Guns to Gewürztraminer ?...Ahem....Guns to Mouton!

Mention the word “Grand Cru” to  wine lovers and instantly see their faces light up! Such is the aura of this classification of wines made in  1855 under the directions of King Napoleon III,  that any serious wine lover strives to memorize the list  to be truly called a connoisseur. The classification has a total of  62 estates across 5 subclassifications stretching across Premier (first) to Cinquième (fifth) growths mainly in the Médoc region of Bordeaux, France.

The  Premiers Crus are considered top of the ladder and fetch highest prices in the global  wine market. These five wines are- Châteaux Lafite Rothschild, Mouton Rothschild, Margaux, Latour and Haut Brion. Out of these, Château Mouton Rothschild made it to the club in 1973- being elevated from the second to first growth.

Now what if a good friend offers to bring you one of these first growths neither in standard, nor in magnum but in double magnum size- that too, from a vintage very close to your heart?  I bet you  can sense the aromas and flavours of the excitement  to follow.

So when  Gajendra (Gajju) Sareen, my buddy from the Military Academy informed  me that he had procured two double magnums (3 litre bottles) of Château Mouton Rothschild 1987 specially to celebrate our course anniversary (we graduated from the Indian Military Academy in 1987), my anticipation knew no bounds. It was a true “Guns to Gewurztraminer” moment realizing that two former army mates  who were more used to gun powder aromas in the past would now collectively revel at the complex  aromas of none less than a Premier Grand Cru Classé! That Gajju is now a global business tycoon  and a frequent buyer of fine wines  was surely a facilitating factor for this proposition.

Time flew fast before I received a message from  Gajju,  seeking to fix the itinerary of the tasting on his impending brief visit to Delhi. We were to meet at  his permanent suite in one of Delhi’s finest star properties  to sample the wine before carrying  the bottle to a larger gathering  of our course reunion.

I arrived at Gajju’s suite with  Smita, my lady who is also my Chef de Cuisine for wine pairings. With great enthusiasm he whipped out the wooden case containing the wine from a large bag. The box had several  stickers on it, apparently tracing the wine’s journey before it had reached us. On my enquiring Gajju told me that he bought the wine at a Sotheby’s auction in Hong Kong and parked it in Crown Wine Cellars in the same city. Being a member of Le Club FICOFI (a prestigious club for buyers of fine wines ) he requisitioned them to fetch the wine to his Singapore cellar and voilà! There it was with us!

The box was handed over to his designated butler for opening.  Seeing him struggle with the box, I realized that three of its sides were nicely nail-hammered while the top panel was stapled. The butler accepted my suggestion to crowbar the top panel out, and a screwdriver  did the job just well.

The box with it's marked journeys  and after the top lid removed

The magnificent bottle emerged and we took some pictures. We were now ready for the grande oeuverture. Though I have been served wine from much larger bottles during my stay in Bordeaux, this was my maiden experience of opening a double magnum,  and I believe many wine lovers would be in the same boat. Therefore, I am sharing the micro level details:

The label

Château Mouton Rothschild is known to engage eminent artists to design the labels for each of its vintages. The 1987 label was created by Swiss painter Hans Erni and it  bears the face of its ancestor -the iconic Baron Philippe de Rothschild, as a homage to his last bottled vintage. A dedicating note by his daughter Baroness Philippe de Rothschild completes the homage and sums it up by a  phrase “Mouton ne Change” implying the continuing legacy of the Baron.

Au début

The Oeuverture (opening)

"Ah-so" cork remover

A thicker capsule required two well pressed turns of the knife to cut through. As I leveraged the fulcrum end of the waiter’s friend on the bottle lip, I realized that the lip was much thicker for the fulcrum to afford a snug grip. Endeavouring to pull out the cork carefully, I further realized to my horror that the cork started crumbling on the top and I paused. Gajju told me not to hesitate as he had seen it happening often with bigger bottles. He lent me a helping hand and the day was saved. I suppose an “Ah-So” cork remover (that pulls out a cork by sliding two prongs on its either side) may be a good choice if things indeed go awry. Any experiences?

Men at work

Reveling in the moment

The Tasting

Contrary to my long standing conviction that a  vintage wine of high pedigree need always be decanted before you could meaningfully appreciate it, Gajju insisted that we pour a glass right  away since time was at premium. I readily complied since I had already noticed intense aromas wafting out from the bottle. We did well by summoning  the largest bowled stemware with the hotel rather than the routine ones in the suite.  The first glasses were poured followed by a generous pour in a decanter for our second glass. As we swirled and sniffed, the Grand Cru pedigree started emerging:

Colour: Medium ruby with a fading rim

Nose: Vastly expressive aromas of red berries and pungent spice.

Palate: Dry, medium bodied with very soft tannins. A delicious palate of abundant berries and a distinctively spicy lingering finish.

The third tasting partner

Tasting after decanting for 1 hour

Nose: Aromas of cedar wood, jasmine and forest floor emerged apart from ripe red berries becoming more evident.

Palate:  A juicier palate of red berries with mineral hints, followed by a warm spicy finish going deep into the throat. Pigmented tannins could be noticed in the decanter and that explained the mellow character of the wine.

Food Accompaniments

An assortment of cheeses placed in the suite offered us an ample playing ground before the Burrah Kababs (char grilled, lightly spiced, tender lamb kababs) that I had recommended for the pairing arrived. Given the wine’s ample acidity, creamy cheeses like Brie and Smoked Gouda paired very well with it. And as expected, the Burrah Kababs were delightful, matching the savoury and spicy attributes of the wine, step by step.

We could continue for longer but a bigger gathering  awaited.  As we concluded the  surreal rendezvous, getting the bottle ready for the next stop, Gajju promised me to get some more gems like these on his next trips.

Not something I would complain-of for sure!

Clicking for posterity

Up, Close and Personal with Bill Hardy

If you have had more than a fleeting encounter with Australian wines, chances are that  you would not

have been untouched by the Hardys name. Adjudged the seventh most powerful wine brand in the world according to “The Power 100 report 2015” by Intangible Business, Hardys is Australia’s biggest wine producer identified largely with  easy drinking and affordable wines. But there’s more to Hardys than just approachable wines. It has a vast repertoire that honours their founding fathers as also the terroirs from where their wines originate. And I had a priceless opportunity to converse about these wines with none other than William (Bill) Hardy who was on his second all time  visit to India towards the end of August 2015.

Bill, a fifth generation member of this wine family arrived as Hardys Brand Ambassador to launch his eponymous “William Hardy Collection”- a range that honours his contribution towards the family business. The meeting was at the initiative of  Prarrthona Pal Chowdhury- the livewire Head Marketing, Brandy Project and International Brands at  Sula wines- Hardys importers in India. 

The interview took place immediately after a wine masterclass by Bill Hardy at ITC Maurya- a premier property of the ITC conglomerate of India. We promptly took our seats within the same precincts for this stimulating conversation:

Me: Welcome to India Mr Hardy and congratulations on the launch of the William Hardy collection.

Bill Hardy (BH): Thank you! It is indeed my pleasure being here to introduce the new label here with all humility.

Me:  Hardys winemaking philosophy is generally recognized as being centered towards blending cuvées from your vineyards in different regions, does that mean that emphasis on terroir takes a back seat for you ?

BH : Not entirely ! Though our easy drinking daily wines may be inclined towards blending for the sake of a consistent wine style,  we also have certain wines that bring out respective regions quite emphatically. A classic example would be one of our top wines- the HRB (Heritage Reserve Bin) which includes cuvées from two to three distinct regions. I remember James Halliday (Australian wine writer and critic) tasting these wines for the first time and saying “I can see the exact terroirs associated with this wine!” I consider myself a champion of blending and believe that this is one of the greatest skills a winemaker can have. It often happens that once a winemaker is through with making some great wines from individual parcels, he sits back and asks himself ‘this is nice, but can I make something even better by putting some of these wines together ?’ And there comes the art of blending into play. There is a beautiful quote by Hugh Johnson-  “Dom Perignon was the first deliberate  blender. Also the first perfectionist”.

Me : With relevance to the Indian market, do you see competition coming the Aussie wines’ way in the event of the proposed Free Trade Agreement  between India and the European Union (EU) that is likely to soften trade barriers on wine from EU.

BH : Firstly I am positive that if any such agreement favourable to the wine trade is worked out, it will not be implemented selectively by the Indian government for different trading zones. But if it happens otherwise and if the same level of duty cuts are affected on high value as well as daily drinking wines from EU then it would indeed be serious competition to Aussie wines, as Australia is the biggest volume exporter of wine to India.

Me : The Hardys portfolio has a vast range of wines. How does a consumer differentiate between similar varietal blends across these ranges ? For example, how does one differentiate between Eileen Hardy Shiraz (named after Bill’s grandmother) from the now launched William Hardy Shiraz ?

BH : We have consistently made an effort towards educating the consumer on our different wines. I am quite proud of having elaborated on these wines through personal writings on the philosophy, style and characteristics of each wine. I also love to present our wines to people, highlighting the USPs of each range so that they understand as to why they should be paying more for a particular wine vis-à-vis a lower priced one. 

Coming to your specific query, the essential difference between the Eileen Hardy Shiraz and the William Hardy Shiraz is that while Eileen Hardy range is an example of the very best of wines we make, William Hardy range is a more commercial wine. Both these wines are single varietal single region wines with Eileen Hardy Shiraz being produced from 2-3 selected vineyards in McLaren Vale. Compared to this, William Hardy Shiraz currently comes from vineyards in Langhorne Creek with subsequent plan to shift the sourcing for this range to McLaren Vale as well. In terms of ageing potential, while Eileen Hardy Shiraz comes from  vines upto 110 years old and has an ageing potential between 12-15 years, William Hardy Shiraz  can currently be aged upto 5-7 years. In short you can say that while Eileen Hardy is our Prestige range, William Hardy range is growing to be one.

(Prarrthona signals me to  hurry-up as Bill has to leave for the next engagement- a dinner featuring the William Hardy Collection where I am also invited).

Me : How does your marketing plan look like in India ? Specially with reference to another competing Aussie brand Jacob’s Creek  that seems to have an ostensible advantage of leveraging on the Spirits brands in the Pernod Ricard portfolio .

 BH : I do agree that Pernod Ricard have managed their marketing well through well placed sports sponsorships and  leveraging their Spirits brands for wine promotion. At Hardys our focus is on spending our dollars on opening and sharing wine bottles rather than spending big time on advertisments. As for sponsorships and endorsements, we may have faltered earlier by spreading ourselves too thin, but in the present day we are very much  focussed on the subject. A good example of this is the recent launch of the Art of Cricket collection with Glenn McGrath as the brand ambassador, which has magnified awareness of our brand amongst the target consumer.

Me : A last question on the personal front. Since you are here with Mrs Hardy, are you visiting the Taj Mahal ?

BH : Certainly ! As a matter of fact we are doing a tour of the "golden triangle" (Delhi-Agra-Jaipur) starting tomorrow. We have been looking forward to it.

A rare honour!
Raising a toast with the man himself and his eponymous wine- William Hardy Chardonnay.

* This interview was published as a narrative in vino india.

Introducing vino india- news, views and reviews from the market for wine in India

One fine day  in  2010 when I was still in my Army uniform, I received an e- mail from Wine and

My "Guns" days

Spirit education Trust, London. The mail communicated that I was being considered for the Champagne Scholarship courtesy my distinguished performance in their curriculum; and that  I would be interviewed by the ambassador of Champagne in India to take the process forward.

My excitement was but naturally, a foregone conclusion. The first question that came to my mind was- “Who was the ambassador of Champagne in India and what possibly would he speak to me about?" Ringing up a couple of friends in the wine industry I was updated that  the ambassador of Champagne in India was a certain Mr. Rajiv Singhal, a pioneering personality in the Indian wine scenario. None of my friends however, had an inkling of what could be the interview like.

Circa 2015 and as if steered by destiny, I have teamed up with the same gentleman i.e. Mr Rajiv Singhal,  to launch  vino india- a new initiative in the Indian wine space. Much wine has obviously flown through the barrels ever since I received that  coveted interview call.  It is  therefore incumbent upon me to share this news with the esteemed readers of Guns to Gewürztraminer-  my  raison d’être  in the  vinous cyber space .

So what is vino india ?

 vino india is an e-newsletter that has been founded to create a digital experience for trade professionals as well as consumers - both in India and overseas. It aims to provide updates from the Indian wine scenario in an unbiased manner while shunning ‘patronage’ driven content.

My role in vino india

I am the Managing Editor of vino india. Rajiv is the Chief Executive. But more importantly we are partners in wine passion, with our individual capabilities harnessed for the wine cause.

The relation between Guns to Gewürztraminer and vino india 

First the differences between the two.  The former is a blog while the latter is a newsletter. The former is an individual sharing of wine passion while the latter has- as the tagline says-  news, views and reviews from the market for wine in India. 

As individual entities Guns to Gewürztraminer and vino india are unrelated in purpose and function. But by virtue of my being the Managing Editor, there will be some content from vino india authored by me, that I would like the readers of Guns to Gewürztraminer not to miss out on .  Such shared posts will be acknowledged  with a simple statement in italicised blue colour as “Published in vino india” towards the end of the respective posts.

I am sure this would give you a fair idea on vino india . If interested in knowing more, do take some time off to visit www.vinoindia.in where you will also find the inaugural issue. Subscription to vino india is monetarily free . So do also bless it by subscribing if you like what you see.

Santé, Salud and Cheers!