Wake up and smell the Kashmiri Chili Powder, because we’ve decided to kick off the “New Year” and “Dry” January by visiting the under-appreciated burgeoning wine-producing country of India.
Fittingly, India is by far the “driest nation” in terms of per capita alcohol consumption of any country we’ve “visited” in our Tannic Panic “journey.” With only 10% of their wine exported, we can only imagine that the majority of Indian wine consumers are the winemakers themselves (and perhaps a few of their thirstiest friends).
Many of you have probably never tasted Indian wine, or if you have, perhaps your experience is limited to a tiny spread of the less prestigious mass production wines that trickle a bit more freely into the global landscape (Sula 👀).
But in reality, India is a country that actually produces some incredibly good wines, and we here at the Tannic Panic™ Corp believe it deserves a little more of the spotlight.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF INDIAN WINE
India’s steamy relationship with wine dates back to the literal Bronze Age (an excellent vintage), when Persian traders introduced grape cultivation and wine production to the region. A few years later, the early 20th century came a knockin’ and with it, a phylloxera epidemic that devastated grape cultivation. Simultaneously a lack of government support and the rise of social opposition to alcohol consumption (THE GOOD KIND!) led to the introduction of prohibition laws in various Indian states, and as a result, many vineyards were literally uprooted “by hand” in anger or converted for other “agricultural uses” (THE BAD KIND!), significantly diminishing wine production. Fortunately for YOU, viticulture in India experienced a “remarkable revival” in the 1980s and as we all can agree, “the rest is history”...
While Europe was busy dumping Burgundy and Barolo into its collective gullet, India quietly whispered, "hold my lassi," and began to make some serious wines.
Indeed, the “modern day” story of the Indian wine scene begins in the early 1980s, when two “visionary figures,” Shymarao Chowgule and Kanwal Grover decided to take a crack at expressing India’s “unique” terroir in the form of “fine wines.”
Come Y2K, Sula Vineyards (India’s largest and “most awarded” wine brand today) sauntered in, creating a boon in the Indian wine industry that led Maharashtra to become the first Indian state to roll out an official wine policy. Soon, wineries were popping up faster than a Bollywood dance number, and global giants like Diageo and Moët Hennessy “joined the party.”
In 2008, things briefly looked “dire” once again when ye olde financial crisis struck, causing numerous big players and Indian pioneers (including Chowgule’s Chateau Indage, which was the largest winery at the time) to close their doors.
But the industry adapted, and soon emerged a new wave of Indian wineries that began reshaping the proverbial landscape (like Fratelli, who we’ve featured today).
TROPICAL CLIMATE WINEMAKING
Indian winemakers have learned to “literally” dance with nature’s quirks. In Maharashtra and Karnataka, vines thrive in a subtropical climate with sizzling summers (often exceeding 100ºF/40ºC) and cooler, dry winters. The climate also eliminates the dormancy period most wine-producing vines experience, meaning double the growing seasons. As a result, the best producers engage in a moderate to severe session of ceremonial pruning twice a year to “keep up” with mother nature.
INDIAN WINE REGIONS
India's growing wine industry represents an extremely wholesome confluence of ancient agricultural traditions and modern viticultural innovation. Primarily located in the southern states of Maharashtra and Karnataka, Indian vineyards have emerged as “formidable” wine producers, overcoming challenging subtropical and semi-arid climatic conditions through strategic site selection at higher elevations along with careful grape selection. Most of the wine in India is produced from international grape varieties including Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Merlot for reds, alongside Chenin Blanc, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc for whites.
Maharashtra, particularly the Nashik Valley region which is known by the WSET (and possibly others) as the "wine capital of India," produces about two-thirds of the country's wine, with notable vineyards like Sula (a major Indian “wine brand”). Nashik benefits from its “monsoon-rinsed” soil and cool breezes, while Bangalore’s higher elevation vineyards (~600m) keep grapes from sweating it out in the southern heat (LIKE ME!).
In Karnataka, the Nandi Hills area is recognized for its high-quality wines, benefiting from a moderate climate and diverse grape varieties such as Shiraz and Chardonnay.
Another emerging region in the “Indian wine scene” is Akluj, known for J’NOON vineyards located in Maharashtra. This region benefits from unique viticultural conditions, including an elevation of ~600m above sea level to mitigate the region’s hot climate as well as rocky, calcareous soils that provide excellent drainage (THE GOOD KIND!). The region's hot and dry climate poses challenges, necessitating innovative water management techniques like drip irrigation and night watering to conserve resources.
Profile: White peach, pear, key lime, vanilla, jasmine, white pepper, wet chalk, hazelnut, butter Palate: Dry, high acid, medium body, long finish
I discovered this wine on a brief stopover in London last time Victoria and I visited Europe. We wanted to make a point of checking out the Streatham Wine House in South London (because I had just spent months watching “Wine With Jimmy" videos (may be familiar to any of you WSET prospectives), and that’s one of his establishments. It did not disappoint; we tried wines from all over the world, tasted wines from regions I was unaware existed – like an awesome Solaris from Wroclaw, Poland – and among those wines, an incredibly good white wine from India: the 2017 J’NOON. We left with several bottles, and the J’NOON is still drinking beautifully in spite of 7 years of bottle age and 3 continents worth of worldly travels.
The wine is the unexpected “lovechild” of Jean-Charles Boisset (proprietor of Boisset Collection) and Kapil Sekhri (proprietor of Fratelli Vineyards), who wanted to put Indian wine on the map by producing some truly high quality wines that reflect the distinctive terroir of Akluj. By their account, the wine (which is a roughly even blend of Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc) is something of a stylistic cross between Pouilly-Fuisse and the white wines of the Northern Rhône Valley, but in my opinion it is something wholly unique.
Very mineral with rich texture, vibrant acidity, and concentrated flavors. Really enticing floral aromatics with stone fruit, a distinctive chalkiness and a touch of buttery hazelnut character. Super long finish. A real cool wine.
Fascinating blog! Did you mean to just review one bottle (in order of price)?