ABC Farms Cheese & Wine Show, Pune – Nov 2010

Sula and Chateau Indage have become household names when it comes to Indian wine. Together they have been responsible for putting Nashik, Maharashtra on the vino map globally.

On a recent visit to a Cheese and Wine Show at ABC Farms in Pune I chanced upon two newbies, both of whose white collection hold enormous promise.

Fratelli from Solapur making a debut appearance is an Indo-Italian joint venture between Italy’s Secci brothers, Alessio and Andrea, the New Delhi-based Sekhri brothers, Kapil and Gaurav, and Mohite-Patil Ranjitsinh and Arjunsinh from Solapur. Fratelli is available in two white brands Chenin Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc — and two red brands — Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah priced between Rs 600 and Rs 1200 for a 750 ml bottle.

Vinsura, derived from Vinchur – 250 acres of sprawling vineyard land in Nasik and Sura – the Sanskrit word for wine, boasts a portfolio of wines ranging from Sparkling Rose, Chenin Blan, Sav-Blanc to Shiraz, Cab-Sav, Zinfandel and Claret. My favourite of the lot was the Coral Pink Zinfandel Blush extracted from Cab-Sav grapes and the Rose, so much so I had to grab a bottle for myself to take home.

Moving on to the cheese component of the afternoon, ABC Farms is said to be one of India’s leading producers of dairy, particularly cheese. With 50 years of operational and business experience in the dairy industry they produce over 60 varieties of cheese using their own cultures. Hybrid cattle and goats are used for the production of milk and then cheeses.

Several cheeses mostly generic Boursin, Cheddar, Edam, Gouda and Colby, infused with various spices, fruits and nuts were laid out with servers and cheese knives at the ready for tasting and purchases. Personal favourites were the Boursin crusted with Black Pepper, Boursin Crusted with Paprika, Sun-Dried Tomato Cheese (pic below) and a sharp Colby, only true in terms of colour but far too robust to be categorised as such.

To my disappointment the Raisin Cheese , Chocolate Cheese and Coffee Cheese left me with a bad taste in my mouth. Some things are better left the traditional way, and where cheese and fruit/ chocolate/ coffee are concerned, that’s my hunch!