An introduction to Stephen
British winemaker Stephen Donnelly set foot in the Sahyadris to take up the position at Viral Pancholia's Mercury Wines. Stephen has been around in the wine-world for the past 23 years, and his current association with the Indian wine industry has added to the tempo of progress here.
It was in the year 1985 that he completed the Wine Chemistry Course from Davis University, CA, USA, which was followed by a Wine Analysis and Wine Faults Course in the year 1986 from Wine Lab, Napa, USA. Since then, he has worked in Napa Valley, UK, Hungary, Romania, South Africa and has recently added India to the list.
Over to the winemaker...
Stephen Donnelly speaks his mind
In December 2006 I was contacted by Viral Pancholia, the owner of the newly built Mercury Winery in Nashik to become their consultant and head winemaker.
Destination India :-)
As a consultant winemaker I find myself travelling to lots of different countries not knowing what to expect. This was my first visit to India and I only had two days to prepare for vintage, so it was all hands on deck. But first I had to get there and I can quite honestly say that the road from Mumbai airport to Nashik was a four hour, hair-raising experience! So it was a nice surprise for me to arrive at the Mercury Winery and find it to be a well equipped, modern winery.
Hands on...
As I like to actually make the wine physically myself, it's important for me to set in place strict quality control and hygiene practices. I believe that it is the attention to detail that makes the difference between a good wine and a great wine.
Getting to know the potential of Indian wines
To get a feel of wines available in the Indian market and to give me some idea of the characteristics to expect with Indian wine, I tasted around 40 wines of both red and white, but I was surprised that many of them had common faults like oxidation, hydrogen sulphide, cork taint and both high and low levels of sulphur dioxide. However, of those wines which were good I managed to get an idea of the full potential of the grapes grown in India.
There is a definite need for a good commercial laboratory in India for the analysis of wine which can give more data to the winemaker .Winery labs in India are only set up for basic analysis so a commercial lab will also help improve the standards of the winery labs.
My first harvest at Mercury Wines
The harvest went surprisingly well and with some surprising results. The Sauvignon Blanc surprised me the most as it is like the New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, having good gooseberry and asparagus flavours and aromas. This shows me that the Nashik soils really suit the Sauvignon Blanc grape, even though the climate is much hotter.
Chenin Blanc is the most widely planted white grape variety in India which also impressed me with its fruity characteristics. In fact the Aryaa Chenin won a recommendation in the Decanter Magazine International wine competition 2008. There were also some good write ups for the reds as well as the whites from Steven Spurrier, which is not bad for my first year in India.
Work at the vineyards
After the successful 2007 vintage we made plans to improve the quality of both the vineyards and the wines for the 2008 vintage. This meant getting more involved with the actual growing of the grapes and setting strict guidelines with the Mercury winery viticulturist. I encouraged more responsible spraying programmes and correct use of fertilisers and less irrigation before harvesting. Regular visits to each grower throughout the growing period helped with the grape quality. However, it wasn’t all plain sailing as some growers opposed changed, especially if it meant reducing the crop to improve quality.
I also changed some small winemaking practices like using different strains of yeast to improve the wine. There are still lots of things to do to improve the quality further but that will take time and more perseverance.
What ails the distribution system in India?
It is one thing producing wine and another thing selling it! From what I've observed it is difficult for a small winery to sell wine in India through a distributor because bigger companies are giving wine free to distributors as part of their promotions. Therefore distributors expect this as part of the deal. It is difficult for small producers of wine to give away part of their profit when they have worked hard in producing the best quality they can, compared to some bigger companies producing lower quality wines at cheap prices. I believe there should be more government regulation and support for wine producers and not just the lowering of taxes.
Here to stay
The 2008 harvest proved to be better than the previous year and even the road from Mumbai to Nashik has shown some improvement! It’s an exciting time for India and the wine industry as it can only go from strength to strength and I look forward in being part of its future development.
Venki
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