It is not very often that someone from micro-regions come visiting. This time, Shiraz, a man with a name seeped in wine, visited us from the Southern Rhone valley. Ironically, the Shiraz is also a popular grape in the region although, the French prefer to call it Syrah. The irony could have been even more quirky if Shiraz were bringing Bordeaux, or perhaps Burgundy wines, but we will leave the politically incorrect jokes aside for now. The reason that a visit by a wine eminent from a not-too-known-in-India region is significant because of a few reasons.
The person is an official representative and spokesperson for the region. Secondly, the region has one of the oldest mix of soils in the world and has a history of winemaking that dates back to the time when the Papacy had shifted from Rome to Avignon in Southern France. And finally, the more than ideal climate of the region ensures a constant stream of wines that are always fruit-laden, rich, and worthy of ageing.Ch?teauneuf-du-Pape is perhaps the most popular wine from this region. It is named after the vineyards around the city of Avignon where the wine was made under the ecclesiastical seal of the Papacy. Even today, upto 13 grape varieties can constitute the blend that is Ch?teauneuf reds. There is also a tiny white production but you will rarely hear of it. The wines are among the best whites you will ever try, so do try and get your mitts on them. That said, the Rhone valley is bigger than just one wine. Each village, in fact, can put its own name on the label, specify the grapes that can be used, ageing requirements, and even the bottles are often emblazoned with a special motif or coat of arms to denote their uniqueness. Gigondas, Vacqueyras, Saint-Chinian are all such villages, no larger than a 100-metre dash track, and yet with enough sights and wines to occupy a lifetime?s worth. An important component of the wines of Southern Rhone is the Grenache grape. Rarely used by itself, it is mostly blended with Syrah, and Mourvedre. Syrah brings flowery rose notes and hints of spices whereas Mourvedre is notorious for inducing ?barnyard aromas? in a wine. ?Barnyard? and ?aromas? may seem mutually exclusive, even inherently contradictory, and yet they not only co-exist but also manage to bring a certain rustic pleasantness to a wine. The new world, too, has embraced the wisdom of this wine style and made it popular as the GSM (Grenache, Shiraz and Mourv?dre).
Grenache, that Southern star, has the potential to thrive in heat, make wines with lusciously lavish juicy dripping red fruit, and?alcohol! If it weighs in at anything lower than 14% alcohol by volume, it is not a Grenache?that?s how they put it in the south. But the trick isn?t to one-up each other with alcohol quotients high enough to singe your nostrils. Instead, focus is on how to hide this excess of richness behind the most seemingly light of appearances. There are wines made with Grenache that top the charts at 15.5% alcohol and yet seem to drink like baby juice! That is the art of fine winemaking.
The food we paired alongside these gorgeous heavyweights was equal in magnitude and finesse. Truffles, pork, tenderloin, duck, wild mushrooms, everything that would seem to overpower the regular everyday reds are pretty much at ease with wines from the Southern Rhone. I almost wondered at times if kebabs and Southern Rhone wines have not had some secret intercontinental liaison all along. For the charcoal-grilled meats can make for an excellent match with these wines, with the spice enhancing the fruit component of the wines.
So those were the lessons acquired over an evening of wine and revelry. We were surprisingly sober for the amount of wines consumed, sorry, I meant tasted. I guess, it all comes down to company and when that is as heady as the wines and food, they all seem to balance each other out!
The writer is a sommelier
