NEW DELHI, August 16, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --
IIHM Hotel School, Leads in Delivering Hospitality Education in India
Every year a 10-day trip is organized to the vineyards of Italy, Spain and France, where IIHM undergraduate students from India are chosen to be flown to these vineyards to understand the winemaking process.
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Across its 7 campuses, a series of tests and interviews for its third year specialization students help the management decide the winners, to be flown for this exercise. The all-expense paid, sponsored tour for the students was conceptualized as an incentive for them to gather knowledge of wines in the vineyards of Europe.
The 10-day long wine tour to France and Spain will start from 30th September, 2016 in Bordeaux, covering 4 days in totality - left bank Medoc and Graves and right bank and Cognac of the region - to study the soil structure and grape varieties of the great red wines of Bordeaux. The group will travel to Sauternes to explore the world-class sweet wines of this region along with Entre-Deux-Mers.
On the 5th day, the group will reach Carcassonne in France where they will be joined by Liam Steevenson (MW) to mentor them on a class on wines of the region. The group will then further drive to Roussillon, south of France, famed for its rose wines. On day 6, the group will drive to Tarragona, Spain and explore the Penedes region famed for sparkling wine 'Cava'. On the 7th day, the group will reach Logrono, Spain to spend 2 days and visit the Rioja region to study the different landscapes, which produce the legendry red wines and explore the winery 'Rioja Vega'. The group will then travel to Paris before flying back to India.
In October 2015, the trip was organized and led by Kolkata-based sommelier and wine guru Keith Edgar and Kunal, HOD - Food and Beverage, IIHM.
The success of this educational tour organized last year has intensified the competition. The trip is considered as one of the best in wine education for its regions selected and itinerary planned.
Last year's group, went via Paris onwards to Florence to visit sites like Santa Maria del Fiore, Ponte Vecchio, Piazza della Signoria and many more. They spent a day at Principe Corsini Vineyards, San Casciano in Val di Pesa in the stunning 16th century Tuscan mansion, at the heart of the Chianti Classico region. Proprietors Prince Duccio Corsini and Princess Sabina Corsini took the students around, and explained winemaking and aging techniques that have been followed for almost 500 years. The group harvested a small patch of Sangiovese grapes, the primary grape variety in this region, and picked and tasted the grapes in the vineyards, thereafter taking a bunch of each to the winery. They then sorted the grapes and watched as they were pressed to release their juices, ready to be fermented later.
Later a drive from San Casciano to Lucca, a rather well-preserved 16th century Renaissance town with a historic city center and cobblestone streets, was followed by an afternoon drive further towards Tenuta di Valgiano, a biodynamic winery near Lucca. The proprietor, Laura Collobiano, showed the students around the vineyards to explain the soil structure, growing techniques and vineyard management. The concept of biodynamics in winemaking and how it affects the final product was also studied followed by an intensive wine-tasting session, at which all the different wines from the winery were displayed, and the students got the opportunity to taste them.
The group then travelled from Florence, Italy to Macon, France. They drove from Macon to the Caves de Lugny, Saône-et-Loire, in the heartland of the Burgundy and Chardonnay grapes. The CEO, Edouard Cassanet, gave the students a tour of the winery. Students did an exercise called 'Racking' an important step in wine production, where the wine is moved from barrel to barrel, leaving sediment behind for the purpose of clarifying, followed by vertical tasting of different wines with tasting notes.
Further, they drove to the town of Chardonnay, the birthplace of the most famous white grape and then moved to another historic town, Chablis. The students explored and admired the grand Burgundian architecture and the famous Grand Crus of Chablis. The afternoon was spent at the renowned 'Domaine Louis Moreau', where Anne Moreau was happy explaining various vintages and how different they were from each other and why. It was followed by a session on soil structure, wind factor, rain aspect and much more. A tasting session of - Petit Chablis, Chablis, Premier Cru and Grand Cru was conducted, showcasing how different patches of vineyards produce varying quality of wines.
The group then visited the iconic G.H.Mumms. Reims, which is at the heart of the Champagne regions. The enormity of this brand became all the more visible when students saw the underground tunnels running for miles with over 25 million varieties of bubbly being aged. The group was awestruck to learn that this practice has remained unchanged for centuries. As stories were narrated about the G.H.Mumms' ancient cellars and traditional Champagne producing methods students noted every bit of it and tasted some Champagne as well.
Next day, the group drove from Reims to the small village of Pouillon, 30 minutes away from Reims to the House Bourdaire -Gallois. David Bourdaire was very excited to show the group around his vineyards of Chardonnay and Pinot Munier, grapes. He dug up patches of soil regularly around his vineyard and asked the students to sniff the fragrance, depicting the different compositions and thus different styles of Champagnes. After a 7-course Sunday lunch spread over 3.5 hours. The icing on the cake was the superb pairing of the sumptuous fare with Champagnes from Bourdaire - Gallois.
Last 2 days of the tour was a drive from Reims to Paris. The chattering group of IIHMites reached Paris. Students went around the marvellous city gazing at the colonial sights and shopping for memorabilia. Visiting Louvre and various other museums was like a dream come true for many.
The excitement that was built last year has left the new selected students curious to explore the region this year again and each one of them has really put in his or her best to earn a seat for him or herself on this coveted Wine Tour by IIHM Hotel School. Surely the industry is here to benefit from such teaching styles and techniques.
Dr Suborno Bose - Chief Mentor and CEO of IIHM and the IndiSmart Group remarked, "The IIHM Euro Wine Education Tour is one-of-its- kind because of the unique exposure given to the students by IIHM and moreover the tour is fully funded by IIHM. The future of wine and hospitality industry lies in the hands of these bright students of IIHM and I can easily tell you that they are in safe hands."
Keith Edgar said, "I travel a lot, usually to vineyards and wineries of repute. My effort is always to bring the best from each place and replicate it in the IIHM classes, but often there is a gap as the students can't be explained things like the aromas of the oak barrels originating from the cellar, the scent of the vineyards and soil, handpicking the grapes from the vines and pressing them to make wine. Therefore, such an initiative from IIHM gives further credibility to the beverage industry and provides a platform where students can be groomed to pursue career path in this line."
Princess Sabina Corsini of Principe Corsini Vineyards, San Casciano Val de Pesa, Tuscany remarked, "Indeed it has been a great moment and opportunity, the enthusiasm of the students is to be cherished and nurtured as they represent the future of this wonderful business. I loved meeting them in Kolkata and in New Delhi and being able to see them again in our Chianti estate Le Corti felt like a natural follow up. All my very best for the wonderful work you all are doing at IIHM, keep it up."
David Bourdaire added, "I was so happy to welcome the students and explain them about Champagne and wines of Champagne to them. I hope they all enjoyed and learned a lot from this trip."
About IIHM:
IIHM is the largest hotel school chain in India delivering International Hospitality Management with campuses at Kolkata, Delhi, Pune, Bangalore, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, and a state-of-the-art campus at Kasem Bundit University, Bangkok, Thailand.
In addition, because of its affiliations and tie-ups, the Indian students at any campus have the option as well as facility to study, at different stages of their management program, at University of West London or KBU University. It has further tie-ups with universities and institutes in the USA, Australia, Mauritius, Middle East and South East Asian countries.
For more information, visit: http://www.iihm.ac.in/
Media Contact:
Abdullah Ahmed
[email protected]
+91-11-43204700
Director
International Institute of Hotel Management
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