March 2007 - Posts

• Viticulture beyond Maharastra State: Jean Pierre Bouillac & Danielle Chambaraud

  Mr.Jean Pierre Bouillac  is a highly experienced viticulturist from France visiting India for the past 3 years and currently working with Sula to planting Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Malbec, Sauvignon blanc, mourvedre Trials on roussanne and Riesling.      He is thrilled about Indian Region and visited several parts of India including Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Darjeeling and Punjab to identify the suitable wine grapes for every region.  Recently he visited Kallej Valley and Pashok valley in the Darjeeling District trying to produce wine grapes in Tea estate.   Mr. J. P Bouillac says, in the south (TAMIL NADU) The soil can be adapted; it is the same for BANGALORE AREA in KARNATAKA.   In the north (PUNJAB), with a temperate climate wines can be wonderful and they are trying with Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Colombard, Chenin, petit Manseng and Marselan.   He strongly believes the Indians can produce good wines; they are the testimony of the potential. The success is the result of the terroir, the climate, good planting material, adapted work in vineyard and high technology for oenology.  The improvement rate is huge; quality of wine can be developed on large way.  To succeed a lot of work must be done in the vineyard, farmers have to be educated. Establish a vineyard is using good planting material.   As Viticulturist, he believes good rootstocks protect against PHYLLOXERA. This greenfly could destroy all the vineyard of on root plants; protect also against nematodes. The rootstock is determined according the soil analysis, so it is perfectly adaptable and through this way you can control, the vigor of the plant and the quality of grapes will obviously be better.   The same variety can produce medium, good or high quality wines. With the clone selection according your goal, you can choose what you to produce.   All this to say the important thing is to be conscious that the qualitative planting material is necessary. It permits them to benefit from all the French experiences, studies, experimentations on the clones...   INDIA MUST FIND HER OWN IDENTITY IN THE WORLD WINE, WITH SOME SPECIFIC VARIETIES ADAPTED TO THE CONDITIONS OF THE COUNTRY.   ====================================================================== Mr Jean Pierre Bouillac & Danielle Chambaraud is currently running a VIEUX PUIT wine grape nursery in France.     Posted Mar 31 2007, 05:44 PM by venki with 1 comment(s) Filed under: about wine

• Thibaut Verdenal - Wine Maker for Grover Vineyards.

  I was wondering past few days about Grover Vineyards, who is filling up the shoe for Mr. Abhay Kewadkar role, Recently Abhay Kewadkar left Grower to Join UB. Finally, Grover able to find the new, young and energetic wine maker Mr. Thibaut Verdenal  from Loire Valley region in France, joined as a Chief Technical officer. His role includes controlling the quality, supervisor and co-ordination in the production. He has completed the Master degree and viticulture and oenology from Ecole Superieure d'Agriculture", Angers, France <www.groupe-esa.com>. He is specialized in production, research and development, quality optimization and marketing. Before joining Grover Vineyards, he has 2 years experiences in two wineries in Bordeaux region of France. Grover is the process of doubling up the production from 1 million bottles to 2 million bottles and that requires lots of changes in process control. Thibaut is very existed about taking part in the fast growing industry in India.  He will be working with Mr. Balakrishna (Current Wine Maker) to improve the quality in the production. He is setting the norm and quality, implementing HACCP norm security food and ISO certification. Thibaut feels Indian market has big market potential and very much interested to work in Grover Vineyards. He feels India will take the own time to grow in the wine business. I have invited him to recommend a wine for the “Wine of the Month” for the March Month. He would like to introduce the Grover’s Chenin Blanc and he says this is the good wine to start with based on several facts. Good luck! Thibaut. Venki Posted Mar 09 2007, 09:12 AM by venki with no comments

• PUTTING AN END TO PUNTING - Ajay Kumar Gothwal

  In my years of travel across the globe I have seen 90% of the hotel staff in the world pour Champagne by holding the bottles with thumbs inserted in the punts, or the small indentation at the bottom of a Champagne bottle. I don’t know how, when and where it started but even the most sophisticated hotels seems to follow this religiously. I am sure they might have made it as their SOP (Standard Operating Procedure). It might look very stylish for the members of staff serving at table or as a matter of fact for the guest also. But I dread to imagine if he spills that precious bubbly as the bubbly itself weighs 750 ml plus the weight of the bottle. Can you imagine someone serving you wine like that from a magnum bottle? The punt was never intended for such a purpose. Originally, punt was a way of preventing the jagged pontil mark – the point left over after a glass bottle was blown and shaped – from scratching the surface of a table as technology was not that advanced those days when it all started. By pushing the pontil up into the interior of a bottle, a punt was formed and the table was saved. When the mould made wine bottles were introduced, the punt stayed, since it adds to the stability of the bottle when it is upright. With Champagne bottles, however, the punt serves entirely a different purpose. During the second fermentation, which gives Champagne its bubbles, a lot of pressure is built up inside the glass wall of the bottle. The amount of pressure a Champagne bottle is equivalent to the amount of the air pressure present in a truck tyre. The Champagne bottle’s prominent punt helps in the even distribution of the pressure inside the bottle, preventing the dangerous explosion, which was a common phenomenon in the early stages of Champagne making. SOME FACTS ABOUT CHAMPAGNE: Legend has that Marilyn Monroe once took a bath in 350 bottles of Champagne. True Champagne comes from the region of ‘Champagne’ situated in northeast of Paris. All Champagnes are blend of thirty to sixty separate still wines. The complex process by which Champagne is made involves a secondary fermentation in bottles, which traps natural CO2 inside the bottle. Dom Perignon is referred as father of Champagne. A bottle of Champagne has approx 56 million bubbles. (Courtesy house of Bollinger) The name Champagne is derived from Campagnia, a Latin term for the countryside north of France. BIBLICAL BOTTLES: SPLIT 187.5 ml (About 1.5 Glass) HALF – BOTTLE 375 ml (About 2.5 Glasses) BOTTLE 750 ml (About 5 Glasses) MAGNUM 2 bottles (About 10 Glasses) JEROBOAM 4 Bottles (About 20 Glasses) METHUSELAH 8 Bottles (About 40 Glasses) SALMANAZAR 12 Bottles (About 40 Glasses) BALTHAZAR 16 Bottles(About 60 Glasses) 9. NEBUCHADNEZZAR 20 Bottles (About 100 Glasses) SOME FACTS ABOUT INDIAN SPARKLING WINES: When we talk about Indian sparkling wines a notable contribution comes from the house of Champagne Indage Limited. The company holds a virtual monopoly in this segment and why shouldn’t as they are make wine in the similar method as made in ‘Champagne’ region in France. The first Sparkling wine made in India was Marquise De Pompadour. The first and only sparkling wine made by Methode Champagnoise is Marquise De Pompadour. The First sparkling wine exported from India is Omar Khayyam, which comes from the abode of Champagne Indage. The First Indian sparkling wine to win an international award was Marquise De Pompadour which won a Bronze medal at International Wine & Spirit Competition in 1986. So I am sure next time you order a bubbly you might tell your attendant to take it easy and say cheers for the wonderful creation called Champagne!!! AJAY GOTHWAL Ajay Kumar Gothwal is a Wine Educator   with experience of working abroad as well as in India. He can be reached at divineajay@yahoo.co.in for further communication.     Posted Mar 02 2007, 04:02 AM by admin with no comments Filed under: about wine, Champagne