About this blog

This blog is the first blog ever to discuss and compare different brands of Indian wine. As some people now, wine industry is growing in India - in a couple of years many vineyards appeared in the market. However, many Indian customers still don't know how to choose properly the product. Moreover, many liquor shop owners don't know how to properly store it. That's why it's especially interesting to analyze Indian wine industry!

Sunday, May 30, 2010

Mandala Valley Shiraz 2007 from Bangalore



Today I'm tasting wine from Bangalorean company Mandala Valley Vineyards, founded in 2006. As far as I know, at least in the beginning they used grape from Maharashtra, not from Karnataka where Bangalore (Bengaluru) is located.

Label is quite beautiful and that is, perhaps, the main reason I bought it. "Mandala" means "circle" in Sanskrit. "Mandala valley" doesn't mean anything, it's just a combination of words. The label also says "where the rainbows dance". Not sure what they mean but maybe the rainbows got very drunk with this wine and began to dance ;-)

What I like the most about the label is that it says "private collection". If it's a private collection - how the hell did I get it in a regular wine shop? :)

Price: heavy 690 Rs (15 USD).

Smell: actually, rather bad. Very intense, but not rich. Similar to that of cheap Indian wine (150-200 Rs category) or dirty cheap European wine (0,5-1 EUR category).

Taste: rather muddled, mixed, confused. Not too terrible, but lacks clarity, lacks transparent, distinguishable after-taste. In short, taste is slightly better than that of cheap Indian wine (150-200 Rs category).

Funny but the official website of the manufacturer says their boss is French and he got kick-ass experience in the field. But, at least according to this item we tried today, he got deported from France for screwing the reputation of their sacred profession - wine making.

Verdict: NEVER BUY IT! It's a scam, a money waste. If you are willing to spend 690 Rs per bottle, go for Tiger Hill or Sula Dindori.

PS. Dr. Pascal Chatonnet, shame on you!

1 comment:

  1. Forgot to mention - had a headache half of the next day thanks to this wine!

    ReplyDelete