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Photos By:: Adil Arora
 When I visited the Mercury Winery 3-4 years ago for the first time I was surprised with the Moscato being grown-he was the first known person growing this grape variety known for its versatility in making dry as well sweet wines with an extra time on the vine. I never heard more until recently when Veral Pancholia sent me a bottle of ArYaa (premium label of Mercury Winery) last month to taste.
It might be more traditional to taste the wine first on its own and then with desserts. The straw yellow coloured wine was so delicious on its own that I enjoyed on its own before going further. The intense perfumes of Lychee bursting on the nose, was very captivating- smooth, clean and fresh on the nose with hints of tropical fruits. On the palate it was very fruity. The medium bodied wine had a pure expression of the fruit-not grapey as some Moscato wines can be. Quite sweet (I estimated the residual sugar level at around 60 gms/liter) but a fantastic balance of acidity that made me feel like guzzling it. It was truly an excellent dessert wine.
I decided to be non conventional. There was Thai curry with rice for dinner so I decided to pair it with the food. Unfortunately, I normally do not eat very spicy (chili -hot) food like the rest of my family and found the food rather bland for it. I sprinkled some red pepper on my food to spice it up. Voilà! It became a heavenly match-absolutely delightful and SWAAD! I could hardly stop eating till the whole bottle was polished off-I did let my wife taste it and she found it very charming too.
On my query, Veral Pancholia, the Founder Director of the winery he started in 2006, said this wine had been 6 years in the making, when he planted the grape. He did not want to use the grapes from the young vines and so let the vines grow before he had his first picking last year. There is no mention of vintage on the bottle so I presume it is a 2013 Moscato. He also clarified that the sugar level was 49 gms/l , close to what I had estimated. The half- bottle (375 mL) is the standard size, as is the norm in most dessert wines. ‘I have tried to maintain the aromas as much as possible though it’s a very delicate wine. It has been a challenge to keep the Sulphur low while preserving aromas,’ he says.
He made only 2500 liters of the elixir (250 cases-9 liter). I was not surprised when he told me the whole lot had been sold in the export market. ‘We had recently tried this wine sampling in Goa Wine Fest and had a good response. I actually want to introduce it in 750 ml as an easy drinking wine for any time of the day with dessert , spices or just on its own,’ he adds. He proposes to sell in Goa from September 1 and also at his winery. The MRP for half bottle with 13% alcohol is Rs.300. One hopes he stays with the tradition and keeps to half size-else he may find it more difficult to sell.
 Packaged in a light green bottle with multi-coloured, attractive, signature label, the winery does not desist from the usual rhetoric by Indian wineries- like ‘India’s First Premium Dessert Wine’ when Sula and Vinsura came out with the Chenin Blanc Late Harvest wine over 6-7 years ago. Even Big Banyan makes a delectable, dessert wine from Moscato for a couple of years- so no ‘first’ here either when the bottle says ‘The First Moscato Vintage in India’.
Moscato is a flavour of the year in many countries, especially in the USA where it is the fastest growing varietal now and is becoming quite fashionable. Mercury has taken a pioneering position in developing this variety (Big Banyan buys the grapes) and I am sure, there will be more producers jumping the fray. For me, I again had Kerala Fish Curry with brown rice last evening- hot and delicious with spicy curry. The only ingredient lacking was the sweet Moscato from ArYaa. I won’t waste it with fruits or other desserts!
Although the website does not depict the Moscato wine yet, you may visit the website www.mercurywinery.net or contact vpancholia@hotmail.com for any further details
Rating:
Wine 
Wine with Food 
Subhash Arora |