India Trip

Tue, 19 Feb 2008 21:00:00 GMT

I recently went to India on business. Well, really to Bangalore for business and over to Goa for a bit of R&R. On the way -- and it is a very long way from Portland -- I stopped in Tokyo and Singapore as well. So why not see what wine was available in such places?

Of course the world is a much smaller place than it used to be, so imagine my surprise: finding Oregon Pinot Noir in a bar in Tokyo!

Lo and behold, they had Torii Mor right from the Dundee hills. The funny part was the Japanese presentation. Of course with most things in Japan, the presentation is very important, and apparently wine is no different. In order to actually get a glass of wine, first I had to watch the bartender drink it first. (Was it poisoned?). He carefully retrieved the bottle, and removed the vacuum seal. He then, meticulously poured the wine into a small desert glass. He then proceeded to spin the wine in the glass, lifts it up to his nose, and smells the wine. Finally, after a time, he tastes the wine.

Apparently, it was fine because he then walks over to me, and pours a very small amount for me. In fact the amount was smaller than what he has poured for himself, leaving me to assume I was suppose to taste it too (I speak very little Japanese, but he wasn't talking anyway). However, it turns out that the size of my wine pour -- like most other things in Japan -- is much smaller than in the US. And so what I thought was my "taste" was actually my glass of wine.

We were in a new development in Roppongi called "Midtown". It's basically a mini-city inside of a massive 50 or 60 story building, plus a surrounding complex of smaller buildings. The idea is that you never have to leave for anything: shopping, entertainment, et al. It was there we found an insane wine bar called "Vinoteca".

In typical Japanese fashion, the entrance was over-the-top: not just wall-to-wall wine -- that just wasn't enough -- no, this place even had bottles in the ceiling and floor!

Our next stop after Tokyo was Singapore. Similarly to Japan, most bars in Singapore don't have much of a wine selection, if any at all. But I did have the opportunity to have a glass of wine in the hotel bar.

Despite the fact that the hotel was the Ritz-Carlton, I had a selection of "white" or "red". I was totally jetlagged so white seemed more palatable at the time.

So what "white" does a super-fancy hotel have in Singapore? Gallo Chardonnay! Seriously. Oh, and that's Chihuly glass there in the background.

It was 1am there, and after a day in Tokyo and something close to 8,000 miles of traveling, my body didn't know what time it was and my palette was asleep anyway. Unfortunately I had to fly out of Singapore at 7pm, so dinner was out. So a crummy glass of Gallo is all I had time for.

Next up was India. There, the hotel provided a bottle of wine a night! And the bottle was one of handful of local wines. That was pretty exciting; how on earth would you find such a thing in the States. Unfortunately, but not surprising, the bottle wasn't that good. But then, this is at best a nascent industry for India. Not to mention that the climate -- you're lucky if it's less than 90 degrees -- is not very conducive for wine-making. But you have to give them credit for trying.

I wasn't planning on finding any wine in India at all. So in the Tokyo airport I picked up a couple bottles: a Rosemount GSM 2003, and a St Emilion 1999. It's unfortunate that I opened up the GSM first. In the past, I've had outstanding wine from their GSM, which is a Rhone blend (Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre).

But this bottle was awful. Maybe it was the travel, maybe it was the poor conditions in the Tokyo airport. Whatever the case, the wine was not enjoyable. The second unfortunate bit was that, in the end, I didn't have an opportunity to drink the St Emilion. So I left it with a friend in India -- not that they tend to enjoy wine all that much (many don't drink alcohol at all) -- rather than try and transport it all the way back to Portland. So no luck with the Bordeaux in Bangalore. Maybe next time.

Grover Vineyards, La Reserve, 2005

Wed, 13 Feb 2008 05:00:00 GMT

Smell: Musty/mossy. Plum, slightly sweet

Taste: Oak, plum, cinnamon.

Finish: Bark, wood, apple-dryness (not strong), slightly bitter

Cost:

Rating: 4.5

(Cabernet Savignon and Syrah blend)

Decanterberry Tales - A Willamette Valley Wine Blog - india tag

India Trip

Grover Vineyards, La Reserve, 2005