Nandi Hills, Bangalore

KRSMA

Hampi Hills Sangiovese 2013

Robert Cunningham
9.3

My last rating of this wine in this vintage (33 weeks ago) indicated the exceptional promise I saw in this very fine Sangiovese. So a little more than a half year later, as I retaste the wine with two vastly different dishes in front of me, I find that exceptional promise being achieved much sooner than might have been expected. The wine is integrating rapidly, and is lush with spicy dark fruit in very accessible balance. I tasted this Sangiovese first with a great Black Forest ham and Swiss and arugula sandwich from our neighborhood Italian specialty food market-and the wine contributed wonderful black fruit and spicy black pepper depth that made the taste experience memorable. Then I brought out my wife's extraordinary Keema (intense, complex, spicy and rich, with ghee, cinnamon cloves, cardamom and bay leaf underpinnings) and made more complex by the addition of a large dollop of homemade yoghurt and of Swad Coriander chutney--a highly complex and wonderfully spicy dish. Again, the low alcohol level of the wine (stated 12.7%), combined with intensely rich dark berry fruit and black pepper spice elements, made for a great pairing I would not expect to find outside the southern Rhone. I spend a lot of time in India, and Krisma's Sangiovese is the best, most balanced red wine I have tasted from India over the last 15 years or so (but that is a low bar), and a great pairing wine for a broad range of Indian, SE Asian and Western cuisines. More importantly and impressively to me, it is a wine that can compete on the same stage as, and beat, so many of the wines in the spicy/fruity universe such as Sangiovese and southern Rhone blends we all enjoy so much--and that to me is exceptional news. I have found over the years that most Indian reds range from mediocre to undrinkable (many with a bitter core or overly jammy fruit or highly intrusive alcohol levels that cannot be ignored or enjoyed), but this wine can play very well on the world stage. Great news for the future of Indian wines! My only regret is the very limited availability of the wine (New York and Bangalore I believe)-and that hopefully will change. — 9 years ago

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