As part of my effort to get to know some people outside of work, I joined the Hyderabad Wine Club. This started by finding their listing on a random Hyderabad website and after looking through their homepage I wrote in enquire about membership. This is the reply I received:

Dear Mitchell:

Thanks for your mail and your interest in wine club. I would like to know a little more about your for Hyderabad Wine Club membership, as the membership is generally by referral. Anyhow we are planning to have a wine dinner with Chilian Wines, on 2nd July 2006 Sunday at 2030 sharp, at Hotel Manohar, Airport exit road, Begumpet. Generally we prefer couples as members. But if you are alone, join as a guest (at Rs. 1000/) and can have an idea about the idea. Wine Culture is still to pick up here. If you come with your spouse, (peferable) You can be accomodated at Rs. 1800/- per couple. Hope you join us. Please do call me on 99XX306537, if you are interested.

Balaji Rao BK
President, Hyderabad Wine Club

I followed up with this:

Dear Sir:

Thank you for your e-mail. I happy happy to tell you more about my interest and background in wine. I grew up on a small family winery, in Sonoma County in California. My family grew Sarah [sic] (Shiraz), Petite Sarah [sic], and Chardonnay. My youth in the vineyard has translated in adulthood to a love of wine, and most especially the social aspect of pairing fine wine with superb food and enjoying it all among interesting and engaging friends. While in graduate school, I attended many wine club events including vertical and horizontal tastings of port, white burgundy, champagne, and assorted reds from around the world. The Hyderabad wine club seems to espouse these same principles, so I wrote to you to see if my membership would be to the club's liking. I am happy to discuss my background further with you over the phone (my address and mobile number is at the foot of this message). I am in Hyderabad for at least a year or two working for Intellectual Capital Advisory Services (Intellecap), a development consulting firm. As for the membership, I would very much like to join with my colleague Nilah (copied on this e-mail), who shares our mutual interest in wine. Please let me know if we are able to attend your July 2 event and I will be sure to bring the full membership amount with me then. Many thanks again for your reply and I look forward to meeting you soon.

All the best,

Chris

For those of you who caught the mistake (Sarah is a girl's name and not a varietal of grape. That is Syrah) you will be surprised to see that my above bluffing yielded this response:

Dear Chris Mitchell :

I am damned to know about your backgroud in wines. Growing with family winery and actually living with wines. I feel that it is of great opportunity for us, mainly to me, to be associated with you than you be with us. As I told you, my knowledge in wines is not that great. I was advised to shift to wines around 5 years back, and when I look in the city there is no wine to mention or too costly to afford for an average citizen. And lots of people doesn't understand difference between liqours and wines. Taxes are exorbitant, and no wine company is willing to come to Hyderabad.

I tried, experimented, with fruits and flowers to know what a wine is and fortunately, had my own successes and failures in my experimentation, had touch with many good wine people around the world. In the course of my correspondence, I was advised, to organise a wine club in Hyderabad, to share what ever little knowledge I acquired with fellow Hyderabad people and form a group to understand wines. That is the starting for formation of this club. Later our efforts could bring taxes on wines a little low and two companies with a total of 8 labels started selling here. Still wine makers see selling wine as a business venture, than a cultural shift. Even organising wine events, is frustrating as they are costly for an average citizen. I don't know whether you appreciate our efforts to sit over an evening, taste four five wines. Only recently our own menbers started mentioning Chenic Blanc, Merlot than just white or red wine. But certainly it is a begining. I want people to know, learn a little more about wines (I too am a student in this respect) but what I see, they only want to drink, want to have the feeling as any good evening they enjoy, but - ofcourse, slowly they also want to know what a wine is? Any how I think it is a great change eventhough small, to make people drink or taste only wine, even for one evening. I am not in a hurry, let this wine culture picks up. After all my interest is go assemble people with interest in wines. I only wish that wineries too see the importance of this change, and conduct wine tasting sessions often. I love to spend some time with you to know more about wines, may be some time in July. Please do join us on 2nd July with Nilah Pandian. But request you not to expect too much, as we are still at the starting (Revival) of this great culture in Hyderabad.

Regards
Balaji Rao BK

Though I had gained admittance, I realized that I was in trouble, as my knowledge is rough and limited to only a few wineries in Sonoma County, California...Chiefly the one I grew up on. Not to be deterred, Nilah and I attended the event on July 2, after I had done a few minutes wine research so as to not make a complete fool of my self. Unfortunately, that could not be avoided. We arrived at the Hotel at 8:30 sharp (my first mistake since Indians take fashionably late to new heights). When we entered the room, I saw a collection of small circular tables in the middle of a huge banquet room with about 25 chairs scattered around the edge. Balaji immediately sprung out of his chair and walked over to seize my hand and wish me a hearty welcome. After exchanging introductions, Balaji began to preemtively apologize for the small size of the club and the relative lack of wine knowledge in India in general. I protested and said "One does not need to drink only Chateau Brion to enjoy wine." Balaji cocked his head to one side and said "Chateau Brion, isn't that a beef dish?" Beads of sweat gathered on my brow...I'd been found out, I'm a wine knowledge scam. My only option was to fain confidence "Yes, that as well," I said as I barged on with my protest that Nilah and I would have a great time in the club regardless of the quality or quantity of the wine. [As a side note, I wasn't completely off the mark, Chateau Haute-Brion is "A premier grand cru class in the Graves district with a history going back to the 16th century."]

Anyway, the night went on. Initially, when I looked over at the tasting table I only saw 5 bottles and as the group gathered, to around 20, I thought to myself "we are only going to get a tiny drop each." I couldn't have been more wrong. Balaji kept tight control over the flow of wine while we were trying the various Chileans (and one Indian Champagne--actually excellent, label is Sula), but once we had tasted everything I see two cases emerge and he says to the group:

"Ok, now if you liked something you come and get it. Whatever you want."

This is two hours into the event and there hasn't been a morsel of food. Just as I remark this to Nilah, four waiters come around offering hors d' oeuvres of chicken tikka, salt and pepper grilled corn fritters, and grilled shrimp. The group converges near the table where the wine is being poured and the club members are increasingly talkative and friendly. By 11:30 dinner is served buffet style. Fantastic curries and Indian breads which immediately overpower the somewhat weak Chilean whites. Of course, at this point we are not so concerned with this fact. It is at this point, that Balaji states that he has an announcement. He proceeds to give a toast formally welcoming Nilah and me to the club and presents us with a set of four glasses. A photographer seems to appear out of no where and snaps our picture. Then Balaji takes the glasses back, a confusing gesture, but I guess they were only ours to hold, not to keep.

The night moves forward, albeit with a thinning crowd and an increasingly jovial demeanor. At the end someone offers to drive us to our respective homes and our farewells all end with promises to have another wine event as soon as possible.