Oct 25: After successfully organizing the Indian Wine Day in six Lalit Hotels in India last year and London, the Indian Wine Academy(IWA) has teamed up again with the Lalit group to showcase Indian wines at all their properties in India and London on Friday, November 16 with the focus being on Alfresco Restaurant at the Lalit New Delhi, writes President of IWA Subhash Arora who has been co-ordinating with Team Lalit to make it bigger and better and expand the reach of the event to wineries and other restaurants
Premium and super premium Indian wines were paired with ‘BALUCHI’ Restaurant cuisine at Lalit Hotels in Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chandigarh, Kolkata, Jaipur AND London, all on the same date and the Menu where each dish was paired with wine from a different producers in different cities.
The concept was the brain-child of Subhash Arora, President of the Indian Wine Academy, who along with Lalit’s French Corporate Sommelier Charles Donnadieu, is a keen promoter of Indian wines with Indian cuisine as an option. A few meetings with the senior officials at the Lalit and the stage was set for a historical experience of exclusive Indian gastronomy with food from the well respected Baluchi Restaurant food paired by the duo with premium and super premium wines.
The objective was to create a buzz and increase acceptance of the much improved quality of Indian wines and make Indian producers and hospitality industry to come together on a joint platform to make it an annual feature to emphasize wine as a food product, thus sowing the seeds for a massive one-day promotion in future-at the same level as International Champagne Day, National Malbec Day, International Grenache Day and Beaujolais Nouveau Day (BND). In fact we chose the BND last year for the first Indian Wine Day on November 16.
With the infectious enthusiasm of Mr. Keshav Suri, the dynamic Executive Director of the Lalit group and the pro-active support of the Corporate F & B Manager Mr. Ravindra Kumar and Charles Donnadieu, the project Indian Wine Day was launched in Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chandigarh, Jaipur and London. It was a resounding success with the presence of wine producers in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore. The Food Menu was fixed same for all the Indian venues; wines were different, thanks to the registration laws which preclude the producers registering at all the centers.
Each center was free to organise the entertainment and decor; at Lalit Delhi a seating arrangement for around 100 people was made for al fresco dining and the full house enjoyed the food with plenty of wine, followed by multitudes of desserts at their night club Kitty Su which had a private DJ so the guests could shake a leg with desserts and endless sparkling wines.
Indian Wine Day 2018
The second edition is planned on the similar line except the Menu has been refurbished and the level of quality of wines has been even more elevated. At least in Delhi and Mumbai and possibly Bangalore, there will be 10 wines with food including 3-4 sparkling wines at the dessert counters. This ought to give a true picture of the level of quality achieved by the producers and taste their latest vintages and appreciate the true quality jump. More importantly, wine is but a natural food product and goes better with food when paired well. The evening will give each person a wide choice where possible, to taste different dishes at the sit-down dinner with different wines to decide their 
personal preference- after all the choice of matching is very personal and we can offer choices with each dish.
The Indian Wine Day will be powered by the Delhi Wine Club in Delhi, Bangalore Wine Club in Bangalore, Chandigarh Wine Club in Chandigarh and Magical Cellars in Mumbai. There will be similar fixed menus at Lalit’s properties in Jaipur, Udaipur, Goa, and Kolkata. As was done last year, Indian wines will be offered at 50% discount in all the restaurants on this day-some places will have it over the weekend of 16th November as well. One can contact each hotel or log on to www.thelalit.com
Each dish will be matched with premium and super-premium wines from Sula, Grover Zampa, Fratelli, York, Reveilo, Chandon, KRSMA, SDU, Somanda and others. The price has been kept very nominal @ Rs. 2500 for each venue. Of course, the Menu at London will be different and will include super-premium wines like Z’NOON red and white from Fratelli and Jean Charles Boisset of Burgundy and Napa. In London, the price has been kept at £ 70. The demand has been very good already and we expect an excellent event. More information will be in the later issues.
For a couple of Articles from last year, please visit:
First-ever Indian Wine Day celebrated on November 16 at Six Lalit Hotels
Indian Wine Day to be celebrated Pan India on November 16
Menu at London
Subhash Arora
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