Chateau d’Ori

THE FACTS

Location: Dindori sub-region, Nashik
State: Maharashtra
Founded: 2007
Major shareholders: Ranjit Dhuru, Deepak Thakoor
Total area: 100 acres
Area under vine: 62 acres
Production: 150,000–200,000 litres
Google map: click here

THE STORY

Everyone has their own path to wine and Ranjit Dhuru had his via Bordeaux. Having built Aftek, a software company, into a considerable success by the first years of the new century, when it was valued at $ 100 million, he had the means to pursue his dream – to make wine in his native Maharashtra.

 

The inspiration came from Dhuru’s exposure to fine clarets during his regular business trips to the USA and Europe. He began by buying Bordeaux wines en primeur from blue-chip chateaux, but when he understood that Robert Mondavi had teamed up with the Château Mouton Rothschild proprietors to create Opus One in Napa Valley, California, he resolved to build a winery on Bordeaux foundations too, but in India.

 

Nerra and Ori are two hills abutting the hundred-acre plot acquired by Dhuru in 1999, and are named after Hindu deities that, according to mythology, were intricately associated with Parvati, the consort of Shiva. So, it seemed appropriate to name the winery ‘Chateau d’Ori’, giving it the requisite French twist.

 

Athanase Fakorellis, the Bordeaux-based Greek wine consultant, was called upon to assist with setting up the vineyards and making the wines. It was a long journey to the release of the first wines. The yield from the first few years was sold as young vines were deemed incapable of producing the quality targeted by d’Ori. The winery’s huge construction was also a time-consuming architectural feat, and remains unfinished. In 2005 Kailash Dhuru, Ranjit’s energetic and charismatic nephew, was sent to Château Loudenne in Bordeaux to train on the job during harvest time. Today, he is the resident winemaker.

 

Eventually, 2007 was the first vintage to be released, and with only 90,000 bottles. The wines had very arty labels designed by an Italy-trained Bordeaux resident, the Spaniard Cristina Alba. The winery’s initial focus was on the Maharashtra market and Mumbai in particular.

 

However, the financial crisis was to hit hard at both Dhuru’s IT business and domestic wine consumption in India, and the winery was put on the back burner. In the tank hall of Chateau d’Ori, reminiscent of a space station control centre, I tasted over a dozen wines across four vintages between 2008 and 2014. Some are amazing, but inevitably others show signs of difficult times faced in recent years.

 

Kailash’s charm and drive raise a flicker of hope for Chateau d’Ori. The potential in this ailing winery is obvious, but to give it a new lease of life hobby needs to translate into business, alongside the passion for creating a Bordeaux-inspired Dindori estate.


THE ESTATE

The hundred-acre estate is situated at the foot of the twin hills Nerra and Ori in the Dindori sub-region of Nashik. There are 56 acres under vine with the main varieties being classic Bordeaux grapes: Sauvignon Blanc, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. Then again, some Burgundy and Rhone are also present with Chardonnay and Syrah.

 

The entire vineyard is planted to a high density of 6,000 vines per hectare (2.47 acres), all cordon trained to allow VSP. Three ponds were created among the blocks of grapes, because Dhuru is convinced extensive bodies of water contribute to the freshness of the grapes as they moderate temperatures, and thus elevate quality. The core concept of d’Ori is to craft wines from estate-grown fruit only.

 

A token of Dhuru’s pride in the project is the small vintner’s cottage overlooking the estate and winery; it is unfortunate that it sees little use nowadays. The cottage’s terrace offers a view of the winery’s imposing circular structure. The exterior resembles a Mongolian yurt; inside it recalls the circular fermentation hall of Château La Lagune in the Haut-Médoc. Spreading over more than 3,900 square metres, the enormous building is split into two levels.

 

Two presses, one pneumatic for whole-bunch pressing of the whites and the other a basket for the reds, are at the centre point of the circular hall on the first level. The tanks and French oak barrels are also in the same vast concrete hall, which enables the winemaker to utilise the hoist running around the ceiling for moving must and wine. It is a semi-gravity-flow construction in that the liquids do not need to be pumped; the vessels are hoisted high instead, similar to the newly-redesigned Château Cos d’Estournel in Bordeaux.

 

The winery was designed for a total capacity of one million litres. With 72 tanks, some of 10,000 and others of 15,000 litres, but limited production, the winery is very underutilised today. Some of its wines are sold in bulk to brands such as Myra and Soul Tree. Others are being matured in oak barrels for sometimes as long as 24 months.

 

An external circular gallery rings around the tank hall on the first floor, and will one day house the laboratory and other ancillary facilities. For the moment only a sorting table occupies its space. A spiral staircase leads to the semi-subterranean basement where the bottling line is located and pallets of wines await dispatch.

 

On a late March afternoon as harvest drew to its end, I was in the fermentation hall at Chateau d’Ori with the bright light of the sun streaming through a tiny window. Painting the grey concrete wall a bright, fiery orange, it brought rays of hope, as it were, shining in on d’Ori. It would be heartening to see the property turn a corner and getting its wines to fulfil their potential.


THE WINES

The winery makes only two white wines. The Sauvignon Blanc is refreshingly crisp and zesty with a touch of minerals along with the ripe tropical fruits and a hint of gooseberry. The Chardonnay is unoaked, but as a result of batonnage, it is richly creamy, which complements the ripe apples. Both are good mid-market whites when drunk in their youth and before the next vintage.

 

The reds aim to be big and serious ‘grand vin’. They boast of plush, succulent and rich fruits as the basis. The nicely textured tannins are on the denser side, yet show elegance and finesse when well integrated. Most reds are generously oaked through extensive barrel ageing, which adds both complexity and weight to the wines. The older vintages show the layered maturity of aged bordeaux reminiscent of forest-floor tones. Dependent on the vintage, the reds are medium to premium quality.

 

Two-thirds of the d’Ori wines I tasted were barrel or tank samples, unaffected adversely by transport or warehousing, and thus lending the winery an advantage. Some wines were still being aged and unfinished. The points to consider then are: how the barrels are stored at the winery, when the wines are taken out of the barrel, and how they are stored before consumption. On one barrel sample I noticed a touch of oxidation, on another the volatile acidity was a touch too high. Neither need be a problem if these barrels are screened out before bottling, but it does raise concerns.

 

Going on the basis that the bottled wines I tasted were from 2008 and 2009, it is likely that younger vintages will be similarly released after longer bottle maturation. I wonder if India is ready for more aged Bordeaux-like reds, or whether it would not be better to sell the wines younger, allowing the consumer to decide whether the wine needs a lot more bottle ageing. On the other hand, it may be slow-moving sales that are responsible for the wines being kept in the winery’s cellar that long.

THE LABELS

Chateau d’Ori

- Sauvignon Blanc

- Chardonnay

- Merlot

- Cabernet Sauvignon

- Cabernet-Merlot

- Syrah

- Cabernet-Syrah

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