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.

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 :-(

Riva Ranch Chardonnay 2010 - from wente, California is a medium bodied, golden Color Chardonnay with flavours of tropical fruit, honey and cinnamon. It has a round mouthed feel, with a tangy after taste and a fruity finish. 


Complements Indian appetizers like glazed and sautéed cottage cheese starters. 

Personally I am partial towards the whites. In my experience while travelling around the country the most commonly available “white wine” in hotels and bars across the country in the “imported” category has been this Australian made Chardonnay. A primary reason could be its affordability, it does retail for a little less than a Rs 1000 (though its available for about $8 or $9 at any duty free shop in the country).
It is a pale yellow coloured wine, with an aromatic bouquet which is citrusy; there is also a hint of Oak.
The palate is very fruity with a pineapple, lemony caramelized taste and does have a very ‘’fresh” feel to it.
It does go well with Cheese based dishes (Chilly Cheese toastJ) and white meat.

This is another Australian made wine from the Casella wineyards in the Riveria region of Australia. This wine is widely available in India and is reasonably priced at little under Rs 1000 (inclusive of all taxes, though it would be available for about $8 at the duty free).
The wine has an aroma of Citrus, Peach and did feel there was a hint of Coconut (maybe just the Malayali in me :-D ). There was also a mild hint of Oak (which was rather odd because I did read that this particular wine from the Casella wine yard is Non Oaked ?? or maybe I am wrong..Hmmm..)
The palate has a sort of a floral creamy feel to it. It is a tad sweet and does have a dry finish.
It goes well with pastas and chicken salads (which of course i tried after reading other reviews on wine blogs ). I haven’t really tried it with other Indian food except with Methu Vada , which incidentally was a disaster J)

This White wine is from South Australia and very widely available across india.
This is a medium bodied white with a straw colour with a very very mild greenish tinge.
The Nose :  it has aroma of Peach and lime with a hint of oak.
On the palate it has a citrussy and a fruity palate and a hint of a “nutty” kind of taste. This wine does tend to get a little more “’spice”” after it has aerated a bit, which i prefer to do with this wine.
This wine does go well with the Chicken dishes and with most vegetarian dishes and also pasta.
Thus it would be a safe wine choice for most Indian foods J
On another note: This review was based  cumulatively on the times I have had this on Various Occasions though I must admit that by now I have sort of figured out which establishments Do not store the win at ideal temperatures and this wine REALLY sucks if it hasn’t been stored well.

This is the most commonly available “White Wine” across Chennai. This is a White wine produced by the Sula Wineyards. Its is a ‘Late harvest’Chenin blanc which basically means that the grapes are left o the vines a little longer than usual so that the sugars are concentrated. This wines tend to be sweeter as this Wine is too.
The wine has a distinct pineapple and fruity nose.
It is a semy dry wine and it has a sweet fuity taste and has a buttery after taste. Like i mentioned earlier it is sweet.
In my opinion this tends to pair better with sweet desserts. It does pair well with most Indian dishes too. The other incidental thing i have noticed is that Women and Wine Newbies tend to prefer this wine probably because it’s sweet. It is best served chilled at around 5 to 6 degrees Centigrade.
It retails for a little more than Rs 700. It is usually available at all liquor vends and most restaurants (infact being the ‘’only” white wine that most of them stock)

This is white wine made from Chardonnay grape in the Chablis region in the North of Burgundy, France. I tasted this wine during the Maison Louis Jadot wines by Mr. Olivier Masmondet at the Hilton Chennai. He described this wine as “Happy wine” a refreshing wine, that makes you smile.
It s a bright Golden yellow coloured wine
On the nose it has a fresh buttery, fresh tropical fruit aroma with a hint of pepper
On the palate it has a fresh fruity taste, with a mineral and oak taste and acidic. It has a medium finish.
This Wine pairs well with Grilled Fish, Osters and Goat Cheese.

Chablis is an historic wine-producing town in northern-central France. It produces light, dry white wines famed for their minerality and crisp acidity. AOC Chablis wines are produced exclusively from Chardonnay.
Chablis is located in northern Burgundy, although the town and its vineyards are located a considerable distance (more than 60 miles/100 km) north-west of Burgundy's main wine-producing areas around Nuits-Saint-Georges, Beaune, Chalon-sur-Saone and Macon. They are in fact closer to Sancerre (Loire) and Les Riceys (southern Champagne). Consequently, Chablis has a cooler climate than the rest of Burgundy, which contributes significantly to the style of wine its vineyards produce. The effects of terroir on wine can be seen more clearly in Chablis than almost anywhere else.