For more than a decade now, Vine to Bottle: How Wine is Made has been a part of my library. However, the text and attractive images did not interest me as much as my first visit to the extensive vineyards in India.
Roughly four years after my first sip of wine, my maiden visit to the grape-abounding region of Nashik, Maharashtra, changed many things around.
The charm of velvety red wine has seldom escaped me. As a non-vegetarian occasional wine drinker, with a palate that is still unused to the cinnamon flavour of Zinfandel, the fleshy Merlot has remained a decade-long favourite. However, while revisiting the wineries of Nashik nine years later, I realise how my taste buds have changed.
The moderate climes of Nashik are ideal for for viticulture. The monsoon, however, can be tough on the flourishing vineyards. This region sees a diverse mix of the vine, including Malbec, Sauvignon and Chardonnay.
My wine-tasting tour was on a pleasant Autumn afternoon, when I reluctantly submitted to a glass of Riesling. After romanticising red wines for years, the sweetness of white wine was somewhat uninvited. It was fresh, aromatic, liberating and marked the beginning of a love affair.
Originally grown in Germany, Riesling is made from white grapes and is produced in dry to sweet variations. I deter from trying the dry and full-bodied options. Perhaps, just another mind-block I may overcome in a few years?
I walked around the winery to understand how different the preparation of white wine is from the red. Non-edible white grapes are extracted, and made to go through a process of filtration, sedimentation and storage. The juice is then passed through a chilling pipe to maintain the temperature at 5-6 degree Celsius. This prepares the juice for fermentation. Yeast is then added to convert sugar to alcohol.
Ideally, white wines here are fermented for 25 days with an alcohol strength of 10 per cent to 14 per cent. The former makes a light-bodied white, the latter a full-bodied bottle.
These samples are taken to wine-makers who pick the right note, nose and blend to create an identity to these wines. Thereafter, it is stored in the wine cellar in a 1,000-year-old oak barrel.
As I refill my glass for a second, I decide to make it a bit more personal and intimate. The fruity aroma confuses me a little. I can smell honey and green apple. After a lingering sip, I can distinctly taste the grapefruit and the sugar in my glass of white. Elegant and superior, I know my infatuation has grown.
I am told that this variety of white is perhaps the most suited with our food. Perhaps this is true. But, my food preferences have matured to lighter, vegetarian dishes. The complementing taste of Riesling works wonders when I need to cleanse my palate off the richer meals I may try.
A bottle of Riesling from that autumn afternoon has now found a place in my bar. Whether I share its friendly, honeyed notes with acquaintances, or allow it to flush me warm in solitude, this white wine is mine.
I realise how wine has grown with me — from the firm structured reds to the effervescent and free-spirited whites.
Published - November 21, 2015 04:10 pm IST
