July 08: Recently launched Reveilo Sangiovese from Vintage Wines is a good option at an MRP of Rs. 695 for the residents of Mumbai who like Tuscan wines as also it is a refreshing change from the staple varietals, though the future vintages will need some further improvements, writes Subhash Arora who had the opportunity to taste it recently.
 It is a ruby red colour clean wine with fruity aromas of cherry with shades of spices that carry into the flavour and though it does not have a very long after taste, the juicy flavour is quite persistent. Spicy notes should make it more palatable for the Indian aficionados. Addition of 10-15% Cabernet Sauvignon would perhaps add a bit more body and structure to the wine.
Reveilo Sangiovese is soft and easy drinking wine. Recently when I went out for dinner with my friend Sourish Bhattacharyya I took a bottle of one of my favourite white wines, Grϋner Veltliner I had bought in Austria recently. I took the bottle of Sangiovese for a taste before starting dinner with the Gru-Vee wine from Austria.
We ended up finishing the whole bottle during the dinner! The acidity in the backbone made it match nicely with the food and one could drink it on its own. Nothing fancy about it-no nakhras- a simple and clean wine. The after-taste was slightly astringent. If you are looking for a Chianti Classico docg or a top end Chianti docg, you would be disappointed but also be unfair. (For the unititated, Brunello di Montalcino and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, two of the top Tuscan wines also must have 100% of a grape variety which is a more pampered and majestic clone of Sangiovese).
The most widely planted single red grape in Italy is the backbone of Chianti and Chianti Classico but this is the first time a wine has been made with this grape, thanks to their Italian consultant winemaker Andrea Valentinuzzi who has been the winemaker at a big producer Casa Girelli and has been with the winery from the very beginning.
The wine could well hope to compete with its Italian cousins from Emilia Romagna, Marche, Umbria, Lombardia, Lazio and even in Sicily or Puglia. Although there are no serious wine laws in India, it would still be considered a Sangiovese varietal with 15% other varieties like Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot in most parts of the world.
Availability in Retail is not a problem in Mumbai where it has been launched so far. Aradhana, Big Boy, Century, Chincholi, Crystal, Fun-fair, Good Luck, Goregaonkar, King, Nita, Shah (normally discounts too), Modern and Pankaj Wines stock and sell this wine. Several branches of Godrej-owned supermarket chain Nature’s basket are comfortable and convenient places to buy from.
A few restaurants in the suburbs, like Oakwood Premier, Mia Cucina, Fat Cat Café, Crepe Station and Time & Again already carry the wine as does the Revival Restaurant in Colaba but surprisingly it does not seem to have yet made an entry at the Escobar, Bandra where it was launched last month and which serves pizzas and pastas as the key items in the Menu. Their cuisine is a heavenly match for this wine.
Equally surprising is the fact that the company does not still have a working website which is a big oversight on the part of their bankers who must have given loan to them after checking about how they plan to market the wines.. These days a website is not a luxury but essential marketing tool that cannot be ignored, even if and when one started making a world class Sangiovese!
Subhash Arora |
