I am a great believer in winemaker dinners where the winery owners are present. Not only does one get to meet the top cats and enjoy the fellowship, and wine presentation, learn about their wine making philosophy, the quality of wine served is also enviable. So when Saurabh, Manager of the Fire invited me to come for dinner with Joseph Drouhin, the well-respected Burgundy wines being presented by the great grand-son of the founder, Frederic Drouhin, I agreed immediately without inquiring about the wine list. Although the time was short, we also made it a joint Club event with them in that they offered a special price for our members.
Rarely do we start our evenings with the Grand Crus from Chablis, the best of its Appellation. Les Preuses' vineyards were selected; there being six others –Blanchots, Bougros, Grenouilles, Valmur, Vaudesir and Les Clos (another one, La Moutonne owned by Albert Bichot is squeezed between two of these vineyards and is now allowed to use this classification). This was a golden coloured, full bodied wine with a balanced acidity that saved the wine being clobbered by the spices and chilies in the fish or even the paneer tikkas which were delicious and succulent on their own. The mouth feel was good and the end pretty long. The freshness appeared to have peaked, though.
Chassagne Montrachet in Cote de Beaune makes one of the best white wines of the world. It also makes red wines which are not quite as respected as those of Cote de Nuits, northern part of Burgundy, known for its silky and elegant wines ,that can be amazing when made in good vintage years. Because of some confusion, we had to make do with the red version which found the chicken tikkas a wee bit too hot. It was light bodied, brilliant and clear wine with a good nose of cherries and strawberries, though.
Chambolle was really elegant, graceful, silky and very feminine wine. It was well matched with both the pulao and biryani though I personally believe that raita is a spoilsport while enjoying delicate and subtle wines. Star performer for the evening was, no points or pointers for guessing, was the Grand Crus Vougeot, a wine that was once considered to be fit for the kings. Though it was not a 2002, proud vintage of Burgundy, the 2001 a fuller and darker was a magnificent wine that is barely ready to drink now and will keep on getting better and better for the next decade or two. It offered complex flavours as well as long aftertaste, the taste lingered in the mouth. They say that the best wine is the one you drink in the company of friends and when someone else is paying for it. I couldn't agree more, drinking this wine in the fine company of Frederic Drouhin and other friends.
The Chef at the Fire deserved the applause he got for the absolutely delicious meal he had dished out. I was told later that he does not drink, which didn't surprise me and almost infuriated a couple of burgundy lovers who, rightly, couldn't fathom such chili hot food with these delicate wines. The staff was, as usual, efficient, warm and cheerful- the last bit of the behaviour being brought on whenever Delhi Wine Club members come for wine dinners, I was told. The Mehras present in full threesome with their son Adil, looking after wine sales have been doing a great job of distributing these wines in India and Frederic's visit has been an aide to them in this process.
By Subhash Arora |
