Fratelli’s new passion has a name: J’NOON

Fratelli launches India’s most expensive, limited edition wines with a splashy three-city launch in India.

Up next: launches in the United States and the UK. The J’NOON red is India’s first €50 wine

Launched in grand style, the latest entry into India’s limited edition wine category is J’NOON by Fratelli, India’s second largest wine brand in India. If J’NOON (meaning passion or obsession), in all caps with apostrophes et al sounds très French, it is because it has a  high-profile French connection. Fratelli has collaborated with international wine producer and Indophile Jean-Charles Boisset (whose is already importing part of his extensive portfolio of French and American wines into India through Fratelli) to produce three J’NOON wines, made from grapes grown by Fratelli in its vineyards.

The bottles are stark black and gold, their design minimalistic. There is a white wine (a 60/40 barrel-fermented Chardonnay-Sauvignon Blanc), a red (24-month oak barrel and tank-fermented Cabernet Sauvignon with Marselan/Petit Verdot and some Sangiovese, in a style reminiscent of a Bordeaux red wine) and a sparkling wine called JCB No.47 in honour of the year of India’s independence. The trio are India’s most expensive wines in their categories.

The glittering week-long multi-city launch celebrations done, Fratelli is back to business as usual. I took the opportunity to catch up with co-founder andowner of Fratelli, Kapil Sekhri for a quick Q & A and ask him more about J’NOON.

Tell me about J’NOON’s raison d’être. Why did you make only 2400 bottles only per label? Where does J’NOON fit in the Fratelli portfolio and is this be a one-off production or will it be vintage specific?

It was a name which came naturally to both Jean-Charles and me. We both have set an audacious goal to make people globally take notice of Indian wine, and the name fits in perfectly with the emotions we feel. We want to start small, as it is important for us to attract the right audience and not come under sales pressure. However, we do plan to increase the quantity gradually with each passing vintage.

At the launch, Jean-Charles Boisset described how the concept all came together one evening at the winery – fairly spontaneous by the look of things. May I ask you how it all developed? And were you confident that your grapes in Akluj, Maharashtra would deliver this French-style wine in such a  vastly different terroir?

We were not confident at all. The idea was just to show JC what Fratelli has done so far and the potential it holds going forward. The diversity and complexity of the soil topped up with the hot climate were, I think, the factors that got him excited.

 I would like to hear your personal views on the three wines. If you had to open one on an evening to offer a special guest, which one would you pick?

I will pick more than one guest and open all three, preferably.

Each wine is very different and I love my sparkling, white and red wines. The one I would pick for a particular evening would depend upon more on the climate, occasion and food.

In India, I am more frequently into white wines so maybe that’s what I would open more often.

Piero Masi and JCB. Both very different individual winemakers with their own styles of making wines for Fratelli. At Fratelli, how do you pick your collaborations for making wines?

Piero is the creator of Fratelli – his handwriting, his stamp, is in each and every corner of the vineyards. All of us, including  Piero, are ecstatic at the collaboration with JCB.

Let’s talk about the international perception of Indian wines. Fratelli has been increasingly present in events and shows abroad. Have you seen changes in viewpoints? Some recognition of growing quality, perhaps?

The perception about Indian wine needs to change first in India. We still have many wine drinkers who don’t buy, drink, serve or gift Indian wines. We need to give them the confidence to do so.

Internationally, it is changing and we hope J’NOON will become a catalyst to that.

Tell me in your own words where Fratelli stands today, 11 years on. Are you happy with its growth or would you, in hindsight, have done things differently?

Am very happy with the way things stand at Fratelli today. If I start looking into the past then all I am doing is missing on planning the future. Let’s live in present and look into the future.

 

J’NOON wines are available on request. Contact Abhishek Haryson at aharyson@fratelliwines.in or contact your local Fratelli agent.

J’NOON JCB No.47 Indian sparkling wine Rs 3500 or €44 (750ml)

J’NOON white wine: Rs 2500 or €30 (750ml)

J’NOON red wine: Rs 4000 or €50 (750ml)

For images from the launch parties in Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru, see the Wine Society page on this website.