The Source Pinot Noir, Nashik, India

The Source Pinot Noir, Nashik, India

Pinot Noir is a lovely, gentler red grape variety compared with more powerful reds such as Cabernet Sauvignon. Best known as the signature grape of Burgundy, it is now grown around the world—including India, where Sula and Fratelli produce appealing examples.

Pinot Noir is notoriously difficult to grow: it prefers cool, relatively marginal climates and is unforgiving of excessive heat. So why attempt it in tropical India? The answer lies partly in Nashik, where vineyards at elevation benefit from cooler nights and a pronounced diurnal range, giving this early-ripening grape a fighting chance to retain freshness.

The Source Pinot Noir is an interesting example of that adaptation. Made from 100% Pinot Noir grown in Nashik, it is deliberately a lighter, more approachable style, with the variety’s characteristic red-fruit profile of cherry and raspberry. Sula ages it in French oak for five months, adding texture without overwhelming the relatively delicate fruit.

The more interesting question is whether Indian Pinot Noir is actually getting there. The answer, is yes. The latest examples show that the grape can produce wines with attractive fruit, freshness and delicacy in Nashik, even if they should not be judged against Burgundy or cooler-climate Pinot Noir on the same terms. India is still learning how to manage this difficult variety, but The Source Pinot Noir is an outstanding example that the experiment has become a credible success.

Tenuta Sant’Antonio Amarone della Valpolicella 2020, Italy

Amarone is one of Italy’s great exercises in controlled excess: grapes are dried for at least three months before fermentation, concentrating flavour and sugar and producing a wine of remarkable richness and intensity. Yet the best Amarones are not simply big wines; they balance that concentration with freshness, savouriness and structure.

The 2020 Antonio Castagnedi from Tenuta Sant’Antonio is a fine example, imported by The Wine Park. Made predominantly from Corvina and Corvinone, with Rondinella, Croatina and Oseleta, it combines ripe cherry and plum with liquorice, black pepper, chocolate and balsamic notes. There is plenty of weight, but also a surprising sense of freshness and finely textured tannins. The 15% alcohol is well integrated rather than dominant. The 2020 has received strong critical attention, including 94 points from Falstaff.

What makes it particularly appealing is its balance: rich enough to stand up to roast meats and mature cheese, yet sufficiently fresh to avoid the heaviness that can sometimes accompany Amarone. It is a wine to sip slowly — and a reminder that, when handled with restraint, power and elegance can coexist.

Castello di Ama Chianti Classico 2021, Italy

Castello di Ama’s 2021 Chianti Classico is a premium red wine from the historic heartland of Tuscany, situated in the hilly region between Florence and Siena.. Unlike the broader Chianti region, Chianti Classico requires higher elevations, stricter yields, and a minimum of 80% Sangiovese grapes with no white grapes allowed. Defined in 1716 by Grand Duke Cosimo III de’ Medici, Chianti Classico is one of the oldest legally protected wine areas in the world.

Made from 96% Sangiovese and just 4% Merlot, Castello di Ama is a wine that relies on finesse rather than force: fragrant with violet, redcurrant, cherry and raspberry notes, lively acidity, polished tannins and a gently savoury, spicy finish.

The grapes come from Castello di Ama’s vineyards in Gaiole, where the combination of altitude, limestone-clay soils and cooler conditions helps Sangiovese retain the freshness and aromatic lift for which the variety is prized. The 2021 growing season was particularly favourable, with spring rains and a warm summer, producing grapes of good balance and concentration.

What makes this wine compelling is its restraint. It is bright, savoury and finely structured rather than heavily oaked or over-extracted, with enough fruit to make it immediately appealing and enough acidity and tannin to give it longevity. An elegant, food-friendly wine with a distinctly Italian sense of place — and a fitting reminder of why classic Chianti Classico remains so compelling.