Have we tapped into a new trend? Peter Tomlinson explores the world of Indian wine in WineBlag’s first guest post.

When you think of countries making wine you may think of the ‘greats’ such as France or the more recent arrivals such as Chile … but India? Well, on a recent business trip to Bangalore I’d spent two weeks avoiding drinking the water, unless it had been fermented with hops and yeast and turned into beer. However, on night 12 of a 13 night trip I saw a bottle of wine in the hotel and asked to take a look thinking it would be imported, but no, it was a local wine from India.

First signs were encouraging, recognisable grape varieties of Cabernet and Shiraz. But, could a wine from India really be anything other than well, disappointing?

You’ll see there is a Decanter Commendation label – usually a good sign on any bottle of wine in India or elsewhere. The main soil in India is a deep red colour, and there’s no doubt that this does makes its way, even slightly into the wine. For red wine that’s actually alright, adding to the slightly earthy notes and not at all distracting; for white wine (yes, they make white wine as well) it could be more of a problem. All the usual typical Cabernet and Shiraz tastes were there, the blackberries, peppery etc. which when combined with the earthy undertones made for quite a nice drop of red wine.

Intrigued I tried to find out a little more and discovered the Grover winery is only 25km from the impressive Bangalore (now Bengaluru) airport where I happened to be working, so in easy reach for a future trip. Curiously the grapes in India are harvested in February/ March after the monsoon rains of late autumn and a period of ripening in the drier winter months, with some slightly cooler evenings. In Europe the harvest is usually in late August or September which allows for the maximum ripening in the weaker northern climate. Further investigation revealed a Wine Society of India, with an office in Bangalore and even a Bangalore Wine Village event every two years. Travel really does broaden the mind!

Having now returned home I look back and wonder if the wine really was that good or if the two weeks of wine depravation had somehow skewed my senses and dulled my taste buds. I don’t think so, and there’s only one way to find out…..luckily I have another business trip to Bangalore in a couple of months’ time. Maybe I’ll try another bottle, just to be sure, and even a Chardonnay as well, purely for the purposes of research you understand.

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