For me tannins don't work with red wine. They are mouth drying not mouth-watering and refreshing. Furthermore with a curry I want something cool to cold. And the tannin feel rises as temperature falls. So for a red wine you want to remove the tannin feel especially at low temps. To remove the tannin feel from tea one adds sugar and milk. Same with wine. Include some residual sugar. Notice that Australian sparkling Shirazes have quite a high dosage and still at low temps have a tannin mouth-puckering feel in the mouth. Milk? That'll be a buttery wine with serious malolactic fermentation to introduce the lactic acid found in milk. Mix in some milky Semillon or Chenin Blanc. Viognier? What's so special about my wines from Wine for Spice? Many of these points have been covered by others here. My wines can be summed up in one word - REFRESHING - a refreshing alternative to a cold gas injected lager. First, my wines are all naturally semi-sparkling. Carbon Dioxide enhances taste and adds natural acidity when dissolved thereby adds to the mouth watering feel. But a fully sparkling wine or beer has too much gas and lager has gas injected producing large bubbles leading to bloating with food. Second, drink the wine cool to ice-bucket cold – So thirst quenching like a cold lager. Third, a refreshing wine also should have a good level of mouth-watering acidity. Think lemon juice – the classic Indian “Nimboo Pani”. Fourth, avoid mouth-drying tannin. Whilst tea is drunk in India with food, the tannin is softened with milk and sugar. Furthermore, tannin in both wine and tea is exaggerated at low temperatures. Fifth, the wines are also free from oak, which clashes with spices such as cumin, corianders and ginger giving a bitter, harsh after-taste. I want a clean taste. Sixth, moderate alcohol; a good degree of alcohol is required to provide body but excess alcohol over 12.5% can add to the burning sensation of chillies. Take a sip of vodka before and after biting into a chilli to feel this. Furthermore, the wines are so moreish that will find yourself drinking quite a bit. Finally aromatics, fruitiness and sweetness in the range rise in relation to the chilli heat of the accompanying dish. This is based on my Goan Granny’s trick of adding some sugar to an over hot curry. Suck on a sweet before and after biting into a chilli to feel this. But unlike some wines like 100% Gewurztraminer or Muscat which can be over-aromatic and sickly after a glass or two, my wines are balanced with a coupage providing natural acidity and are additionally refreshingly sparkling through a second fermentation. see http://wines.wineforspice.com regards Warren Edwardes, ceo, Wine for Spice Limited
