Four All for Ace Vijay Amritraj vs. Grover Zampa

Vijay Amritraj Reserve Collection was launched in 2014 at Wimbledon on June 29, 2014 when delWine had reported the pre-launch of the event in its 23rd June, 2014 edition.

Not disclosed by him  earlier in public was the fact that he had known Kapil Grover, Director of Grover Zampa Vineyards (GZV-GroverZ) for several year before he agreed to launch his label. A regular wine drinker, he used to meet Kapil often and the two became quite friendly. When Kapil asked him once to collaborate on the label named after him, he agreed but only if it would be a super premium label. He wanted wine drinkers outside India to appreciate that India made very good wines and this through the VA label.

He was very clear that the wine introduced must showcase quality wines from India. Giving his own example as tennis pro, he conceded that when he was playing tennis for India, the westerners could not fathom Indian playing world class tennis. ‘I had to wine a championship in the US before they started recognising India’s potential. The same thing had to be applied in the field of wine’.

Within 4 years of the Launch, Vijay Amritraj Reserve Collection has been able to garner 22 Awards. He is happy with the Awards,  but admits Kapil needling him and telling him he took 20 years to wine 16 tournaments in his career whereas his wines won 22 Awards in mere 4 years! His talk was very witty and a bit tennis-heavy and kept the audience laughing at his jokes, some at his own cost.

So what are his plans for the future for his wines? Would he not like to add some more quality wine to the labels that carry his name? Sumit Jaiswal, National Marketing Manager says they are discussing the possibilities and will decide on another premium label this year, he is nonchalant about it. ‘Frankly, I would like to see deeper penetration in more export markets first,’ he says. VA collection is being exported currently to 12 countries, according to Sumit who says they are making efforts for the wine to be sold in more countries.

Besides, the red and white which were lapped up by over 70 people at the event handled magnificently by the Oberoi Gurgaon, there was the Brut for starters. The hors d'oeuvres were particularly impressive and Amritraj made it a point to compliment the Chefs for the excellent quality. But what impressed me most, were the mini ghee dosas that were stuffed with mutton, chicken, crab and potato stuffing. They had the chutney as a part of the filling so one could hold it and eat in 2 bites. They went well with the wines, of course.

Also at hand was potato martini which was a very innovative dish that looked good in a martini glass with the base filled with chicken, lamb or spinach and topped with potato foam and garnish of chopped olives, olive powder, corn, paprika and chopped coriander-a novel way of eating a non-alcoholic martini. It was also a good match –chicken with white wine and the red VA went very well with the lamb potato martini; but barring the concept and its novelty value it was no match against the dosas.

It was an interesting evening that saw Vijay Amritraj as approachable as his red wine produced by Grover Zampa.  One has to wait and watch if he has new variant added before the 5th anniversary in June, 2019.

For a few of the earlier Articles about Vijay Amritraj Reserve Collection since the Launch, please visit

Grover Zampa Vineyards Celebrates 25 years

Grover Zampa celebrates 2nd Anniversary with Vijay Amritraj

 Vijay Amritraj Charms Delhi with Wine and Persona

Grover Zampa Vijay Amritraj Collection Pre-Launch Wine Tasting

Subhash Arora

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