KRSMA
Hampi Hills Sangiovese
India
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.
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.
1 person found it helpfulApr 24th, 2016A big, brooding Sangiovese with intense tannic structure. The oak and tannins are not yet integrated but that is not surprising given the youth of the 2013 vintage. With several hours of decanting (and this wine at its present age needs hours of decanting), the wine starts to show its stuff: intense spicy black pepper, black earth and black berry aromas on the nose and palate, with a slight residual bitterness on the palate that fades with air and will hopefully fully integrate with time. It gradually softens into a lovely, spicy wine with air. I want to taste this wine after 5 to 10 or more years, and I expect it to show well with age. This is a well made wine, and one of the best Indian wines I have tasted. It is also better than many wines produced in traditional Sangiovese areas. This is an example of the future of Indian wine, and hopefully the many new wine makers in India will follow the pendulum as it swings toward balance and harmony and away from the overextraction, high alcohol and jammy fruit that have plagued wines in so many parts of the world over the last 25 years.
A big, brooding Sangiovese with intense tannic structure. The oak and tannins are not yet integrated but that is not surprising given the youth of the 2013 vintage. With several hours of decanting (and this wine at its present age needs hours of decanting), the wine starts to show its stuff: intense spicy black pepper, black earth and black berry aromas on the nose and palate, with a slight residual bitterness on the palate that fades with air and will hopefully fully integrate with time. It gradually softens into a lovely, spicy wine with air. I want to taste this wine after 5 to 10 or more years, and I expect it to show well with age. This is a well made wine, and one of the best Indian wines I have tasted. It is also better than many wines produced in traditional Sangiovese areas. This is an example of the future of Indian wine, and hopefully the many new wine makers in India will follow the pendulum as it swings toward balance and harmony and away from the overextraction, high alcohol and jammy fruit that have plagued wines in so many parts of the world over the last 25 years.
Sep 5th, 2015
Lovely Indian wine from Hampi- Karnataka. Crisp on the palate, nice honey body ....little tight on the tannins but one of THE best Indian wines so far..;)
Lovely Indian wine from Hampi- Karnataka. Crisp on the palate, nice honey body ....little tight on the tannins but one of THE best Indian wines so far..;)
Feb 25th, 2015
