The city has a new all-women wine club. The Guide dropped in for a session to figure who is shelling out 25k to drink-and-debate
The city has a new all-women wine club. The Guide dropped in for a session to figure who is shelling out 25k to drink-and-debate
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It's almost impossible to pick up a glass of wine at a social gathering without worrying about the way you are holding it or wondering whether you should examine it or sniff it first. The subject of wine can be daunting and the idea of hobnobbing with wine-aficionados, anxiety-inducing wine drinkers are, after all, an allegedly snooty lot, and in a room full of them, your choice of wine is almost certain to be ridiculed. 
Confrontation, however, is the key to overcoming fear, and so, the first thing we did at the W3-Wine Women Wit meet, was to go up to the resident wine expert and come clean about our preference for sweet wines.
Amazingly, Craig Wedge, Senior VP -- Branding and Development, FineWines nMore, who previously worked as a wine-consultant for the Marriott Hotels, didn't bat an eyelid at our admission. Instead, he said, "The Indian palate tends to favour sweeter wines. There is no absolute right or wrong. I might think a wine tastes and smells good but you need to consider how you feel about it. Through W3, we hope to encourage women to try different wines, experiment."
And experiment they do, we learnt from one of the ladies present at the gathering. At a previous session, Wedge set out three bowls -- one with salt, another with lemon and a third with apple slices. W3 members were encouraged to taste each before they sipped their wine. "Individually, each of these alters the wine's taste dramatically," Wedge said, "but if you combine the three tastes and then sip the wine, it becomes complete again." Wedge recommended "German Riesling goes well with Paneer Tikka and Chu00e2teauneuf-du-Pape with Rogan Josh."u00a0
"We plan to make a trip to the Satori vineyards so W3 members can get the full impact of the vinification process," shares Dharti Desai, founder of W3 and CEO of FineWinesnMore. Of two W3 events held each month, "every alternate meet has a theme attached," adds Chandni Dhall of Dhall Food and Beverages, a co-founder.
We wonder how objective the club can be when its founding members are affiliated with organisations that import and distribute wines and its resident wine expert is employed by one of these companies as well. For most members, like Shalini Bhatiau00a0 who runs a corporate-gifting firm, "W3's a great way to interact while you learn about how ageing affects different wines."
Membership isn't cheap. The Sparkling rate being Rs 25,000, while Rose memberships cost Rs 50,000. These come with perks like discounts for wines and invitations to private wine-tasting sessions as well as generous welcome gifts for early-birds. Now, if only those rates could qualify as chicken-feed.u00a0
For more details on W3 Wine Women Wit, log on to https://www.winewomenandwit.com/ or call 40330044
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