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ShareOften I am asked if wine is seasonal and with Einstein-like intelligence I've replied, it depends. While that may seem like a safe answer to wriggle out of tough situations, it is not the case, well not quite entirely, or always. Wine definitely has a link with the time and place where it is imbibed. A simple bottle with friends is always more pleasurable than an expensive wine with your boss, unless your friends happen to raid your stash and drink the last bottle of that expensive Chateau-something that you were saving for your special day. Let's just say, if I had a boss, I'd rather dine with him for the moment.
But I digress, coming back to wine and the monsoon, the link is rather obvious. The monsoon in our country comes right after the treacherously long summer season and that in itself is a reason to breathe a sigh of relief: both for humans and for wines.
Alcohol generates heat which is how drunk people manage to streak around in sub-zero. Trouble occurs when you have one bottle too many and step out in the heat. The intoxication seems to grab your head and slam it into the sidewalk.
Summer tends to bring on a hangover even before you start drinking. Monsoon is clear respite. The extra humidity can be troubling but it ensures that the wine won't spoil, moistens up the cork for better closure and even makes the temperature more ambient for long-term storage.
More importantly for tasters, there's a lot less heat in the air which means we can taste through entire days and nights without fearing an internal spontaneous combustion. So, in other words, monsoon is more agreeable for anything wine. Here then are a few wines and their best applications.
1. Out after a rain: Drink a nice fruity red: Sanct Laurent from Austria, New Zealand Pinot Noir, or else a nice Gamay. Cool it a bit for play.
2. Can't go out; too much rain: Stay in, chill the wine till it can chill no more. Mix a bag of snackies, heat up the telly and cosy up for a long pitter-patter accented night. Suggested wines; nothing too dry. Instead prefer off-dry wines like a Gewurztraminer from Alsace, Italy, Germany or Austria. You may even flirt with a light Muscat or the stronger Rieslings.
3. Out in the rain: Instead of focusing your ire on the Met department, make the best of the remaining romantic outing. A chilled bottle of sparkling would enhance the droplet effect in a rather subtle manner. It would also heighten the heat factor and I ain't talking mercury.
4. Grey skies, but no rain: This calls for something to cheer the mood. Order a round of Kir Royale; a sparkly mix of currant flavour in a spirit base topped with fizzy wine. At least that's what they do in London and there isn't another city as grey.
5. Rain and sun mix: This just sits on the fence. You can't quite get out, and from the inside it doesn't look like rain. This deadly duo of hot and wet is best combated with some chilled reds. Take any red, and cool it to what you think is too obscene a temperature to serve reds. That'll do the trick. Order some spicy takeaway and then deny it when the delivery guy shows up. He'll be confused and wet.
If I haven't made much sense up there, I blame the wines I've been drinking. Or is it the heat frying my brains in the capital. To be honest, I'll never be sober enough to know.
The writer is a sommelier
