[susanj]

Vodka's good, especially with chilled peach or apricot juice.  But will I BE ABLE TO GET A BOTTLE OF WINE?

I'll be in Himachal Pradesh for a month.

[malkers]

Can't you get Grovers or Sula in HP these days.  You can get it in most of Europe now so I'd be surprised if you couldn't but then I have no ideas of what strange liquor laws they might have up there.

Grovers Reserve Cab Sauv is one of my favourite wines of the world and one that the west are starting to take serious notice of too!  Look out for it!

Malc

[YETI]

There are many things that Indians excel at but making wine ain't one of them, sadly.

The exception to the rule (in Himachal Pradesh) is HPMC's Apple Wine; a lovely drink that's sort of like a sweet, fortified cider.

Just don't expect it to be a decent Shiraz or Merlot ...

I had some of that Grovers in Goa - it's alright for India but I can't really see it rivalling anything France or Italy produce.

[captmahajan]

I have yet to try an Indian wine I would honestly recommend.

[jyotirmoy]

Last year India exported more than 18 thousand cases of wine to Europe... Grover is no good & HP is the only state in India where wines are sold at the state owned agro shops...try Sula... this year we expect a three fold rise in export.... some of the vineyeards of Maharashtra has been included in the world vino vintage list. Last year I visited many outlets in Germany & France... Indian wines were selling very well. Now in Maharashtra near Nasik the wineries have opened wine dhabas wher you can drink good wine with local food like Chicken Kohlapuri...in the season they organise grape crushing tours too where you go & participate in ccrushing grapes by your feet... very exciting holiday

[malkers]

Grovers no good???????

You folks sit back and watch and mark my words that Grover will cause a few embarassments in the wine trade over the next few years.

Who said French wine was any good anyhow?  It must have been the French because most of the wine drinking world have long woken up to the fact that French wine is nowhere near as good or worth the money that the French state it is!

Sula's whites are very good, their sparkling (made to exactly the same method as champagne) is excellent but their reds are not a patch on Grovers!

All IMHO of course  

[cyberhippie]

As an ardent wine drinker I have to agree that India doesn't produce fine wine IMHO, tried Sula and Grovers and was disappointed, compared to Bulgarian, Austalian, South African and Chile it just didn't swing it for me!!

A note about French wine, it's true many new wine producing countries are producing great young wines these days that rival the young French wines, in fact many produce a fresher zingier wine that eclipses some of France's wine.

However if it's wine that ages well or traditional heavy wines like Burgundy or Bordeux you seek, your first port of call should be the French section at the supermarket!!

I know what I'm talking about here after being lucky enough to drink many many vintage bottles from France (my wine supplier had a lot of 16-20 year old Laland Pomerol) the new glitzy, fresh light wines just didn't come close!!

That Sula is being sold on the European market says little about it's quality, the English wine producers hope to flog half a million bottle this year and English wine isn't the greatest either!!

[YETI]

cyberhippie, on Jun 14 2006, 09:50 AM, said:

English wine isn't the greatest either!!

Cyberhippie - Master Of Understatement!  

One of the first things I do when I get home is treat myself to a good bottle of Amarone, let it breathe for most of a day and remind myself what I've been missing for the last six months.

Mmmmmm ...

[malkers]

cyberhippie, on Jun 14 2006, 05:20 AM, said:

the English wine producers hope to flog half a million bottle this year and English wine isn't the greatest either!!

Ok, let me be a cocky bugger and stick up for English wines here a little too.  True that in general the English don't make great wine but that doesn't mean they can't make great wine and the proof is right there in two vineyards you've probably never heard of or seen on your supermarket shelves!

Order yourself a few bottles from here and here, then close your eyes, tell yourself it came from somewhere else and then tell me it isn't beautiful wine.  Better still, give some to a friend who knows a bit about wine and see if he/she tells you where it is from!

Because of the bad and unpredictable climate in England, it is much more expensive to produce the best wine so you gets what you pays for, go for the good stuff with the higher price tag and be prepared to be surprised.  2003 was the most succesful and profitable year for many decades for English wine due to the great summer we had so anything from that year will be pucker and there should still be plenty of it available!

Am I convincing anyone yet or just boring everyone?  

Malc

[Somerset]

Several years ago it seemed like the only wine I ran across in Bangalore was Goldonda: very sweet cherry red looking stuff. Haven't seen it lately. Has it disappeared entirely?

[malkers]

Somerset, on Jun 14 2006, 02:06 PM, said:

Several years ago it seemed like the only wine I ran across in Bangalore was Goldonda: very sweet cherry red looking stuff. Haven't seen it lately. Has it disappeared entirely?

Been here 2 years and never heard of it nor seen it in wine shops!  

[Somerset]

malkers, on Jun 14 2006, 01:19 PM, said:

Been here 2 years and never heard of it nor seen it in wine shops!  

That might be a good thing!

[cyberhippie]

It's Golconda and it's truly yuch!!

[Somerset]

cyberhippie, on Jun 14 2006, 01:48 PM, said:

It's Golconda and it's truly yuch!!

My typo; thanks for correcting it! Glad, I think, that someone else experienced it.

[john.sw]

I haven't had a Grover's white that I can stand, but I have had some of their reds that are passable.

Sula makes some reasonable wines and they also import wine from South America and sell it under their own name.

I often wonder what these wines would be like if we drank them at home... Probably nowhere near as good as we think they are in India!

I don't know if Sula are thinking of exporting their Indian wines, but if they try to sell it in Romania they'll get some funny looks.  The word Sula means something rather rude in Romanian!

[crvlvr]

India may make ok wine.  Sula and some Grovers (that I had in the US) were ok. But the ones I had in India were barely drinkable.

The trick is to get the bottle before the wine has been damaged by the wine is handled in India. I've seen wine bottles sitting exposed to the sunlight   in stores and god only knows  they have not been sitting in the sun for days on end in the heat while being transported.

[edwardseco]

crvlvr, on Jun 15 2006, 02:17 PM, said:

India may make ok wine.  Sula and some Grovers (that I had in the US) were ok. But the ones I had in India were barely drinkable.

The trick is to get the bottle before the wine has been damaged by the wine is handled in India. I've seen wine bottles sitting exposed to the sunlight   in stores and god only knows  they have not been sitting in the sun for days on end in the heat while being transported.

Ah that old saying by Mark Twain, its a difference of opinion that makes for horse races..

[edwardseco]

The humor of it is when they do blind tasting California wines always beat French wines so..

[Seventies'Neil]

Also,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
If you are feeling sorry for yourself, miserable or down in the dumps, p'haps sat in your room trying to cheer yourself up. Then the finest wine from wherever in the world will not help you one little bit.
But,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
If you happen to be in the company of friends & having a good time then that cheap bottle of plonk will be as good as the finest wine in the world.

[cyberhippie]

Who can say what's good and what's bad anyway!! I remember the Food and Wine program having a couple who were they said were wine fans!!
They tasted a few South African, French and Californian whites.

Their conclusion "very nice but we'll stick with Lambrusco"    True story!