1st Nov.’11Prize winning wine producer Brancaia from Tuscan region,Italy are comparatively new in the wine world.The Swiss family,if not ‘the only’in the region,started in 1982 and shall thus complete their first 30 years, in next.Die hard commitments to quality, an ingrained element of Swiss, took them to heights of achievements within initial years. They witnessed a vertical take off right in 1983 winning the coveted first place, at Chianti Classico tasting.They did not look back thereafter.The brand has been occupying positions within first 100 all these years at major tasting sessions.Few years,within first 10.A laudable achievement.The owners spared no stones and continued with their identity and strongly held principles of ‘understanding their clients’ and ‘understanding their coworkers’ immensely.So much so, Martin the present owner who at the tasting session for Press,in Mumbai on 1st day of Nov.’11 explicitly described the seriousness they involve, taking their front line workers numbering round 55,every alternate year to visit other European cities and tasting their own brands and labels, exactly within an atmosphere their final consumers are subjected to.A unique integration of warmth,sentiment and understanding amongst produce and producers.No wonder the importer Vishal Kadakia of Wine Park also stated, stressing their policy of selecting exporters,only who ‘understand and ensure quality to uncompromising height and nothing less’.Cheers!! to such a thought itself. While presenting three exclusive,highly popular Tuscan super classic red wines, selected for the evening,Brancaia Il Blu,Brancaia Tre,(both IGT Rosso Toscana) and Ilatraia(IGT Rosso Maremma Toscana) both declared their robust 2012 plan primarily to educate,make aware,demonstrate and train consumers,sellers,servers including wholesalers and retailers.Grand program indeed.And just the strategy needed for India today while getting up the stairs to know,appreciate and enjoy wines.“Without the very best grapes you do not make top class wines”.Makers of boutique wines of Brancaia,with nuances of hand making finesse,attends to soil selection,treatment and nurturing with same gusto as they maintain the vigilance and care over grapes,all the way till wines are bottled and shipped.Brancaia Il Blu is estate’s top wine.It is elegant,complex and full bodied.Dark in color.An ideal mix of Sangiovese(50%), Merlot (45%) and Cabernet Sauvignon(5%).Well matured and aged wine which shall be a grand supplement to meaty,spicy and heavy food.North and Eastern Indian specil occasion dinners shall have an ideal companion to their dishes.Less of tannin and full bodied.Brancaia Tre is a blend of Sangiovese(80%),Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon(20%).Light to dark in color. Leaves a happy taste in mouth and encompasses your feeling with warmth and maturity.Indian vegetarian dishes shall have good pairing,specially 4 states of South India shall have a good accompaniment to their rice and lentil based main dishes.Fish,coconut treated chicken dishes shall marry the label well.Often called as ‘baby Tuscan’ appealed to me and shall definitely get a large number of ardent patrons soon in India.The third one Ilatraia ,was another classic to be reckoned with.Darker in color.Top product from their other estate Maremma.A blend very well balanced of Cabernet Souvignon(60%),Sangiovese(30%) and Petit Verdot(10%).Aged for 18 months and then matured for several more the wine smiles on your pallette and goes well with slight flavor of spices.We tried 2004 vintage.One gets struck by the simplicity of their labels.Something definitely to catch your attention.In spite of large following,huge list of regular buyers and pan European presence with pride and prominence,the group has kept their most simplistic labels, same as they were originally designed in late 80s,last century.Martin confirms the philosophy behind,”no pretention,no show offs,we are simply quality stuck and committed only to serve clients well”.The estates both are under management of Martin Kronenberg for marketing,training and after sales service with Barbara for production and quality assurance.The day we press members met,Martin and Vishal had tasting sessions at two major 5 star hotels, at two different corners of the city.Attending us, the team had to entertain a wine dinner arranged by one of their partner 5 star establishments of the town.A real hectic schedule as they resolved to give their best to their patrons, with understnding from both sides.They have similar plans on a continuous 5 days basis and that too on multi city basis.The establishments they shall cover includes,Olive,Taj Mahal in Mumbai,Taj Mansingh in New Delhi,Leela in Gurgaon and Claridges in Suraj Kund,New Delhi.All within Martin’s 5 days’ stay in country.Wine strength?Or Brancaia inspiration?Soon after Tuscany's Sensi and then the group of 50 Italian wine producers under the banner of Gambero Rosso,Italy, presented their best to Mumbai audience,it was now turn of another recognized,widely sought after boutique brand,Brancaias.All from Italy,the largest producer and largest exporter in the world.All took place within a short span of few weeks of October and November 2011.A great time for Indo-Italian wine relation.
