SDU’s Reserva range

Winning a competition is always fun. More fun when you can beat guys bigger and older than you, right? So that’s the kind of feeling that overwhelmed SDU winery, when after Mumbai Wine Club’s all-Indian competition, Selection of India’s Finest Wines, a fortnight ago, eight Indian wine experts voted their Reserva Syrah 2012 India’s best wine. The cherry on the cake was that the young boutique winery scooped up 3 more wins in India’s Top 25: their Reserva Chardonnay 2012 came in at seventh place, and two of their entry level Deva brands, the Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay, came in at numbers 16 and 19. A total of 83 wines were tasted in a two-day exercise at Mumbai’s Royal Bombay Yacht Club.

SDU Winery is just two years old: they launched their Deva brand in 2012 and added three Reserva wines some time ago. So that makes the victory even sweeter, says SDU business head Mohit Nischol. Their visiting Italian winemaker, Andrea Valentinuzzi is thrilled as well, he adds. “We sent six wines, three from our Deva range, and three Reservas. I was always confident they would do well, that SDU would go places, but we didn’t expect to win!” The company is owned by Bangalore-based Shaambhavi Hingorani.

SDU’s Deva wines are meant to be pocket friendly (Rs 500 or $8),
made in an easy drinking style. Their recently launched Reserva range – oak aged Chardonnay, Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon, impressed me (particularly the first two) when I tasted them at the Bangalore Wine Club’s Indian Wine Village a few months ago. “These wines are for drinkers who know their wines, and are ready to spend a little more,” adds Nischol. The Reservas are priced at Rs 800-900 ($13-14). (more…)