Most people have their own version of a comfort food. Well if I had my own little version of a ‘Comfort food’ it would probably be the ‘Riesling’. It had been a terribly disturbing first four days of the week. I seemed to have ruffled more than my usual quota of feathers for the week and wanted to take a break and seek out my Comfort food.

The Taj in Nungambakkam is one of the very few places in the city, which maintains an extensive cellar, affords a certain degree of sanctity to the wine in the storage department. I dragged a couple of friends and headed out to Chipstead. Usually I would carry my ‘Terroir  Card’ with me, but due to some terribly stormy weather of late at the Terroir, I wanted to experiment ‘Card Abstinence’ to try out “life without the terroir card” :-))

The Usual menu card at Chipstead offers only the ‘Per glass’ options. You will have to prompt them a couple of times to bring the “extended wine list” unless one of the regulars spot you.
I decided to go for the Domaines Schlumberger Riesling, 2009, which is a part of their ‘Taj Exclusive collection’
This Wine is from the Domaines Schlumberger estate which is in Alsace, the Eastern end of france. It is a Reisling. It is pale yellow in color.

Nose:  Lime and green apple

Palate: It is an extremely dry wine, full bodied citrusy on the palate with and very refreshing acidic finish.

Pairing: This wine pairs extremely well with Seafood (The wine maker’s recommendation),  though I went for my usual Chicken Tikka and Paneer Tikka (Tip: The Dry Reislings pair very well with the mildly spicy Tandoor based food)

Price : The Wine retails for Rs 3500 at Chipstead all exclusive. (I was very conscious about not splurging because I wasn't going to get a discount today :-)), I did order two other wines which I will review in one of the upcoming posts.

Post Script : The terroir storm seems to have weathered, maybe I still can get to use my Terroir card after all. I have been spoilt rotten with the Wine Club perks !!!

Yalumba is the oldest family owned vineyard in Australia. Located in Borossa Valley, it was established in 1849.

This particular wine is Non Oaked Chardonnay. 

The wine is pale straw coloured wine

On the Nose the wine has a citrus and fruity (melon and pineapple) flavor.

On the palate  It is a full bodied, mildly acidic with a fresh melon, pineapple and peach flavor and has a crisp fresh citrus finish.

Pairing  The Vineyard recommends pairing this wine with Grilled Haloumi Cheese (Greek Goat Cheese) and Cherry tomato and Watercress salad.

Traditionally unoaked Chardonnay’s pair better with foods that are lower in sweetness and higher in salt and have moderate oil or fat. Typically Chicken tikka, herbed chicken, Mildly marinated grilled fish pair well with this wine.

Incidentally the bird on the label is a ‘Cape barren goose’ an endangered species native to southern Australia.

Rheinhessen is one of the 13 Wine growing regions of Germany.  It is the largest of the  13 regions, and is located on the left bank of the river Rhine. Gunderloch Vineyards are the largest Vineyard in the Rheinhessen. 85 percent of the output from Gunderloch is Reisling.

This wine is Pale golden color.

On the Nose it has a honey, peach expression.

On the Palate it is very smooth and sweet, with peach, honey and a fruity taste.

It is a medium body wine and is acidic, but the acidity is very well balanced by the sweetness of the wine. Has a very long finish.
An absolutely fantastic Wine. It pairs well with most Spicy Indian food.

Note : Most Sommeliers I have interacted with always agree that while trying to pair Indian Food, the Dictum usually is “When in doubt go for the German Rieslings”, because the sweetness of the wine usually balances the spice in Indian food.

These days when there is so much of buzz around Organic food and vegetables. There is a niche segement of 'Órganic' wines around the world. When i saw this wine I did not want to let go of the opportunity to try some organic Red wine from Stellenbosch.

First thing that had me intrigued was the name, and this being a South African label i was sure there was a story behind this. Apparently the name is a tribute to the three thousand ladybirds that are released each year into the vineyards to combat the bugs and hence bypasses the need of pesticides.

This wine is predominantly Merlot along with Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec and Petit Verdot.


On the nose : it has a fruity aroma, has a freshness of Cherries and there is a hint of Spice.
On the Palate : this is full bodied wine with a lush fruity taste of Plum and Cherries and medium finish with a hint of oak. 
This was an excellent wine and paired well with steak and a rack of lamb.


Stellenbosch is perhaps the most famous wine-producing region in South Africa. The town, in Western Cape's Coastal Region, is steeped in history and is home to the country’s best-known wine estates. Cabernet Sauvignon is the region’s most prized grape variety, often found with Merlot as part of a Bordeaux Blend. Stellenbosch is just 25 miles (40km) east of Cape Town.

 

Boplas Vineyards is one of the oldest Vineyards in South Africa. 
This particular Port style Wine is made from 
85% Tinta Barocca, 12% Touriga Nacional, 3% Souzao Variety of Grapes in the Western Cape Area and aged for Eight years in Oak barrels.

Tasting Notes:This is a delicious wine with a nutty caramel taste, with a hint of chocolate and an Orangish finish. It has a long and a yummy finish

Pairing : It pairs well with Cheese Cake and with Ice cream too. Apparently this wine can also be served as a Appertiff.

This port has won multiple awards and has to be one of the best Port Wines I have ever tasted.

To be perfectly honest I picked up the bottle of Gazela Vinho Verde because I thought the label was pretty and stood out amongst the staid labels, plus the novelty of having a wine from Portugal appealed to me :-)

Unlike most wines that are named by the Varietals of Grape that they contain,  Vinho Verde is the actually the name of the geographical region is Northwestern Portugal , and it means “green wine : as in young, vibrant and fresh :-). The grapes in the Gazela Vinho Verde are four Portuguese grapes, mainly  Loureiro, along with Arinto,  Trajadura , Avesso and Azal).

 Color: It is a straw coloured wine and very slight effervescent (though not enough to call it a bubbly or sparkling)

Nose:  Aromatic citrus fruity flavours lime hits you straight along with a hint of green apple. The smell is very refreshing and pretty inviting if you are a citrus fan.

Palate: Again lime and green apple are the dominant force here along with a slight peachy  taste. The wine is pretty acidic and along with the slightly effervescent nature, this light bodied Portuguese wine is a Winner.

It is a pretty refreshing wine for a warm Indian summer and they are fresh wines and preferably need to be consumed within the year of Vintage.

This Wine pair very well with South Asian food like the Spicy Thai and Indo Chinese food.

My only peeve is that all over the world this retails for  much under ten dollars, but you will be hard pressed to find this in India for anything less than 1.5K rupees :-(

I remember watching the movie “Sideways” and those distinct dialogue by Miles  “I am not drinking fucking Merlot!” . Apparently those words caused immense harm to the Californian Wine industry, but was a true reflection of the state of the Merlot grown in California. However since the movie’s release in 2004, the state of the “Reds” in California had improved and the Merlot made by the Stag Leap Wineyards in 2007 is one of the prime examples of that redemption.
I chanced upon this wine of the Wine list of Jaipur Mariott and decided to have a stab at the stag :-D.
This is a wine from the Stag Leap Vineyard from Napa Valley, California. The Wine is made from Merlot varietal.  Its dark purple in colour
On the nose there were hints of Plum, Chocolate, Vanilla and a hint of Oak.
On the palate it had a distinct fruity, cherry taste, which had a very long finish. It was tannic but a very smooth finish which lingered on for a while.
Excellent Wine and I was glad i went for it :)

It paired beautifully with braised lamb shanks.

Note
The Stag Leap winery achieved significant international recognition in 1976, at the ‘Judgment of Paris’ where it’s 1973 vintage Cabernet Sauvignon won first place among ten top French and California red wines in a blind taste test by leading French wine experts. The French wines tasted were prestigious first and second growths wines from the 1970 and 1971 vintage from Château Haut-Brion, Château Mouton-Rothschild, Château Leoville Las Cases and Château Montrose.

The result of the tasting has been described by Decanter as "a victory that put California on the winemaking map, and established Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars as a global superstar", and by Paul Lukacs as "most important, it enabled not only the United States but also Australia, South America, and the rest of the New World to emerge as legitimate sources of increasingly superior wines."

A bottle of 1973 Stag's Leap Wine Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon was placed into the Smithsonian National Museum of American History collection in 1996 as a result of placing first in this competition and to reflect the impact that the achievement had on the United States wine industry.

This is a Rose from the Bordeaux region of France. It is a Blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Merlot.  Red grapes and their skins are macerated for only a few hours, and then fermented, as a white wine would produce a lighter colour. 
This particular wine was a sort of pale salmon coloured wine.
On the nose this wine has a red berry aroma with a slight citrus tinge.
On the palate this is a tad drier than most Rose’s (as pointed by my friend Gopal J ), tastes fresh with a fruit filled finish.
It paired well with the Hot Mezze (Spanakopita and Asparagus ,Zucchini Fatayer)and Cold Mezzes ( Hummus and Shankaleesh)on account of its dry characteristics.  I would recommend this wine as an appertif.

The Les Cazetiers 2004 is a red wine, made by Louis Jadot. It is made from the Pinot Noir grape. It is produced from the 2004 harvest. This was one of the Wines showcased by the Somellier from Maison Louis jadot at the Vintage Bank at Hilton on 6th September 2012.
This Varietal is grown in the Les Cazetier Vineyard in the Cote de Nuits area of burgundy in France. This is a premier cru wine (which is french for “first Growth). The interesting part is that this particular vineyard in just 0.5 hectares in size.
On the Nose : This has a black cherry and plum nose
On the palate : Deeply concentrated and rich tannins and taste of Cherries and Oak. It has a medium finish.
The Wine pairs well with Roast chicken, Grilled lamb chops and with Steak.

This is another red wine from Burgundy made of the Pinot Noir Varietal of Grape. It is from the Les Epenots Vineyard in the Cote de beaune region of Burgundy. This was one of the Wines showcased by the Somellier from Maison Louis jadot at the Vintage Bank at Hilton on 6th September 2012.

It’s a deep ruby red coloured wine.
On the Nose,, it was fragrant with a rich red cherry aroma and a hint of a Mushroomy aroma.
On the palate it has a good red fruitish character. Its acidic and lightly tannic. A very smooth Elegant wine.
It pared well with Seared Duck, Glazed Beef Skewers and Stuffed Mushroom.