Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/518118
june 2015 / the tasting panel / 7 Bordeaux and Napa Valley), Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay. On a whim, they added Sangiovese (Krishna has a crush on Brunello). Their first harvest was the Cabernet in 2010. "What I'm trying to do is get towards something like Napa," says Krishna, who claims a nearly life-long love affair with wine (White Zinfandel was his first taste of the juice). And Uma, who often speaks in unison with her husband, adds, "But it will be distinctly Indian and speak to our terroir." While they work towards defining that terroir, the couple is fashioning a modern wine to their tastes, experimenting with all the tools of traditional winemaking: barrel aging, malolactic fermentation, lees-aging. They strive for minimal intervention in the vineyard, using regulated deficit irrigation to compen- sate for the low rainfall. "We are primarily organic but might add fertilizer if we think the plants need it. We are still learning about the soil," Krishna says. Uma added, " Our viticulturist is world renowned and he is learning along with us." So far, their big successes have been with the two Sauvignons, which have won awards at the China Wine & Spirits and Decanter competitions. The 2013 Sauvignon Blanc, which manages to be both creamy and acid- driven, won Gold at the San Francisco International Wine Competition. And even the Chardonnay, which Krishna says still has its challenges, was a Double-Gold winner at CWSA and garnered a Decanter Bronze. The 2014 Sauvignon Blanc won a bronze and the 2014 Chardonnay won a Silver at the 2015 International Wine Challenge. Despite the early successes, the wines, Krishna concedes, are still very much trial and error. The first Cabernet in 2010, he says, "was good—better than any wine that was made in India," but not quite ready for prime time. It never got released. "We could have sold it but the standard we set for our- selves was much higher—this didn't [yet] have our name on it," he says. Though the Cabs have improved in the next two vintages, the 2012 was rated at 95 points by THE TASTING PANEL; the 2013 Cabernet was not to their standard and was converted to a second label. The 2014 Cabernet vintage was excellent, and having bottled it recently, they feel it will surpass the 2012 Cabernet. The area gives out a warm-weather Cab with the attributes of cool-weather fruit (the grapes were harvested in January when temperatures were between 14–21°C—cooler than Bordeaux). Not what they envisioned, but more than they hoped for. While the other varietals are doing well, Krishna feels that they are still learning about the Sangiovese, which, though it gives good fruit, behaves erratically in terms of yield. "It was a fancy," he said. "We're still having troubles and we're learning—the Sangiovese is adapting to new condi- tions so maybe in the next few years. It is proving to be very temperamental in our vineyard." The trial hasn't diminished his penchant for experimentation: He tried and failed with Pinot Noir. "The day I started loving Pinots, I planted some in the vineyard and they didn't grow at all," he laughed. "I just wanted to see what would happen." What else has happened: success in Bangalore, where KRSMA is sold in some 21 hotels and restaurants and 34 retail shops. In New York City, the only other market, KRSMA is in a few retail stores and 20 metro-area restaurants, Le Cirque, Sel & Poivre, Shun Lee, The Homestead and Junoon among them. While other competitors such as Samant Soma Wines Ltd. (producers of Sula) are focusing on the Indian market, KRSMA has its sights set on the United States, with New York City as the bull's-eye. "It's a big transition to come from one city in India to New York," Krishna said. "It's a little unusual for any wine anywhere in the world to be made straight away for New York without strongly exploiting the local market." But he said, "We want to go [in] places that can really recognize iconic wines—New York is one." "People ask us where can you [buy it], so we say go to Bangalore or New York and they say 'That's an arrogant state- ment.'" At this, Krishna and Uma both laugh, as if sharing a private joke. If there's one thing this couple has, it's confidence. "We are still strategizing, but the objective here is to make this into a cult wine. So how we do that is something we're working out," Krishna said. "I want to feel the response in New York. It's been only a few weeks and we don't want to draw any conclusions today, but wait for a while and see what price point people are willing to accept." KRSMA Cabernet Sauvgnon entered the New York market at $50 SRP. They considered launching in London, which has a strong connection with India, but Krishna says, "Londoners are not as bold as New Yorkers; New Yorkers like to experiment." "If you have a good product, you'll get recognition—that's what happened in the pharmaceutical business and it should happen in the wine business. I'm pretty confident people will accept and recognize it," he says, adding, "Success in New York leads to success everywhere else." The soils at KRSMA are rocky and iron-rich in an area otherwise inhospi- table to agriculture.