Fratelli SETTE 15th Anniversary Edition: A Limited Release by Fratelli Vineyards x Manish Malhotra

Nikita Nikalje
2 hours ago
4 min read

There are wines you open on a whim, and then there are wines that feel like a moment in time. The Fratelli SETTE 15th Anniversary Edition belongs firmly in the latter. Launched by Fratelli Vineyards in collaboration with celebrated designer Manish Malhotra, this limited edition marks fifteen years of one of India’s most iconic luxury wines, and closes a chapter in the most deliberate way possible. This is the final bottling of SETTE from the founding vineyard planted in 2007. After this vintage, the land will be replanted. For collectors and serious wine enthusiasts, that detail alone makes this release historic.

Fratelli SETTE 15th Anniversary Edition: A Limited Release by Fratelli Vineyards x Manish Malhotra

A Landmark Moment for Fratelli SETTE 15th Anniversary Edition

To understand why this release matters, you have to understand SETTE’s place in Indian wine. Since its first vintage in 2009, SETTE has been regarded as a benchmark for structured, age-worthy Indian reds. It has always represented the pinnacle of what Fratelli could achieve with Indian terroir and Italian winemaking expertise. The 15th Anniversary Edition has been crafted from very low yielding vines, with grapes sourced exclusively from the estate’s oldest vineyard parcels. This is the most mature expression of fruit the label has produced to date, a tribute to the inaugural vintage and a closing statement from the founding estate. There is something poetic about drinking the last expression of a vineyard that has defined a brand’s identity for over a decade.

Where Couture Meets the Cellar

The collaboration with Manish Malhotra is not a superficial design add-on. It feels intentional.

Rendered in textured gold, the bespoke bottle design draws from the world of Indian couture, where surface, detail, and finish are part of the storytelling. In fashion, a garment is constructed over months, sometimes years. In wine, patience is measured in seasons, harvests, and barrel ageing.

Here, the two disciplines meet. Malhotra’s aesthetic, rooted in heritage yet unmistakably contemporary, mirrors SETTE’s own journey, grounded in Indian soil, refined through global expertise. The result is a bottle that feels less like packaging and more like a collector’s object. This is not just wine branding. It is modern Indian luxury in dialogue with itself. Fratelli Press Release

What’s Inside the Bottle

The Fratelli SETTE 15th Anniversary Edition is a bold blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Sangiovese, aged exclusively in French oak barrels. On the nose, it opens with raspberry and blackcurrant, followed by a quiet lift of violet. The oak is present but restrained, offering vanilla and spice without overwhelming the fruit. On the palate, it is smooth and structured, carrying both intensity and finesse. There is weight, but also elegance. The tannins are firm yet polished. This is a wine that invites you to sit with it, to let it unfold slowly over conversation, rather than rush through it. It is the kind of bottle you open at a long dinner table, perhaps with slow-roasted meats or aged cheeses, where the evening stretches without urgency.

The Legacy of SETTE

Over the years, SETTE has been positioned as a benchmark in Indian luxury wines, admired for its depth and ability to age gracefully. But this particular vintage carries additional weight. It is both a culmination and a transition. Following this release, the original vineyard will be replanted, marking a renewal of the land and the beginning of a new chapter for the estate. That detail shifts the wine from being merely celebratory to being archival.

You are not just tasting fruit and oak. You are tasting the final expression of a specific plot of land, as it existed over the past fifteen years. For collectors, that matters. For serious wine drinkers, it adds narrative depth. For those interested in the evolution of Indian wine, it marks a milestone.

Fratelli Vineyards and Indian Terroir

Founded in 2007, Fratelli Vineyards is an estate-owned vineyard located in Akluj, in the Solapur region of Maharashtra. The winery pioneered the grape-to-glass model in India, combining local terroir with Italian winemaking expertise. Over the years, Fratelli has built a diversified portfolio across red, white, rosé, sparkling, cans, and RTDs, with over 40 SKUs and an installed capacity of approximately 5.3 million litres across its wineries in Maharashtra and Karnataka. With more than 400 acres under active farming and presence at over 30,000 touchpoints across India, the brand has steadily shaped the conversation around Indian wine. SETTE has always sat at the top of that pyramid. The 15th Anniversary Edition reinforces that position, not through scale, but through restraint.

A Collector’s Indian Luxury Wine

The language around luxury can often feel inflated. But here, the idea of luxury feels grounded in time. Time in the vineyard.Time in the barrel.Time in design. The collaboration with Manish Malhotra brings the conversation beyond wine enthusiasts into the wider sphere of Indian luxury, where craftsmanship and patience are shared values. The Fratelli SETTE 15th Anniversary Edition is not positioned as an everyday indulgence. It is a limited release, conceived for collectors and connoisseurs. A bottle that bridges tradition and modernity, closing one chapter while gesturing towards another. For those building a cellar of Indian wines, this is a release that will likely hold emotional and narrative value far beyond its vintage year.