The Rotarians’ Wine Fellowship of India (RWFI) launched its first ever wine club in India recently with a wine tasting dinner by Big Banyan Wines. This is the official wine club of Rotary District 3190 and all Rotarians of the district are eligible to become its members.

According to Devesh Agarwal and Chandar Mannar, co-chairmen of the RWFI will be contributing about Rs 62,500 which will be matched by the Global Rotarian’s Wine Fellowship.

The total sum of Rs 1.25 lakh will be donated to the Rotary Foundation to be used for drinking water projects.
The welcome drink for the evening was Chateau de Banyan chenin blanc, light and fruity with delicate aromas, paired with pass around snacks - cheese mousse canapes and three mushroom jalousies for the vegetarians and salmon mousse canapes and chicken quiche for non-vegetarians.

The salad course comprised of mesclun of radicchio, watercress, zucchini flowers, roasted peppers and asparagus with a creamy wasabi dressing which was complemented with Savignon blanc with its fresh palate of citrus fruit, lime, dry, slightly sour with a smooth finish.

The first course of paupiette of sole essenced with cognac, basil, cherry tomatoes, parmesan and garlic shaves was complemented with Banyan Zinfandel with its intense fruity aromas with a palate refreshingly gentle with smooth and soft finish. For the vegetarians this red wine was paired with Tofu brochettes tossed in sauce Portuguese spiked with scallion crumble.

The main course of oven roasted lamb shanks cordoned with porcini essenced sauce bercy was paired with two wines - Banyan Shiraz with its dry, harmonious, fruity and velvety tannins and Cabernet Sauvignon with its complex aromas and palate which is dry, full bodied with good structure and velvety tannins.
For vegetarians these two wines were paired with vegetable lasagne topped with goat cheese crumble, olives and sundried tomatoes. A dessert of blueberry lemon cheesecake with a cornmeal crust rounded up the dinner.

MP