Wine online

It’s high time that all state excise authorities considered permitting home delivery of (at least) wines. Doing this will partially decongest retail shops, give people a wider choice and extend the benefits of technology to both vendors and consumers.

Since wine sales are minuscule (about 1 per cent) compared to spirits or beer and goes to a relatively more affluent section of the society, wine could be used to test the concept —delivered in prescribed quantities within a given city/state. Orders could be placed online or on the phone; the mode of payment would, of course, be at the discretion of the vendor —online, credit card or even cash on delivery.

The biggest benefit would be to consumers, who would get access to details about the wines on offer. Currently, the knowledge that retail shop operatives have about wine — even in big cities — is abysmal and of no help to the average shopper.

The sale of wine through the internet is common in developed countries. Some of the prominent websites are wine.com (with an extensive wine list); reservebar.com (focus on premium and reserve wines); and drizly.com (one-hour delivery!), not to forget Vivino and Winc. You will find hundreds of online stores selling wine if you just google it. In the US, where taxes and rules and regulations are a state subject (like in India), a majority of the 50 states permit online shipping directly from domestic producers. Not surprisingly, online sales have boomed during the lockdown.

In fact, according to a Times of India report published on April 13, 2020, both the International Spirits and Wines Association of India and the Confederation of Indian Alcoholic Beverage Companies have, apparently, made representations to the central and state governments to permit home delivery and online sales of alcoholic beverages. There are also reports that food delivery company Zomato is working with alcohol companies on delivery logistics.

St Cosme Cotes- du - Rhone 2017 (Rs 2,575 in Bengaluru) - a 90% Syrah and 10% Grenache blend from the southern Rhone valley of France.

Of course, there will be various regulatory and fiscal matters to be addressed and sorted out for each state or city. But most of these are probably legacy issues that can be dealt with quite easily if the political leadership is willing.

One hurdle would be objections from retail outlets that pay high licence fees and which may feel that their sales will get affected by online vendors.

Another stumbling block will be local excise departments, whose penchant for control is well known and who will fight tooth and nail to maintain status quo. I think they should actually welcome home deliveries as it would increase wine consumption (and hence excise revenues).

Like any initiative to change entrenched rules, something like online sales (even of wine) is not going to happen in a hurry in India, but perhaps a start has been made.

Interestingly, the West Bengal excise department just launched an “e-retail” facility for online ordering and delivery of all alcoholic beverages through the West Bengal State Beverages Corporation — check out excise.wb.gov.in. What is even more interesting is that their “analytics” indicate nearly 500 crore e-transactions till date (though this is an unconfirmed, rather dubious figure).

Wines I’ve been drinking: With the opening of liquor retail shops in Bengaluru on Monday, the drought was over and I’ve hurriedly (but only partly) replenished my cellar. The first wine I chose to sample was the St Cosme Cotes-du-Rhone 2017 (Rs 2,575 in Bengaluru) — a 90 per cent Syrah and 10 per cent Grenache blend from the Southern Rhone valley of France. Chocolate, cassis, espresso and blackberry aromas. Full-bodied, a big wine, excellent length. St Cosme is run by Louis Barruol, the 14th-generation owner and winemaker of what is one of the oldest family-owned wineries in a region that’s been making wine since Roman times (1st century CE).

Alok Chandra is a Bengaluru-based wine consultant