India's largest wine store

Tonique, the largest retail store for alcoholic beverages in India (and possibly Asia) opened its 30,000 sq ft store recently in central Bengaluru.

Spread over two floors of what is known as the Jewels de Paragon building at one end of MG Road, the store features over 30 Champagnes & sparkling wines, some 1,000 wine labels (including nearly 100 Indian wines), and 57 single malts. The most expensive label in the store presently is the Louis XIII Cognac (Rs 2.32 lakh) from Rémy Martin (they have one bottle), soon to be surpassed by the John Walker Founder’s Blend from Diageo, which would retail for Rs 2.79 lakh!

Wine occupies the full first floor, with separate display cases for Champagnes, sparkling wines, and wines by country, with names and prices for each displayed up front — after all, we Indians are very price conscious, and will first look at how much before looking for how good. 

Prices of wines vary from Rs 500 for entry-level Indian wines to Rs 31,812 for a bottle of Château Figeac Saint-Émilion Grand Cru (Premier Grand Cru Classé) 2008 — although the bulk of wines are priced  between Rs 1,250 and Rs 2,500 per bottle. Visitors are free to browse the displays, assisted by knowledgeable floor staff. An in-store tasting room will soon get going where customers can taste the wines before buying them — a first in India, although something that is quite common overseas. 

The owner of this Rs 25 Crore venture is Hyderabad-based Anith Reddy (43), who had shaken up the retail trade in that city by opening the first Tonique store there (12,000 sft area) in December 2016. He intends to similarly shake up the retail trade in Bengaluru — he’s already talking setting up six smaller (3,000 to 5,000 sft) stores that would be called “Q by Tonique”, as well as Tonique shops in Mumbai and New York.

The 2015 Querciabella Chianti Classico DOCG has a sexy nose of red cherries, black fruit, minerals, slate, dried herbs, orange rind and hints of cedar

So how profitable will such a venture be, and is the investment justified? 

Retail prices for alcoholic beverages in almost every Indian state are regulated by law, with vendors having to print the MRP (Maximum Retail Price) — apart from a host of other mandatory declarations — on the back labels. More importantly, retail margins are also regulated — in Karnataka this is 10 per cent. As this is simply not enough to justify the investment in setting up and running a retail operation, the trade receives various sweeteners from suppliers: listing fees, bulk discounts, display charges, and the like, apart from consumer offers.

Tonique has uniquely not charged either a listing fee or (so far) any display fees for the labels, and has pro-actively picked up six to 12 bottles of most wines; trade discounts haven’t been revealed, but are likely to go upwards from at least 10 per cent, depending on actual volumes. What differentiates this store from others is the sheer choice of premium wines and spirits displayed in the well-lit and well air-conditioned premises, along with the ease of shopping: Expect visitors to initially come window-shopping, but return time and again to pick up their requirements. Expect them to, both, take business away from established retailers as well as grow the market — time will tell.

So, if you want to really educate yourself on the entire range of wines and spirits available in Bengaluru, go and visit Tonique: a shopping experience par excellence!

Wines I’ve Been Drinking: The 2015 Querciabella Chianti Classico DOCG (Rs 4,520 in Bengaluru) at this month’s dinner organised by The Wine Connoisseurs at the Shangri-La hotel. The winery, in the heart of the designated area in Tuscany, Italy has been certified bio-dynamic since 2000; the wine itself is 100 per cent Sangiovese, hand-harvested from old vines, and rated 92 points by Wine Spectator. A sexy nose of red cherries, black fruit, minerals, slate, dried herbs, orange rind and hints of cedar. Full body, fine tannins and a dusty finish. So succulent.

Cheers.

Alok Chandra is a Bengaluru-based wine consultant