The 10th June 2010 saw the launch of Wines of Chile’s “Carmenère Made for
Curry” campaign with a food and wine matching event at one of London’s
leading Indian restaurants, Benares, on Berkeley Square.

Jitin Joshi (Executive Chef at Benares) and Costanzo Scala (Head Sommelier
& Wine Buyer at Benares) created a delicious menu of classic Indian dishes
and sauces to help us test the theory with 39 Carmenères from across Chile.

Guests included wine writers, sommeliers, retail buyers and on-trade
distributors. They were encouraged to taste through the Carmenères in their
own time and to experiment as much as possible with the food to see how
different dishes brought out different characters such as Cardomom in some
wines and how the smoky oak of the tandoor could be a good balance for the
toasty oak in others.

A questionnaire was handed out to all those attending and the responses
were extremely positive: most respondents wouldn’t be reduced to just one
wine when asked for their favourite Carmenère in the line up and the answer
to the golden question “Do you think Carmenère is a good match for curry?”
was a resounding “YES”.

There are many types of curry however and many styles of Carmenère but
common themes included the prominence of vibrant, spicy, sometimes floral notes that highlight the aromatic spices of this cuisine. Use of oak was
also noted as the main characteristic in the wine that would influence the
degree of success with curry.

“In general terms yes. I can’t think of any other grape variety that
would come close to this level of acceptability”

Leafy, juicy, spicy styles work best – accenting herbs and
spices in food, offering contrast”

“Seems to have an affinity with cardomom and cumin”

“The spice – light bodied & elegant florals
compliment the curries”
“…. wines that are not over-oaked and have
integrated oak (work best)”

Our conclusion?

Next time you are cooking up a curry or sitting in an Indian restaurant, go
for a Carmenère and give the combination a go.

Look for lightly oaked or unoaked wines that will allow the delicate spices
in the food to develop. If you can’t live without your oak fix however,
choose a tandoori dish from the menu.

Wines of Chile would like to thank Benares Restaurant, and in particular
Costanzo Scala, for all their help in setting up this event. The menu they
created for us was:

Murgh Malai Tikka
Lamb Sheek Kebab
-
Dal
Black Lentil
-
Kashmiri Lamb Roganjosh
-
Tandoori Chicken Breast
-
Murgh Makhni
-
Chicken Tikka Masala
-
Korma Sauce