 When you live in Delhi but work in Gurgaon it is only fair to accept the 45-minute commute as a normal part of your life. However, last evening, while driving down to HAO SHI NIAN Restaurant to attend the launch I kept thinking that the Delhi guests might find the lunar landscape that passes for roads, quite a challenge.
Arriving early at the specialty Sichuan Restaurant in Gurgaon gave me an opportunity to talk at leisure with RANJIT DHURU, owner of Chateau d'Ori and DHARTI DESAI, who founded and owns FineWinesNMore.
I found Ranjit Dhuru a man with wine making a ruling passion. He not only runs a successful Rs.400 crore multinational IT enterprise, his passion for wines has led him to set up a state-of-the-art Winery in Dindori, near Nashik.
The winery crushed its first harvest in February 2007 and the wines were launched in December 2007. It is fair to say that the wines have found a high level of acceptance among wine lovers. 'The Gurgaon launch is another memorable milestone in the Chateau d'Ori journey,' says Ranjit who admitted to being very pleased with the marketing experience and vision of Dharti, so that 'we can focus on making our wines of world class quality.'
As you chat with the bubbly and vivacious Dharti Desai you appreciate her business acumen that has made FineWinesNMore one of the leading importers of wine and other beverages in a short span of less than 2 years. But why Gurgaon or Haryana -and not Delhi, I ask? 'We find the excise bureaucracy and laws in Delhi exasperating,' she says. 'We are expected to pay Rs.5 lakhs towards the license for 5 months! We'd rather spend the time and efforts in Bangalore, our next stop,' she adds.
Perhaps, people like me staying in Delhi and working in Gurgaon would not find it difficult to get the required supplies in Delhi anyway. But with the additional Rs.300 a liter notified by Karnataka, won't she find it rough going in Bangalore? She replies confidently,' we are in the same boat as the rest of Maharashtra. We hope that some sense will eventually come out of the duty structure but in the meantime, we shall now make a beginning in Bangalore.'
FWM has made a good decision to entrust its Haryana distribution to Veekay & Company. Kabir and Jatin are probably the oldest liquor retailers in Haryana and have their fingers firmly on the pulse of the local market. They seemed to be quite charged up due to the wine quality.
After a brief welcome by Dharti, Ranjit introduced the guests to the wines being launched. These are VIVA 2007 (Chenin Blanc), SAUVIGNION BLANC 2007, MERLOT 2007, CABERNET MERLOT 2007 and CABERNET SYRAH 2007. Apparently BTMORE tasting of Indian wines earlier this year at Shangri-la, chaired by Subhash Arora, President of the Indian Wine Academy had adjudged three of these wines as "Best Wine" in their categories.
Food and wine pairings were done for the appetizers-Sautéed Lamb Brisket with spicy salt (Cab. Syrah), Stir Fried French Beans with dried chilly and ya cai preserved vegetables (Sauv. Blanc), and Steamed Shanghai Chicken mini buns (Viva).The wines hold up well though the spicy heat of the Lamb does tend to rather overwhelm the Syrah. On the other hand the Viva and the Chicken mini buns are a match 'made in heaven'.
The main course had unending dishes too what with Braised Sliced Sole with spring onion sauce (Sauv. Blanc), Sautéed Diced Chicken with Bamboo Shoot and Celery in home made chilly sauce (Sauv. Blanc), Stir Fried Sliced Lamb with dried chilly and spring onion (Cab. Merlot), Braised Bean Curd with Mushrooms in Oyster Sauce (Viva), and Sautéed Mixed Vegetables in Chilly Black Bean Sauce (Merlot)-all served with Garlic Spring Onion Fried Rice and Mixed Vegetable Fried Noodles.
Most of the pairings do well though the chilly heat again knocks the wines off their bearings. I decide to pair the Braised Bean Curd with the Merlot and find my culinary Nirvana.
My personal favorites? Certainly the Sauv. Blanc and the Merlot.
The Sauv. Blanc is a pale light gold color, has a strong floral bouquet of violets and pansies, the attack brings the flavors of melon and sweet lime while the finish does not really linger.
The Merlot has orange shades in the ruby red, exudes the aromas of strawberries and cherries, the attack brings forth kinoo and plum and the finish, which is drier than expected, suggests a hint of clove.
From the talk at my table, I found a general conclusion that, in the Indian context, the wines have already made their mark and their vision of producing truly world-class wines will, hopefully, be fulfilled. With Chateau d'Ori sticking to its core competencies of winemaking and entrusting FineWinesNMore with the marketing, it is a win-win situation.
All in all an evening very well spent despite the pathetic service at the restaurant and the 45-minute drive each side was worth it!!
Avininder Singh |