Wine Sommeliers & Professionals Meet at Sofitel Mumbai BKC

Sofitel Mumbai BKC and the brand consultancy firm Flipsydee recently organized the 1^st Wine Sommeliers and Professionals Meet. The event curated and conducted by sommelier Sagar Nath was an interesting informal affair where wine writers and hospitality professionals mingled and tasted wines from the portfolio of Flipsydee. “Sofitel intends to conduct more such tasting sessions for the wine professionals on regular intervals”, said, Sagar Nath who closed the session with an interesting round of wine quiz.

 The 4 wines presented at the tasting were: –

Ferrari Brut Rose NV (60% Pinot Nero and 40% Chardonnay) (Non-vintage sparkling wine)

Beautiful salmon pink in colour with floral notes, small bubbles, crisp and sharp on the palate but with kind of a short, hallow finish. The wine follows production ‘le methode Champenoise’. Perfect for serving at Sunday brunches. Price Rs 5500/-  Coming from the house of Ferrari in Italy’s Trentino-Alto Adige region, this celebratory sparkling wine has just entered the Indian market. The company plans to launch a number of Ferrari lounges in the country this year.

Bigi Orvieto Classico 2013 (50% Trebbiano, 20% Grechetto, 10% Verdello, 10% Malvasia and 10% Drupeggio) Pale gold colour, citrus, mild flowers, peach on the nose and light bodied, medium acidity on the palate with a short finish. Easy drinking. A typical orvieto wine. Preferred with salads or mild cheese, apt for a summer afternoon. Price Rs 1760/- This DOC wine comes from Umbria, Italy. Most striking part about the wine is the unique shape of the bottle which surely makes it stand out.

Brotte La fiole du Pape, Chateauneuf-du-Pape (Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre, Cinsault)

Non-vintage. A wine blended from different vintages and bottled in a specially designed bottle, Brotte’s La Fiole du Pape is light bodied, low tannin, low acidity wine. The wine that we tasted is at its peak and ideally should be enjoyed within few months. Price Rs 5000/- The interesting story behind the French wine from southern Rhone valley is the shape of the bottle (an incident of fire in the wine cellar in 1952 resulted in peculiar shape of the bottles and the company decided to retain the same shape and texture for all its bottles from the particular winery) and the Brotte family has made this wine one of the highest selling Chateauneuf du Pape wines.

Col D’Orcia, Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2008 (Sangiovese)   The deep ruby red coloured with has complex and elegant bouquet with aromas of ripe red fruit, pleasant tannins with a balanced acidity and hint of spices. Long and warm finish. Price is yet to be decided for the retail market but mostly at around Rs5, 800/- The 100% organically produced wine is from Tenuta Col D’Orcia in Montalcino, Tuscany in Italy. The wine has been aged for 3 years in large barrels and 1 year in the bottle.

These wines are marketed in India by Flipsydee.