Features: Magazine | Literary Review | Life | Metro Plus | Open Page | Education Plus | Book Review | Business | SciTech | Friday Review | Cinema Plus | Young World | Property Plus | Quest |

Raise a toast to wine

Wine is a recent phenomenon in India, notwithstanding all those retail outlets selling mostly rotgut spirits that style themselves as "wine shops". Being a young but fast-growing business, none of the many new entrants are (as yet) making any money here - in industry parlance it's an "invest- grow" phase. Volumes are expected to grow 10 times in 10 years to 10 million cases (catchy numbers, these) - and to 50 million cases in 20 years. Of course, that's still a drop in the ocean - per capita wine consumption (presently 10 ml) will grow to a little over half a litre, as compared to a world average of five litres today.

Nevertheless, everybody one meets socially seems to be taking to the stuff - society pages of the dailies are full of pictures of the glam set quaffing wine, magazines bring out supplements about the "best wines in India", wine clubs are sprouting up all over the place, and retail shelves everywhere (except in Chennai) are groaning under the weight of new wines, both domestic and imported.

So what are the wines worth drinking? The answer is complicated - we're a big country with many people, and there are consumers at every price point, from Rs. 100 to Rs. 10,000 per bottle; too, state rules mean that all wines are not available everywhere - and those that have wide distribution have different prices in each city. Lastly, what one imbibes depends upon the occasion, and special occasions call for special wines or even champagne.

There are the `old stalwarts': Grover, Sula, Riviera, and Chantilli. All generally well-made wines from the three oldest Indian wine companies - though each brand has its own adherents and detractors. Prices are between Rs. 250 to Rs. 500 per bottle, and you get what you pay for - take your pick. A few (Grover's La Reserve, Sula's Dindori Reserve) stand out.

Next come the `young Turks': new wines coming out of Maharashtra - the result of the `Wine Policy' announced in 2001. The best of these include Reveilo, Vin & Vouloir, Big Banyan, Nine Hills, Zampa and Chateau D'Ori. Good stuff all, often at premium prices (Rs. 500-Rs. 750), well worth trying - if you can find them. Then there are imported wines, with prices ranging from Rs. 450 per bottle (in Bangalore) upwards. There are just far too many imported wines now available to be able to write about these in a few sentences.

Suffice to say that (a) wines from the `Old World' (France, Italy) tend to be more expensive and less understandable than (b) wines from the `New World' (Australia, New Zealand, Chile, and Argentina) (c) American wines (primarily from California) are somewhere in between. (d) Five-Star hotels now stock some of the best (and most expensive) wines in the world - these are generally not available at retail. I'll write about specific wineries (and wines) in future - their history, the people involved, the quality and pricing of the wines available.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail