Happy New Year!

And 2015 arrives!

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Four Seasons Wines - Gourmet Indulgence

The thing about wine is that you can drink it with food. You don't have to drink it before eating, you don't have to stuff your face with oily, unhealthy junk food either. When I go out to eat and I see the wine selection is very slim or too expensive I will either order a cocktail or vodka on the rocks. But whenever I am home and have company I will serve up wine. My best friend prefers reds and says that one of the rare stereotypically feminine traits I have is that I prefer white wines or even rosé occasionally. India is slowly heading toward globalisation, I say this because the process is not complete, it is ongoing. As much as pundits would love to believe doing certain things is not "Indian" the change is happening, it is not as bad as conservatives would love to convince everyone. No one is forgetting our culture, modernity is not the complete murder of the past, in fact it would do some people good to let go of somethings they do just because it has been going on for centuries(yes I am talking about all kinds of female oppression). Anyway more on that later. Here I am talking on the consumption of wine. Kolkata is the 4th biggest consumer of wine in India and India itself is not far behind in the global arena. The growth has been steady over the years. And we have Indian wines like Four Seasons Wines to provide the growing market an array of reds, whites and even rosé.

As a blogger (not just someone who happens to have a blog) I feel truly delighted every time I get to attend events and go places I earlier wouldn't have the agency to, and I go there as a digital influencer not just a random guest. If I can convince even 10 of you to try out wine and pair it with your Indian fare next time you have company I will feel like I have made a difference, because people will learn that from you in turn and the process will go on. Wine is all about your personal preference. It is about what makes your taste buds dance. Such a unique experience cannot be brought on by any other drink. You might perceive of different notes while you taste and smell the same wine than your friend. 

Yours truly with Soumi, Shreya and Poorna. Pic c/o - Shreya

Hats off to the Four Season Wines for taking this initiative where they are helping in the propagation of wine culture in India. They are taking this very seriously. Last Wednesday I attended the inaugural dinner of the "Four Seasons Gourmet Indulgence" they have launched in partnership with PoshVine that kicked off at Saffron, The Park. Abhay Kewadkar, Business Head (Wines) and Chief Wine Maker, United Spirits Limited was there, he spoke briefly about the winery in Baramati, the importance of choosing the wine most suitable to you and the food you pair it with and he also said that they have tied up with ninety restaurants over 7 cities to host the Gourmet Indulgence events. Thanks to Mr. Peter Mitter, Regional Manager -Trade & Marketing of UB Group, I know quite a lot about wines now, not to mention his presence at these events puts us all at such ease.

Abhay Kewadkar

Generous servings of Barrique Reserve Cabernet Savignon and Viognier along with delicious starters like Wasabi Green Peas Sate, Katori Mauj Ki Galauti, Macchi Khagina and Malai Pesto Murgh Shatoosh were served up to all present. Trying the food with the different wines helps you in understanding the flavours and gives you a better grasp about what goes with what. Chef Dewan was responsible for a delicious spread that included salads, corn pulao, tandoori roti, chicken curry, mutton curry and a couple of vegetarian curries and dal. I should give special mention to the raita that I loved. Imagine having this with wine. It is delicious I tell you. The sensory journey ended with repeated raidings of the flourless chocolate cake area. They were simply put, heavenly.

Even if you are not Indian but are fond of curries, do tell me if you have ever thought of pairing wine with Indian food? Have you done it? Let me know what you think of it in the comments section.

Four Seasons Wine Trail

This Saturday, the 6th I attended another Wine Trail organised by the Four Seasons Wines and gained my Wine Trail Enthusiast certificate (not kidding, now I am a certified wine enthusiast). It happened at The Conclave's Rose Room this time. Read a few details about kind of wines, grapes used and the difference between old and new world wine differences *here*. There were a lot of bloggers there, the room was divided between exclusive food bloggers and lifestyle bloggers. But of course the event ended with everyone clicking everyone's photos and everyone else posing for the said photos.

The late afternoon wine trail was hosted by Mr. Peter Mitter (Region Manager-Trade Marketing of UB Group), who recognised me as a complete wine lover and introduced me to the others present that way. I had a huge smile for that acknowledgement. He knows almost everything about wines and as it happened the last time, he guided us through the different Four Seasons Wines, their flavours, aromas and what to pair them with best. I like their white wines and their rosé the best. It is not as easy to come by rosé here as far as I know, so I like that the Four Seasons Blush (their rosé) is easily available. I usually go to this one store in South City Mall, so I may be incorrect.

pic c/o Shreya Goswami

pic c/o Anupriya Dg

Below is a photo of what we had with the red, white and rosé wines from the Four Seasons range.

• Serve your wine at 8-16°C, the room temperature of Europe not India, people! (just use your brains and you will know why. Would you like your coke served hot? No. So...)
• See. Swirl. Smell. Clink. Sip.
• Arouse all your senses while enjoying your Four Seasons Wines. (Any wine would do. Just pick up a bottle and begin the journey if you haven't started on it yet)

Four Seasons Wines And Adrenalize 2013

Day : 19th Jan
Venue : Tolly Club
Event : Adrenalize 2013 (The Annual Tolly Gym Party)
Host : Four Seasons Wines with ITC Sonar
Motto : Drink, Dance, Drop

I had the time of my life in this party last Saturday. I did drink and dance but I also worked. I took pictures for my bloggies as well as myself in between every sip and beat. So much seems to have happened since this evening. I wish there was another invitation to head onto. I am clutching a snug pillow as I type this because seasonal depression guys! I won't bore you with all the details of my misery but I sure will tell you all about the line up of events at the party last week. As I read the down the list here's how it went - a wine trail that ended in prizes for the winners, watching junior equestrians in action, learning all about wines from the Four Seasons Wine experts (but I covered that in this *post*), learning to cook special dishes and their pairing with Four Seasons from the chefs of ITC Sonar, grape stomping and scintillating beats of DJ Happy to dance to the whole evening.
And here are all the photos I took..I am not in them but (I found a decent click with my face in it on Megha's blog) I was wearing my studded collar chiffon top which I showed *here*.
Fellow bloggers present were - Soumi, Megha, Deepa, Animesh and Ritesh [who turned out to be an Ex-Pointer(my school - South Point and we are known as Pointers and yada yada yada)! And there I was blissfully ditching my high school reunion that very evening! *sighs*]

Signing off with loads of thanks to Four Seasons Wines and Ginger Claps for hosting this event and inviting me to it to get drunk. Thank you!

Four Seasons Wines And A Bloggers' Meet

Day: This Saturday the 28th
Venue: Oasis Restaurant at Park Street (the food street of Calcutta)
Event: Wine Tasting and meeting other Fashion and Lifestyle Bloggers of Calcutta (fine Kolkata!)
Host: Four Seasons Wines
Motto: See, Swirl, Smell, Sip

I love drinking wine. It is the only drink you can have while you are eating your food. As much as rum holds a certain spot due to a certain Captain Sparrow, wine is my poison..followed by vodka..followed my a good ol' long island iced tea..followed by oh well you know...
Here's a brief intro to the day... We met outside for taking photos...and then headed inside..

click on photos for bigger size

Uparna, Swarnali, Anupriya, Ayantika, Sayantani, Shayoni

As we waited for our host Shamita Singha, former Miss Earth and wine trainer, we were served snacks while we chatted with Mr. Peter Mitter, representing Four Seasons wines and Mr. Pratap Darayani, owner of Oasis.

"Wine is sunlight, held together by water."
~ Galileo

as told by Mr. Mitter at the beginning of our session.

Mr.Pratap D, Mr.Peter M, Shamita telling us all about wine and generally making sure we were having a good time

We started with Veg Wantons and Herb Infused Chicken Reshmi Kebab paired with Chenin Blanc. It was an off-dry, still white wine with a pale lemon yellow colour, light aromas of citrus fruit with hints of fresh apple and honey. Then for main course we were served Grilled Fish in Lemon Butter Sauce and Masala Au Gratin paired with Viognier. It was a dry, still white wine with a pale gold colour(if you hold the two glasses side by side in light you could see the beautiful difference in shades). It had a floral aroma with hints of apple, apricot, peach and spices. It lingers in your mouth longer than the Chenin Blanc. Honest confession I always go for red wines and this was the first time I liked both white wines that we tasted. They served it at the right room temperature (which is 8-12°C) which is not the room temperature in Calcutta by any chance (which swinged around 33°C that day with loads of humidity; my camera lens got misty on stepping outside!).
We had the Blush wine paired with our dessert, Brownie with Ice cream. Albeit it was a bit too heavy for the Blush as we were informed by Shamita so we tasted it on its own before having the dessert. The Blush is off-dry, still Rosé wine, salmon pink in colour. It had floral aromas with hints of crushed strawberries and sweet spices. The colour was gorgeous and I don't usually like shades of pink.
We also tasted the Barrique Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, a dry, still red wine, deep cherry red in colour with the aroma of blackcurrant and blackberry, a hint of chocolate and tobacco. It was a full bodied red wine with a concentration of soft tannins(only present in red wines causing that puckery feeling in your mouth after you have had a swig).
We were all given bottles of their Shiraz red wine as tokens at the end of the day. I had a great time learning a few new things about wine. At the end of the day it isn't really about following the rules about (well anything,but knowing the rules helps in breaking them) pairing the right one with the right food. Find the flavour you love and just drink it up for a cheeky evening with friends..mix them up for all you care and wake up the nest day with a flush face and happy grin..wine won't make you throw up in the morning..really!..push the limit and find out..if you throw up let me know...
Here are a couple of shots of yours truly from that day...the second one was taken at the end of the day so I have already licked off all my red lipstick as you can see and have sweaty hair and almost no make-up left..I will try and do a proper outfit post with this later in all my red lips glory...till then just enjoy a shot with my red ombre hair..

Anupriya took the pics I am in

It takes time

The title is not supposed to be cryptic at all. Durga Puja is over and I have had a few days of fun; I have binged and I have walked (the cabs were useful too only when they weren't demanding 30 or 80 bucks in addition to whatever the meter charged!) around hopping from the pandals I wanted to see to restaurants to my friend's house where I crashed for a night. I feel like I have been sleeping since then. I need to catch up with everyones' blog.

I haven't yet sorted through all the photos I have taken. But here are a few shots from the 1st(i.e,Shasthi; the days are actually numbered from Mahalaya which is taken as day 1; shasthi is the 6th day, the day the actual rituals basically start from) day out. I have realised how shaky the photos come out when I have to hold the camera. I would die (well not literally) for a dslr.

I got another haircut.this time from the salon.there are no outfits in this post but I will put 1 up shortly.

pandals are best seen after dark because they come alive with all the beautiful lights then. plus=> see the crowd?

decorations in the same pandal

blurry but a glimpse of the Durga idol there along with Lakshmi and Ganesha on the left. photo c/o RB

a glimpse of Saraswati on the right; couldn't get Karthik on the extreme right.too much crowd. photo c/o RB

decor details

the bag I carried throughout the few days. Quilt and Stud Cross Body bag from Accessorize.com

ended the night with a glass(two)..(& a half)..of wine.this is not something I do usually.But hey there's got to be a perk of being 21!

P.S-This is the best pandal of the day and the only one I took photos of, not the only one I saw.

Hope you are all fine and having a great time!