The Bangalore Wine Club, as many know, is India’s oldest wine club, with a newly-formed committee each year that puts together a variety of events for its 150 members, from formal sit-down dinners to picnic brunches and winery visits. This September, the BWC decided to revive a popular concept Indian wine-centric event after a gap of four years. The event, called the Indian Wine Village is aimed to showcase prominent Indian wine companies’ products and new launches, and there is no better way, to my mind, to see the distance travelled by the Indian wine industry in terms of growing portfolios and new wine launches.

This edition of the Indian Wine Village was held on a cloudy Sunday afternoon at the 5-star, ITC Gardenia, on its spacious upper floor terrace garden. Twelve of the top Indian wine companies participated in the event. The relaxed format meant you could stroll around the stalls sipping and tasting whichever wine you fancied from the nearly 60 wines on display, starting with sparkling, and ending with dessert wines. There was also a sumptuous lunch laid out, from cold salads to paella, Singapore chicken to baby galouti kebabs with blue cheese naans.

The Bangalore weather decided to show us its full range during the course of the afternoon, so cloudy skies suddenly turned dark, the bright sunshine was interrupted by strong winds (alas, many wine glasses were lost, swept off the counters with the gusts), followed by a brief sharp shower and then the sun shone again. Of course, most wine lovers continued their sipping and swirling, quite undeterred by the vagaries of the weather.

The wine companies on show that afternoon were both established and new, young and older: Sula, Grover Zampa, Charosa (a new winery in Nashisk, Maharashtra), Big Banyan, Fratelli, Chandon India, Myra, SDU Deva, Four Seasons, Turning Point, KRSMA, Nine Hills by Pernod Ricard. (more…)