Perhaps you remember my mentioning an upcoming Indian Wine luncheon hosted by Women for Winesense.  Well, it took place on Sunday at Moksha restaurant in Edison, NJ. Along with an extensive buffet of Indian specialties we tasted through 6 different wines from Sula Vineyards kindly provided by our speaker of the day, Bob Ferdon. of Dreyfus, Ashby.  The vineyard was started by Rajeev Samant, an Indian engineer who left Silicon Valley, CA to return to India and start his vineyard. The climate and terroir is ideal for growing wine grapes as it is similar to some winegrowing regions of Spain. California and Australia with hot days and cool nights.

The first wine was a surprise for all of us and I was really looking forward to it as it was a sparkling wine. Unfortunately, one bottle was flat and the other wasn't much better. Made in the traditional Champagne method, it is meant to be rich and creamy. It didn't even come close to that. It simply lay flat and for many was not drinkable. (I still drank mine!) We then had the 2007 Sauvignon Blanc.  Very aromatic with lots of citrus fruit coming through on the nose and palate. It had an acidic finish that I happened to enjoy as it made the wine quite refreshing. This was followed by the 2007 Chenin Blanc - a group favorite, it seemed. Again, lots of aromas with intense fruitiness ..good residual sugar that wasn't overly sweet. This was okay for me. Then, there was the 2007 Blush Zinfadel (rose.) While there was a ton of strawberry notes in the nose, this wine strangely had very little flavor on the palate. It simply didn't do anything. Some thought this was better with the food. I just didn't consider it much of anything. Next was the 2007 Cabernet Shiraz. (80% Cab/ 20% Shiraz.) Nice color and body with very fruity nose but a strange finish for me. I moved on to the  2005 Dindori Reserve Shiraz. This was a nice smooth wine that worked well with the spicey food. We found out that Sula recommends serving all their reds slightly chilled between 59-64 degrees. Prices of the wines are reasonable all costing around $11 with the exception of the reserve costing about $20. I wasn't crazy about any of the wines but I will be ready to try some more wines from India.

Cheers,

The Wining Woman

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