The wine club: The highs and lows of spirits

Is there a case for expempting low-alcohol products from this Supreme Court draconian judgment?

By clubbing wines (and beer) with spirits in its recent ruling on the location of  retail shops, bars and restaurants across India, the Supreme Court has done a disservice to the cause of differentiating low-alcohol beverages  from high-strength spirits.

It is recognised worldwide that wine is a low-alcohol beverage, which is farmer-friendly and good for health. Yes, drinking a lot of wine will get you drunk, but consumption of anything (even water) in excess is harmful, and wine certainly provides a more desirable alternative to mood-altering beverages.

It is unfortunate that many of the retail outlets that used to dot the landscape around New Delhi loudly announced their standing as purveyours of libations other-than-hooch by proclaiming that they were an “English Wine & Beer Shop” on their shop-front signage. This reinforced the popular perception that there is little to differentiate between the various categories of alcoholic beverages.

The Chocolate Block is a cult wine, sold on allocation to export markets. A blend (mostly Syrah, with some Grenache and Cab and a little Cinsault and Viognier), the 2014 vintage I quaffed recently was full-bodied and rich, with layers of complexity

 

The Supreme Court’s ruling has been widely criticised, both as a case of judicial overreach as well as being insensitive to the loss of livelihood  of up to 1 million employees and a revenue of thousands of crores. The ruling also does not differentiate between shacks selling liquor on highways and respectable bars and restaurants in malls or hotels where the investment in each outlet runs into crores, and which cannot just be shifted elsewhere overnight.

 

So, is there a case for expempting low-alcohol products like wine and beer from this sweeping and draconian judgment? Many commentators think so, although reactions have possibly been muted keeping in mind various strictures against lèse-majesté originating in colonial-era laws.

Kerala has provided a precedent in this. In 2015, the state had banned the sale of spirits in bars except at selected star hotels, but permitted bars to sell beer and wine.

While I whole-heartedly support the spirit of a ruling that seeks a reduction in road accidents due to drunken drivers, I do think that the Supreme Court of our land should focus its attention on loftier matters rather than get involved with the minutae of how we should comport ourselves. What would be next, one wonders: directions on what to eat, how to dress, whom to meet, what to think and say? Sounds Orwellian, and not a road down which a modern democracy should want to go.

One earnestly hopes that better sense will prevail, both in differentiating between low- and high-alcohol beverages by the powers that be, and in exempting bars and restaurants inside malls and hotels from the Supreme Court’s ruling.

Wines I’ve been drinking: The Boekenhoutskloof (“ravine of the boekenhout tree”) winery in the Franschoek Valley, South Africa, was originally established by Dutch (“Boer”) settlers in 1776 and resurrected by Marc Kent in 1993.

Its flagship, The Chocolate Block (Rs  4,844 in Bengaluru), is a cult wine, sold on allocation to export markets. A blend (mostly Syrah, with some Grenache and Cab and a little Cinsault and Viognier), the 2014 vintage I quaffed recently was full-bodied and rich, with layers of complexity: intense berry and fruit notes, with bitter chocolate, minerality, and oak on the palate, with balanced tannins and acidity. Must be decanted for at least 30 minutes before drinking.

Proost, as the Dutch would say.
Alok Chandra is a Bengaluru-based wine consultant