When I thought about writing about Indian wines taking the advice of my good friend Sherine Thomas, I didn’t really know that I was stepping into an ocean of information. I really don’t want to start this piece by give you the market figures and statistics. That will make the read quite morbid. Stastical figures here in the article is strictly for wow and boo purpose of comparison. I had an interesting but a month long research that I had to do to shape up this piece on the ever evolving and never changing risky, but classy market- The Wine Market, India.
The history of Indian wines date back to 2500 BC it seems. I wonder what they called this fermented grape juice then in India. It’s believed that it was the Persians who introduced the wines to the Indian people and thus got us all drunk. In 1844 Indian wines were showcased in the great exhibition of Calcutta. That’s an interesting fact. But the producers of these wines came into light and brands came into being in the dawn of 20th century. In the late 1970’s two new wines: Golconda (Shaw & Wallace) and Bosca (UB) became much popular to the wine explorers. Chateau Indage was a later part in the bargain and Grover vineyards set the trend moving for Indian wines. According to me the wine market was at the verge of slowing down when MR Rajeev Samanth gave up his Silicon Valley job and started growing vines in the 20 acre farm of his family in the Nashik valley. It was not late when he had Kerry Damsky, the Davis trained winemaker from Sonoma onboard his new venture.
After the success of Sula sauvignon Blanc in 1997 & later the Chenin Blanc which became the biggest seller in India, there was no looking back for Mr Samanth. Grover vineyards in the state of Karnataka also started making some brilliant wines at the same time. Michal Rolland, the Bordeaux consultant kept Grover in roll with the competition.
God! I am talking as if there is only Sula and Grover in the whole of the Indian wine market. Totally forgot to step into the international wine market.
The history of Indian wines date back to 2500 BC it seems. I wonder what they called this fermented grape juice then in India. It’s believed that it was the Persians who introduced the wines to the Indian people and thus got us all drunk. In 1844 Indian wines were showcased in the great exhibition of Calcutta. That’s an interesting fact. But the producers of these wines came into light and brands came into being in the dawn of 20th century. In the late 1970’s two new wines: Golconda (Shaw & Wallace) and Bosca (UB) became much popular to the wine explorers. Chateau Indage was a later part in the bargain and Grover vineyards set the trend moving for Indian wines. According to me the wine market was at the verge of slowing down when MR Rajeev Samanth gave up his Silicon Valley job and started growing vines in the 20 acre farm of his family in the Nashik valley. It was not late when he had Kerry Damsky, the Davis trained winemaker from Sonoma onboard his new venture.
After the success of Sula sauvignon Blanc in 1997 & later the Chenin Blanc which became the biggest seller in India, there was no looking back for Mr Samanth. Grover vineyards in the state of Karnataka also started making some brilliant wines at the same time. Michal Rolland, the Bordeaux consultant kept Grover in roll with the competition.
God! I am talking as if there is only Sula and Grover in the whole of the Indian wine market. Totally forgot to step into the international wine market.
India is the 2nd largest populated country. 1.24 billion. God! Now that’s a whooping big number. If you take into account the per capita amount of wine being consumed in India it sadly comes down to an estimate of 11ml and that’s a miniscule amount. The per-capita consumption of 11 ml when compared to the world over consumption of 4 litres , 8 litres of United states , 2 litres of china and a whooping 40 litres in France shows where India stands when it comes to consumption. India has a long way to go from becoming a wine destination, but given the progress that Sula made in just over a year, the future does indeed look brighter. We can clearly see that there is a huge growth potential in this sector and all we have to do is to create & enable an environment suitable for the grape farmers and the end consumers.
Maharashtra does head the majority of total wine production in India, which is followed by the southern state of Karnataka, the major players in Karnataka being the UB group and Grovers vineyard. One of the interesting things I noticed about the four season house set up by UB in Rotti ,Baramati is its structure with the small water body in front which resembles the classic Bordeaux houses.
Lets talk about the consumption trend now. Indian men are stuck with their brandy and whisky and the Indian youth are so stuck with vodka and beer. They do not want to appreciate the brilliance of this amazing beverage or they are too lazy for a change. I and my friends did fall under the latter category for a long period of time. The major portion of wine consumers in Inida hail from cities of Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore & Goa. Not to forget there are some adventurous people from Calcutta, Pune and Hyderabad too who are looking for some change and don’t want to follow drinking what their ancestors have been drinking .No offense meant. There are nearly 2 million people in India who actually consume wine and it’s an interesting fact that about 10% of this figure opts for wine as their preferred beverage.
Maharashtra does head the majority of total wine production in India, which is followed by the southern state of Karnataka, the major players in Karnataka being the UB group and Grovers vineyard. One of the interesting things I noticed about the four season house set up by UB in Rotti ,Baramati is its structure with the small water body in front which resembles the classic Bordeaux houses.
Lets talk about the consumption trend now. Indian men are stuck with their brandy and whisky and the Indian youth are so stuck with vodka and beer. They do not want to appreciate the brilliance of this amazing beverage or they are too lazy for a change. I and my friends did fall under the latter category for a long period of time. The major portion of wine consumers in Inida hail from cities of Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore & Goa. Not to forget there are some adventurous people from Calcutta, Pune and Hyderabad too who are looking for some change and don’t want to follow drinking what their ancestors have been drinking .No offense meant. There are nearly 2 million people in India who actually consume wine and it’s an interesting fact that about 10% of this figure opts for wine as their preferred beverage.
The Indian market size at present stands at 1.2 million cases at present where the domestic wines alone take a share of 435000 cases and cheap entry level wines account for another 590000 cases. Sidhartha Mallya , heir to the UB group says that the current alcohol penetration in India is around 42.5%, while beer and whisky beverage penetration holds to 26 % and 23 % respectively. Wine can claim only a tiny 0.6% and there is a long way to go. People still have to understand the wine is not a drink which can only be enjoyed over dinner at a fine dining restaurant.Many people are investing in the wineries off lately. They are under the impression that setting up a vineyard is equal to plowing profits in future. May be it is true but they don’t understand it’s not the near future. Like every other agricultural product there is a lot of risk that is involved and a lot of cost that is incurred. According to Sovna Puri, DGM Marketing &head of training and tasting, Sula vineyards, it takes 5-10 years for any vineyard to get its return on investment. Profit is a distant dream. Many vineyards open with all hey and ho but is shut down within 1-2 years of its operation. The shelves getting empty is not really a direct indicator of the wine doing well in the market. I remember Mr Ankur Chawla , Restaurant manager ,Taj Mahal Hotel , New Delhi shared with me a list of wines and tasting notes that he made on Indian wines . I was shocked to see there was over 65 different wineries and their wines featuring in the tasting session. I must admit that I only knew a few of them and that too only the key players in the market. The government policies in India are to blame for this as we have strict regulation on advertisement pertaining to alcoholic beverages. The wine lovers are not updated about the new entrants and these new entrants in the market lack the push it can get from advertisement and marketing.
India has made its presence felt in the international market as well lately, with Waitrose becoming the first UK supermarket to stock wines from the subcontinent. Ritu Viognier and Zampa Syrah are beautifully executing it at Waitrose. Sula vineyard’s Sauvignon Blanc 2010 winning the silver medal at the decanter world wine awards and the honours going to two Indian wines namely Frateli chardonnay 2011 which won the commendation and Zampa Reserve 2010 bagging the bronze medal at the 9th Annual Decanter wine Awards. That’s not all IGPT( Indian grape Processing Board) also helped in putting the Indian wine market at the centre stage where Indian wines were featured at ProWein in Dusseldorf – the worlds no1 wine trade show. All these factors are helping Indian wines to make an immense impact on the international market.There are several wines in India that hold the making of a great statement, may it be in the domestic or international market, may it be in the Indo-Italian venture of Fratelli, Mr Samanth’s Sula vineyards, Grovers , Seagrams nine hills of Pernod Ricard , Four Seasons and Zinzi of the UB group or the latest fruit wines by LUCA , India is all set to be a wine destination and is in the process of proving Michel Rolland wrong when he said ‘India makes good wines but not great wines’.
Jai Hind.
