cool refreshingly sparkling wines - refreshing at curry-time, summer-time, anytime

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Wine for Spice: Viceroy White NV semi-sparkling, Catalunya, Spain.	RRP £7.99 £5.99		For Mild curries Pale greenish-yellow, a blend of the refreshing grapes used in Cava, Macabeo, Parellada and Xarel-lo,  with hints of green apple and citrus with a pleasing taste and fine acidity. Alcohol 11.5% vol. Viceroy White is Crisp and Very Dry great with Mildly Spiced dishes such as Chicken Korma, Chicken and Fish Tandoori and Tikka.
Wine for Spice: Raja Rose NV semi-sparkling, Catalunya, Spain. [OUT OF STOCK UNTIL 2013]	RRP £7.99 £5.99		For Medium Curries Garnacha and Tempranillo are used in the production of Raja Rosé producing a pale ruddy complexion redolent of cherries and plums with well balanced, clean aromas. Alcohol 12.5% vol. It is Fruity and Quite Dry and goes well with Medium Spiced dishes such as Mutton or Chicken Tandoori dry dishes and Mutton Dhansak.
Wine for Spice: Rani Gold NV semi-sparkling, Catalunya, Spain.	RRP £7.99  £6		For Hot & Spicy Dishes. Mediterranean sun-drenched aromatic Rani Gold™ has just a touch of sweetness to tame the flames. It has a mix of Aromatic Muscat 50% in the blend nicely balanced by the mouth watering refreshing 50% Cava blend Macabeo, Parellada and Xarel-lo. Alcohol 11.5% vol. Reminiscent of Alphonso mangoes plucked freshly off a tree. It is Off Dry and Aromatic and ideal for Hot & Spicy dishes such as Chicken Jalfrezi or Vindaloo. We loved Alsace wines with spicy food but thought we could do even better. As you can see we use similar tall bottles in homage. But we find that 100% aromatic grapes like Gewurztraminer, Riesling and Muscat are instantly appealing but soon get quite sickly after a glass or two. That's why we blended in the crisp Cava Mix. And then the natural CO2 adds another level of crisp mouth-watering balance to the blend.

So what's so special about the wines from Wine for Spice?

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The wines can be summed up in one word - REFRESHING - a refreshing alternative to a gas injected lager. And being cool refreshingly sparkling wines they are refreshing at curry-time, summer-time and anytime

First, the wines are all naturally semi-sparkling. Carbon Dioxide enhances taste and adds natural acidity when dissolved thereby adds to the mouth watering feel. But a fully sparkling wine or beer has too much gas and lager has gas injected producing large bubbles leading to bloating with food.

The carefully selected wines chosen have been methodically treated to natural secondary fermentation in sealed and pressurised stainless steel tanks and then stabilised. This is to ensure that the CO2 produced permeates the wine and is properly integrated into it and will be released gradually and regularly over a period once the bottle has been opened. And being semi-sparkling the UK Customs Duty is as for still wine. So why pay extra tax for superflous gas?

Second, drink the wine cool to ice-bucket cold – So thirst quenching like a cold lager.

Third, a refreshing wine also should have a good level of mouth-watering acidity. Think lemon juice – the classic Indian “Nimboo Pani”.

Fourth, avoid mouth-drying tannin. Whilst tea is drunk in India with food, the tannin is softened with milk and sugar. Furthermore, tannin in both wine and tea is exaggerated at low temperatures.

Fifth, the wines are also free from oak, which clashes with spices such as cumin, coriander and ginger giving a bitter, harsh after-taste. Furthermore oakiness gives a rounded mouth-feel. I want a crisp steely feel in a refreshing wine with curry.

Sixth, moderate alcohol; a good degree of alcohol is required to provide body but excess alcohol over 12.5% can add to the burning sensation of chillies. Take a sip of vodka before and after biting into a chilli to feel this. Furthermore, the wines are so moreish that you will find yourself drinking quite a bit. Wine for Spice™'s range has an alcoholic strength of 11.5% to 12.5% by volume.

And finally, Seventh, aromatics, fruitiness and sweetness in the range rise in relation to the chilli heat of the accompanying dish.  This is based on my Goan Grandmother’s trick of adding some sugar to an over hot curry. Suck on a sweet before and after biting into a chilli to feel this. But unlike some wines such as 100% Gewurztraminer or Muscat which can be over-aromatic and too flowery and sickly after a glass, all of these wines are balanced blends balancing fruit with with natural acidity and are refreshingly sparkling. And because acidity offsets sweetness and sparkling wines have enhanced acidity because of the dissolved CO2, the Off Dry wines result in a quite dry mouth feel after allowing for acidity and spice.

How did you get the idea behind these wines?

"I used to drink a cold beer or sparkling water with curries.", says New Delhi born, Wine for Spice™ founder and CEO Warren Edwardes who is of Anglo-Indian and Goan descent.

The idea for the wines came to Edwardes, a financial innovation consultant, whilst he was sipping a spritzer, a glass of white wine mixed with sparkling water, and trying to come up with a solution to a finance problem.

Oh and why the two dogs in the picture below? Anybody who has seen the wonderful movie Mondovino knows that every self-respecting winemaker has a dog. And a walk with a couple of dogs can be a great way of capturing a new .

"The idea came to me that a naturally fermented semi-sparkling, petillant or spritzy young wine but with not as much fizz as Champagne and Cava or even beer would add a zing to and bring out the flavours of Asian food. Sparkling wines counterbalance spiciness and their usual acidity cut cleanly through dishes that are salty, rich or a little oily. But a full sparkling rather than a semi-sparkling wine results in a gaseous overload. I also avoid aerated wines or those low quality, lame and sickly, vaguely alcoholic concoctions that resemble a grape flavoured cola or lemonade." said Edwardes.

"You don't drink warm flat beer with curry - so why drink warm flat wine with it?"

With an open mind, Edwardes tasted an extensive range of such wines including Northern Portuguese Vinho Verdes, Italian Frizzantes and Quality Lambruscos, German Spritzigs and French Pétillant and Perlant wines.  Near Barcelona Edwardes found Vino de Aguja, literally "Needle" wines with a prickly sparkle, just tingling and fresh on the tongue. He decided that these natural “semi-sparkling” wines produced without the addition of carbon dioxide, were the basis of what he was looking for with the appropriate balance of quality, acidity, alcohol and sugar content added to the lightly sparkling refreshing qualities of a cold beer.

Wine for Spice™'s New Delhi born, founder & CEO, Warren Edwardes worked closely with the best - the producer of the pre-eminent  Spanish brand of “semi-sparkling” wines - to develop a range exclusively from traditional local Catalan grapes on the Spanish side of the French / Spanish border.

It is generally accepted that wines are best produced within latitudes 30º and 50º both North and South of the equator or with altidude adjustment as in Argentina and Chile. Barcelona is bang in the middle of the Northern band at Latitude 41º North.

Edwardes commissioned these naturally petillant semi-sparkling wines

™ Crisp Very Dry suitable for Mild Spiced dishes,  

™ Fruity Quite Dry and a great match for Medium Spiced dishes

™ Aromatic Off Dry an ideal blend of fruitiness and crispness for Hot & Spicy dishes

The wines, although designed to blend with curries and spicy food, also make for splendidly refreshing and quaffable party and summertime drinking on their own or with snacks such as Bombay Mix, samosas, papadums or Mexican nachos.

The wines are also available in own labels for weddings, clubs, restaurants and events.