La Batalla del Vino

June 29, 2012. In India and in most other parts of the world today is just another Friday that began when you rolled over in your bed, cursed the alarm and hoped you could skip ahead to the weekend. Let me tell you what you should have been hoping for instead. To be in Haro. ‘What that’, you ask?

Haro is the capital of La Rioja, one of Spain’s largest wine-producing regions. Here, June 29 is the celebration of the patron saint San Pedro. As all holy days must, it begins with a solemn mass on the mount of Bilibio, with thousands of believers dressed in pristine white. Then the mass ends and the madness begins. Or as Haro calls it, La Batalla del Vino (The Battle of Wines).

Picture credit: http://www.tempratantrum.com

Armed with jugs, buckets, wineskins, crop sprayers, boots or almost anything that will hold wine, the objective is to squirt red wine at everyone around. So people douse, defend, dance and when they’re tired, drink. In Haro, the more red there is running down the street, the better. Over 50,000 gallons of Rioja wines transform the sea of white to translucent and then purple as it dries. And you thought wet T-shirt competitions were fun. Juvenile!

So today if you’re wondering what you’re missing, this is it. And if that isn’t bad enough, think of all that Spanish wine that’s going to waste as you sit toiling away at your desk. Makes you want to cry, doesn’t it?

Weekend Vineyard Getaway

I had the most amazing weekend. I was one of the lucky few bloggers to be invited to the Fratelli estate in Akluj.

We set out from Bandra at 7am, and after a seven hour journey and a few hiccups (we blamed it on the curse of Friday the 13th) we settled into the spacious and extremely comfortable  rooms at the Fratelli guest house. With bay windows opening onto a sprawling lawn and a view of the vineyard, I barely wanted to leave the room. But what we were treated to after was more that any of us could have asked for.

Here’s a photo journey of the trip:

The guest house

Equipped with four spacious bedrooms and a lounge area completely pimped out with a pool table, flat screen TV and home theatre. The staff is extremely warm and they all went out of their way to make our stay comfortable.  They share a very obvious friendship and mutual respect amongst themselves which creates a very homely environment.  The food tastes so good, very ghar ka khana (home food) like.  We overate at every meal!

Our BLUE room

And the blue bathroom

A room with a view

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Tour of the winery and cellar

We missed Fratelli’s Tuscan Viticulturist and Oenologist Piero Masi on our trip to the vineyard, but Sandeep, the Assistant Winemaker took us through the entire winemaking process in their state of the art winery. The post-modern winery designed of glass and metal is modelled after a European Ferrari showroom.  The cellar houses the Sette, which is the Fratelli Reserve oaked for a year, and currently only available for purchase at the vineyard.

Italian equipment with the capacity of 6 lac litres

The oak casks in the cellar hold the 2011 reserve

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Wine tasting

Sipping eleven Fratelli wines directly under millions of stars in the sky in the early January chill. What more could you ask for?! If it is crackers, cheese and olives, we had that too.

I’m partial to the whites and loved the Chardonnay 2011. I also enjoyed the Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Sangiovese. More tasting notes here.

The entire range

All set for the tasting

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A night at the vineyard

Fellow bloggers Sonu and Jasleen from Fashion Bombay and Anisha from The Backpackers Co. were my travel mates. And as the wine flowed, so did the conversation 🙂

Settling in for the night

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ATV awesomeness

The ATVs are the perfect way to get around the vineyard around the winery, and such good fun!

Vrooooomm

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Vineyard tour, grape tasting, Syrah hill

A 20 minute ride away from the estate is Fratelli’s 150 acre vineyard where they’ve created three reservoirs to irrigate the entire property. We tasted different grape varieties as we drove up to the quaint hut on Syrah hill. A beautiful 360 degree view, cool breeze and chilled wine – the perfect spot to spend a couple of hours in the afternoon, enjoying the beauty around.

Bunches and bunches of grapes all around

Vineyards as far as the eye can see

Syrah Hill

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Our last night at the vineyard ended with a cultural performance (lejhim) by a troupe from the village as we huddled around the bonfire. A great end to a great weekend. I’m looking forward to going back there during harvest next month.

See more pictures here

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Uncork your luck

Happy New Year! 😀

I’m looking forward to starting this year on a high. So here’s announcing the first contest on GiggleWater411. I’m super excited about this and all the other cool things that are lined up for the blog in 2012 and I hope you’ll are too.

Thank you for coming back week after week to see what’s happening. It’s why I keep blogging!

WIN. WIN. WIN.

FRATELLI CONTEST

If you read my post The Story of Fratelli then you know that this vineyard produces some real quality wines.

In keeping with the festivities of the season, Fratelli Wines is giving two lucky GiggleWater411 readers a chance to win a bottle each. All you have to do is post a comment and answer this question – WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR BEST WINE MOMENT?

It could be an especially satisfying wine experience or even a memory of  shared laughter with friends over a bottle.

Don’t forget to Like the new Giggle Water411 page on FB here to be eligible to win this and other goodies!

I really enjoy Fratelli’s Chenin Blanc 2011 and am making my way through the tasting of their other wines (looking forward to the Sangiovese). I love my sangria and I must say that their Classic Red and Classic White make for a great base. Wine connoisseur and fellow blogger Aneesh Bhasin (also a top-notch photographer) first suggested I use Fratelli for the sangria pitchers I was planning for the night, and they were a complete hit. At Rs. 395 for a 750ml bottle they are also very affordable, especially when you have sangria guzzlers around!

I used the Classic White for a melon sangria with musk melon, apple juice and a dash of vodka. To the Classic Red I added apple cubes, orange slivers, orange juice and some roasted cinnamon. Superb! I won’t tell you how much of each to use because I’ve found it is best to add to taste depending on whether you prefer it sweet or a little acidic.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The 2011 tasting notes:

Chenin Blanc 2011 – Silky smooth and medium-bodied, the fruit is reminiscent of peach and lime with mineral accents. The crisp acidity balances the slight residual sugar to create a dry impression, coupled with a silky texture. Not overtly complex, but carefully constructed and well balanced. Rs 495 for 750ml

Sauvignon Blanc 2011 – It holds a high level of intensity throughout, and its low pH, high acidity and touch of residual sugar are so perfectly balanced and elegant in structure. It is so emphatically varietal, yet subtle in its complex fusion of melon rind, lime, grapefruit and dry grassy/ herbaceous flavours, that you’re left entirely satisfied and wanting. Rs 595 for 750ml

Cabernet Sauvignon 2011 – This classic-style Cabernet has great balance and nuance. The first impression is of concentrated blackberry and black currant fruit, but more impressive are the subtle notes one finds underneath the fruit: black olives, subtle minerality, a hint of sage and an elusive spiciness. The soft tannin adds to the wine’s structure without adding bitterness. Rs 650 for 750ml

Chardonnay 2011 – Offers bright aromas of tart apple, sugar melon and a brush of lemon- chiffon wrapped around a citrus peel core.  The delicious palate is hung on a lovely frame of firm acidity to give it structure and vibrancy with a fine edge of minerality piping in throughout the finish. Rs 695 for 750ml

Shiraz 2011 – This wine is packed with fresh, juicy flavours of cassis and blackberry with spicy dark chocolate undertones. The velvety entry in the mouth strikes the perfect balance between sweetness and acidity, which are kept lingering for a lengthy soft finish.  Rs 650 for 750ml

Sangiovese 2011 – Aromas of perfumed red fruits, cherry and lolly musk. With more air, raspberry and vanilla bean emerge. . Supple, ripe, and intense on the palate, it has plenty of spicy cherry fruit and hints of cardamom following. The finish is long with a fine underlying structure, even tannins, and exceptional length. Chianti has come to India! Rs 795 for 750ml

Merlot 2011 – Full and fat with classic plum and red cherry like fruit. Good depth and concentration. Crafted in a fresh, clean style, this velvety Merlot offers enticing aromas and bright, juicy flavours of cherry, dark berry and plum backed by subtle mocha and herbal nuances and a delicate minerality. Rs 795 for 750ml

Classic White – A beautifully vibrant wine, with fresh aromas of melon and cumquat with a hint of lemongrass. The mouth explodes with fresh clean acidity which cuts through the succulent tropical flavours, while lingering flavours of passion fruit and guava travel along the mid-palate. The wine finishes with a sprinkling of lime juice and dry mineral notes. Rs 395 for 750ml

Classic Red – The wine is deep ruby red in colour with aromas of plum, blackberry and spice, with hints of typical earthiness and coffee on the nose. Medium bodied on the palate with a soft supple mouthfeel, this is a well balanced wine exhibiting the elegance and complexity on the palate all framed in a velvety texture. Rs 395 for 750ml

The story of Fratelli Wines

In the Sholapur district of Maharashtra, near the town of Akluj, lies a 240-acre vineyard. This sprawling vineyard belongs to three sets of brothers – Alessio and Andrea Secci, Kapil and Gaurav Sekhri and Ranjit and Arjun Mohite – Patil, who came together in the first Indo-Italian wine partnership in the country. Each set belonging to different industries, their joint venture brought together experts in wine production, business and distribution. Rather fittingly then, they decided to name their wines Fratelli meaning ‘brothers’ in Italian.

This labour of love for the brothers began in 2006 and was no easy feat. What followed was a year long process of grading the soil, digging trenches and properly irrigating the land – all without shortcuts in keeping with the owners’ belief that good wine starts in the vineyard. But perhaps their best move yet was bringing on board the reputed Tuscan Viticulturist and Oenologist Piero Masi.

Piero Masi tending to the Fratelli vineyards

The state of the art Winery is equipped with 58 multi-capacity tanks imported from Velo, Italy (a first by anyone in Asia) and installed at the Co’s Motewadi site, ensuring that once the grapes are harvested, within an hour they are processed in absolutely fresh condition. The Winery also boasts a fully equipped high-tech laboratory for testing at each and every stage of the production process from grapes to finished product. The winery has an installed capacity of around 6 lac liters.

In late 2007-2008 Fratelli’s first saplings were sown. The 350,000 wine saplings that were imported from France and Italy were specially handpicked by Masi and his team. Their first vintage reached consumers in 2010 and in the year that followed Fratelli went from one milestone to the next. Today they are easily one of the most promising vineyards to be born of out India’s wine production boom.

Fratelli Wines now cultivates 13 varietals –

1.         Pinot Noir

2.         Sangiovese

3.         Cabernet Sauvignon

4.         Marsalan

5.         Petit Verdot

6.         Merlot

7.         Syrah

8.         Cabernet Franc

9.         Chenin Blanc

10.       Sauvignon Blanc

11.       Chardonnay

12.       Gewürztraminer

13.       Muller Thurgau

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Hétreau’s Art Deco Wine Maps

If you liked my last post about The Metro Wine Map of France, you’ll enjoy mulling over these ones too. These maps were made by a celebrated French artist, printmaker, illustrator and designer called Remy Hétreau. Drawn up sometime in the 1950’s all three are in the Art Deco Style and depict the vineyards of Alsace, Loire Valley and Provence.

I love how the vineyards are depicted with a cluster of grapes – red for red wines and yellow for white wines. Each map is packed with clever motifs characteristic of the region. The storks on the map of Alsace are allusions to its popularity as the land of stork nests. The storks, usually perched on roof tops, were a prominent subject in legends narrated to children. Hétreau even works in signature emblems and the traditional provincial clothing of the regions.

Map of Provence

Map of the Loire Valley

Map of Alsace

Commissioned by the Comité National de Propagande en Faveur du Vin, a government agency that promoted the French wine industry, Les Vignobles de France is a series of 11 maps.  Apart from these three regions, the maps cover Est, Normandie, Champagne, Roussillon, Bordeaux, Côte du Rhône, Bourgogne and the French colony Algeria.

(via George Glazer Gallery)

 Related articles

• Metro Wine Map of France (gigglewater411.wordpress.com)

Metro Wine Map of France

I was sent this wine map recently and found it extremely interesting.

Most wine maps are a nightmare to decipher. They try to say too much and end up conveying very little. This wine map is created by architectural historian and wine buff Dr. David Gissen. Earlier this year, in mid-January, Gissen began his adventures with French wine and started tweeting about it. After months of trying as many wines as he could lay his hands on and developing a geographical sense of French wines, he chronicled his journey in The Metro Wine Map of France which was unveiled in September 2011. Very informative and simple to read, it doesn’t take a cartophile to figure this one out.

The map is modelled on the metro map to show France’s complex wine regions. The clarity of the electrical circuit like depiction of the metro map is used to differentiate between the 10 main wine-producing regions in France.

The coloured lines on this wine map denote the various wine-producing regions and the dots are the significant cities or towns in those regions. The little branches signify the appellations which indicate where the grapes for a particular wine are grown. The map also provides the names of the main grape varieties used in each region (the white ones italicised), like chardonnay / pinot noir / merlot.

via De Long Wine

Follow David Gissen @100aocs

World’s most influential wine book – a Manga comic?

I’m a great fan of all things that take the implied ‘snootiness’ out of wine drinking.  So when I heard that a manga series is now the most influential wine text in the world, I just had to read it for myself. And quite honestly, I can’t think of anything that conveys the knowledge of wine varietals quite like this does.

For all those wine connoisseurs who are already scoffing at the idea, I quote the famous Ripley, “UNBELIEVABLE? Believe, it!” 

Created by Shin and Yuko Kibayashi, this brother-and-sister team use the pseudonym Tadashi Agi to educate the masses on wine while still keeping things light, interesting and fun. And for people who have a less-refined palate, fun is definitely not a word associated with learning about wine.

The storyline of the series actually kicks into gear at the end of Book 1 when the protagonist Kanzaki Shizuku hears of his father’s (a renowned wine-critic) death. Selling beer for a Japanese importer, Shizuku has lived his life as a staunch non-wine drinker, rebelling against his father’s all consuming passion for it. But if he wants to claim the world’s largest wine collection from his father’s cellar, he needs to beat his rival (a wine critic) in a competition laid down in his old man’s will. A competition that will need him to know EVERYTHING about wine. Will the training his father gave him as a child (tasting grape juice, licking steel, smelling a leather belt) be enough? Will the true heir solve the 13-part puzzle before his evil, but better equipped counterpart does? And will Shizuku find happiness surrounded by a drink he once despised?

Drops of God manages to entwine mystery, information and even a fair share of humour and quirkiness. In the end, like most great stories, it all comes down to a battle between good and evil. But here the hero’s superpowers are a heightened sense of smell and an unparalleled skilled at ‘decantering’.

Over the years Kibayashi siblings’ manga has translated into much more than just a comic about wine, influencing both, wine drinkers and distributors. Though neither of the writers have any formal wine qualifications, as children they learnt about French food and wine from their grandfather. All the wines in the pages of their books are ones that they’ve tasted and loved. According to an article, they live in Toyko, in an apartment that holds their 3,000 plus collection of wine bottles and even have an earthquake warning system to protect it!

Drops of God has been around for a couple of years but strangely our part of the world is only just hearing about it.  The series will soon be available in English for purchase in the US but until you get your hands on it, you can read it here.

Enjoy.