An Ode to the Old Monk- From an Old Faithful

How do you know in US if the Indian to whose house you have been to is new to alcohol or is a mature drinker, quite like one of the Single malts in his house? Very simple! If he has an Old Monk in his collection, you can take it for granted that he has one in his bar ever since his college days!!

Ask any true blue Indian drinker- more often than not, the very first "real drink" which they had was the ubiquitious Old Monk Rum. As soon as I smell Old Monk , I am immediately taken back to my hostel life in BHU, Old Monk was the elixir of our lives then.

Having travelled across the world and over the years tasting various brands of Rums from across the world, I would still place Old Monk up there among Rums. Although the pugnacious European connoisseur would probably say that it is not really a Triple X Rum, having been aged only 7 years, I would anyday prefer Old Monk over a Bacardi. And if you talk of dark rums- as per me none comes anywhere near it in taste and aroma. The high which it gives is not something which a normal bacardi drinker would identify with- it is for old monkers to savour.

The shape of the bottle gives it a distinct character and adds to its cult status among the Indian rum drinkers. Ask any of its followers to change the shape of the Old Monk Bottle- they would rather change the shape of their heart rather than change the shape of the bottle.

Guys, No prize for guessing, but if you have a yearning for Old Monk and all the bars are closed in the city, you know where to head to- My Home Bar!

Vintage India- a Brief on Indian Wine World

There was a time in not so distant past when wine was considered to be a misfit in an Indian Bar. You could find a Whiskey (most commonly), a Rum (Old monk!) or a Vodka, but if you asked about a bottle of wine, chances were there your query would be met with a puzzled look-the "are you nuts?" look!!

Times change and so do the taste of the people. Increasingly (the trend has shown a healthy growth in the last five years) it is being seen that wine has been finding its way into the personal bars of the Indians. The trend started down South in Bangalore, almost simultaneously spread to the Mumbai/Pune/Nasik then to Hyderabad and is now more seen in NCR, Chandigarh areas. It is not a coincidence that Wine drinking has followed the growth of young industries like IT, computers, media etc. It logically follows that wine drinking is least developed in the Eastern India.

Before the wine drinking took shape in Indian cities, the first city where wine drinking developed as a local culture was not surprisingly Goa. The Portugese when they came to Goa brought their favourite wine, Port wine, to Goa. Still today if you go to any local wine shop in Goa, you will see bottles of Port Wine lined up in the shop. Tourists, especially the Indian tourists from other parts of India generally don't forget to take back bottles of Port wine (besides the other famous drink of Goa- Feni) with them. Vineyard were also devleoped by the British in the slopes of Himachal, Punjab and Uttaranchal areas but these were more serving some niche reuqirements of British during the British rule.

Among the modern wines, the first vinyard to be developed and marketed successfully was
Indage Vintners (formerly known as Chateau Indage) who bought and developed its vineyard in Narayangaon in 1982, but this was essentially an export oriented setup, exporting all its products initially. It started its jouney as Champagne Vineyards ltd. In 1988 it launched its wines in India by launching its flagship brand "Marquis de Pompadour". It later came out with Chantilli Brand which very rapidly became very popular in India

The next to follow was the Grover Wineyard. The vineyard was set up in 1988 in Bangalore and has over the years developed its loyal clientile. One of its premium wine "La Reserve" was voted in 2006 by English Wine magazine "Decanter" as the Best New World Wine.

Sula Wines is a very interesting example of the growth of Wine culture in India. One young Indian who (very pertinently) was employed with one of the top IT companies in Silicon valley, left his promising career in US and came over to India to set up Sula Vineyard. Obviously he had sensed that with the growth of the new age industries in India, very soon the growth of wine drinking population will follow. The person was Rajeev Samant and he convinced an eminent Californian wine maker Kerry Damskey to set up a vineyard in his family estate near Nasik in 1997. The first wines from this vineyard was introduced in the market in 2000.

Recently companies like Seagrams have also jumped into the exciting and young world of Indian wines and have released their brand of wine " Nine Hills".

Indian wines have been appreciated in the international wine exhibitions and slowly it is finding its feet in the International Wine Lists. The Indian wines are associated with the slight spicy touch which naturally follows the spicy Indian taste.

There is much more to write on Indian Wines and I do hope that I find time to write further on the same!

Cheers!