Cultural Shift in Indian Wine Drinking

May 07: A growing and more affluent middle class is driving Indias fasci
improving in quality and recently has been winning several internationa
our guest writer Dan Traucki who suggests it would be very interesting t
Greek or southern Italian native varieties would thrive and perform there

AUSTRALIA and India have a lot in common starting with a British colonial hist
cricket, through to sharing January 26 as their national day Australia Day an
massive variance in the respective cultures is their drinking habits. Australia h
whereas India is a whiskey drinking nation, in fact India drinks more whiskey e
India, the second most populous nation on earth consumes a mere 0.012 litre
tablespoonfuls per annum. Even the new comer to wine drinking, China, is n
while Australians consume around about 30 litres per person, according to the
Indias a very challenging country for wine to thrive in. Starting with its impo
highest import duty rates in the world. Each individual state then adds its own
wine. Some states ban the sale of alcohol and most of those which do allow it
whereby the producer has to register each individual label for a fee of around
changes on the such as vintage, it must be re-registered. So by the time that
has reached a retail store, it costs more than a bottle of premium wine would
The next challenge for wine is the logistics. In a country where it is always hot
controlled transport or storage available. While it is increasing in availability, i
A further complication is a loophole to the import duty law. For more than a de
been able to import duty free alcohol directly from overseas to a value equiva
from their guests. So when you go to check out of an Indian five-star hotel you
Aussie dollars, US dollars or just about any other currency other than Indian ru
One would think that these five-star hotels would have become an oasis for w
imported wines being offered. But alas, in my experience most of these estab
as in retail, with the hotel pocketing the super profit generated by this bizar
So in this surreal landscape how does imported wine perform? Exact figures a
five-star hotels being able to ship their own wine in. However, a good indicato
the top 10 wine importers shipped in just under 280,000 cases of wine, with P
being second with 50,000 cases. This drive by Pernod Ricard has recently see
the leading imported wine country position.
However, over the last decade, despite the countrys draconian liquor tax reg
growing steadily in popularity. This is in part due to the growth of middle-class
of many younger Indians, especially in the major cities. In a country where ma
on alcohol consumption, thousands of people a year are acquiring a taste for
pushed by young women, who prefer to see their men drinking wine (or beer)
which is so much higher in alcohol. In this way their partners are less likely to
whiskey.
In this millennium young women have been entering the workforce in India lik
income and increased status has slowly been lifting the taboo on women buyi
major cities. It is estimated that less than 5 per cent of women in India curren
year.
Subhash Aurora, founder of the very successful Delhi Wine Club and the India
said that around 40 per cent of the clubs members are women. Aurora said:

So when ladies go out to outings and parties, before they would not imbibe, n
fine.
India has its own viable wine industry, which isnt helped much by the various
the largest wine company in India is Sula, which sells around 600,000 cases o
visitors to its cellar door each year. Launched in 2000, Sula has risen from firs
longer established rivals. To complement its own wines, Sula also imports arou
place is Grover Zampa, which produces around 110,000 cases a year. There a
the states of Maharashtra which contributes around 75 per cent of wine produ
which produce the balance of the estimated 1.4 million cases of Indian wine m
Along the way Chateau Indage, which was probably best known outside India
and was the largest wine producer in India, went into receivership in 2010 and
The tropical climate in most of India is not conducive to growing grapes, howe
1,000m when planted with the right aspect so as to avoid the hotter winds, vi
grapes.
The main varieties grown, like so many other countries, are the classical Euro
blanc, chenin blanc, viognier, chardonnay, cabernet sauvignon and shiraz. In
varieties such as Isabella (called Bangalore blue) and black muscat, both of w
wine grapes. There are also a few native Indian varieties which I havent tried
anabeshahi.
Given the warm to very hot growing conditions in India, I think it would be ver
Iberian, Greek or southern Italian native varieties would thrive and perform th
imagine one day drinking a very enjoyable Indian assyrtiko, athiri, pecorino, v
lagrein, montepulciano, granacha or monastrell. Lets hope that somebody in
plant some of these varieties that thrive in warmer climates.
A sure sign of improving quality is the fact that last year, for the first time, Ind
international wine show when the Grover Zampa Art Collection Sauvignon Bla
International Trophy at the Decanter Asia Wine Awards, while other Indian win
and Four Seasons collected four silver medals and five bronze medals betwee
While the Indian wine industry wrestles with cultural and government issues,
the UK. In 2013 this amounted to around 150,000 cases, or roughly 10 per ce
Waitrose became the first British supermarket to stock Indian wine when it list
I can remember the days when Australia only exported 5-10 per cent of its win
figure is around 65-70 per cent. So who knows, one day we should be able to
curry in an Indian restaurant nearby.
http://www.indianwineacademy.com/item_2_647.aspx
http://www.euromonitor.com/wine-in-india/report
http://www.euromonitor.com/wine-in-new-zealand/report
https://www.nzte.govt.nz/en/export/market-research/food-andbeverage/food-and-beverage-market-in-india/
https://www.nzte.govt.nz/en/export/market-research/food-andbeverage/food-and-beverage-market-in-india/

http://www.marketresearch.com/Netscribes-India-Pvt-Ltdv3676/Wine-India-8801636/
http://www.wine-searcher.com/regions-india
http://www.india-briefing.com/news/india-wine-9761.html/