“French Wine Dinner”

at “Trinity”, Taj Residency  19^th June 2005 Sunday 1930 hrs

Hyderabad Wine Club in its pursuance with its objective to inculcate and promote wine awareness organized one more wine dinner on 19^th June 2005 focusing on the theme of “White wines from France”.

 Dinner started with a short reception over “Sula Brut”  before settling down to formal dinner.

 Members had an opportunity of tasting some of the good representative wines to compare and contrast two pairs of wines and their match with the particular dish.

 In the first case, two wines were served, a Muscadet (Muscadet Sevre et Maine, 2001, Loire)  that is bone-dry with intense minerally or  even chalky flavours versus a lush & fruity wine in the Gentil (Hugel et Fil's Gentil - Alsace).   The Gentil  is off-dry with nice residual sugar. It is an opportunity for our members to  taste & understand the difference. In general Muscadet paired well with Fish fingers with Tartare Sauce. The Gentil glossed over both Fish Finger with Tartare Sauce and  Crumb Fried Mushroom, enhancing both with fruity sweetness.

 In the second case we have Chablis (Domaine Laroche St. Martin 2001 Chablis) and the Chardonnay (Laroche Chardonnay 2002).  Frankly the comparison is a matter of winemaker’s style. The Chablis is an  un-oaked with no malolactic fermentation. Fermented in stainless steel and bottled. A pure Chardonnay fruit flavour, leaner than the other wine and with higher acidity. The other Chardonnay would have been undergone malolactic fermentation, aged in oak for a short period,  resulting  in more complexity in flavours, specially the vanillin from the oak. It will be somewhat fatter than the Chablis with some buttery flavours. It was a little difficult task for the novices to understand these wines at a single sitting.  Panseared Chicken Breast with Mushroom Sauce Buttered Vegetable and mashed potato and  Vegetable Steak with Cream Cheese Sauce  Buttered Vegetable and mashed potato were the accompanying dishes followed by Chocolate Mousse

 As for the news,  There is an important development as far as wines in AP are concerned.  Consequent to our meeting with our Chief Minister of 11^th April 2005  with a representation for extending special status to wines, and de-link wines from other hard liquors, and treating them under food portfolio for sales tax got a positive response.  AP government issued a GO to reduce sales tax on wine from 90% to 70%   (of course still high compared to food products).

 But high sales tax both on landed cost to APBCL and on APBCL margin, 90% excise duty,  and high margins for APBCL and retailers, keeps wines beyond the reach of wine lovers.  Hyderabad Wine Club is trying to convince both wine makers and authorities concerned to bring down wine prices on par with Maharastra and Karnataka.  It is also for having an uniform “Wine Policy” across the country, with a “Central committee for wines” to look after interests of Indian Wine Manufacturers, Importers and the main segment of “The Wine Lovers”.

 Cheers

Balaji Rao BK

President, Hyderabad Wine Club