Wine o’clock – “A lush legacy”
Activity conducted by Future & Sharp Club, FHM, AGI. Article contributed by Dr. Savita Upreti, Assistant Professor (FHM) and Deepak Pandey, Student (BHM KU 7th Sem A batch FHM )
Honestly I got clipped to the screen as I heard some serious business en-route the router. A gnarly drink and talk on it is all a non hotelier would think when the words red wine, white wine, sommelier, and above it a knowledge booster session swirl the senses. And I a lone waiter and receiver of all the inputs sat to attend the session.
Seriously, I confused Sommelier to a man from Somalia and wine for me represents Christianity through my basic education and a session is a communicative grasp for blogs, events and other write-ups, only the lust for knowledge keeps things moving in the arena of my mind.
Mam, ‘You must be joking.’
‘No, I am not, Deepak Pandey.’
‘Seriously Mam, please share more of your experience of the session.’
Then the doors to the outside world with a click on a link and Mr. Sanjay Singh, Beverage Manager, Anantara Hotels and Resorts, Muscat Oman was there for a Knowledge Booster online session. Now it is your turn to share this experience as you were also there.
Mr. Sanjay Singh took us to an entirely different world of Sommeliers and his experience with the grapes and their variety added substance to the theoretical knowledge gained in class. The way he toyed with the term grapes as ripe, unripe, slightly ripe, long and short grapes was a sensation as classy as wine itself. The predominance of Italy and Greece as wine making countries was no more a geographical area for the listeners and the climate ceased to exist as book knowledge and the paradigm shift to reality occurred as the learned Sommelier introduced touched different areas of the topic with his personal experience.
‘Yes, I totally agree with you’.
I liked the menu setups with the geographical areas projected through the slides. The advent to a new world is the nascence of the work. The geography gives knowledge of the type of grapes suited to the area and it appearing with the name of the wine and the food pairing was just the best way to learn things easily. It made great sense. The ignorant to the knowledgeable and the one already experienced in the art, all benefited from the presentation.
From the Sparkling Wine, that the guest may ask for to the Brut Champagne were not mere starters of the talk but lots more. The talk then rolled to the wine making through the traditional method or methode traditionelle, Methode Cape classique,and festi methode and were all exciting as one generally expects a barrel and lots of grapes to ferment when it comes to wine making. The various wines as Savignon Blanc extracted with grapes from Sancerre France, Marlborough, New Zealand, and it’s very fresh, light and crisp taste like gooseberry, lemon and cut grass was added knowledge with relinquishing it with Shellfish, Crab, lobster, and light pasta dish, Oyster, Sushi, goat cheese, all these were not mere dash of knowledge, it was enormous awareness.
Let’s catch up with a few more shares
Chardonnay from Brugundy, France pairs with grilled white fish, Risotto, Poultry, and Sea food.
Riesling from Alsace, Franc, can be served when the taste buds long for Oyster, sea food, sushi, shellfish, and Thai Cuisine.
Pinot Grigio /Pinot Gris blends well with white sauce pasta dish, poultry, pork, hard and aged cheese.
So went the list far and wide of the wine lovers and foodies of the globe throughout the globe.
Vegan word for Wine was an exclusive inclusion through the session and tingled the senses of many when the question hour broke the silence to inquiry and the audience was told that yes, there is no vegan wine that contains Isinglass and eggs to clarify it.
The interactions brought many more clarifications to the fore-front. Let’s take a glance:
Q1-What are your new experiences as a sommelier?
Dubai is not a wine selling country so it is a rich experience. It is considered a prestigious act where people look at sommeliers with pride.
Q2-What do we add in fortified wines?
Brandy, sherry are used to fortify wines. It all depends on the character of the wine.
Q3) Is it true that we age red wines and not white wines? Why do we age them?
No, both red and white wines are aged. Red wine being harsher to the pallet is aged more than white one. It mellows or softens the wine. Young wines are not so harsh so they are not aged.
Q4) Sir, can you give us a few tips on how to develop our tasting buds for wines.
Laughs! ‘The more you practice, the more you learn’ notion holds true here too. You cannot develop without learning and here learning is frequent tasting. Also one has to have a keen sense of using all the sense organs, eyes to mark the color of wine, nose to sniff the aroma as pungent or soft and pallet to taste and recognize the different wines.
Laughs! ‘The more you practice, the more you learn’ notion holds true here too. You cannot develop without learning and here learning is frequent tasting. Also one has to have a keen sense of using all the sense organs, eyes to mark the color of wine, nose to sniff the aroma as pungent or soft and pallet to taste and recognize the different wines.
Do-not gulp it –Sommeliers- stay aware!
Q5) Sir, can you tell us something about wines with maximum alcohol percentage?
Yes, why not. The alcohol percentages of wines depend on the sugar level of grapes. Grapes dried on straw mat are more sugary and have better percentage of alcohol. Amarone della Valpolicella is undoubtedly one of the most intense red wines in the world. On the palate the Amarone is seductively sweet and spicy; at the same time it is also a dry, fully fermented wine.
Q6) Sir, we have enjoyed this session held by the Future and Sharp Club, but as the year comes to the close, I heard one of the faculties talking of New Year resolutions to the fresher’s. Can you share your resolution with us?
Resolutions you see are both personal and professional. At the personal front I want to move around different countries and see the winery there to get more first-hand learning. Well, at the professional level, I would definitely like to take a tough challenge of perusing my advance course from Hong Kong and enhance my knowledge.
It was an exciting session and the thoughts still resonate on my mind.
A Wow! to the Food and Beverage genius.
The story of wine continues with its richness of taste.