Wine for thought

There was a time when winemakers worldwide were very excited about the growth prospects for wine in India. Here was a country with a population of 1.1 billion that consumed only 3 million cases of wine — equivalent to just 25 ml per capita, as against a world average of some 3.3 litres. Even China quaffed 1.1 litres per capita! Projecting a per capita wine consumption of 1 litre in 20 years would give us a market of 1.6 billion litres or 180 million cases — which meant a lot of opportunities to sell wines to Indians.

Sadly, nothing of the sort is likely to happen.

For one, India is not one market — it is 28 different markets under one central government, with each state having its own rules and regulations and duties and taxes. Each state keeps raising and changing the rules and taxes every year. This means that few small winemakers can find a market outside their home state. Krsma Wine Estates, based in north Karnataka, for years sold their wines only in Bengaluru and New York.

Then there’s the whole thing about drinking. People largely drink to get drunk and this business of having a glass (or two) of wine with your food is still a very foreign concept, observed by a tiny minority. Even among the relatively affluent, the “khaye, piye, khiske” (eat, drink and leave) syndrome applies quite widely. You drink-drink-drink before dinner — which is served late — and you leave immediately after eating.

The Bisol Belstar ‘Cult’ Prosecco I sampled recently was both fruity and floral, with a persistent mousse (bubbles), a refreshingly soft mouthfeel and a terrific aftertaste that lingered

Then, of course, there’s the high cost of wines (as compared to other alcoholic beverages), poor availability and poorer storage conditions, all of which prevent higher wine consumption. Even if the price of domestically produced wines is $10 to $15 (Rs 700 to Rs 1,050) per bottle, given the relatively lower disposable income levels here the real cost is two to three times higher than overseas.

Lastly, of course, there’s our fascination for all things foreign. Consumers will happily pay over Rs 2,000 for imported wines but baulk at spending similar amounts on domestic wines. Most wine lists in hotels and restaurants feature scores of imported wines but only a few Indian wines. The rationale? That the quality of Indian wines is not on a par with that of highly rated imported wines.

But wait, there’s hope yet for Indian wines. At the recent India Wine Awards tasting, five Indian wines won a Diamond (“outstanding”) Award: Chene Grande Reserve 2015, Grover Zampa Zampa Soirée Brut Rosé 2015, Sula Dindori Viognier 2018, Reveilo Nero D’Avola 2017 and the SDU Reserva Shiraz 2014. All wines were tasted blind by four different panels of wine experts and included mixed flights of Indian and imported wines.

Similarly, scores of Indian wines received a “Gold” award at the same competition: Grover, Fratelli, Good Earth, Sula, Krsma, Reveilo, SDU and York all had some “very good” wines. I’m sure that it won’t be long before a 100-point rating system (similar to the Robert Parker or Wine Spectator scales) comes up to help consumers choose among various wines.

The awards were presented at a glittering ceremony held on September 29 at the Leela Hotel, Mumbai, (which sadly I could not attend), flawlessly conducted by Sonal Holland and her team — the precursor, I’m sure, of a movement that can only encourage the wine trade in India.

Wines I’ve been drinking: Prosecco is a sparkling wine made from the Glera grape in northeast Italy. The category has unfortunately been degraded by a series of low-cost (and low-quality) labels from mass-production wineries. However, the Bisol Belstar “Cult” Prosecco I sampled recently was quite different: both fruity and floral, with a persistent mousse (bubbles), a refreshingly soft mouthfeel and a terrific aftertaste that lingered. 

Alok Chandra is a Bengaluru-based wine consultant