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Tis the time of the season to be merry, they say. Ergo: it's time to scour the market for wine and champagne to bring in the new year. The good news is that you no longer have to assume that getting a decent wine in India is like asking for a fork in a dhaba.

Things have changed fairly substantially in the wine market in India over the past few years. Indian wines are now being exported (Grover's) and acquiring a respectable reputation too _ not quite as the afficianado's vintage of choice but as an acceptable plonk. Meanwhile, international wines are making a modest debut in India through international cognac major, Hennessy and wine and champagne giant, Moet et Chandon, who have have come together in their efforts to tap virgin markets.

Not that it's freely available just yet. The market for wine and spirits will only be opened in 2001. Till then, Moet Hennessy, as the merged entity is called, has brought in their best champagnes and cognacs into the Indian reveller's celebration choices.

However, till the import barriers are lowered, they can only be picked up from five-star hotels, bars with import licences and duty free shops in Delhi and Mumbai. Acquiring yourself a bottle is much easier if you belong to a consulate or an embassy.

There are four distinct types of wines _- Champagne, sparkling wine, still wine and the bottom-end port wine. Here's a quick trickle-down on the etat de oenology in India.

Champagne: If you have money to burn, raise a toast to Dom Perignon and the Moet & Chandon Brut Imperial Non Vintage, the two bubblies currently available in India. At prices that range from Rs 3,000 to Rs 12,000, they're probably worth twice their European prices, but blame it on import duties. In any case, you'll probably be in good company. They say a bottle of Moet and Chandon is opened every second somewhere in the world.