JOIN USThe City saw its first lake-side wine event at the recently held ‘Orion Wine Festival’, which was conducted in association with the Karnataka Wine Board to promote the wine-drinking culture here.
While it showcased the best of wines with leading brands like Sula, Jacob’s Creek, Alpine, Big Banyan, Nine Hills, Fratelli and Grover, the three-day-long festival proved to be a disappointment on the first day itself with no wine in sight. Stall owners were annoyed by the delay in transporting the wine to the venue. Visitors were forced to be amused by magicians, stilt walkers and fire throwers if not participate in grape stomping.
Visitors also frowned upon how pricey the whole affair was, considering that it was an attempt to promote drinking wine in the State. While people had to pay Rs 200 just to enter the festival, they also had to shell out money for sampling wine at many of the stalls.
Day two and three picked up, however, with visitors sampling the wine and connoisseurs having meaningful conversations with the winery representatives. There were different live music performances on each day, giving a nice vibe to the amphitheatre.
“It’s the first time that I’m seeing so many different wines at a place that isn’t a bar. I had a nice time tasting wines of various regions and ages,” smiles Poorva, a visitor, adding that her favourite stall was Fratelli. Among the various stalls, one that truly stood out was Spectrum organic wine, the first to bring organic wines to India. Imported from Canada, it offers a variety of dry, sweet and speciality ice wines. “It is organic in the way it is grown — there are no chemicals or pesticides involved,” shares director Nand Kumar V R. “In India, anything organic sells. More than the wine itself, we’ve had people coming and asking for empty bottles because there are some lovely designs, including a violin-shaped one,” he adds
Most of the visitors looked cheerful and seemed to be enjoying themselves at the festival.
But while the Indian wine connoisseurs could boast of their knowledge of the drink to the visitors at the stalls, foreigners who were well-versed with it weren’t too pleased. “Indian wines are very highly priced compared to their quality. I don’t know if they put it in the sun too long or something, but it’s just not the same as the wines from abroad by the same brands,” opines Tony, a wine connoisseur from Denmark.