It has been almost two months without a glass of wine, as I have been on an intense programme to fight the bulge. Motivated after a discussion with my fellow Jamaica Observer Table Talk Food Awards judge Cathrine Kennedy, I sought assistance from Selena Deleon, owner of Core Fitness Studio, who coached me through the ITG Diet programme. With over 20 lbs lost, and with approval from my coach, it was time to do a little celebrating with a few glasses of, what else? Wine, of course! It was a fantastic coincidence that I received samples of some new wines that will be hitting our market soon. Some from California and two were from a most unusual part of the world — for wine, anyway — India.

From Mumbai to Silicon Valley and back

Here we go again with another of the many unexplained IT and wine connections. It was during the Silicon Valley dot-com boom that Mumbai-born, Stanford University-educated bon vivant Rajeev Samant, who worked at software giant Oracle Corporation, decided to move back to his homeland and eventually open a winery in Nashik.

Situated 180 km north-east of Mumbai, Nashik is India’s largest grape-growing region and often referred to as the wine capital of India. Sula Vineyards, established in 1999, would become the first in the Nashik region, and are now globally renowned as India’s premier quality wine producer. Select Brands represents Sula Vineyards, and I recently had the great opportunity to taste the Sula Sauvignon Blanc, India’s first-ever Sauvignon Blanc, and one of their red wines — the Dindori Reserve Shiraz.

Dindori Reserve Shiraz

Grown in the hills of Sula’s Dindori estate and aged for a year in new oak, the Reserve Shiraz is fragrant, elegant and smooth, with lush berry flavours and silky tannins. A full-bodied wine that you must allow to breathe before serving, we opened a bottle last Saturday, and poured it instantly to get a first impression. It was a bit closed, tight, there was red fruit coming through on the nose. However, it really needed some more air time. The following day delivered a rounder, more fruit-forward wine deserving of us giving it a second and third pour.

Sula Sauvignon Blanc

It is often sold out as soon as it is made. If you like New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, you will definitely like this wine. It is a dry wine, crispy and herbaceous with the characteristic aroma of fresh-cut grass and is quite zingy on the palate. I must admit that I was a tad hesitant, so I allowed my resident sauvignon blanc expert (my wife) taste it first. When I noticed that she was not passing back the glass to me, I knew we had a winner. It’s no wonder it has claimed so many awards including: Silver Medal — Sommelier India Wine Competition 2009; Silver Medal — Decanter World Wine Awards 2011 (UK);

Silver Medal — Decanter Asia Wine Awards 2012 (HK); Gold Medal — Indian Wine Consumers Choice Award 2012 & 2013. These wines will have limited availability at a few establishments across the island.

Keep reading the Jamaica Observer every day and next week I will tell you about a few other new wines coming into the market.

Christopher Reckord — Entrepreneur & Wine Enthusiast. Send your questions and comments to creckord@gmail.com. Instagram: chrisreckord Twitter: @Reckord