Posada Del Rey - Vino Tinto

Ah! Now that’s what I call a good wine. From the first sip to the last it was a smooth and lovely wine. The moment I opened the bottle the first whiff was an ‘Aha!’ moment. The first whiff also told me that this one needed to breathe for a bit before you could enjoy it.

So having poured the barest minimum to keep me going, I left the bottle open on the table so it would take in the much needed oxygen to get to an optimum level of taste.

So, while we let the wine breathe, let me tell you where this was. We had all gone to a lovely resort called swarga. (www.swarga.in).

A glimpse of what the resort has to offer

It is not really what you would expect from a resort in the traditional sense. It is not meant for those looking for a 5 star holiday, if you are among them feel free to skip the next two paras. This resort has 6 dogs, 1 horse and a few cows roaming around in the living space. There are only a handful of rooms so it is unlikely to be overrun by noisy boisterous guests (unless my family is there of course). It is a basic place from the comfort perspective. But what it lacks in the comfort zone it more than makes up with the host – Chirag, a gem of a chap. He is the owner of this resort along with 650 acres of coffee estate. For someone who owns that much in real estate he is really down to earth and extremely friendly. What was most amazing was the way he kept answering all the questions our kids posed him non-stop.

Now to come to the most important part, he was 'ok' with us popping open our own bottles in the dining space and sitting there to have a good time. He was also kind enough to join us for a round or two. So, now with the background and locale well established, let us get back to the wine.

So, the wine breathed on its own for a while, half an hour to 45 minutes tops. At home this would have been done in a stylish decanter, but there it had to be in the bottle.

Once it had breathed, it really opened up. The color was a lovely dark red, burgundy. It had a very smooth texture, it was not full-bodied, quite light in fact. The taste was sweetish. It was just on the edge of sweet and slightly spicy towards the back end of the sip. All through, the wine was simply nice. Alcohol content was at 13.5% not too bold and not too low either.

So what wine is this ? This comes from the region of Spain which makes the Rioja. The Spanish wine control laws mean only a certain part of the harvest is used for Rioja. The surplus is used to make other wines one of which is the Posada Del Rey – Vino Tinto. So, basically it is the same grapes as the Rioja but without the word Rioja written on the label. This particular one is also not Oak aged, so it is missing some of the typically Oaky whiffs. In this case it is a blessing in disguise. The wine tastes fresh and not very dry or tanniny. It does not leave you feeling like you need to drink a gallon of water which a well-aged Rioja might actually make you do.

All in all, I completely recommend this wine. I got mine from the Wine Society of India. Excellent stuff delivered straight to the home. At 1,250.00 it is a tad pricey considering that it is about $12 in the US but then we all know why that is so. We need to do our best to fill the demand supply gap so the prices can correct themselves, please go buy a bottle or three and make your contributions to the cause.

Plug Alert!! Just by the way folks, I have a couple of the wine society coupons which you could use to get some freebies if you become members, of course yours truly will get a free bottle too. Please write to me if you want to use one of these. 

Review - Myra Cabernet Sauvignon - Wine from the Bijapur area of Karnataka

The Myra Cabernet Sauvignon 

A few days ago a couple of old buddies and I got together at the pub in Woodrose club, this is alongside Brigade Millenium, J P Nagar 7^th Ph. (just in case you really wanted to know)

So, I checked with the waiter what wine they had, the menu promised Hardy’s and Big Banyan but predictably they were both out of stock. Then he showed me a bottle of Myra - Cabernet Sauvignon. This was the first time I had come across this brand. It was a new one and doing very well the waiter informed. Well I said, “bring it on, let’s have a glass of this one”.

Shortly, I got a glass of red wine. I had a sniff and a sip. It seemed a bit off. Another little sip told me it was definitely not in the pink of health.

Approach bar tender.

He promptly smiles and shows me the bottle from which he has poured this one. It is a different one to the one I was shown. This is an open bottle of Myra - Shiraz.

“So, why did you show me one and pour the other”, I ask. 

Just for the record, I have a friendly tone and we are speaking in Kannada. 

He says, “there are two kinds of wine we have, red and white. You asked for red and I poured you a glass of red”

Good enough explanation. “Well, since when is the bottle open?”

“Two days only, we have been told we can keep it for one week. ”

“hmmm, how do you store it ?”

“Just here behind the bar. White wine we store in the fridge, Red is kept outside only”

I then proceed to explain that the wine he served me has gone bad, also point out the labels and show that the two bottles of Red wine are different. He nods politely (I am sure he thinks I am an idiot)

Anyway, he is kind enough to take the glass back and serves me from the fresh bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon. In return we take the whole bottle instead of by a glass. It is quite reasonably priced.

So much for the pre-amble.

Now as the photo shows, this wine is from near Bijapur. This area has been in the news the last couple of years having been promoted by the Karnataka government as a favorable area for wine production. Apparently there is a wine park there too.

Back to the wine in question, Myra – Cabernet Sauvignon – produced and bottled by Nisarga Vineyards

They do have a website - http://www.myravineyards.com/home.html#!/

This is a little complex, the brand Myra is based in Bangalore and the people who made this particular wine, Nisarga Vineyards are based near Bijapur and they are a farmer’s cooperative. The bottle claims that it was manufactured and bottled by Nisarga. So, not sure where Myra come in other than to market it.

The website gives us names of three gentlemen, one who started the company and the other two are experts on wine. The notes that go with the particular wines are not much at all. Funnily enough the note against the Cab on the site is exactly the same as the words on the back of the bottle I had in hand. Not much in terms of tasting notes on the site.

None of this is very confidence inspiring in the brand.

Enough about the organization, now let’s talk about the wine.

In terms of sniffing it, there was not much to be said really, smelt like cheap wine :-) . Did not seem to have any subtlety at all. 

The taste was even less to talk about.

Absolutely flat, not a hint of complexity. The tannins were present in all their splendor, you could practically taste the oak cask in which it was probably stored for a short while. Or do they just add something in to the wine to give it a sense of having been in an oak cask. Ideally this one should have spent a couple of years in that cask by which time it would have mellowed and probably some of the oak taste would have receded in to the background allowing the grape taste to come forward. It would have also developed some complexity. No such luck. This was aged with the clear intent of a quick entry in to the market.

Of course, a smarter person would have steered clear of any cabernet sauvignon which is less than a 2-3 years old. It is general wisdom to wait for the wine to mature and acquire some complexity of taste. In this case, the wine did not have the opportunity to age enough at all. 

The wine was flat and too full of tannins for my liking, we did go through the bottle, but that's only because we are value-conscious. :-)

In summary, for the present I would steer well clear of the Myra Red wines.

On a side note, if you are in the Woodrose, just buy a bottle of wine, it is very reasonably priced and better than having a glass from a bottle opened two days ago. While there, you should also go for the egg pakodas there, recommended. Would have gone well with a good wine I am sure.