispensed through the two permanently stationed Enomatic machines. Wines from Italy, France, India, Chile, US, Spain and South Africa were on display, ready to be opened.

It would be difficult to fathom meeting her when she is working. I remember meeting her for the first time in Bordeaux at an En Primeur event at Chateau Cheval Blanc in Saint-Émilion appellation. We were tasting in the same small group. I had some questions about the wine that I would have liked her to clarify when her haughty personal secretary guarding her told me curtly, if you want to ask her any questions, please meet me later and take an appointment to meet her!! I remember thinking that was rather rude.

Always curious, inquisitive to learn more about wines, I asked Jancis unabashedly today what she thought of the quality of Indian wines, 20 years after she had once declared Grover La Reserve as the best New World red wine in its price category World. She saved the detailed answer for later when Sonal would ask her some pre-prepared questions in front of the audience as I realized she would not have time to answer my plethora of questions as she requested to taste Source Grenache Rose. She liked it as she found it juicy and certainly not sweet; there were 7 Indian wines in the bouquet. She did not care for the big, heavy bottle of J’Noon. I was to learn soon from what she asked for refills that her personal favourite was the sole Chablis from Albert Bichot.

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Jancis Robinson was the first person outside the wine trade to garner the MW in 1984 when the coveted title was first opened to applicants outside the trade; The British wine critic, journalist and wine writer is considered the most influential European wine expert in the world. But few might know that Sarah Morphew Stephen was the first woman MW in 1970. She died last year at the age of 81, making Jancis one of the senior most living MW women at 74.

Later, conversing with Sonal Holland in front of live audience, she shared her candid opinion about wine scene in India. She said that the quality of Indian wines had improved significantly in the last few years. ‘But please lobby with your government to lower taxes so you may enjoy more diverse wines,’ was her sincere advice. ‘I am glad to know that the Indian culture, starting from a very low base, has been improving fast.’

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This was her 4th visit- the third one being in 2017 when I was in Hyderabad for the same event. She had then visited several Indian wineries in Nashik.

Jancis left for Mumbai this morning where a High Tea has been arranged for her at the Terrace at the Taj Mahal Hotel, followed by a small, quiet dinner, according to Sonal who seems to have volunteered to organize the trip for her and her husband Nicolas Lander.

She has been an author of several books, but universally known for her ‘Oxford Companion of Wines’ that was my Bible in the 1990’s when I was learning on my own about wines.

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‘My wine writing career began on 1 December 1975, virtually pre-history as far as modern wine is concerned, when I started as assistant editor of the British wine trade magazine Wine & Spirit. Since then I’ve been lucky enough to travel all over the world of wine, she says, while admitting that in early days of her wine career she didn’t know that Asia was also an expanding world of wines. She first visited India in 2002.

Despite being one of the most knowledgeable wine persons on earth, she is very humble and practical about wines and not the least bit snobbish. She is very clear about Price Quality ration in wines. I don’t believe there is an absolute correlation between wine’s price and quality. There are many delicious wines that don’t cost a great deal, while there are hundreds of overpriced bottles carrying price tags that have been conjured out of the air by some hopeful marketer or winery owner.’ Implicitly, she finds wines in India rather expensive, especially due to high taxes.

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One point that needs to be stressed is that the cooking and serving staff were fully prepared as if the Royalty was expected. Metaphorically, it won’t be incorrect, she was awarded an OBE by the Queen of England in 2003 and has been an Advisor to the Queen’s Cellar from 2004 to 2022. With the plethora of delicious and multitude of fine wines and interesting conversations, she is not likely to forget the evening for a long time.

For those of us who attended the evening it was certainly an unforgettable event, in more ways than one.

List of Wines for Tasting

Subhash Arora