IndoVino

While on a quick stop in Bangalore, I made a detour to Dodaballapur in the Nandi Hills area north of the city to visit India’s “premier” wine producer, Grover Vineyards. Advised by Michel Rolland and even recognized by Decanter some years back, I myself have had relatively positive experiences with their reserve wine, and was curious to learn more about the current state of Indian wine-making.

Up the driveway.

Through the doorway.


Across the courtyard.


And not directly, but on to the vineyards. Most of the grapes are grown here, with a “small” amount grown in the Naushik Valley, near Pune in Maharashtra. Total area under vine is about 200 hectares, yielding approximately 7.2 million litres per annum (800,000 cases), which it was suggested is small in comparison to the likes of Sula and Chateau Indage. 40% is exported, to the U.S., U.K., France, Australia, New Zealand and Japan! Of the remainder, 53% is red and 47% is white. Funny sort of statistics, not sure where the two rosés produced fit into the equation, but this is what they said. It was explained to me that the domestic market far prefers red to white, particularly with various Indian cuisines, though that might be better reflected by other producers. In practice though, white wines are widely outnumbered by red on restaurant menus, so perhaps it’s true.


Sauvignon Blanc. Other white varietals grown are Chenin Blanc, Viognier, and Clairette. The soil is primarily limestone, with very good drainage. Daily irrigation is required, almost 3 litres per vine per day, all with collected monsoon rainwater.


Cabernet Sauvignon (pictured), Syrah and Grenache are the red varietals under vine. Harvest is expected by the end of April. While there is a second flowering that takes place in the fall, Grover chooses not to have multiple harvests, and prunes back in October. Veraison for the spring crop occurs in February. The varietals grown were selected after 9 years of research. Apparently, merlot and chardonnay are not successful in the local climate, and vine life is limited to about 25 years. This does make me wonder why there isn’t more of an attempt to try this sort of venture in cooler climes. If I’m remembering correctly, the Cabernet vines we saw are 8 years old, while the Sauvignon Blanc vines are 15.


With 95°F heat, I was wondering what they did for temperature control. Walking into the facility, it felt as if they’d air-conditioned the entire place, but it turns out that each fermenting tank is individually wrapped and cooled with chilled water.


Oak is currently only used for the flagship, La Réserve, an intentionally internationally styled red cuvee a la Michel Rolland, but these are being used experimentally with the whites. I was interested to learn that another of the consultants here is George Vesselle, who I’d met over dinner at the Bouzy vins clairs festival in 2008. Apparently, he and Kenwall Grover had the same birthday or some such thing. Seems as good a reason as any.


Oxygenating the wine. The fumes were powerful and heady. My eyes were burning at any rate.


Crates used for the hand-harvesting.


Is this what Sunil Gavaskar was talking about during the 20/20 semifinal between Chenai Super Kings and Deccan Chargers? Fingers-up versus fingers-down fielding? No? Well, this room is used to cool the grapes down after picking and before crushing. Basically, a big air-conditioned room to bring the grapes down to about 70°F.


The sorting / de-stemming kit. All the reds are de-stemmed, sometimes the whites are not.


Centrifugal presser.


Filtration machine.


The chemistry lab is behind the windows.


Bottles being “rested” before labeling. These were screw-capped, so I’m guessing they were only laid horizontally to maximize space.


Only La Réserve is bottled with natural cork. Everything else is screw-capped.


Labelling.


The barrel room for La Réserve is subterranean, I’d estimate about 200 barrels. La Réserve is roughly 80% cab / 20% syrah, each varietal barrel-aged separately prior to blending, 1/3 each in new, 1 y.o. and 2 y.o. French oak barrels from Saury.


Tour over, time to taste! This not very Indian-looking young lady is a business school intern from France, whose parents are winemakers in Chateauneuf du Pape.


The tasting room


We tasted four wines from the Art Collection, which is released approximately 1 year after the harvest. The labels are all by contemporary Indian artists, and change with each release. There is also a Shiraz, a Chenin Blanc, and a “Blanc des Blancs”, which is not a sparkling wine at all (though there are plans for a sparkling Chenin in the future.) We did not try the basic Santé line, nor La Réserve, the only wine I’ve had any prior experience with. Will have to see if I can find a bottle before I leave (apparently Grover is hard to come by in Madras.)

2009 Sauvignon Blanc (12% abv) – pale and limpid yellow, guava and apples, only hints of grass on the nose. Good fruit concentration, minerality, almost medium-bodied but cut well by the acidity. A pretty pleasant surprise for a varietal I’ve had little love for.

2009 Viognier (12% abv) – a 90/10 blend of viognier and clairette. Brassier in colour than the sauvignon blanc, herbal and dark on the nose, with watermelon rind notes. Round though not off-dry, medium bodied, waxy, with prominent pineapple flavor and modest cut. Not a taste I love, but balanced.

2009 Shiraz Rosé (12% abv) – a saignée with a lovely orangeish pink hue. Strawberries and watermelons hiding behind a veil of smoke and tomato leaf. Good concentration, quite juicy and the r.s. is evident, but there is also a pleasant tannic astringency that makes this quite refreshing. Turns out to have been the wine I most enjoyed. I’m sure the 35°C / 95°F helped.

2009 Cabernet Shiraz (12% abv) – a naked 60/40 blend, poured a deep murky garnet, with powerful red and black fruit aromas. Surprisingly creamy, though no vanilla or other applied oak identifiers. Ripe and fruit forward, not sweet or jammy, good tannins, but a bit astringent and medicinal, indicating brettiness. The finish though was very short, and it feels like either it needs some airtime, bottle time, or passing over time.

Verdict? Actually, not too bad, pleasant, drinkable, inoffensive wines. A Sauvignon Blanc I can more than tolerate, that’s a plus. On the whole, I thought the whites were superior to the red, but I also have good memories of La Réserve, so perhaps the Cabernet Shiraz just needs a bit of air or time. Admittedly, that memory is coloured by relativity to other Indian wines, especially some of the woeful products coming out of Chateau Indage! I was even tempted to pick up a couple of bottles here until I learned that they are not permitted to sell directly to visitors! If you think U.S. labeling and alcohol laws are complicated, just try scratching the surface of India’s regulations. Ugh.