Organizing a Wine Dinner

As the wine culture in India is rapidly taking momentum, more and more people have started taking their wines seriously. You will find wines being served not only at big lavish parties but also at casual home dinners. You can organize your own wine dinner and make a success of it by following a few guidelines.

The first rule of thumb is to pair your wine well with the kind of food you are serving as the subtle taste of wine can bring out the fine flavors of the food. If you are serving more than one kind of wine with the meal, the general theory is to serve white wines before reds, light wines before heavier and bolder ones, and dry wines prior to sweeter ones.

Every wine lover knows the rule of pairing the meat with red wine and fishes with white wine but when it comes to multi-course Indian cuisine, with its complex flavors of spices and sauces, it becomes a different ballgame altogether. In here, it would be better to consider the manner in which the dish is cooked, which part of the country the dish belongs to, what the key ingredients are and which spices have been used. And finally the key is to trust your own sense of taste and what you think you enjoy the most.

For the aperitifs, serve your guests some dry and refreshing wines. A glass of bubbly (champagne) and sparkling wines with delicate hors d’oeuvres should be ideal to start with. They cleanse the palate and their neat acidity helps in working up the salivary glands. Our Nine Hills Shiraz Rose with its fruity aromas is perfect for appetizers and light entrées.

Red wine is a good match for red meat, barbeques and chicken. Our feisty red wines, Nine Hills Shiraz and Nine Hills Cabernet Sauvignon can stand up to fiery and intense food favoring chilly, garlic and spices.

For lightly spiced vegetarian dishes or sea food, you will do amazingly well by choosing a crisp and delicate white wine like our own Nine Hills Sauvignon Blanc.

And finally, to satiate your sweet tooth, you can serve sweet wines also called dessert wines (as the late harvests have a generous amount of residue sugar in it) as an accompaniment to a dessert or as the dessert itself.

If you are ever in doubt, then champagne is your savior as you can never go wrong with serving champagne. The bubbly sparkling wine pairs tremendously well with most Indian dishes.

Now make a child’s play out of your wine dinner. Bon Appétit!

Nine Hills, Nine Hills Everywhere….

…..and you can drink it too…by the glass!!! For, the floodgates have been opened……

If you live in Gurgaon, Delhi or Ludhiana, or in case you are visiting any of these cities, we have for you a bonanza of offers….

Check out —

• Café Rouge at Ramada, Gurgaon – where you can have a complimentary glass of Nine Hills wine if you plan to go for the buffet there.

• Fern Residency Ecotel hotel, Gurgaon – Enjoy our Special Price of Rs.599 on Nine Hills Pint!!!

• Kipps Store, Ludhiana – You get to take home a Wine Glass complimentary with a bottle of Nine Hills Wine

• Nesh Wine Studio, Ludhiana – Build on your glasses collection when you buy a bottle of Nine Hills Wine. Take home a glass complimentary

• Retail Stores (Spencers, Easy Day, Galleria Market, Trinity, Super Mart), Gurgaon — Get two Wine Glasses complimentary with a bottle of Nine Hills Wine while buying your monthly ration.

• Tonino, MG Road Delhi – Dining at the speciality high-end Italian restaurant? Order a glass of Nine Hills Wine and get a glass complimentary.

• ND Roya Treat, Regent, Blues, United coffee house (Gurgaon) — Order a bottle of Nine Hills Wine and get a complimentary food platter!!!

It, indeed, is Nine Hills everywhere………..Do you have one in your lips?

Wine and Weather

Have you ever been to a restaurant, even speciality ones, and noticed wine bottles being flaunted under light? Frankly, in India, this is quite rampant. Now if you happen to know a thing or two about wine and how to tuck it away properly, the ‘wine-display’ would have left you horrified and chances are that, you would have fought a strong urge to point out the sacrilege to the restaurant management. After all, wine connoisseurs around the world know that strong light can damage wine. Nine Hills’ own master, Jean Manuel Jacquinot, in his inimitable style says, “Wine should be kept in the dark. No UV light for it please…”

OK, no light. And what else? What else should we bear in mind when we buy that bottle of Nine Hill wine and take it home? This question assumes massive significance in the Indian weather conditions, which can be, in one word, summed up as a ‘challenge’ for wines.We deal with extreme heat, fluctuating humidity levels and harsh sunlight every day. Wine therefore, delicate that they are, should be protected from such weather atrocities. Hence, the search for the ideal storage conditions….

So the next time you bring home a Nine Hill, remember to —

• Keep it in a dark place, where
  • The temperature is regulated to as cool as possible
  • It is free of vibration
  • Has high humidity (true for bottles with corks; screw capped bottle do not have this requirement)
  • Does not have strong odours coming in from any source (once again, true for bottle with corks as the smell then permeates into the wine through the cork)
  • Is laid down if corked.

We have all heard the saying, “Wine gets better with age”. Not all of our Nine Hills are best drunk young (from time bottled to about three years from bottling). Hence, take care….

Cheers…

Nine Hills – Introducing JMJ

Well, the French have always claimed their supremacy over the rest of the world in wine-making, nay wine art as they love to call it. As arrogant and vain as this may appear to a discerning non-French person, we cannot really waive off the claims —- for France is really the country which makes great wine. Regardless of the fact that there are various factors that contribute to the end result, every maker in France has his own specified method that adds up as his personal touch in making his wine unique.

One such wizard is Jean Manuel Jacquinot ………he comes from a family that set up their wine business just after the First World War (!!!). Picking up the tricks of the trade from his grand-father and father, Jean grew up amongst vineyard, family wineries and Champagnes. Needless to say that his best schooling happened there; and after his formal university education and projects with numerous projects with wine-companies, he turned into a wine-consultant.

In 2005, he joined Pernod Ricard, erstwhile Seagram India to set up an international quality winery in Nashik, India in order to, in his own words, “be able to create and to develop a complete range of wines”. The first year’s production was a still dry Sauvignon Blanc, a still sweet Chenin Blanc, some reds with Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah. This range has widened now with Shiraz Rose, Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve and Shiraz Reserve joining the list. Jean attributes his success in India to the very progressive farmers who have been able to follow his guidance in viticulture to grow grapes suitable for high quality wines. And, as is obvious, there has been no looking back…..

This much acclaimed wine maestro will be amongst our midst in Mumbai on 17^th June, 2011 and Bangalore on 18^th June, 2011.

Mumbai: A sit-down dinner with JMJ and the invited guests at The Park, Navi Mumbai where each course will be paired with a Nine Hill wine.

Bangalore: Will see and hear more of JMJ…Two events have been planned for the Garden City:

• A relaxed complimentary lunch at  Vivanta by Taj, MG Road in association with Food Lovers Magazine where there shall be grape stomping (!!!), barbeques, live food counters and jazz music.

• Wine Maker’s Dinner to be co-hosted by Chef Abhijit Saha & JMJ at Fava- UB City. This will be a paid dinner @ Rs 1200 for a four course dinner with wines

Also, in Bangalore, Radio Indigo station will run an interview with JMJ Monday morning prime time, 20^th June 2011

Hoping to catch you in your city….join Jean in his passionate affair with grapes.

Nine Hills – Reaching Out

Talk about wine and images that conjure up in your mind can vary from lush green vineyards to glamorous parties attended by glitterati, from beautiful grapes in vines to bottles filled with the fermented juice….

 

In India, wine as a gourmet’s delight has made a late entry probably due to our socio-cultural background. But with the economy opening up and with more disposable income, people have become more liberal and assimilating in their overall outlook. Talk about wine does not silence a gathering anymore or does not bring censure from the elders. In fact, recent times have witnessed a growing desire among all age groups to:

• Know/learn more about wine,
• How it is made,
• Various types available,
• Suitability with food that we eat etc

Sensing this growing interest in wine, Seagrams decided to jump into the social-media bandwagon with its foremost brand of wine, Nine Hills. With designs to bring its customers closer and transform them from being dormant consumers to active audience and critics, Nine Hills has stepped into the world of Facebook and Blogs – http://www.facebook.com/NineHills.Wine and https://ninehillswine.wordpress.com . We aspire to –

• Enhance the whole experience for enthusiasts
• Nudge you to talk about your likes/dislikes,
• Explore and discuss new wines
• Compare tasting notes and more.

In the days ahead, we promise to bring you varied information and experiences on wine, from our vineyard and wineries in particular and the global wine world in general. One such experience that is already on the cards is the wine tasting event organised in Mumbai and Bangalore over this weekend. To be spear-headed by Jean Manuel Jacquinot who has been instrumental in setting up Nine Hills, here will be an opportunity to learn from the master himself.

Hope to see you around!