Haryana

2008 Ben Glaetzer ‘Wallace’ Grenache Shiraz Mourvedre, Barossa Valley, Australia

A rare Gold medal winner at this year’s Decanter World Wine awards (hosted by Chairman of our Board of Wine Advisers, Steven Spurrier), the Wallace ‘GSM’ (Grenache, Shiraz, Mourvedre), is a powerful, yet unusually subtle Barossa wine. Made by Australia’s most acclaimed young winemaker.

Almost savoury, sundried wild berries, balanced by juicy sweet cherries; the pepper emerges slowly, wafting up along with slight vanilla hints. The palate is supple and lush with more ripe, fresh fruits and touches of clove, cinnamon sticks and earthy, woody flavours. It lingers on palate and in memory.

Fabulous Australian wine. Pair with barbecued meat! Although this would also drink well with a rich Malai Paneer.

2009 Brundlmayer Gruner Veltliner, Kamptal (Langenlois), Austria
(Pron. brune-dul-my-yer groo-ner felt-lee-ner)

We are delighted to reveal the first ever Austrian wine purchased by the WSI. Austria makes wonderful wine, and there is no better ambassador for this cool, mountain country’s fabulous whites than the lovely, indigenous Gruner-Veltliner grape.

Brundlmayer is the classic Austrian house, crafting elegant, yet intensely flavoured wines, and their Gruner Veltliner is nothing less than a Viennese Waltz in a bottle.

A rich, peppery nose, with a touch of citrus, dewy herb and Middle Eastern spice, leads into a creamy palate with bold citrus flavours, hints of melon and almost iron-rich mineral flavours, lingering in the mouth long after the bottle is empty.

Pair with a massive variety of dishes, from fish, dry pork to Kashmiri Mutton Pulao.

2008 Bonacchi Rosso di Montalcino, Italy
Pron. bon-ah-kee ross-oh dee mont-ahl-chee-no

Like big brother Brunello, Rosso di Montalcino is made from 100% Sangiovese grapes, only from the lower down vineyards beneath the walls of the sunny hill-town of Montalcino, and the same wine-maker will toil as painstakingly on his few barrels of Rosso, as on his similarly small quantity of Brunello.

Bonacchi’s Rosso is still vinified using traditional methods, spending over a year in French Oak barrels, to fashion a wine of depth, power and old-fashioned subtlety.

Concentrated red and black fruits, dominated by raspberry, black cherry, currants and plum, with a distinctive, typically Tuscan bittersweet cherry/tea component mark both nose and palate, with added elements of chocolate and just a hint of also-typical tomato savouriness.

A very interesting wine, where a combination of acidity and low alcohol makes for great pairing with any rich Italian pasta, pizza, grilled meat, or Sukha Lamb.