Guests listen to John Taylor introduce his wines

Bangalore’s cool evenings are perfect for an evening of food and wine. In this case the wines were from Tapestry, the boutique McLaren Vale winery in Australia. John Taylor, marketing head for Tapestry, had made the long trek to India to introduce three wines from their portfolio.

The Tapestry Chardonnay 2009

The Tapestry Shiraz 2009 is a familiar wine with Bangalore Shiraz lovers, full-bodied and with a long finish. The Tapestry Chardonnay 2009 is light yet very nicely fruity, with the 9 months it had spent in French oak giving it a discernable but not overwhelming toastiness. The Tapestry Cabernet Sauvignon 2010 was quite the revelation, with an unusually intensely minty forenote leading to notes of black fruits, balanced tannins and a long finish. This is the one they consider their star, though the Shiraz is their most popular. All three at some point, had garnered 90 points plus from Wine Spectator for varying vintages.

John Taylor of Tapestry wines at the dinner

Taylor explained how their Baker’s Gully vineyards were higher, and so the vines were treated to cool breezes from the sea. The Chardonnay was harvested at nights in February, a hot month in Australia, when the temperatures dropped to 12 degrees. “This has been a traditional fruit and olive growing area,” says Taylor, “A fruit bowl. Tapestry doesn’t claim to be organic, but we try and minimize the use of chemicals wherever we can.” Their range is headed by their reserves, but those do not happen every year, only the best ones. Tapestry wines will soon be available at leading retailers, and in Mumbai from winekart.com.