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 One always talks of wine being a food product and the synergy created by the proper match with food. There are books written about the classic matches, Do’s and Don’ts. But wine has not been a part of Indian food culture and there are debates on whether in fact wine can be matched with Indian food. Having judged at the Hong Kong International Wine and Spirits Competition (HKIWSC) since its inception and being a panel president since the food and wine segment was introduced 5 years ago, it had been my endeavour as the lone Indian judge, to have Indian dishes also added to the list of dishes. During the last 3 years I was successful in my recommendations being implemented and thus introducing chicken tikka, mutton kebab, mushroom-pea masala and butter chicken. This year’s HKIWSC in October will see wines vying for medals to match with morel masala and rarha gosht.
 It was but natural that when Sonal Holland MW, Subhash Arora and Sourish Bhattacharyya teamed up to add her concept of India Wine Awards to the delWine Excellence Awards, they added this segment to the Competition which was held at the venue of our hospitality partner, Sofitel Mumbai BKC on April 14-15. It was a unique concept for India where it was the first time that such a wine competition was being organised. It was natural that the buzz it created was phenomenal and sounding good to the ears too.
How can you have Baingan Bharta as a gourmet dish? Can one drink wine with Kerala Stew or even veg. Biryani? Why not only Maharashtra cuisine? There were many questions and suggestions. One thing at a time, said the organisers. Giving the vegetarians their due and in the process part meeting the objective of promoting wine drinking amongst Indian vegetarians and giving them award winning options of various wines, they selected 3 vegetarian dishes and 3 non-vegetarian as follows:
Mutton Seekh Kebab
Butter Chicken
Patrani Fish
Kat-hal Biryani (V)
Kerala Stew (V)
Baingan Bharta (V)
 The jurors who were all new to this type of tasting were also excited. Sonal explained the procedure lucidly. For details of the methodology, visit India Wine Awards to feature unique Food and Wine Match
For those who may be inclined to try out this tasting process in future- as a blind competition or groups of wine enthusiasts doing it for fun, the key thing to remember is that in the food-wine match, we do not judge the quality of wine at all. Yes, it has to be a clean, quaffable wine. But the impression and the synergy the combination creates in your mouth before you spit out (or not, it’s up to you) is important. The international convention is you spit out the morsel with all the food elements and the generous portion of wine twirling in your mouth, never mind the ugly sight. Sofitel had smartly arranged the perfect, fully covered spittoons, easy to open and shut.
 A perfect example of food and wine match where the wine is not being judged was the Casablanca Spumante NV Brut. It is a commercial sparkling wine made by Charmat Method. Although it did not win any medal in the wine category, it won a Diamond with Veg Biryani-implying that the jury loved the dish with the bubbly when tasting blind. Casablanca Rosé Spumante NV, Shiraz from the same producer, Good Drop Wine Cellars won a silver medal but it does not find a medal in the food and wine match. It is not known whether this wine was entered in any of the 6 food and wine categories. Just like in all international wine competitions, the list of wines samples sent by the participants is not disclosed to maintain the assured confidentiality; only the award winning wines are declared.
 Same thing resulted with Jacobs Creek Brut NV which won a Diamond in the same category with Veg Biryani. Who would have thought that Veg Biryani would be downed best with a bubbly (I remember I used to love to have Biryani with coke in my earlier days as a teetotaller)! I love the tingling sensation of the bubbles that help clean the palate as well. It would be interesting to know if any champagne entered the competition.
The results had an interesting proposition for wine lovers-sparkling wines can be a perfect match with food even though we are always trying to find a perfect match with white, rose or red with a dish.
We all know that there is no such thing as one single perfect wine for any food dish though there are several classic matches. Each dish prepared could thus match with more than one wine. For example York Sauvignon Blanc 2016 won a Silver Medal in the Kerala Veg Stew category. But it also matched enough with the Patrani fish to win Silver in this category. This also explains the analogy that they entered only  5 wines in IWA and won 6 medals!
Undeniably, this segment of the wine competition is more subjective in nature and is based on individual’s sensory experience. But with the tasters who are experts and also from the hospitality industry, it is also the fun part of the competition everywhere. And it would surely be a talk of the town again next year-as the dishes and participating wines change and the spectrum of wines becomes larger.
There were many wine labels that could have been entered this year in this category but were not-due to some reason or the other. The cohesiveness the results will encourage more participants to check-in with their wines for food match next time, adding to the fun of matching wines with food.
Till then, Jai Ho!
For Full Results of India Wine Awards, visit Medals Galore at India Wine Awards at Sofitel
Subhash Arora |