by Subhash Arora
When Chateau d'Ori, a new winery in Nashik recently launched five labels of domestic wine, one could see shades of Bordeaux in the taste and style. Finished in Bordeaux bottles, the wines reflect that not only is the chateau's name
derived from Bordeaux, but the taste, too.
Ranjit Dhuru, the head information technology of a large company, and who is the majority shareholder at Ori, has been to Bordeaux many times during the last few years. Not only does he buy en primeur from shippers there to collect fine claret like Mouton, Angelus and Cheval Blanc, he also started importing eight labels of organically grown Bordeaux into Mahrashtra 4 years ago and is currently selling 5,000 cases annually, including Carillon, Jupille Carillon, Laffite Laujac and Pontac Monplaisir.
The style of his own wine is set by the renowned oenologist from Bordeaux, Athanase Fakorellis. A protégé of Michel Rolland, he has been visiting Dindori, where the estate is located, for the last four years. He also designed the modern winery with its efficient, concentric tanks, a first of its kind in the region.
Ranjit abhors screw caps and insists on using cork, in a typical Bordeaux fashion. Even the labels, thought by many to be the best wine labels in the domestic market today, were designed by the Spanish artist Cristina Alba who lives in Bordeaux.
Available in Maharashtra for between Rs. 380 (€6.5) and Rs.650 (€11.2), he hopes that they may one day be available in France, too, when the vines are older and wines reach higher standards.
