|
May 2007 - Posts
-
Wine, be it the robust red, vintage white or the effervescent sparkling pink, has since time immemorial, celebrated good health and cheer. Known as the elixir of life, its refined quality and grace has the ability to turn the most ordinary cuisine into a connoisseurs delight! In the Indian context, wine has long enjoyed an elitist status, acquired from the west. This however is now changing very fast. The Indian wine makers and grape growers have been steadily making inroads into the wine industry in the last 7 years with very promising and encouraging results.
Photo Caption - Brochure of India Wine Show published on 27th May 07 by the Chief Guest Mr. Abhay Kewadkar - Vice President (Wines) U. B. Group, in the presence of (from left) Mr. Ajay Boraste - Depty Mayor Nashik, Mr. Jagdish Holkar - MD Flamingo Wines, Mr. Devidas Pingle - Member of Parliament & Chairman of Reception Committee (India Wine Show), Mr. Pralhad Khadangle - Chairman, Vinsura Wines, Mr. Ashok Gaikwad - Chairman, N. D. Group, Mr. Hambir Phadtare - M. D. Mountain View Wineries & Mr. Sanjay Nyaharkar - Convener, India Wine Show are seen in picture.
The Indian brands are now strongly establishing themselves in the wine market and compare and comply with the international standards. Moreover, the industry is now looking towards serving not only the niche export market but also a very potentially profitable home market. In fact, the Indian wine industry is now ready to take the big leap. With a growth rate of 25 – 30 % per annum, wine drinking is now becoming a part of the urban Indian lifestyle. The rising levels of the standards of living and exposure to global trends and cultures have contributed greatly to this growth.
Nashik today has emerged as the Wine capital of India. A climate conducive, both to grape growing and wine making, along with favorable “ Grape Processing Industry Policy “ of the Maharashtra government, has made Nashik the hub of this industry.
The India Wine Show, organized every two years, in Nashik , has established itself as the premier wine event in the country. The event showcases every aspect of the industry from grapes growers to end consumers. India wine Show 2007 this year is going global! Expected to attract higher number of international exhibitors and visitors from around the world, it offers an ideal business platform to the industry. Features of India Wine Show 2007 are Trade Seminars, International Conference, Master Classes, Wine Tasting Sessions, Trade Fair & vineyard Tours, making it a complete and unique wine experience.
Open to all wine related companies and organizations; it covers a broad-spectrum of product, solutions, innovations and services in the Wine Industry. The combination creates an opportunity for manufacturers, researchers and companies, both Indian and foreign to expand their business.
The show features events like the Buyer-seller program, Trade Seminars, conferences, wine tasting sessions for traders and consumers. The highlight of the event however, is the prestigious awards for the Indian and Imported wine of the year 2007. The show targets grape growers, CEOs of wineries, Winery entrepreneurs, and agriculturists and exporters of both grape and wine.
Organized by Media Exhibitors in joint venture with Maharashtra Chamber of Commerce, Industry & Agriculture “India wine show 2007”, is a major segment of the Krishi 2007 _ International Agricultural trade fair &conference Nashik, to be held from 29th November to 3rd December 2007. The event is ably supported by the Ministry for Agriculture, Government of Mahrashtra, Maharashtra State Grape Growers’ Association and Nashik Valley Wine Producer’s Association.
Recently on 27th May 07 brochure of India Wine Show - publishing ceremony held at Nashik, Maharashtra. In the presence of Mr. Abhay Kewadkar - Vice President (Wines) U. B. Group, Mr. Devidas Pingle - Member of Parliament & Chairman of Reception Committee (India Wine Show), Mr. Pralhad Khadangle - Chairman, Vinsura Wines, Mr. Ashok Gaikwad - Chairman, N. D. Group, Mr. Hambirrao Phadtare - M. D. Mountain View Wineries, Mr. Pradip Pachpatil - G.M. Sula Wines, Mr. Jagdish Holkar - MD Flamingo Wines, Mr. Ajay Boraste - Depty Mayor Nashik. Mr. Sanjay Nyaharkar - Convener, India Wine Show
For more details visit Krishi 2007
|
-
But recently I have been noticing few wines are produced outside of India shows Indian Names on the wine label. Kama sutra Wines and Somrus wines (On the picture) from Australia, Namesta wines from Portland, USA.  It is very interesting to me that some of these wines are mainly targets Indians around the world also the tying to sell it in India.
General rule or expectation about the wine label: In “old world” wine producing countries like France, Italy or Spain normally keep the Wine label name that represents the Region or Variety. You can easily identify wine producing region from reading one or two words from that label. Namely Burgundy, Burgundy is the place from France, so one can tell easily it is a French Wine. Some times by reading the brand Name of the product you can tell easily the region of the wine.
In the "new world", like US, Australia, New Zealand, Chile and Argentina etc, follows the simple Labeling structure. There are some countries has some laws specifically to state the places, varieties and appellation etc on the labels.
Like Sula Wines or Grover Wines. These names are family names and very familiar in India. The expectation of these wines is from India. This is just an expectation.
For Trade Mark purpose, marketing strategy or business reason some wineries keeps the wine names differently.
Wine enthusiastic or wine experts will look for all the information in the label, but first time/regular wine buyers may buy the wine by just reading the brand name and variety label. They may not see the wine producing region, most of the time the producing region written in small letters or back side of the label.
Names are very important to the wines, keeping the names right name may attract the consumers successfully. Sometime it is a business strategy to keep the name like that.
Chardonnay produced in different region may taste differently. If you are very particular about the region of the wine produced then, better to read the wine label carefully.
Venki
|
-
India has forever remained a land of dichotomies. It has always perceived a notion in almost two totally paradoxical perspectives. And wine or liquor is no exception to this rule. When on one hand it was a drink of festivities; it was also considered a forbidden affair for the society at large. Drink was considered as a ‘Taamasi’ food that is always subject to repudiation as it only results in bad thoughts and behaviour. But it was never shunned completely and pervaded every spatial and temporal dimension.
Since the very inception Indians had the native familiarity with Wine. This becomes apparent with the artifacts found at the sites of Harappan Civilization. During the Vedic period wine was often referred to as Somarasa; it was believed to be associated with Indra, and was a part of religious festivals. Soma is mentioned in Vedic scriptures as well. Also the reference of Drakshasava is found in ayurvedic texts which was basically a delicious digestive preparation made from ripened red grapes, cinnamon, cardamom, nagkesara, vidanga, tejpatra, pippali, and black pepper and contained natural alcohol.
Moreover, the Shaivite cult had the practice of consuming intoxicating drink as a part of religious practice. In ancient India the ‘madiralaya’, as known from the texts were important place of recreation and amusement. The concept of ‘madirapaan’ is ubiquitous in legends as well. Even during the days of Kautilya, the mention of beverage prepared from fruits as a royal drink is found. But the perception remained a taboo for society at large. The Islamic rulers forbade drinking as per their religious norms. However, during the medieval period several rulers had the habit of drinking in courts during ceremonies and celebrations. The big tribal population has in their custom, the culture of social and religious drinking.
But contrary to this idea, Drinking has always remained a social taboo and therefore no culture of social drinking could ever develop in India. Even Constitution of India puts a proscription for liquours in India by Section 47 of the Directive Principle of State Policy declaring that “the State shall endeavour to bring about prohibition of the consumption - except for medicinal purposes - of intoxicating drinks”. India has predominantly remained a non- drinking country. Now it is high time to revive the notion of social drinking and responsible drinking habit with proper regulatory affairs of the state.
Since almost a thousand years or so, wine is being made in India. With so many years of rich experience Indians have developed a proclivity for both beer and wine. I.P.A. -Indian Pale Ale was one of the first forms of beer made by brewers in India. It was basically made to stand the great voyage from Britain. But, beer did not reach the sub Continent until the early to mid 19th century. Before this period, rice beer was made in some areas. The practice to brew rice beers remained in the conventional tribal and some village folds.
The European travellers brought wine to the courts of the Mughal emperors Akbar, Jehangir and Shah Jehan. Royal vineyards enabled the emperors to have a taste of red (Kandhari) and white wines (Bhokri, Fakdi, Sahebi etc.) that were produced for the royal fervor. The next important contribution was made by the Portuguese settlers who not only improved the wine they found in the 16th century when they came to Goa but also introduced a new variety of wine for the Indian sub-continent: Vindaloo. The practice started by sailors of keeping meat in barrels of wine laced with garlic properly mashed with spices of India gave birth to this new range originally called VIN d'Ail. The reference of the famous Persians wine, Shiraz, which was often sent to the Moguls in India, and later to the British, is often made.
Since 1612, wine began becoming more and more familiar throughout India due to the British influence. As cost of shipping wine to India was very high, the British planted vineyards, in Surat, and also in Kashmir. The popularity was picking up; a phylloxera epidemic destroyed all the vines in India. Interestingly, around the 1860s, when the Schweppes Company began marketing its anti-malaria tonic, gin began to gain currency as the best means for making tonic palatable!
Under British influence vineyards were established and a number of Indian wines were exhibited and favourably received by visitors to the Great Calcutta Exhibition of 1884. Even though the Indian vineyards were totally destroyed due to unknown reasons after only a few years from then, still the penchant lived. This and several such episodes helped in keeping the interest regarding the wine alive. And eventually after a long pause of several years it was revived yet again in 1985.
Today, in the 21st century, Wine is seen as a sophisticated drink and infact considered being healthier than liquor. This factor has made it popular even amongst women and the young starters. Well, Youth appeal is important in a country where majority of population is below the age of 25. Then the only way to grow the market is by making wine affordable and accessible to all. Once utility of the drink is proved the consumer behaviour and attitude toward wine would certainly change.
The wine market is in formative stage in India. Today India has 123,000 acres of vineyards, but only around one per cent of them are used for wine. It requires extensive efforts from all quarters to have a reputed position in India. It is clear that availability of liquor cannot be unfettered because of health and safety concern. But for responsible drinkers the availability of choice can be ensured with state acting as a guardian. It is apparent that the steps taken by the government were not sufficient enough to help the industry grow at a pace. The present wine market is expanding at the rate of 30% for imported, 35% for domestic wines. This growth is not only sustainable, but could even be conservative if duties were lowered.
According to the Constitution of India the liquor industry is regulated by the states and not the centre. Intoxicating liquors are specifically covered by Entry 8 of the State List, and this places all aspects including manufacture, possession, transport, purchase and sale of intoxicating liquors within the sphere of the state only. Since alcoholic beverages are a state subject, each of India’s 29 states and 6 union territories has their own rules & regulations and duties & taxes. Even the pattern of wine distribution and control varies.
India followed a system of non-automatic import licensing (quantitative restrictions) to BIO wines and spirits until April 2001. Under that system, strictly limited quantities of BIO products were allowed to be imported for sale in certain tourist hotels. Then, import of liquors including wines was allowed under the Open General Licence (OGL). No import licence is required for wine and anyone can import wines into a Customs Bonded Warehouse. However, each label, each size of bottle and each manufacturer has to be registered with the Department of Excise & Customs against a fee. A distributor has to obtain a license to distribute liquors. The industry faces threat of prohibition in several states, high taxes, restrictions on advertising, restrictions on inter-state movement, etc. Liquor industry in India is highly government regulated in terms of constraints on manufacturing, storage as well as distribution.
The imported wines and spirits (BII and BIO) are not systematically exempt from the plethora of different sales taxes; value added taxes, and other indirect taxes applied by Indian States. Government aims at uniform state-level taxation on alcoholic beverages across the country and therefore has plans of a new state excise policy. In a recent move that could make both imported as well as locally-made booze cheaper; the Central Government has prescribed a maximum state excise of 25% for wine in various states.
The Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 applicable to all of India have been enacted by the Union Government. The term “FOOD” in the new law has been defined to include alcoholic drinks, among other items. Once it comes into force then all provisions made under the Act would become applicable to alcoholic drinks as well. The present statute The Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954 applicable to food items in India does not include alcoholic drinks like ‘wine’ as a food item. The Government of India is actively considering setting an Indian Wine Board under the Ministry of Food Processing Industries at the Central level for promoting the domestic wine industry.
Wine has travelled a long way through time and the occasion is ripe for claiming the position it deserve. If the policies are set in tune then sooner the status of wine will definitely get a great boost in the Indian scenario. Let’s wait and watch.
Neeraj Dubey
Neeraj Dubey is a Corporate Lawyer based in Delhi. He has an experience of working in diverse field of Corporate, NGO, IPR and Cyber Laws.
|
-
 Michel Chapoutier is one of the principal Winemakers in the Rhone Valley. His wines come from both the Northern and Southern Rhone Appellations. He believes the highest quality wines are grown as close to nature as possible, and employs organic methods wherever possible. All his wines express single varieties from single Vineyards. Michel believes that wines are at their optimum when paired with foods – To this end he designs his wines with long, elegant finishes. I was very privelged to recently attend a Masterclass with Michel in London, whilst tasting his latest offerings……
For more information on Chapoutier here are his website details http://www.chapoutier.com/
Attended: Thursday 10th May - Michel Chapoutier 06 Tasting
Report:Puneet Dhall
06 Chapoutier "Concentrated like 05 / Elegant like 96"
It was summer in London, it was raining. It was the Groucho Club in Soho. The streets were slightly steamy, The people and traffic hustled by. It was a busy days.... One of those days where the whole world is working. The beaches are empty, the bars are quiet save for those regulars who never quite leave.
On such a busy day the 30 or so 'trade gang' sat intimately at long impassionate tasting desks. A hushed chatter hissed across the room... The odd sentence could be overheard..."Is En Primeur Good for you....05 Burgs is stunning...My Girlfriend likes to...."
Shiny glasses shimmered....and through the doors came the Maestro.
"Phenolic and Physiological" he chimed in his Gallic tones "Global Warming is having an impact in two ways...The temperature and CO2. With both increasing, plants are making more sugar and we are finding that grapes are reaching optimum Physiological maturity at higher alcohols....We have two choices...Continue to pick at Phenolic levels i.e when alcohol is say 12 % etc, but this means we are finding green vegetal characters in our wine. Or we can pick at Physiological ripeness and makes wines at higher and higher alcohols. This also will be a very big problem" The maestro looked down glumly...obviously there was no hope in this dilemma. But suddenly a glint came across The Maestro's eye, a curl of a smile...his head started rising, his proud finger erect was pointing towards the sky...In elation he cried "BUT we have an Oenological answer to rising alcohol...WILD YEAST" We all let out a sigh of relief...Thank God there was a solution and this possible crisis was being averted. "Wild Yeast" he continued "eat more sugar than cultivated yeast during fermentation. In this were we can use up more sugar, have lower alcohol wines which are beautiful balanced and tasteful......"
Michel Chapoutier believed that the 06's in Rhone, unlike the rest of France were superb and better than 05. This was because the harvest rains that layed siege elsewhere did not materialize in the Rhone. I concur. I tasted the 05's and 06's and the key note was the incredible body of the wines, and perhaps the most elegant least bitter tannins I have ever tasted in a wine.
Tasting notes
Saint Joseph Blanc Les Granits 100% Marsanne
Minerality, Soft Fruit, Peach, good acidity holding it up...v little oak influence a slightly bitter end which Chapoutier likes as he believes this complements food. V Good
Ermitage Blanc De L'Oree 100% Marsanne
Nose - more pungent and smoky than Granits / fresh palate / beautiful body / long length - elegant V Good
Ermitage Blanc Le Meal 100% Marsanne
Meal means'honeyed' and this does come through in this white. Slightly warmer / poss more alcoholic than others / slightly dusty nose and quince. In the mouth Big and Bold - superb balance - Superb
Ermitage Blanc L'Ermite 100% Marsanne
More Flinty/Mineral, balance not quite there for me a touch more acidity for length and to hold it up perhaps. Again trademark length Good
ChdPape Croix de Bois 100% Grenache
Youthful Pink rim / Chalk Flint / Wild Cherry / Incredible silky tannins...Concentrated and elegant Superb
ChdPape Barbe Rac100% Grenache
Deeper Red / Distinctive Flint Nose / slight fizz still fermenting from Wild Yeast..Again great tannins..V Good
Crozes Ermitage Rouge Les Varonniers 100% Syrah
Rasberry/Flint/White Pepper some Black Currant
v spicy cinnamon and licorice. Gorgeous after taste V Good
Saint Joseph Rouge Les Granits 100% Syrah
Deep Red / Funky Nose / savoury, gamey. Again the beautiful elegant tannins, you can drink all these reds now and its a joy. Have to believe Michel that these tannins will only get better over 20,30,50+ years. V Good
Cote Rotie Rouge La Mordoree100% Syrah
Beauty some rosemary - Big fresh start fruit burst drifting off to lovely finish with a touch of warmth.Very very long finish silky Superb
Ermitage Rouge Le Meal 100% Syrah
If I was Parker 96-100. Rich Opulence. Perfect Body and length,. Spicy but not too spicy gorgeaous lick your lips fat texture. Incredible
Ermitage Rouge Le Pavillon100% Syrah - Star of Show (just pipping Le Meal)
Even slightly sooty on nose. Delicate spicy, beautiful texture, silky tannins
Bit more ripe/Jamy than above - also bit too spicy Good
 Puneet Dhall
|
-
It was a meeting of Owners of Heritage Hotels held at the scenic Mt Abu. I got the chance to conduct a wine appreciation for Jodhpur Gaj Singh of Jodhpur (3rd from left on the picture), Owner of Karni group of hotels and other royal families mainly from Rajasthan. The celebrity marriage of Liz Hurley &  Arun Nayyar took place in hotel Umaid Bhavan Palace of H.H of Jodhpur.
It was a great evening in a relaxed atmosphere. I thought of not making it a classroom kind of session but more of a informal setting where we discuss the fine nuisances of different wines we tasted. To my amazement the level of awareness was quite high. Most of them have visited vineyards in Italy, France, California etc.
Ladies liked the refreshing Ivy White Zinfandel .
Everyone was very receptive and was asking questions about the various aspects of wine. We also discussed issues like consumer preferences etc.
The Sponsorship of wines was done by Chateau Indage and the wines tasted were Marquise De pompadour, Chantilli Cabernet Sauvignon, Ivy White Zinfandel,Chantilli Chardonnay.
The most favorite wine of the group was Chantilli Chardonnay. They said this chardonnay was quite good but sometimes when they buy it from the shops its not good and I told them its storage problem which is harming the wine.
Heritage Hotels and Indian wines is a good combination as I think the majority of consumers coming to these hotels come to experience India, it’s culture, rich heritage, Indian food, people, clothes etc. So it provides us with a opportunity to let them enjoy the Indian wine and let them know we have arrived .
Happy Drinking till I come with another fascinating experience.
 Ajay Kumar Gothwal is a Wine Educator with experience of working abroad as well as in India. He can be reached at divineajay@yahoo.co.in for further communication.
|
|
|
|