Sometimes, to enjoy a meal, you need stark contrast in flavours. This is understandably a key point in wine-pairing the courses on a lunch menu. So when Tim Hermann, a wine connoisseur from Australia, stopped over for a day at The Taj Coromandel as part of his India visit, his selection of wines to pair with Prego’s cuisine was perfect. His objective was simple — to heighten and enjoy the flavours of every dish at the table, using the wine.
Hermann, the regional sales manager-Asia Pacific of Negociants International, exporters of Australia’s oldest family-owned winery – Yalumba, had already visited Delhi and Mumbai on his trip.
In Chennai, on opening the first wine, a Viognier (2011), he remarked, “While training the staff at the Taj about how to handle wine, I was surprised by the knowledge of wine in Indian hotels.” He added with laugh, “There are some countries where you need to start from scratch with a wine 101 class, but this market (India) is doing very well for us.”
With three wines for tasting, the wine journey traversed several complex layers of flavouring. The Viognier was citrus with a hint of cinnamon, and maybe even a subtle taste of honey suckle. This will go well with Chicken tikka, as a person commented, to his amusement. On this occasion though, it was served alongside delicious fritters of salmon and foie gras (made from the liver of duck). Next, it was time for The Cigar (2009), a red wine rich with oaky aroma and mulberries. “In Australia, we like the oaky component, but we allow the fruit to tell the story,” Hermann pointed out the more dominant taste on the palate.
The final wine on offering was a dry riesling offering to go with dessert. Though not a traditional dessert wine, The Lodge Hill (2010), Jim Barry wine seemed to wash one’s palate after every forkful of dark chocolate and mango jelly. “It is important to understand what wine you’re drinking with what food,” he explains, “Otherwise, it might appear just pretentious to drink ‘some wine’,” he added. This is why most fine dining restaurants save you the trouble by pairing their food selections with wine for the newbie wine drinker.
Once the dining was dispensed with, the conversation turned to how difficult it is for the average person in Chennai to procure a bottle of good wine, “Perhaps some day it will be available in supermarkets,” ventured Hermann, adding that he would like to visit the wine shop in Spencer Plaza.
“A little birdie told me that you can procure some good wine there, no?” he asked.
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