Of Yoga, Wine ... and Cuisine

Wine tasting in the lap of Himalayas? It probably doesn’t get fresher than that! I started the  Year 2014 on a

Chilling out- Nature style

work cum pleasure trip to the sleepy hamlet of  Bhatelia, a couple of kilometers ahead from Mukteshwar in Nanital district of Uttarakhand.  That the area had received fresh snowfall just a day prior to our landing was a divine blessing as it enabled me to chill the wines in natural snow- and needless to mention, it worked magnificently to enhance the excitement of wine lovers!

Background of the Event

It was in Apr 2013 that  Haru Mehra, owner of Frehindi Education Pvt Ltd- a well known French language training institute in Delhi, discussed with me, the idea of having a wine session in the Himalayas during his Institute’s Frehindi Village Séjour . Haru has been conducting these excursions since the last two years where the focus is to facilitate cultural exchange between Indian and French/Francophonic people. To this effect, Bhatelia has been developed by him as Frehindi village, with excellent facilities for ethnic living, interaction with village folks, visit to heritage sites and what's more, adventure activities. This year, the highlights of the engagement  were Yoga by an American expert, French cuisine by a French teacher from Morocco and of course the Wine session by yours truly.

The attentive audience

Imane demonstrating the making of Crêpes

Coming to the wine session that happened on the day two of our three day stay, we decided to have it back to back with the cuisine session to be conducted by  Imane Ibnoussina (a French language professor at Frehindi from Morocco). The aim was to give a live feel of the food and wine pairing to the well heeled audience, all of whom had some link to the French context. Imane’s session started with text book perfect Crêpes and Croissants prepared right in front of the audience. As the sun started descending on the horizon, I uncorked the first of wines, a Sparkling Brut from California, followed by a French White, two Indian Reds and finally a French Red. The wines were:

The line up

André Brut (USA)

A refreshing sparkling with intense bubbles and an off dry palate with fruity/floral flavours.

Food Pairing: Croissants and salted potato wafers.

Béatrice Defresne Chardonnay 2011, IGP Vaucluse (France)

A well balanced Chardonnay from the Rhône valley (towards south of France) having aromas of citrus fruits, peaches and apricots. The palate was crisp and dry with a medium finish.

Food Pairing: Croissants and cheddar cheese.

Sula Cabernet Shiraz 2006 (India)

A medium bodied red with red fruit aromas and a mouth filling palate of red fruits and spice.

Food Pairing: Crêpes with spicy cottage cheese filling

Grover Cabernet Shiraz 2011 (India)

A complex red with black  and red fruits aromas/palate with a distinct feel of spice.

Food Pairing: Crêpes with spicy cottage cheese filling.

Béatrice Defresne AOP Côtes du Rhône 2011(France)

A red from the same producer as the French white above, Côtes du Rhône reds are mainly the blend of Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre grape varietals. The deep ruby wine had an intense nose of red cherries, black currant and spice. On the palate, it was medium bodied with a distinctly juicy and spicy feel, a firm structure and a long finish.

Food Pairing: Pan fried Chicken Tikka in highland style.

Unique aspects of the session

Given that the event was conducted in an unconventional setting there were some off beat experiences. In a nutshell, these were:

• A super attentive audience that was in a mood to leisurely appreciate the drinks with none,whatsoever, nag  of mundane daily commitments (commuting back home, next day office etc).
• A diverse audience of different age profiles, nationalities and professions with even teenagers keenly joining-in just to acquire some knowledge on wines, even if it implied them not sampling the wines due to minimum age constraints. (To tell you a secret, I allowed them at least one wine with expicit permission of their guardians).
• Participative fervor with several volunteers uncorking/ serving wines and showing around snacks in the decided sequence.

Warming up to the evening

The wine session was followed by dancing bonhomie with a local Kumaoni troupe doing highland songs with ethnic music and some enterprising group members fetching a Jack Daniels to pair with pakoras (fried Indian snacks) as also with the prevalent excitement. Our discussion but naturally switched rails to Bourbon, Rye and beyond. 

The indomitable Indian spirit was famously at work .

Some more images of the event playing below- please click on play button if images do not advance automatically. If the images do not load at all- please refresh (Oh Technology! Mostly boon but at times  bane!)

Saying Santé to French Wines

Mention French Wines and the invariable response is WOW! Such is the image of this beautiful denizen of France that it immediately invokes images of quality and class. So when my French language trainer Monsieur Haru Mehra of Frehindi Foundation asked for the possibility to include French wines in his regular French Café afternoons- an interactive platform on French culture, I could not, but nod my head in affirmation- and so was born the French Wine and Café Evening (note that the erstwhile Afternoon was replaced by Evening to make it more conducive to Wines especially so, in the Indian milieu).

The issues to be addressed however were:

• Where to get the wines from (preferably on sponsorship)
• Whether to use proper wine glasses or paper cups. (since the tasting was to be in a classroom setup).

After initial frustrating attempts to get the wines sponsored (as nobody would risk it on a non-commercial concept), the old adage of Fortune favouring the Brave manifested, with both the issues getting automatically resolved by Mr. Rajiv Singhal- the Champagne Ambassador to India and Editor of the uber chic Fine Wine and Champagne,India magazine, very kindly proposing to sponsor a Champagne and a Red Wine with the aim of highlighting two vastly different wine producing regions of France and what's more- the glasses too! 

As goes the Urdu couplet- Rasme Duniya bhi hai, Mauka bhi, Dastoor bhi hai (The timing befits the situation and purpose) the grand event debuted on 14 Jul 12  being the anniversary of the French Republic also known as Bastille day. The overwhelming response from prospective attendees forced us to have a morning session in addition to our planned evening session. So while the morning session saw a très young crowd jive to the tune of French numbers and tasting some sprightly wines, the evening one had professionals from all walks of life doing some really serious wine analysis.

Coming to the Wines, one was a Taittinger Champagne quite obviously from the Champagne region which is the northern-most wine producing area of France and the other, Corbières, a  Red wine from Languedoc ,the southern-most region.

Tasting Notes

Wine: Champagne Brut Réserve 

Producer: Taittinger

Year: N.A. (Non Vintage Champagne)

Putting it Simply

A lively and refreshing sparkler with a distinctly toasty palate true to the Champagne pedigree. An indisputable  party starter.

Tasting Notes

 Crystal clear pale lemon wine that pours with an impressive mousse- the bubble beads being persistent and a delight to observe. An intensely toasty aroma unveils right from the pouring of the wine and continues as a major highlight throughout the experience, though not overwhelming so as to dominate the other delicately floral and peachy aromas. The palate is light bodied and dry with just the right level of acidity for a highly appetizing and refreshing experience.

Wine: Corbières

Producer: Les Terroises

Year: 2006

Putting it simply

A robust yet gentle wine that is just perfect to be drunk now. Good for pairing with with Tandoori and Mughlai cuisines or herbed pasta.

Tasting Notes

Deep garnet and earthy brown appearance depicting good age. An intense fruity bouquet of red fruits, spice, cedarwood and dug up earth. A dry, medium bodied palate with well rounded tannins, complementing acidity and a smooth long finish.

While the guests dwelled on the characteristics of the wines on offer, there were interesting discussions on numerous topics like storing, serving and pairing wines as also comparison between wines from different countries. The event concluded with the bright prospective of having more such events that promote wine enthusiasm.