It is always good for a wine to get an award - after all, every winemaker thinks that his (or her) wine is just terrific. An endorsement from an 'objective' third party goes a long way towards establishing a wine's relative quality.
So when I recently received a press release from Krsma Estates crowing about the gold medal in the San Francisco International Wine competition 2014 going to their Krsma Sauvignon Blanc 2013, I decided to look at recent awards won by other leading Indian wines.
First off, readers must understand that wine competitions have a symbiotic relationship with the wine industry - both need each other. Wine competitions are generally commercial ventures and must both give a certain number of awards to participating wines despite maintaining their objectivity and credibility, while wineries need recognition to enable their wines to stand out from the crowd.
Next, there's a big difference between local and international wine competitions: the only recent competition in India seems to be the 'Indian Wine Consumer's Choice Award', last held in Mumbai in January 2014 - previous efforts (the Indian Wine Challenge by Robert Joseph, and the Sommelier India Wine Competition 2009) did not survive the 2008-09 downturn. Internationally, wine competitions are held every spring/summer in tandem with the top wine fairs (Dusseldorf, Verona, Bordeaux, London, Hong Kong) , as well as being conducted by leading wine magazines (Wine Spectator, Decanter, Sommelier India), and some carry an enormous amount of prestige for the winners.
Of course, submitting wines for international competitions is both expensive and time-consuming - small wonder that those getting awards tend to be the leading pan-India wine brands, from companies that can afford sending samples (and have the quality): Sula, Grover-Zampa, Fratelli and Four Seasons.
Krsma (currently available only in Bangalore) seems to be the exception (it's a boutique winery): double gold for their Chardonnay 2013 and gold for their Cabernet Sauvignon 2012 at the China Wine & Spirit Award 2013, apart from the gold for their Sauvignon Blanc 2013 in San Francisco; the only other Indian wine to get a gold anywhere was the Ritu (export label of Four Seasons) Sauvignon Blanc 2012 at the China W&S Award 2013.
Silvers are also few & far in between: Krsma Cabernet Sauvignon 2012 in San Francisco; Fratelli Sette 2010 at the Decanter Wine Asia Award 2013; Zampa Soiree Brut 2011 at the HK International Wine & Spirit Competition 2013; and Krsma Sauvignon Blanc 2013 at the China W&S Award 2013.
The bronze and commendations are too many to list here; suffice to say that as yet few Indian wines have managed to escape from these to higher categories, and I do look forward to the time that they do.
Wines I've been drinking: A most unusual and unique wine, available (for now) only in one restaurant in India: Fratelli 'The Glass House' 2011, a classic Bordeaux blend (Cabernet/merlot/Cabernet Franc), created by the winery exclusively for The Glass House, a new 'deli-bistro-bar' in the heart of Bangalore.
In keeping with owners Siddharth Sachdev and Rohinton Mottahed's philosophy of providing 'inspirational' products and dining experiences to their guests, the label design is the floor plan of the outlet - which was custom-built with only glass, steel and concrete.
The wine itself is very good indeed: medium+ body, with loads of berry and fruit and vanilla, soft tannins and wood on the palate, and a long finish - a fit candidate for a gold as any Indian wine I've ever tasted.
Alok Chandra is a Bangalore-based wine consultant
