Kishore and Smita Iyengar discover it’s all about changing colours and attitudes, as nature’s charms captivate your spirits in enchanting, premium world class wines and golden autumn and winter moods. Come, join in the twilight revelry!
AUTUMN MOODS OF MIRTH
The exciting moods of autumn wink in the season’s frolicking temperament all across the landscapes this time of the year. You see it all in the changing tones of nature, the skies and earthy elements.
Inching autumnal chills highlight the thrills of quaffing the suave, premium jewel, Champagne Nicolas Feuillatte Palmes D’Or from France radiating distinct bouquets of white pear, peach, walnut, apricot and light musk. Quaff the amazing flavours as a hearty toast , the spicy notes highlighted with pepper and green ginger. Hay toned autumnal tints effervesce in the splendid light and dry Zonin Pinot Grigio Friulli from northeastern Italy. The striking peony and kiwi fruit flavours edge on the autumnal mystic.
Orange being a definitive autumnal colour, it is celebrated in grand style with the boutique bottled blush –the Mateus Sparkling Rose Brut from Portugal. The seductive blend of amazing bouquets of raspberries, apple, pear and heather, make it the right quaff. With exciting hints of vermillion, yellow and shimmering rust, autumn asserts it’s spectral pelf across lush Bavarian Alpine meadows in a fine Pampas Del Sur Reserve Malbec from Argentina.
The crimson hues and peppery aromas edge on a sexy language impressioned by rich plum, raspberry and vanilla flavours. In contrast, visualize a fabulous coastal seascape along the Garden Route in South Africa with deep mauve, burnt umber and brilliant red hues splashed across the canvas.
The wine that salutes this natural spectacle is the super Nederburg Winemasters’ Pinotage from Paarl with soft tannins, oaky and truffle flavors going onto a roasted mushrooms finish! In contrast,. The sweeping cerulean blue summits of the Brokenback Range in Hunter valley, Australia is contrasted by autumnal excitement, visible in lush viridian and olive green hectares and bright vermillion rose rows. A distinguished red, the Wolf Blass Bilyara Shiraz heralds the southern hemisphere mood in contrasting flavours of rich spice and vanilla, light tobacco and fine leather.
SEAMLESS FLAVOURS OF A HUNDRED SEASONAL COLOURS
The neon grassy slopes of Alpine valley pastures around the rolling hills of Jochberg in Tyrol, Austria is autumnal eye candy, with the mellow sunshine casting gentle cloud formations. A hearty Schloss Gobelsburg Zweigelt from Kamptal lights up your skittish mood with spicy and cherry notes, the fresh fruity bouquet lighting up the wine on your palate to a velvety finish.
Bourgogne in France beckons you with striking autumn tones, a fine rush of floral blooms along pretty villages. Unmistakable fruity aromas enthrall you in the outstanding Chardonnay, -the grand Maison Albert Bichot Puligny Montrachet. Citrus bursts forth as candied orange lives up honey, hedge leaves, an oaky blend with light lemony after taste.
Along the blazing orange and bright yellow canopies bordering pristine Lake Como in Lombardia, north Italy, a gentle autumnal wind teases your mane, you quaff a superlative Renieri Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG, a masterpiece in wine making with dusky tobacco flavors, naughty peppery linger, firm tannins and an assertive truffle after taste. Bellisimo!
Bavarian meadow-fresh flowers light up the girdle path as you amble across green grass and a carpet of golden autumn leaves, feeling romantic. Go for a super Black Tower Dornfelder Pinot Noir from Germany, it’s a unique bonanza of ripe berries, fresh fruit, a strong pomegranate nose and peppery flavors. In the distance, the Zugspitze summit gleams in glory.
Ride a fine thoroughbred, gallop across the peach and leaf green acres while blue mountains smile at your sporty attitude! In Cantons de L’Est, Quebec, Canada, the wind and sun are on your side this autumn as you toast a fine Chilean Casillero Del Diablo Merlot in all it’s blackcurrant appeal. Chocolate, smoky cigar, vanilla and plums open out on the taste buds as the medium bodied label wows you to swirl and sip at leisure.
A CARPET OF AUTUMNAL EXHILARATION
As the hills around Wanaka and Queenstown in New Zealand change tints and autumnal colors, the winter nip edges you into lavender, peach, light blue, golden maple and leaf green shades of the seasons. To cap the spectrum is a fine Framingham Pinot Noir from New Zealand’s colourful Marlborough region with its superb peppery, oaky and vanillin notes. The wine with balanced tannins goes suave with cherry oak, smoky mushroom flavours and rich minerality.
Adelaide Hills in South Australia salutes autumn and winter differently. The colours are deep blue ocean tones, neon orange strokes across skies and gold and hay coloured landscapes. A classy chilled Wolf Blass Chardonnay lives up its fine nectarine, honeysuckle nose and distinctive spicy undertones, with white pear, green apple and assertive citrus.
Across rugged terrain and hill bordered dry Sicily in southern Italy, autumnal and winter strokes are different. The Mediterranean plays sport to a million hues of blue, the olive green, beige, bright red leaves and cobbled seafronts in shimmering white are all inviting to the senses. Toast the landscapes with a fabulous red Principi de Butera Deliella IGT Sicilia displaying almond freshness, spice and wood aromas. The palate is coloured with cherries in brandy, a fine deep musky flavour with cigar box after taste.
A Burgundian sojourn through petite villages and hamlets unfold the season’s magnificence. Yellow tints with overhangs of leaf green, vermilion and strawberry light up the horizons, the furrowed deep greens of vineyards come alive with refreshing aromas. The hay and grassy aromas of a Maison Albert Bichot Chablis Blanc Domaine Long-Depaquit from Bourgogne, France is the right choice. The suave Chardonnay teases with classy aromas of white lily, hedge blooms, white roses and light jasmine, roasted almonds and black truffles.
Across the vast expanse of the grand Pacific in sunny Fiji’s Malolo Island, sunset winter tones are milder and seem like autumnal grace! On a private island sit out on the breezy deck of a Bure(villa), watch the glorious neon orange and sunflower yellows merge with fleeting mauve and scarlet like a silver veiled danseuse on the horizon. Raise a ‘Bula!’ to the fabulous spectacle with a vintage Chilean Ventisquero Clasico Carmenere with deep ruby tints, a fine balance of acidity with medium tannins, vanilla and red rose bouquets, The flavours incite seduction with tobacco, driftwood and musk palate, all lingering stylishly.
SPECTRAL WINTER TINTS AND AROMATIC HINTS
The picture perfect lake views of stunning Lake Staffelsee at the foothills of the Bavarian Alps in Germany are coloured with generous autumn-winter drapes! The light pinks, golden yellows and spatial azure blues wow your mood into opening up a fine Dornfelder Pinor Noir with it’s light-n-peppery aromas, spice and ripe fruit flavours. The smooth wine is perfect for a langouring afternoon when you take in the stilling views with the wine’s often velvety finish lingering on.
As you walk through stone-façade lined Provencal villages with the ubiquitous Café and Bistro, the inviting smells of a well baked baguette beckon you inside. As an accordion unfolds country tunes by an old gent, outside the evening shadows stretch into autumnal-winter charm with deep mauve, maroon and ultramarine expanse. Go for a chilled goblet of excellent Domaines Barons de Rothschild Lafite Legende Bordeaux Blanc from western France. It sets the perfect momentum.
Perched on the edge of the Tuscan Riviera at Versillia on the Tyrrhenian Sea, the turquoise-to-Prussian tones of the shimmering waters excite you to seek the right bottled autumn company. The white sands contrasted by pale, olive green vegetation and the stunning backdrop of the Carrara Marble Mountains behind, the season’s greeting with top tones is well matched. A vintage Tuscan Cavalli Tenuta Le Redini combining fine Merlot and Alicante offers the zest and zing for the climate’s skittish feel as the well balanced tannins, tobacco and leather notes uplift your palate to a fine truffle finish.
The mighty snow-lined Andean ranges across Chilean vineyards radiate a deep peach, sky blue and hints of lotus pink tones, heralding a fine winter and autumn time. The orange citrus sunshine glows beckon a superb white in a Ventisquero Clasico Sauvignon Blanc, with rich pear, lemon, white lily and grapefruit flavours. That’s a sophisticated wine regaling in all its seasonal sheen.
A heady yet imploringly sexy Banrock Station Shiraz is the right red wine for the rolling hills outside of Hobart on the Entrecasteaux Channel shores in Tasmania, Australia. Here the wispy clouds-borne skies are washed with fleeting iridescent flashes of deep peach and pearl white contrasts, the green tufted grass rolling down to knolled shores glistening their bright green brilliance. Southern Hemisphere’s autumn-and-winter charms are different…they invite you to explore the flavours of the climate! The wine displays magnificent woody-oaky and cigar box aromas with clove, black pepper, anise and cinnamon dancing on your taste buds in unison!
EARTHY AUTUMN SHADES AND WARMING WINTER GLADES
The Aurlandsfjord cruiser smoothly carves its watery way to Flam, in Norway’s spectacular Fiordlands. The tufts of cotton clouds kiss the viridian hills and tiny cliff-edged hamlets in gay abandon while a fabulous Domaines Barons De Rothschild Los Vascos Cabernet Sauvignon finds it’s way around your olfactory. You smile in appreciation, raise a toast to autumn’s magnanimity and nose the distinct leather, paprika, curry and saffron flavours all in sync, the full-bodied red playing footsy with your senses. Whatta wine, what vistas, Mate!
Across the tiny, sleepy village of Bois in the Loire Valley, France all is peaceful. A gentle wind ruffles the treetops as birds hover over white rose-edged vineyard rows nearby. You walk the climate trot with an award winning Albert Bichot Bourgogne Vieilles Vignes de Pinot Noir in hand, the Bourgogne wine making merry with ginger, pepper, spice and vanillin flavours, -marvellous on your tongue. The hills in the distance and beyond are home to sunflower fields and Grande Heritage Chateaus, but you amble along with relaxed gait to savour a jewel of a wine in the lap of natural French generosity.
The wine -Solar Viejo Rioja Tempranillo stirs up images of gorgeous, world famous vineyards of Spain’s most celebrated wines in gallant showcase of award winners. This grand Spanish red waltzes on your senses with a heady, merry mix of strawberry, raspberry and blackcurrant. The assertive flavors are silky smooth though, well balanced and definitive in full bodied grandeur. The scene outside of you is autumn in Costa Del Sol, Malaga, the chill creeping up cheekily as the Mediterranean waves wallow in stunning contrasts of twilight blue, Prussian and velvet red strokes.
It’s all million greens and miles of naughty maple browns and reds! Down Brome and Sutton in the bracing Eastern Townships of Eastern Canada, the autumn-winter kaleidoscope unravels marvelous canvases of contrasts changing by the day. Down girdle paths, chapel lanes, village roads, mountain cliffs and lake fronts, the mood is celebration and cheer as you sign in the season’s fall and rise zing with a well picked Barton & Guestier Reserve Merlot.
