Lalit: The Latest Hotel In India To Hop On The Private Labels Bandwagon

Often, when presented with an elaborate wine list in a restaurant, the diner is strained to narrow down an option for the occasion especially if (s)he is pressed for time. The experience is not different from a “child in a candy shop” and it has nothing to do with the level of wine knowledge.

Private labels come to the rescue. Sourced exclusively for the restaurant, these wines are chosen to match best with the cuisine. These are the go-to wines, in case sommelier’s advice is not on hand. Private labels are created for the buyer using some custom inputs (brand, design, etc.) at the winery, and are not available elsewhere. In addition to this exclusivity, the supply chain from vineyard to table is short (no intermediaries) and the wines should arrive in an optimal condition.

All of this is done to offer a better wine experience for the guests at the restaurants, which has been designed with them in mind.

The Lalit Hotels have recently introduced a private label offer of French wines at the New Delhi property. These wines have been sourced from Domaine de la Pigeade (DDLP) located in the foothills of Mont Ventoux in the south of the Rhône Valley. DDLP is a member of the Vignerons Indépendants de France (Independent winemakers of France) Association that promotes best practices for self-sustaining operations by small and independent winemakers. DDLP is a small wine house that produces all wine from their own vineyards, under very tight quality control.

Mr. Keshav Suri, Executive Director, The Lalit Hotels supported this endeavour. Charles Donnadieu, the Corporate Wine Sommelier for The Lalit Hotels, hopes to deliver the very essence of the region (where he grew up appreciating these wines with family and friends) to his guests by incorporating its cultural aspects around lots of interesting stories.

Charles Donnadieu, Corporate Sommelier Lalit Hotels, in the walkaround cellar at Lalit New  Delhi

“The first instance of a private label in India was when a reputed French winemaker created a personal label for one of the doyens of Indian hospitality,” recalls Ravindra Kumar, the very seasoned General Manager - Corporate Food & Beverages at The Lalit Hotels. “At The Lalit, we have created this exclusive private label experience for our esteemed guests where the wines are sourced directly from the producer. Not only are they as fresh as they are in the winery, but at an affordable price as well,” he adds. At this time, the wines will be available only in The Lalit New Delhi – the other properties in Bangalore, Mumbai and Kolkata will have to wait a bit more.

The best goblet forward

Charles took me around the restaurants in The Lalit New Delhi to show how the private labels list has been offered. At the signature pan-Indian restaurant “Baluchi”, a flight of three wines (50ml each) have been paired with Indian breads – ₹ 1000++. At “The Grill Room” the panoramic 28th floor restaurant, a set three course menu (see image) was being offered with a choice of a glass of wine from the two on offer – ₹ 2500++ till 31st March 2016. A quick and affordable fine dining experience without having to stress too much about making the right choice. As I sampled this menu, Charles told me that they will continuously be innovating on such offerings and present the wines in different configurations.

Gourmet offerings with the wines at "The Grill Room"

The wines: 

(Prices indicated by bottle/by glass, taxes and service charge extra)

VDP Vaucluse Petits Grains de Folie 2014  (₹ 4200/800) 

Served at: The Noble House (Asian Cuisine) 

A fruity off-dry white wine with medium acidity, even though Charles told me that the residual sugar is below 9 g/l. The wine is from Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains, a varietal known for its aromatics and a luscious palate.

AOC Ventoux Les Sables 2014 (₹ 3500/700) 

Served at: Baluchi (Indian Cuisine) 

An easy drinking light-medium bodied red wine from Grenache, Carignan and Syrah varietals. Smooth tannins, red fruit notes and medium finish.

AOC Vacqueras 2012 (₹ 5000/1000) 

Served at: The Grill Room (Continental Cuisine) 

A blend of the classic Rhône GSM (Grenache, Syrah and Mourvedre). A full bodied red wine with good structure, blackberry/ cassis flavours and a lingeringly spicy finish.

AOC Beaumes de Venise 2013 (₹ 6000/ NA) 

Served at: The Grill Room 

A delightful vin doux naturel (wine made from grapes naturally high in sugar) from the Muscat Blanc. 

An aromatic dessert wine with the right balance of sweetness and acidity – the key criteria of a sweet wine. Ripe apricots, figs and citrus notes are accompanied by a touch of spice.

The pours ahead

Does The Lalit plan to introduce more wines, maybe from different countries, in this private label collection? Both Kumar and Charles are conservative on this front, and they feel that the program has to be validated and fine-tuned by the guest response. Charles also shared with me that a retail space was being established to enable guests to take their preferred bottles home.

In the meantime, the guests at The Lalit can look forward to promotional activities like in-house wine tours and wine dinners that are planned around these private labels. The first one is already happening in New Delhi on 28th May 2016.

(This is the blog version of my article first published in vino india)

Czech Wines Seek To Befriend The Indian Consumer

For a wine lover, tasting newer wines is always an exciting proposition. It gives his/her  palate a sense of novelty as well as a level of familiarity when encountering similar wines le prochain fois.

Likewise, a sense of déjà vu visited me as I tasted an array of interesting wines from the Czech Republic in New Delhi even as the Indian summer started its upsurge of notoreity. The tasting, conducted in the Czech Embassy premises, was introduced by Mr. Milan Tous, Head of Economic Section and saw attractive bottles putting the best foot forward to entice the audience into exploring them further. The 'explorers' didn't disappoint either.

I had reason to feel at home since it was just the last year that the same sommelier Aleš Pokorný, had presented a bevy of Czech wines in his inimitable humoristic style that made people more curious to know about them. This year, humor duly in its place, Aleš went a step further to  cover Czech  wine regions in details, with the wines from these regions doing the tasting rounds simultaneously.

For those pressed for time, a quick snapshot of the event can be accessed through my FB post given below.  For those with an eye for details, I would  strongly recommend reading further.

One major hurdle in knowing Czech wines is the seemingly intimidating names on their labels. I attempted to simplify these names through my earlier post called 123 of Understanding Difficult Wine Labels published after the last year's tasting. If you haven't read it yet,  give it a look to see how simple a Rulandske Modre can become to decipher.

Coming to this year's showcasing, a total of 10 wines and 3 spirits were presented in a guided- followed by a walk around tasting. Aleš presented the wines in tandem with highlighting the Czech wine regions and their quality system. I have tried to summarise these details in the following self explanatory and easily downloadable images. 

Majority of Czech winemaking region is situated on the northern periphery of the 30-50° optimal latitudinal band.
(Pic: National Wine Centre, Czech Republic)

Moravia forms the major chunk (96%) of Czech viticultural area

 Wines for tasting

Majority of Czech wine production is of white variety though rosés and reds are picking pace over the years. Ales highlighted that the Czech prefer to drink their wines young at higher levels of acidity rather than risking the loss of 'balance' due to the residual sugar becoming dominating. This aspect becomes more important on account of their quality system based on 'must' weight (higher 'must' weight implying more ripeness and hence more fermentable sugars) as also chaptalisation (a term used to denote adding sugar to 'must') which is allowed under the Czech wine law.

Sparkling wine Brut 2012
Producer: Chateau Winery Bzenec

A straw coloured crisp wine well suited as an aperitif.

Grüner Veltliner, Kabinet Wine 2015
Producer: Chateau Winery Bzenec

A delicate nose of white flowers and a little spice followed by a refreshing palate charecterised by high acidity and an off-dry style.

Pinot Blanc Selection of Grapes 2015  
Producer: Chateau Winery Bzenec

A refined expression of the varietal with floral and tropical fruit aromas followed by a balanced, medium finish palate.

Chardonnay Late Harvest 2014
Producer: Templar Cellars  Čejkovice

Medium gold colour with aromas of citrus and tree fruits. A refreshing medium-high acidity that could do better with a little mellowing- which would make this wine better enjoyable with its flavours fully opening up. Hence one can store this wine at least for a year before uncorking.

Tramin Late Harvest 2013
Producer: Templar Cellars  Čejkovice

One of my favourites of the day with its expressive nose and a fleshy delectable palate. A spicy finish capped the wonderful experience.


Pinot Noir Rosé, Kabinet Wine 2013
Producer: Winery Krist Milotice

Another jewel at the tasting. With its appetising deep salmon pink colour and a 'gourmet' nose of red berries and candy, the wine stood up with it's palate as well- replete with a good structure, dry disposition and a lengthy finish.

Müller Thurgau, Quality Wine
Producer: Templar Cellars  Čejkovice

 An entry level wine with a fruity nose, off dry palate and easy drinkability. Good for casual drinking particularly with spicy food.

Pinot Gris, Late Harvest 2011
Producer: Winery Krist Milotice

True to it's varietal, this wine had a greyish straw colour and it had a nose of ripe peaches along with a yeasty accent. The acidity of the wine however seemed to be on the decline- which probably verified Ales' statement about the Czech preferring to drink their wines young.

Tramin, Selection of Grapes 2011
Producer: Winery Krist Milotice

A wine with an expressive nose as expected. But for the residual sugar of 18 g/l (as informed by Ales) the acidity again seemed to be over the hill.

Blaufrankisch, Quality Wine

Producer: Templar Cellars  Čejkovice

Apart from the Pinot Noir Rosé, this was the other red grape wine for the tasting. An entry level red, this was a pleasing wine with its luminiscent ruby colour, a fruity and nutty nose and medium tannins firming up towards the finish. 

Spirits for tasting (From producer R Jelínek)

The spirits came from one of the most reputed distillers of the Czech Republic who particularly specialises in fruit brandies- particularly plum brandy which is called Slivovitz in Czech language. The products offered for the tasting brought a novelty to the palate. But I will reserve my tasting notes till I confirm them with another tasting!