Indian Wine Arrives at Connolly's
March 02, 2012
Soul Tree wines were founded in 2007 by Melvin D’Souza and Alok Mathur. The pair met while completing MBAs at Oxford and bonded over a love of wine. While in India, their new found enthusiasm was engaged when they experienced the quality of some of the wines being produced and couldn’t help wondering why more of this good quality wine wasn’t reaching the UK shore. And so came the birth of Soul Tree.
The Soul Tree wines originate from the city of Nasik. A small city (by Indian standards) four hours drive from Mumbai, it is often referred to as the wine capital of India. 80% of the Indian wine produced hails from Nasik. It enjoys a tropical climate and a mild, dry winter, with warm days and cool nights. This, with soil amply suited to vine-growing, results in distinctive wines which are full of character. Leave the city limits in any direction and you will run into vineyards, but the best soils for vine growing lie to the north and east and these areas are where the Soul Tree grapes are grown. The Soul Tree wines are produced from international varieties, but with a distinctly individual style and definite sense of place.
The Cabernet Sauvignon is an intense wine that manages to retain its elegance. It has a nose dominated by plums and raspberries wrapped up with a generous spicyness. The palate has a fruity style with berry fruit, liquorice and gamey hints. The tannins are soft and the finish delightfully spicy.
This is a great pairing for tandoori style dishes and milder curries although we would avoid pairing it with cream or yogurt based curries as they may flatten the flavours of this intense red.
The Sauvignon Blanc is crisp and herbaceous with excellently balanced acidity. The herbaceous character and the acidity go well with spicy Vindaloos and Goan curries, while also cutting through the richness of coconut based dishes. Tamarind flavours are also a good match with this wine, making it a good choice for many Thai dishes.
