Grover Zampa Sparkling Wine – A Bubbly Delight
While I was at Grover Zampa, I also got the opportunity to try their sparkling wine. Having spoken to quite a few producers now, the consensus is that sparkling wine definitely has a place here in the Nasik Valley. However, apart from Chandon (more on them later), the grape of choice for sparking NV is Chenin Blanc and for rosé, Shiraz.
Shiraz fermenting
Abhay Rajaria, the winemaker at Grover Zampa was very proud of his Chenin. He emphasised that their Sparkling Brut is most definitely dry. In his opinion, Indian consumers are looking for dry and fresh sparklers. As I mentioned in a previous post, they also produce a medium dry non sparkling Chenin.
The disgorgement line
The sparkling is made by the Methode Champenois, spending 12- 14 months on the lees before disgorgement. Speaking of disgorgement, they do everything by hand there, even the disgorgement line takes 5 guys to run it. It’s all part of providing employment for the locals but I did find it a bit out of the ordinary. All picking, actually practically everything is done by hand, for all of their wines, not just the sparkling.
Applying the labels by hand
Again this has to do with employing the locals but also because the machines are very expensive and in the long run not worth it financially.
Abhay popping open the NV
So Abhay popped open the Zampa Soirée Brut. 100% Chenin Blanc. It had only been disgorged and bottled a few days previously. A frothy mousse with tiny bubbles emanating from bottom of the glass. The wine had aromas of ripe apples and pears but on the palate it was crisp and clean. It had some complexity to it and a crisp finish. All in all a very enjoyable quaffer. If I had this in a blind tasting, I would never guess it was a wine from India. They recommend pairing it with Asian food and due to the fruitness of this wine, it would most definitely work well.
I wasn’t able to try the Rosé but hopefully I ‘ll be able to get a bottle here in Nasik. The winery is open to the public for tastings and tours. They are about 25 kms from the city of Nasik. Grover Zampa has limited availability in the UK.