Torres and Sevilla  recreated the flavours of Spain for our Wine Club members–read about it with Arun Batra.

Earlier this week when the menu for the Torres Winemakers Dinner at Sevilla was sent out to us members, I happened to show it to a visiting foreign business associate who is pretty much a wine connoisseur. His look said it all and he commented that our wine club’s standards are pretty high if you are getting the opportunity to drink $90 wines such as the Torres Grans Muralles –well I wasn’t going to tell him that this line up of 5 Torres wines with a Tattinger aperitif thrown in for good measure was just going to cost a little more than 2K!.

After an unusually hot day, the mist fans at Sevilla provided as much welcome relief as did the flutes of Tattinger NV champagne over which Marc Perello, the Torres point man in India outlined their plans to make Torres a popular wine brand name in India. “This market is just ripe for the picking” said he as the rest of us members jockeyed for seats in the indoors air-conditioned not wanting to savour the offerings of Torres at 30c outside on one of the hottest days in May.

Sevilla is one of the most visually appealing dining locations  in the capital replete with plenty of foliage , softly gurgling streams bridged by walkways ,artful lighting but an F&B managers nightmare to serve a 5 course sit-down  meal with accompanying wines to a gathering which again exceeded our commitments to the hotel in terms of numbers. But the team at the Sevilla led by Mr. Dirk Reinhard, their Food and Beveage Director rose to the occasion – they successfully overcame the handicap of the restaurants seating plan which saw us seated in two separate air-conditioned locations plus a a few tables scattered outside where the eyes feasted on what was a visual delight. The service was superb and refills of wine were always close at hand with a smile.

The Torres lineup commenced with a Rose –the De Casta- a dry and refreshing wine made from a mix of Garnacha and Carinenna grapes. Sevilla matched this with what would have been one of the finest gazpachos I have ever sipped, had it not been for an overzealous chef with a heavy hand as far as the Tobasco was concerned.

Cut to the Fransola Sauvignon Blanc – a top quality white with an aromatic nose with what I would consider great versatility in terms of food pairing –only one didn’t get an opportunity to check out this hypothesis as the Asparagus Risotto with salted cod spedeni would have left any self respecting Italian chef quaking in his boots.I do consider Rissotto to be a litmus test of a chef’s proficiency with Arborio rice and the man behind the glass kitchen windows did not make the cut.

So thinking I would now just salivate over the $90 Torres Grand Muralles, the chef provided a scintillating version of a braised lambshank in red wine – the soft and tender meat literally fell off the bone and was a great foil for the jewel in the Torres crown that evening. Well worth its price , the Grand Muralles is a deep red wine with good body and structure though the palate and mouth feel improved with the passage of time leading me to believe this wine needs to be aired a bit to develop its full potential.

Our menu planning sometimes thinks outside the box and gives us the occasional surprise – would you imagine pairing a Jean Leon Gran Reserva Cabernet with a cheese platter? –but yes it did work, the cheese was excellent and complimented the spicy, savoury and well structured red wine which thankfully for a Cabernet , did not have very strong tannins.

But we weren’t done yet – the pairing of Spanish churros – a common Spanish breakfast dish - with the Torres Moscatel reminded me so much of the breakfasts at al fresco cafes in Barcelona and Madrid . The sweet chocolatey churros going well with the sweet fruity acidity of the Moscatel.

And then the evening got only better –a one for the road from Torres was their 10 year old brandy –permissible at our wine dinner tables as brandy is also derived from the good old wine grape – great mouth feel and a long lingering warmth all the way home.

We need to thank Torres and its Indian partners Prestige Wines for giving us the opportunity to go beyond the Vina de Sol which Torres is finding, maybe to its surprise, to be a runaway success at the local wine shops here in India. There is a saying that the wines of a country are best experienced with the local food and I wish that we could have sampled some Paella but then Sevilla in its new avatar is more Mediterranean than Spanish –but then no worries as the Torres wine journey more than made up for it. We also need to thank Sevilla Restaurant for handling a multi-course-sit-down meal so deftly and made us want to come back again and soon, perhaps with italian wines next time!

Arun Batra is a Delhi based management consultant, a food and wine enthusiast and a long time member of the Delhi Wine Club