The revival of Grover Zampa

Grover Zampa Vineyards is India’s oldest surviving wine company, founded as Grover Vineyards by Mumbai-based Kanwal Grover in 1989. Their first wines were launched in 1992 and the consumer favourite, La Réserve, brought out in 1998 in collaboration with Flying Winemaker, Michael Rolland. 

The company had gone into a bit of a slump from around 2008-09 but has crafted a remarkable comeback in these last few years: it merged with Vallée de Vin, a winery near Nashik, in 2012 and changed its name to Grover Zampa Ltd (Zampa was the latter’s best-selling wine brand). The company moved its offices from Bengaluru to Mumbai, brought in fresh equity and funding from Singapore-based Ravi Viswanathan (more of that later) and promoted Vivek Chandramohan as CEO.

While Grover Zampa is a distant second to the wine industry leader, Sula, in terms of total volume (and now way ahead of relative newcomer Fratelli), what is remarkable is the quality of their wine portfolio: they introduced the VA Réserve Range with renowned tennis player, Vijay Amritraj, as brand ambassador in 2014 and while retaining the best Zampa wines (Zampa Soiree Brut and Chêne Grande Reserve red wine) in their portfolio. 

Insignia Shiraz 2016 is the new vintage of Grover Zampa’s premium red wine (Rs 6,000 for the 1.5 litre Magnum)

In 2018 they launched Grover Insignia 2015, a 100 per cent Shiraz matured in French oak for 24 months, in a 1.5 litre Magnum bottle priced at Rs 5,000 (it’s now Rs 6,000) — clearly a move to take pole position among Indian wine producers.

Since then, they have made four investments: a stake in Chateau d’Etroyes in Mercurey, an appellation of Côte Chalonnaise, a sub-region of Burgundy; the acquisition of Charosa Vineyards (near Nashik) that had been promoted by Ajit Gulabchand of Hindustan Construction Company (HCC); the acquisition of Four Seasons Wines (winery near Baramati, Maharashtra) from United Distilleries (formerly owned by Vijay Mallya); and the brands of Myra Vineyards, a virtual winery with operations in several states. Media reports indicate an outlay of Rs 67 crore for the two wineries in Maharashtra.

Apart from all that they are working on a spanking new 100-acre vineyard and state-of-the-art winery near Nandi Hills close to Bengaluru, which should be ready in about two years and cost at least Rs 100 crores. So where’s the money for all this coming from?

The key person behind the funding and the company’s remarkable turnaround is Ravi Viswanathan, a soft-spoken French citizen of Indian origin who lives in Singapore. He has increased his stake in the company from 50 per cent to 69 per cent in the last one year, is chairman of Grover Zampa and envisages a rapid scaling-up of the company’s offerings over the next five years. 

Last Saturday, May 4, the company hosted a “soiree” at their winery outside Bengaluru for about 300 invitees from Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, and even overseas, to unveil their new visitor centre, comprising three sections: Lounge de La Réserve, a wine bar & restaurant; Cave de La Réserve, a tasting room; and Boutique de La Réserve, a wine retail outlet.

He also unveiled three new wines: La Réserve Royale Brut (Rs 2,000 in Bengaluru), a premium sparkling wine; Insignia Shiraz 2016, the new vintage of their premium red wine (Rs 6,000 for the 1.5 litre Magnum); and Vendanges Tardives (Late Harvest, in French), a sweet/dessert wine (Rs 1,750 for 375 ml) made from Chenin Blanc grapes.

The highlight of the evening for me was a masterclass for the three new wines conducted by Sonal Holland, India’s first and only Master of Wine, who had come down from Mumbai for the occasion. 

Grover Zampa is going places, has upped the quality of its entire wine portfolio and is a company to watch. We’ll raise a toast to “Made in India”.

Alok Chandra is a Bengaluru-based wine consultant