We Recommend: Rose Gold from Soma Vine Village

It is the week of Indian Wine Day-being organised by the Indian Wine Academy and The Lalit group of hotels in 9 hotels in India and London. Even wineries like Sula, York and Soma Vine Village have joined hands and are celebrating it in their tasting rooms. A new wine club will be born on this day. It is only appropriate that we recommend an Indian wine to drink. I am very happy to recommend Soma Vine Village Rose Gold as an excellent quaffable wine that retails at Rs. 650 only in Maharashtra and is even available at 10% discount at the winery.

Rose is truly an under-appreciated wine, not only in India but in most parts of the world-except it has been seeing an upward swing in terms of appreciation because of better quality and stricter controls and a new breed of consumers preferring it to whites and reds because of the flavour and wider spectrum for food and wine match.  Earlier this year, I was glad to taste the Source Grenache Rose 2017 introduced by Sula just before the Sula Fest 2018. This time I discovered the Soma Rose Gold at the Soma Vine Village, drinking it frequently at the winery, restaurant and the Regenta Resort Soma Vine Village over the couple of days.

First of all I love the colour of the wine. The colour resembles that of the lighter skins of onions that are grown in Nashik. A lighter shade of Provence Rose is very inviting. I do not like them very dark in colours-resembling the Clarets made for the Brits. Provence colour spectrum is very seductive and inviting for Rosé. The aromas of strawberries with red fruit looming in the background with freshness being the hallmark, is ever-so-inviting. The flavour is also fruity, with red fruits and soft tannins and medium body making it a good match with various foods as well.

Of course, I found sipping it in the warm weather most of the times, with snacks, fish, soup and vegetable dishes. I suspect, if you give it a chance it would help you wash it down even the kebabs and grilled/roasted chicken preparations. Like most of the other wines from Soma, it is screw-capped so you can open it around the swimming pool or chill it and take it with you to picnics.

Low alcohol of 12.5 % is also a plus. The perfect 10-12 gms sugar/liter, makes it fruity enough for the Indian palate and yet not clawing like some Rosés. However, don’t be overawed by the description as ‘Estate Bottled’ on the front label. Where there are strict wine laws, it means the grapes are harvested at the winery or there is a full control over the quality of bought out grapes. In India we don’t have such laws and In this case, grapes are bought from another vineyard. Zinfandel is a red grape that can also be used to make fruity light pink coloured wine, known as Blush in America but here it is synonymous with Rosé and categorised as such.

As I always recommend, its best to buy wines from the winery or closest to it- since they are stored at the cool temperatures. From there, they are always downhill, however slowly due to transportation and poor storage. Pick up a case of 6- or 12 in the winery when you visit and store it properly. I believe the current vintage is about to finish and the new vintage won’t be available till December /January. Serving temperature 8-10°C. Store at 13-15°C in a cool area.

If you are in Mumbai, you can get the same winery discount, if you are a subscriber of delWine. At around Rs. 600, it’s a good bargain. Contact gvnayak@connoseur.com, ppachpatil@yahoo.com, pradeepp@somavinevillage.com, sarode.kailas@gmail.com

For earlier related articles, please visit:

Soma Vine Village boosting Wine Sales through Tourism

Wine Tourism: Soma Vineyards collaborates with Royal Orchid Hotels

Subhash Arora

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