When the Delhi Wine Club raised
yet another toast to its most significant milestone
yet - its fifth anniversary - this past Sunday, the
Hyatt pulled out all the stops to serve a truly memorable
meal where the highlight was the city's first exposure
to Uruguayan wines, writes SOURISH BHATTACHARYYA
In
a world of fluidity, the Delhi Wine Club stands out
as a shining example of certainty. It came into this
world like an uncertain toddler, and there were cynics
who laughed at the idea or simply rejected it as yet
another club of wannabes, but it has grown into a vibrant
five-year-old, radiating the energy and excitement of
a growing child.
To continue the celebrations of the
milestone, which started a couple of months ago at the
Orient Express, Taj Palace, the Hyatt Regency pulled
out all the stops to lay out a truly inventive dinner
– Indian with an international twist – on
July 29 evening.
For Subhash Arora, President, Delhi
Wine Club, it was an emotional occasion, for it was
on July 29, five years back, that his dream of bringing
wine lovers together took shape at the Spirit restaurant
in Connaught Place.
It was a special occasion for the club
also because it was the last of the many send-offs for
Jorge Heine, who firmly put Chile, the farthest piece
of land from India, on Delhi’s social map. He’s
trading the privileges of an ambassador’s position
for his first love – academics.
As the acclaimed political scientist,
and former Stanford professor, goes to the University
of Waterloo in Canada, we won’t forget how H.E.
Heine successfully deployed wine diplomacy to keep his
country in the news, which is quite a challenge in our
cluttered media environment.
The South African High Commissioner,
Sehloho Francis Moloi, who spreads joy through his sheer
presence, and his charming wife, Misiwe, joined the
club to bid goodbye to the outgoing ambassador.
In a show of Latin American solidarity,
Imelda Tirilocchi, Charge d’Affaires at the Embassy
of Uruguay, uncorked her country’s wines for the
occasion. H.E. William Ehlers, who is a member of the
Delhi Wine Club, was still abroad on this day.
It was also an occasion to showcase
fine Burgundies with Indian food. In fact, there were
two wines from Joseph Drouhin, the biggest Family owned
brand in the region- a Pommard 2001 and a Gevrey Chambertin
2002. Frederic Drouhin, the Managing Director and a
friend of the Delhi Wine Club would be pleased to know
that both enhanced the flavours of Tawa scallop and
mint marinated tandoori prawns with green apple chaat
and tamarind dressing very well; though the vegetarians
hooted for the Gevrey with their Crispy rice pancake
filled with morels, potato and cashew nuts.
It was Delhi’s first exposure
to the wines of the South American nation famous for
Tannat grapes and we learnt more about them from Imelda’s
crisp presentation, where she made the point that though
her country is part of the wine’s New World, it
has been producing wine since the 16th century.
True to her promise, the star of the
evening, apart from the vivacious champagne Laurent
Perrier Brut (which is a favourite of the club members,
and why not?), was the Don Pascual Tannat Reserva 2005
from Juanicó. This medium- to full-bodied wine
with a sunny, sweetish aftertaste was a perfect match
for tandoori chicken breast filled with spinach, cottage
cheese and almonds, served with a potato barrel oozing
a scrumptious morel ragout.
The
occasion was also special because of the addition of
two new members – the media power couple Mala
Sekhri and N. P. Singh. Mala has been responsible for
the runaway success of the India Today Group’s
lifestyle publications, most notably Cosmopolitan
and Good Housekeeping. Nippy, as N. P. is famously
known, after transiting from the comfortable world of
boxwallah companies to the uncertainty of the media
business, is managing the business side of The Indian
Express with the same meticulousness with which
he approaches his game of golf.
The club’s media contingent,
which includes Chintamani Rao, who has scripted India
TV’s remarkable story, is growing, and how!
It
had all the ingredients of a perfect night. A delectable
meal that succeeded in delivering an impossible promise
(familiar North Indian food presented in an unfamiliar
yet visually appetising style), intelligent wine selection
in sync with the food, and flawless service orchestrated
by Hyatt’s Abhijit Mukherjee, all happening under
the watchful eyes of Roger Lienhard, who took us on
a guided tour of China Kitchen – the hotel’s
new gastronomic offering that should be up and running
on August 14.
There’s something about the Delhi
Wine Club. It makes great things happen.
