After moving to Australia in 2007, Amritpal Atwal and Kanwar Randhawa quickly realised that their culture was misunderstood.
“Times were different. I won’t say it was racism, but it was something close to that. We felt it,” Mr Randhawa said.
Both being Sikhs, the pair found that people of a Western culture often conflated the many religions practised around the world, despite there being significant differences between the belief systems and cultures.
That’s where the idea of telling part of their culture’s story, paired with a product often missing from the Indian restaurant market, came into play.
The Black Prince
Maharaja Duleep Singh, nicknamed the Black Prince of Perthshire, was the last king of the Sikh Empire.
In 1843, he was proclaimed Maharaja of Punjab, coming to the throne of the Sikh empire at just five years old, with his mother, Maharani Jind Kaur, serving as regent.
After two Anglo-Sikh wars, the British took control of the region, later leading to the separation of Singh from his mother and placement into a Christian household.
He converted to Christianity at the age of 15.
“They said his mother wasn’t capable of looking after him and they turned him into a Christian,” Mr Randhawa said.
“The Black Prince name was given to him by the royal family in England.”
Later in his short life, Singh was granted permission to return to India and bring his mother out of exile to live with him in Britain.
“After so many years, finally mother and prince met,” Mr Randhawa said.
“He told her, ‘I’m happy, I’m being treated very well, I’m a prince.’ And she said, ‘No, you’re not a prince, you are a king.’
“That particular conversation changed his life.”
The Shiraz
After talks with local winemaker Sam Plunkett, Mr Atwal and Mr Randhawa made their dream a reality.
“We’re always trying to find out a way to tell people about who we are, our background, and where we came from, and wine culture in Australia is very big,” Mr Atwal said.
“So, after meeting Sam, we came up with this idea. Australian wine with the labelling Black Prince is a good way to tell the local people where we came from.”
They ‘soft’ launched the Black Prince Shiraz at a multicultural event at Victorian parliament, and have since offered samples to diners at their multiple restaurants in the region.
While they dream of both improving the wine lists at Indian restaurants across the country and of expanding their collection of wines to tell Indian and Australian stories alike, now is all about educating the community about the Black Prince.
“This is our first wine, and we want to dedicate it to the Black Prince,” Mr Randhawa said.
“The wine is perfect because when you drink it, and at the end of the palette, it gives you a chocolate and berry flavour, which will resemble his life.
“At the end of his life, he started realising a totally different way of living.”
