wine podcast from Heritage Winery...

So, what makes a wine great?

Technically, it’s about attributes such as balance, texture, complexity and ability to age. Older the wine the better the taste.

But this ignores the part that emotion so often plays. Where you were and what you were doing at the time you pressed the glass to your lips.

That last night of a fabulous holiday, a birthday lunch with your closest friends or, in my case, a little moment of magic in a vineyard on the glimmering country side road.

It wasn’t the most promising start, bumping along a dirt road to Heritage winery not long after a huge, disappointing visit to TK falls and then a straight 60km ride on Mysore road completely famished after a marathon run. With each twist and lurch, the sun standing right up in the sky refusing to slunk a little lower and the breeze showing no mercy.

I remember constantly asking my friend, who being the official google map guide to us, how many km more, every 20 min. It started from 60 went down to 36 and then 17, followed by 11, then 6 and finally a 4 km ride on a bumpy non-tared road to reach our destination. When we finally reached our destination, there was a feeling of excitement, one of it being the happiness of reaching the destination but more coz of the exploration and wine tasting i get to do here. 

I am a food freak- a nerd for new information, a hobbyist  for petty details, and a lover for food and drinks, which is why I forced a couple of my non-wine drinkers to accompany me for this tour. I came back a little wiser and a little more drunk than I expected **wink wink**.  If you are a wine connoisseur or a wine pundit this blog will not intrigue you. But if you are just a rookie in all this and love drinking wine, like me, then head on and read the write-up.

Heritage winery is an Indian branded wine known for its white and red wine. This vineyard is located on Bangalore-Mysore road, a little after Ramnagaram, approximately 70km rode from Bangalore. It’s a 4 km ride from the highway on the country side road lushed with greenery.Heritage Winery is spread across 10 acres of land with 5 acres divided as vineyard and factory each. They have a total of 26 acres of vineyard which is spread across Karnataka, with Bijapur being one of the most important one. Most of the grapes are shipped from Bijapur to this location for processing. 

We were lucky to have a quick to tour of the winery to understand the wine making process before we sat down for wine tasting. It will please you to know that I was paying apt attention on the making process but I feel missing out on a lot of parts, so I did lift out the making process from google for accuracy!

WINE MAKING:

1.     White wine:

White wine can be made with either white or red grapes. The major difference between white and red wine is that white wines are fermented without the grape skins. First the grapes are pressed off the skins and the sweet grape juice is collected in vats to be fermented into wine. White wines are typically fermented much cooler than red wines. This is to preserve the fresh fruity flavors. During this time the 2 parts sugar ferments into 1 part alcohol. The higher the sugar content of the juice the higher the resulting alcohol level. This is followed by oaking and malolactic conversion(MLF). Oaking white wine adds flavors. MLF adds a creaminess to white wine. These 2 processes take time and cost extra money for the winery, that’s why oaky wines tend to be more expensive. White wines are almost always filtered before bottling.

2.     Red wine:

Red wine is made from red grapes. Wine grapes are usually destemmed to reduce harsh vegetal-tasting tannin. Then the grapes are crushed and put into an environment that is conducive for yeast to thrive. Red wines get their deep color from being fermented with the skins. The fermentation starts when a yeast culture grows and consumes the available sugar and turns it into alcohol. There are many different kinds of yeast strains that either happen naturally or are added  to control the flavor. Red wines are typically fermented at warmer temperatures than white wines. Also, red wines are usually fermented until all the sugar is consumed, creating a dry wine. Red wines age for anywhere from 4 months to 4 years before being bottled. During aging, ‘fining’ often occurs to make the wine clear. After fining, filtration happens and the wine gets bottled. Some red wines are not fined or filtered to add more body. Unfiltered wines should be decanted before drinking.

They have some top notch world class equipment’s for processing, fermentation and storage purposes, stainless steels huge barrels meant for various purposes chilled at very cold temperature. These guys bottle the wine only when there is requirement in the market, till then the wine is preserved in oaks.

                                                                      WINE MAKING FACTORY

After uploading all this information into our brains and a variety of questions and ho-haa’s we headed back for wine tasting. The guide for our evening brought in 5 different wines for tasting.

HOW TO TASTE WINE:

There is a technique to drink wine after being poured into the glass. First we need to ‘orbital shake’ the glass; this action churns the liquid as it travels, drawing in oxygen from the air and intensifying the wine aroma or bouquet. After the shake, take a sip from the glass, roll the wine around in your mouth exposing it to all of your taste buds. You will only be able to detect sweet, sour, salty, bitter and umami. Pay attention to the texture and other tactile sensations such as an apparent sense of weight or body, the burning sensation, friziness etc. Spit the wine into a spittoon if you are planning to taste lots of wine. If you consume the alcohol, this might cloud your tasting ability. If you're driving, you should definitely use the spittoon.

The process is usually sip->swoosh->spit.

WINE TASTING:

1.     White wine: We started with white wine, which personally is not my fav, given the past experience. This particular white wine was served to us chilled and tasted quite good. I finished it in 2 straight sips which speaks for itself.

2.     Cabernet Sauvignon : Next we tried Cabernet Sauvignon, this is usually served in huge base glasses like burgundy to let it swirl more. Tasting notes: Deep ruby red colour with an intense nose of red and black berries and a hint of spice. This medium bodied wine has mouth filling juicy fruit and silky tannins ending in a long lingering finish.

3.     Shiraz:  Tasting notes: Medium ruby red colour. The nose is reminiscent of strawberries, mulberries and red plums with a floral undertone. Spicy flavours well supported by soft ripe tannins resulting in a lengthy after taste.

4.     Dessert wine: Dessert wines sometimes called pudding wines, are sweet wines typically served with dessert. This is a dessert wine which means more sugar is added externally. They go best with enriched gateaux with complex ingredients, dried fruits, chocolates, fresh fruit sorbets and mild cheeses. They have an appreciable roundness and sweetness complementing the alcohol and acidity with a fruity flavor.

5.     Fortified wine: The last one we tried was Fortified wine, also known as sparkling wine or bubbly wine. This wine has CO2 added to it externally to create a frizzy effect, thus increasing the alcohol percentage to 18%. 2 pint of beer= one pint of this wine.  When poured in a glass it sparkles hence the name. It’s a sweet wine and has to be gulped instead of swirling into the mouth. As this wine touches your tongue you will feel fizziness.

                                                                      MIXING CO2 TO MAKE FORTIFIED WINE

Few EPHEMERA:

1.     300 ml of wine daily is the healthy, more than that its harmful for body.

2.     An opened bottle of wine non-cork has to be finished in 3 days and corked to be finished in 6 days tops.

3.     Any wine bottle to be stored in a cool placed preferably in wooden cabinets.

4.     Ideal atmosphere to store wine: Medium humid, cold temperature, away from direct intense light.

5.     Place the bottle tilted: This allows the cork to maintain partial contact with the wine in order to stay damp but also keeps the air bubble formed by a wine's ullage at the top rather than in the middle of the bottle if the wine is lying on its side.

6.     Maximum years a wine bottle can be left unopened -> 5yrs.

7.     100% alcohol (ethanol) can cause the immediate death of a person.

In the golden light of the late afternoon sun, the Heritage winery was a great wine.

Would I feel the same way were I to drink another glass on another day in bangalore day? I doubt it.

I suspect I’d still like it, however.

Environment and experience will never turn a bad wine into a good one. But it can turn a good wine into a great one.

With that it me Manju signing out, hoping to come back with more blogs. Sayonara for now!