An Evening of Global Cultures, Exquisite Wines and Timeless Taj Hospitality

An enchanting evening unfolded on 4th Oct 25 when the expat members of Wineglitz India – The Wine Club met for their very first club dinner at the famous Spicy Duck restaurant in the historic Hotel Taj Palace New Delhi. For Mukul Manku, the President of the Club, this was a manifestation of his firm belief that – Wine Connects. In this blog post he writes about his memorable experience during this wine dinner.

The Wine Flight

The wine dinner featured four wines, – a Prosecco and three Southern Australian wines, details of which are covered in the succeeding paragraphs.

An Effervescent Beginning – A Toast to New Friendships

Being the club’s very first Expats’ Wine Dinner, the evening began on a convivial note with a thoughtfully planned ice-breaker course.

It was held at the iconic The Blue Bar of Hotel Taj Palace where the crisp pours of Casa Bottega Prosecco served as the evening’s perfect social catalyst, effortlessly sparking conversations amongst expats of many nationalities, most of whom were meeting each other for the first time. The conversations, laughter and bonhomie soon filled the room, setting the mood for a memorable evening.

A Brief Note on Casa Bottega Prosecco DOC Brut

Let me here breakdown the longish name of this Prosecco for you: Casa Bottega Prosecco DOC Brut.

In the name of the wine, Casa Bottega refers to the name of the wine house which makes this Prosecco.

Prosecco DOC indicates the wine region from where this sparkling wine comes from. It is located in the province of Treviso in the larger Veneto region in North East of Italy. This region enjoys a mild climate with a good rainfall and adequate sunshine days. The soil here contains a rich mix of Limestone, Clay and Volcanic Ash. All these conditions together go into producing the wonderful Prosecco wines, one of which we savoured in the starter course.

Brut, the last word in the wine name indicates the sweetness level in the wine. When we say Brut, it means that the wine has very less level of residual sugar and for practical purposes, it can be called as a Dry Wine, where Dry, in wine terms means absence of sugar.

The effervescent Prosecco was savoured by all with the delectable starter snacks.

The Sit Down Courses

After the starter course at The Blue Bar, we moved to Spicy Duck restaurant for the sit-down dinner. Chef Thanglawm Valte’s curated dishes complimented the paired wines wonderfully in each course.

An overview of the Still Wines

Before I talk further about the still wines which were served at the sit down dinner in the Spicy Duck restaurant, let me give you a small brief about these wines which form part of the Metal Label series of the Berton Vineyards Australia. The grapes for these wines are sourced from premium vineyards in Southern Australia, which go into the making of only single varietal wines. When I say single varietal, it primarily means two things – first that these wines give the pure expression of the grape and second, these give the real sense of the place from where they come from.

A Word about Berton Vineyards

The family owned Berton Vineyards was established in the year 1996 when Bob and Cherie Berton planted their first vines in South Eastern Australia.

One of the first offerings of this winery was the Bonzai Cabernet Shiraz. Yes, you read the correct, the Bonzai Cabernet Shiraz which was actually made with grapes grown on a stunted Bonzai Vines. I had to actually check about Bonzai Vines on Internet and to my pleasant surprise this was true.

This unique wine made from grapes coming from Bonzai Vines, brought immediate recognition and prominence to the wine house.

Metal Label Sauvignon Blanc Padthaway

The first of the three still wines of the evening was the Metal Label Sauvignon Blanc Padthaway. Here Padthaway is the wine region from where this wine comes from, which is located in Limestone Coast which hugs the South Eastern coast of Australia.

The area is known for its Terra Rosso soil – a reddish brown coloured top soil which is rich in nutrients and has a good clay content – where both these conditions are beneficial for grape growing. Beneath this top soil, there is the bedrock of porous limestone, which again helps in a good viticulture.

The word Padthaway is local dialect means – The Good Water. It refers to the clear and clean water present in the shallow water table existing this wine region, which is available to the vines.

All these geological conditions combined create conditions which are favourable for viticulture and contribute to create wonderful wines, one of which was this Sauvignon Blanc which we savoured in the wine dinner.

Metal Label Durif

The next wine in the dinner was Metal Label Durif coming again from the Riverina wine region in New South Wales, Southern Australia. Now Durif is a unique name and quite frankly I came to know of it for the first time during that evening itself.

Durif is also known as Petite Sirah. As you would notice here the Sirah is with an “i”and not “y” as in Petit Syrah (which is synonymous with Syrah). The grape varietal Durif is a cross between Syrah and the Peloursin Noir – a rare red grape found mostly in the Alsace region in France.

Durif has berries which are small in size and thick skins. It produces wine of a deep inky colour with high level of tannins, an intense aroma and a good structure, all of which is balanced by a robust acidity to give a wonderful red wine which we savoured that day.

Metal Label Shiraz Rose Riverina

The last wine in the dinner was the Metal Label Shiraz Rose Riverina. As the name suggests, this wine comes from the Riverina wine region located again in South Eastern Australia in the state of New South Wales (NSW).

This region experiences a Mediterranean climate with hot summers, mild winters and negligible rainfall. To overcome the acute shortage of water, the Government of Australia commissioned an integrated irrigation scheme way back in 1912. Executed with construction of dams, head works and a network of canals, this scheme brought water to NSW, facilitating the start of agriculture and viticulture.

Now this Rose wine is made from Shiraz grape varietal, which is known to give structured wines having a robust body. So while the bottle gives the look of a quintessential Rose wine with a pinkish salmon colour, it packs a punch at 13% alcohol level.

A Rose wine with 13% Alcohol !!! – Well Welcome to Southern Australia.

A thoughtful pairing

Served during the last course, this Rose wine was very intelligently paired with the quintessential oriental dessert called as DARSAN. Here the sharp acidity of the wine cut across the crispy sweet texture of the sweet dish to give a harmonious pairing on the palates.

The Endearing Hospitality by Hotel Taj Palace New Delhi

The evening turned out to be pleasurable experience for all the members who relished the wines in an exquisite environment and indulged in healthy conversations over wines.

One of the major highlights of the wine dinner was the gracious and warm hospitality by Hotel Taj Palace Delhi. The rich ambiance, exquisite wines, intelligently paired cuisine was matched equally by the impeccable service by the staff both at The Blue Bar and the Spicy Duck Restaurant.

Hope you loved reading this post as much as i liked writing it. Here leave you with some pictures from the event. Till we catch up again, it’s Cheers, from my side !!

Mukul Manku President Wineglitz India – The Wine Club