Assistant manager of Fratelli Wines, Vrushal Kedari, took Iknoor Kaur through the process of wine making and gave an insight into flavours that one can sense in every goblet
If wine is the key to a woman’s heart, then I’d say use it intelligently. Not every man can choose the best wine for his woman and not every wine can please her either. That is the trick about wines — we never know when it hits the right chord. Thus, we decided to not rely on men and headed straight to the Fratelli Vineyards. located near Akluj, three hours from Pune, these vineyards lie in isolation amidst 240 acres of grape land divided in three regions — Garwad, Neemgaon and Motewadi.
As we entered the premises we were greeted with the smell of oak and an instant intoxicating whiff of fine wine. We were rest assured that the next two days were going to be a cruise. Vrushal Kedari, assistant manager, operations, was our coach through this sail.
Fratelli grows 12 varieties of grapes in total and harvest all through the first two months of the year. They are also the only place in India to grow Shiraz grapes by the bush system. “In this system the yield in every bush is limited in order to increase the concentration of juices in the fruit,” explained Vrushal.
The process of crushing the grapes begins late January. He elaborated, “We use the pneumatic pressing technique for white wines. In this method there is a balloon in the press which after a cycle of two and a half hours for each batch of eight tonnes, releases clear juice. This juice is equivalent to 8,000 litres. For reds we use a destemmer. There is a hopper which crushes the berries with the skin. White wine is crushed without the skin with the help of the balloon.”
The wine then goes through a filtering process before it reaches the tanks for fermentation. The tanks, too, vary in capacity. “The red wines come into the tanks with 20,000 litre capacity. Red wine is fermented with the skin which tends to come up during fermentation. Thus, to avoid overflowing, it is kept in the biggest tank. The yeast is added in the beginning for reds. White wine is kept in the tanks with 10,000 litre capacity. However, the yeast in white wines is added only after 24 hours to let all the unwanted particles settle down,” added Vrushal.
Wine goes through three stages post fermentation — blending, ageing and filtering. He continued, “The wine moves from the tank to the pump which takes the wine through the filter into the bottling machine. Blending takes place before all of this and ageing takes place either in barrels (different from this process) or bottles. The filter that is used for white wine when it is ready for bottling is a 0.45 micron filter. Once the wine is bottled, they are labelled.”
Though most wines take nine months to prepare, sparkling wines take two years. Vrushal shared, “The process is slightly longer for this. We first make white wine, add sugar to it and make yeast culture in a separate tank. Then we mix the solution with the yeast culture in the bottle and let it ferment. After that we disgorge the wine and once the yeast is thrown out, the cork is put in.”
Fratelli also makes one of their own wines called Sette, which is a blend of seven varieties of grapes. “This wine ages for two years in French oak barrels which gives it structure, makes it more fruity and adds a cigar feel to it. If the same wine was kept in American oak it would have got a vanilla flavour. French oak is the most preferred wood for barrels in tropical countries like India. Each barrel also has a cork to let the wine breathe,” he stated.
In total Fratelli makes 13 varieties of wine — six white, seven red. Their entry level white wine is Classic Chenin Blanc which is a second press wine. The taste of this one is fruity and gummy. The Chenin Blanc is their bronze medal-winning wine.
While we tasted these wines, Vrushal told us, “When you swirl the wine in your glass and droplets come down fast, it means the alcohol content in your wine is good.” He also added that some of the world’s best wines went down with the Titanic and are still underwater. The next wine in the series was the Souvignon Blanc. The first whiff of this wine gives you a feel of capsicum and bell pepper along with a fruity feel. It is good to be paired with seafood.
The Chardonnay is one of their specialities and is slightly creamy with a pineapple and vanilla essence. The Sangiovenese Bianco is their white wine made out of red berries. The berries are crushed in the machines and pressed slowly till the colour is achieved. The Shiraz Rose is semi-dry and not too sweet. The strength of this wine is the colour pigments. The red wines consisted of the Classic Shiraz, Classic Merlot, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Sangovinese, Cabernet Sauvignon and Sette. Their Sangovinese is the best of the lot with fruity flavour. The tannins in this wine is what makes it smooth and doesn’t burn your mouth unlike Merlot. This is also one of the wines in the Sette blend thus making Sette the best of the lot. The Sette is a mix of cigar, cocoa, berry, dark chocolate, oak and coffee flavours. It settles smoothly on your palate and is undoubtedly the best choice.
There is one thing that wines can definitely fulfill and that is our heart. With the right environment and the best quality Italian-Indian wine Fratelli Vineyards are a step above the others in the race. As for the wine, it was a pleasure meeting you.
photos Pankaj Kumar