Mumbai Wine Fest Feb'12 - Wine Exhibitors

Meeting the Wine Exhibitors

Kingfisher Bohemia:

Yes, ‘Kingfisher’ is into wines as well! Most people at the venue were sweetly surprised to see the Kingfisher brand at a wine fest. So far they’re importing wines from South Africa. They had three varieties on display

• Pinotage Rosé
• Pinotate Red
• Chenin Blanc Chardonnay White

 

The Pinotage Rosé was an instant hit with ple. Most people that we spoke to really liked the refreshing wine, we loved it! Walking into the venue from the hot sun and being greeted by the chilled Rosé was just an amazing feeling. Now we know one of our summer drinks already!

The wine experts at the fest commended the Chenin Blanc Chardonnay White. The lovely mixologist, Ms. Nupur, made some really mouth watering wine-tails using it.

Zampa:

Next in line was Zampa, a winery based close to Igatpuri. Their range on display was:

• Sauvignon Blanc
• Syrah Cabernet
• Chenin Blanc
• Rosé
• Syrah

Chief winemaker Nicolas Van Aarde hails from South Africa. Their One Tree Hill (White and Red) range was impressive. They claim its unique feature is that its a blend of three varieties of grapes unlike other wines which are a blend of two types. The One Tree Hill White is a blend of Sauvignon Blanc, Chenin Blanc and Viognier and the One Tree Hill Red is a blend between Cabernet, Syrah and Zinfandel.

Zampa’s Rosé is blended from Syrah. Apart from this, Zampa boasts about winning several laurels in international fests. We think that Zampa were the underdogs of the fest and have a huge potential. And they seem to be doing just fine!

Tabuni Gvino:

Georgia is considered to be the oldest wine producing nation. A wine fest without Georgian wine would be incomplete in that respect. Tabuni Gvino are into importing wines from Georgia.

We spoke to Kartik who informed us that he, in partnership with a friend, launched Tabuni Gvino somewhere in early 2010. Currently, they are distributing in Mumbai, Delhi, Gurgaon at prominent retail outlets. As a MBA grad, he saw an opportunity in the Georgian wine segment and jumped straight into it. Their focus is more towards Premium Wines.

They displayed three varieties of wine from Tbilvino:

• Saperavi
• Tsinandali
• Rkatsiteli

Wine Stories:

 Wine Stories is a recently launched brand. Currently unavailable in retail outlets, they are working on setting up their distribution network with a prominent megastore. As of now, one can order either online or on the phone.

They are into imports of wines and have quite an interesting collection from Bordeaux. We got to taste the Haut Piquat by Lussac-Saint-Emilion which was amazing!

 Ixora

Although Ixora wasn’t selling their wines at the venue, they were a hit with patrons on both the days. Being the only stall that offered sparkling wine for tasting at regular intervals (every hour or so). They are basically importers of Italian, Chilean, Australian and French premium brands.

 

The crowd hovered near the Ixora stall like piranhas, waiting to attack the moment the sparkling wines were opened! No wonder Ixora was so confident about its products and their sales in retail market! Ixora wines are available in Mumbai at most wine retailers between Mulund and Colaba though not under the same brand name.

Riedel Glasses

  

A special thanks to Riedel glasses here for complementing the wines we drink with the superbly built glasses. They say - like diamonds bring out the twinkle in a woman’s eye good glassware brings out the same in a wine! And we quite agree with that school of thought! Thanks to Mr. Ader Gandi some people went home with the complete experience of good wine and glassware! Reidel holds a reputation worldwide for quality products. Their decanters are quite famous.

Vinsura

Nashik based Winery, their range on display was:

• Zinfandel (Red)
• Chenin Blanc
• Rosé (Pink)
• Sauvignon Blanc
• Shiraz (Red)
• Merlot (Red)
• Cabernet Syrah (Red)
• White Zinfandel (Pink)

By the time we got to this stall there stocks were pretty much over and all that we could taste were the Chenin Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc, Syrah, Merlot and the Rosé. The Merlot was a refreshing change from the usual selection of wine put up by other stalls.

Reveilo

Another Nashik based winery. The stall bustled till late on both the evenings. The guys at Reveilo were really dedicated and knowledgeable about what they were selling, very well-mannered and were very patient with every query. Reveilo offers a wide range of wines, perhaps the biggest on display at the venue.

On display were:

• Chenin Blanc
• Syrah
• Grillo
• Nero D’avola
• Sangiovese
• Chardonnay
• Cabernet Sauvignon
• Chardonnay Reserve
• Syrah Reserve
• Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve

Their Cabernet Sauvignon reserve was quite talked about. We helped ourselves with a second helping of the Sangiovese. Their Rosé is in the making and is expected to come out anytime soon and we await its arrival!

Kiara Wines

Kiara wines imports and markets  its wines from old wine countries such as France, Italy, Spain, Germany and new wine countries such as USA, Chile, Hungary, Argentina, Australia South Africa etc. They also bottle and market wine under their own brand name. These were up for tasting.

They had showcased a wide variety of some choicest wines from around the world. Sommelier Omkar, who was also the expert host for the fest, gave us some detailed information about the displayed wines.  

Seagram’s Nine Hills:

This stall was talked about a lot. Looking at the reputation that preceded it, we kept this for last and we didn’t regret it at all! Seagram’s was not selling their wines at the fest. However they had put up five wines up for tasting:

• Viognier
• Chenin Blanc
• Sauvignon Blanc
• Shiraz Rosé
• Cabernet Sauvignon
• Shiraz (went out of stock by the time we arrived at their stall)

 

Their Viognier is worth commending. One of the best domestic wines in the fest, it comfortably lands in our recommendations list. Their Shiraz Rosé was well liked by the crowd as well. In our opinion, they have a modest pricing considering the quality of wines they have to offer!

Our Recommendations from the fest:

Reviello: Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve, Sangiovese
Kingfisher Bohemia: Pinotage Rosé
Seagram’s Nine Hills: Viognier and the Rosé
Tabuni Gvino: Tbilvino’s Tsinandali
Vinsura: Merlot
Zampa:  One Tree Hills