It is not frequent that members of the Delhi Wine Club get to have a vertical tasting of top-end Bordeaux wines at a wine dinner. So when an offer was made by Brindco to us to organize a dinner with wines from this 2 nd growth chateau from Saint-Julien, we found it too irresistible to pass in spite of getting wined out at the IFE-India, awaiting the next wine feast at the Manor Hotel a few days later. The promised presence of Mark Walford, the quite well-known- here, London exporter at the dinner to talk about this chateau and its wines was another motivational factor.
The Hotel Grand was a logical choice for this grand event. Brix has never failed in its promise of good cuisine and excellent service. A visit to the beautiful wine cellar, La Cave works like an aphrodisiac. The vertical tasting of vintages 2000, 1999 and 1996 was further accentuated by a last minute inclusion of 1989. It more than made up for the last minute substitution of the regal Champagne Bollinger by the commoner Prosecco.
Sarget de Gruaud Larose 2000, the second wine of the chateau worked fine, even as an aperitif, especially with the prosciutto ham sticks. Second wine of a good chateau like this makes for a good bargain if one has to mind the budget. It can also be drunk younger. But the chateau wine of the same vintage that followed, served with food was clearly more complex, elegant and powerful, though not really ready to drink yet. Same was the case with the 1996 and 1999 vintages though the former was quite supple, well extracted with firm and rounded tannins.
Gruaud Larose wines are considered the wine of kings and king of wines. The now- ready- to –drink 1989, a 5-star wine especially with the lamb proved just that. Well structured, full-bodied, spicy and rich wine was full of fruit with excellent mouth feel.
Mark Walford added to the flavour of the evening with his lucid and passionate presentation of the wines. For the more serious connoisseur members this was once-in-a-year opportunity to enjoy classic, top notch Bordeaux red wines. We may have to wait till Mark's next visit to enjoy another fine label from Bordeaux , a wine region that is his specialty.
Quality of food dished out at the Brix might not have been 5-star or a match for the fine wines, but the service was certainly impeccable. The wine service was superb, justifying and complementing the excellent wine cellar and the variety of wines the hotel has in store.
Subhash Arora
