Another day in paradise!!!

India

06 August to 08August 2009

E2

All small beginnings result in magnificent endings, but please be patient and join me on a wine journey. I call it E2 , Enoteca Experience. The term holds a wealth of meaning and knowledge. The term won acclaim at our wine training session with Magandeep Singh, Sommelier/wine writer/consultant/TV host. (For more information, which we cannot put in this article, Magan has quite a lot to say for himself-- in his site).

E2 required us to free our senses and call upon the memory of all the colors we have ever known, all the smells we have ever smelt and use all the English we have ever learnt!
Daunting? Not at all- not when you have fine wines for company.

The three day affair saw us flirt with fourteen wines, as they stirred up our imagination to dream of flowers, fruits, berries, wood, soil, tar, sulphur… Need I explain further?

In the beginning, Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay demanded distinction as we squeezed our minds to think of flattering adjectives to do them justice. Pale yellow or Golden Yellow or Deep Yellow, with a sweet aroma and sour and acidic taste. We did say they were dry (just like our descriptions).
I regret to say, but similarly the Gamay and Shiraz did not pull much out of our minds either. Of course, most of us blamed the wine, but Magan knew it was not the wine that had failed!

On the second day, the sommelier pushed us further with seven grand wines,( he will admit that it is the finest collection he has been presented with, at a training class at Taj), here I will thank M Ray, the all encompassing Food and Beverage manager and dear Carolyn, The Wine Cellar Caretaker!
With acknowledgements given, we were cruising through Pinot Grigio, Riesling, Gewürztraminer and a Chablis and the praises got better. “Gold tints with floral notes, Sun yellow with crystalline clarity and a sharp acidic attack.” “ A wine that is charming and great company at the beginning of the meal.”
It was a day that I will not forget easily, with the spicy bouquet and amplified attack of the Amarone, nor the deep red ruby and complex nose of vanilla and cherry of the Toar Masi.

Magan with his wry humor and wise cracks pushed us, as we broke limits and released a torrent of perceptions. I would like to think that we did our wines and the wine trainer proud, with our colorful language (not the type you are thinking, at the Taj Coromandel we are very decent people).

The evening before our last day, Magan was very secretive and conspired with Kaustuv, Assistant Food and Beverage Manager/ wine connoisseur/ wine writer/ critic. (For more information, sorry as he does not have a site, you can always call him to find out). I was excited, I love surprises. But with Magan, you never know- you be could be in for a shock!

We assembled at the stated time with our notes, wine tasting sheet and pencils. Behold! What do you know; we were in for a feast with assorted dishes on display. There were four wines, naked with no label. Magan asked us to blind taste the wines. Blind taste, what is that? I wonder who came up with that name. It’s highly inaccurate, I could completely and in total perfection see the wine, I was drinking, oops, sorry tasting (that, I believe is the appropriate term in such forums).

Our taste buds blossomed under the influence of two whites and two reds. We scribbled “light straw, crystalline rim, golden glow, and limpid rim, orange hue, dense”with“lemony, melon, caramel, and cherry, spicy, complex” olfactory perceptions and “a mild attack, refreshingly dry, crisp, smooth and rich”. Who would have thought a mixed bunch of Indians, tasting BLIND would come up with all that (and there was a lot more, though lack of space prohibited explicit writing).
If you recall, I mentioned a Buffet spread; Magan politely requested us to pick up portions and slowly and diligently pair the wine with the food. It was an arduous task, especially when the wine refused to cooperate with the food or vice versa.

Here, I would to make a special mention of a statement that Magan will go over, again and again and again…

“Wine tasting is an art not a science”

There are no absolute answers, it is highly perceptive.
We discovered the truthfulness in that petite statement that day. All of us would marry one wine with completely different foods.
We would also learn that though there is no definitive truth, majority would count. For instance the majority asserted that the second white embellished the Fish Malhak, where as if I had a basin I would have spat, alas I forced the combination down my throat for niceties sake.

In the end, Magan revealed the names, Sauvignon Banc, Cakebread Cellars. A Chilean Montesa Chardonnay. A Beaujolais. A Wolf Blass Yellow Label Merlot. A surprise definitely, well I guess Magan decided he wanted to be nice to us that day, for all the hard work we put in.

The sommelier enriched our E2 , and we lent him our minds and gave him an insight into our imagination. Dear Magan, thank you for visiting Taj Coromandel.

Magnificent End.