One often hears that the wine culture cannot grow in India unless we can drink properly matched wines with our food. There is no doubt that food paired properly with wine adds synergy to the gastronomical experience. Another important positive impact is that due to slow intake of wine and with food, there is less absorption of alcohol (there is 11-14% alcohol by volume in wine!) in the bloodstream.

Delhi Wine Club has been working with Maurya Sheraton for various wine events. The Hotel has recently taken a progressive approach to wine pricing after the government decided to allow duty free import of wine and liquor and reduced the prices substantially. So we decided to have our next wine event at Dumpukht Restaurant with 7 wines from the New World to be supplied by Maurya along with the 7-course Dumpukht Cuisine featuring a couple of dishes for the first time. Also we believe that this type of Indian cuisine goes very well with wine. We also chose to experiment with a Lunch instead, on Sunday, October 12th, to allow for the leisurely savouring of several courses and wines. Chefs Bill Marchetti and Qureshi chose each dish in consultation with Sourish after properly matching with Wine as can be seen from the Menu selected:

At the last minute we added a Cote du Rhone light bodied white as an aperitif for the pre-sit down welcome and fellowship. Apart from French and Spanish Torres we could sample wines from the USA, Australia, New Zealand, Argentina and Chile. While pairing, the emphasis had been more on matching food and wines from the Maurya cellar rather than the order in which wines were tasted. As an experiment, we broke away from the cardinal rule of sampling from light to full-body whites, to light reds to full-body reds. The experiment seems to have been successful judging from the accolades from the members. Laguna Chard and Montes Alpha in whites and Australian Shiraz and the Gallo Cabs were liked the most.

Maurya went all out to provide a thoroughly enjoyable and leisurely lunch. Apart from the excellent food and wines, on hand was their professional sommelier who made sure that the wines were allowed to breathe adequately and were served at the right temperature and explained about all the wines except Gallo which were presented by their head honcho in marketing here, Mr. Rukn Luthra. The never-ending stream of proper wine glasses gave everyone an opportunity to try different wines with different dishes if they so wished and also enjoy the changing taste with longer breathing.

A common complaint seemed to be that there were too many wines both in quantity and variety. While complimenting Maurya for their liberal pouring hand, one must understand that each dish was paired with different wines. Besides, the objective is to expose ourselves to as many wines as possible to help develop the taste buds and also order the right type of wine when we visit the restaurant again.

One can only compliment ITC Hotels for being progressive and taking the lead in price cuts. We believe further reduction is on the cards. Surely, it will increase their sales exponentially in the time to come.