August 2007 - Posts

• TIME TO STOP, THINK, ANALYZE ABOUT OUR WINE INDUSTRY - Ajay Gothwal

  If at the moment we see Indian wine scenario everybody is going gaga. Everybody wants to be the part of this growing sunshine industry. But I think we need to pause and think our strategy. What actually is happening, in what way we are contributing? I think this is the right time that everybody get together especially the market leaders and have a dialogue with government to make some standardized policies. Because this is the stage when guidelines for the new entrants are needed. As they are in infancy stage they will learn the right way otherwise after sometime it will be too late. POLICIES If we look all the countries everybody have their policies on place which acts as a guidelines to beginners it will make their life easy. Now everyday I get emails people asking how to start a winery, want to start importing wines etc.. Because nobody knows how, when and where. We need to have a platform or a body, which keeps the tab on the industry in all aspects like how to start a winery, industry data, and financial help. Formation of wine board has been doing rounds for a while and we sincerely hope its in place sooner or later. Krishi now a yearly ritual organized by Nasik Valley vintners is a good initiative by them and I sincerely hope it’s a blessing for the wine industry. PRACTICES We need to spend some money on research, viticulture practices. At the moment most of the wineries are doing contract farming and in India I don’t think our viticulture practices are that advanced barring few big players. If we don’t have a good raw product we won’t be able to make excellent wines. In my opinion the amount of control we can have on our vineyards we can’t have over others. May be the investment might be high but it will pay in the long run. Another issue I feel to the heart is having these flying winemakers. It’s good to have guidance, consultation initially but we need to rely our in house people in the longer run. We also need to develop or nurture talent in winemaking. Frequently changing of winemaker can also affect the consistency in your style of wines. Winemaker is like a chef who imparts his own style and makes his own statement through his creations. Our wineries should not be there stop gap holidaying places. We need to have people here who work with our climate, soil etc for a long time and understand it fully. LIQUOR VS WINE We need to be united in voicing our stand of separating wine from other liquor. I guess this is one of the biggest hurdles. The people who are making those policies might not be aware of the intricacies of wine and their ignorance is making this industry suffer. They can hire experts from the industry for consultation on regular or on part time basis. This will do a world of good for the wine industry. Another front on which we need to pay attention is what we write on the bottle (drinking of alcohol is injurious to health). We can phrase it in a better manner. One of my friends K.S.Duggal is also in the same industry and we enjoy sharing our views about it. During one of our discussions he threw this question and its very valid one. I guess this needs to be seriously looked upon. This sentence itself gives a negative impact about the beverage. On the other hand we try to see wine as part of our food and not treated as a separate identity. Have you wondered why this happens? Label of a wine is very important tool as it gives a fair idea of what he can expect in the bottle. We can be more discreet about the percentage of grapes we are using, may be kind of food we recommend. In one or the other way it will help us because I can tell you that you cant look upon for the person in the shop about a wine as he is as ignorant as you. USP OF INDIAN WINES Couple of days back I was sitting with one of my Austrian friends and we were discussing about Indian wines and I was happily telling about how this industry is growing etc. Suddenly he asked me one question “What is the characteristic of the Indian wine” and I thought for a moment but could not come up with something substantial I thought this was a thought-provoking question. We need to have some uniqueness to talk about. And I can tell that will take our industry a long way. STIGMA OF DRINKING It’s a social stigma where alcohol is looked upon differently and in some sections not used for enjoyment but used as an excuse to do unpleasant things. To change this perception everyone has to work hard and not just worried about his or her sales. Because I believe once the perception of people is changed sales and other things will automatically fall into place. If we want to be there with other nations who rule the world of wine and give them a fight and rub shoulders with them then we also need to look into spreading the awareness and not just concentrate making wine. I believe may be we can make the best product but don’t let that person know how to appreciate it he wont understand and value as you see it and will left you disappointed. EXCISE I guess for any Indian state liquor is their gold mine for revenues and in doing so they have been rampant in allotting shops but nobody bothers to check what is the quality of shops. I see tin sheds coming up and to my amazement the location of them keeps on changing every year. You can imagine the condition of wine in this scorching heat it will be cooked like your tikkas. What it does the person don’t want to invest in shop he wants to make as much profit as possible and exit. There should be some bare minimum requirements set by the government. It can be based on any model like volume of business etc. You will be surprised not many shops have facility of refrigeration. LAST POINT I guess its business responsibility to have sensible profit margins based on social equity. We have to maintain a fine balance between the earnings and spending. I know you might be wondering what this has to do with beverages. I guess this is it for now see you for another article till then CHEERS! 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. Posted Aug 29 2007, 02:22 PM by admin with 1 comment(s) Filed under: Wine Business, ajay

• Mandala and Vinsura sign manufacturing agreement. - Press Release

  Mandala Valley has signed a long-term, non-exclusive manufacturing and supply agreement with Vinsura Wineries, Nashik, India, for its wines. Under the agreement of co-operation, Vinsura will offer its facilities both for bottling, and the supply of bulk wine to Mandala Valley Wines for its upcoming facility near Bangalore. “We have audited Vinsura’s facilities and found that its equipment, capabilities and processes meet the rigorous requirements that we have set for our winery facility,” said Ramesh Rao, Managing Director, Mandala Valley Vineyards (P) Ltd.. (Picture on Right) “The training of its personnel is of high standard and the company has an excellent reputation. Together with our accomplished European winemaker and enologist, we can now offer the wine connoisseur a range of excellent wines, while giving us the bandwidth to expand our market presence across India. We are very pleased about this co-operation with Vinsura.” This is the first agreement that Vinsura has signed with Mandala Valley. “Mandala Valley wines have been well-received by the market and is on its way to being a highly respected brand”, said Prahlad Khadangale, Chairman of Vinsura. “On the other hand, Vinsura can offer its own vineyards and manufacturing on a long-term sustainable basis. These factors will create essential values for both sides and for wine customers. We complement each other very well and Vinsura is proud to partner Mandala Valley.” Mandala Valley had been scouting for a presence in Nashik, India's de facto wine capital thanks to the large vineyard cultivations in the region, as well as for the beneficial excise policies in Maharashtra. It had earlier planned a greenfield winery project in the Nashik area. This will mark the entry of the Bangalore-based maker of Mandala Valley Wines, into the Maharashtra wine market. It would also roll out specific labels through this bottling arrangement.   Posted Aug 22 2007, 02:31 PM by admin with no comments Filed under: Wine Industry, Wine Business, karnataka

• Indian Wines from Diageo

  ne of the world largest Liquor company, Diageo entering in to Wine business in India. Diageo Spokesperson informed us recently, that Diageo is planning to market International wines in to the Indian market as well as Wine produced in India. For Indian wines, Diageo is currently has entered in to partnership with Nasik (Maharasthra) winery to produce and bottle it for them. Also they are importing international wines i.e . Barton & Guestier ; Blossom Hill, and Piat d'Or. Diageo is planning to market in the On-trade and off-premise and has the marketing tie-up with Reliance Fresh and Shoprite Hyper to retail the wines through their retail stores. Launching will be done around late September 2007.   We will come to know more details about their Indian Products soon. This is the same strategy from UB, Chateau Indage and Sula also. UB is also marketing the recently purchased winery from France in to Indian Market, also it is in the process of producing wine near Pune. Chateau Indage and Sula is also importing wine from abroad apart from producing it in India.    Diageo’s entry clearly shows there is a market potential for wines in India as well as for Indian Wines in the future. Venki Posted Aug 15 2007, 08:38 PM by venki with no comments Filed under: Wine Business

• WHO Global Status Report on Alcohol 2004

  Recently, WHO (Word Health organization) issues the Alcohol consumption reports for the Year 2004. India is standing 141 th position (out 198 WHO member counties). It is far behind from European countries. Indians are consuming 0.82 liters per capita.  The reports include the consumption of beer, wine and other spirits.  Also the report is not including the local toddy’s or illegal alcohol productions and few other exemptions.   Luxemburg is the largest wine consumption country with 9.43 liters per capita.   In past few years India’s showed great progress in the economic environment as well as many study suggests the better forecasted economic in the coming few years. So it gives great opportunity for wine business to grow in fast phase.   The Global Status Report on Alcohol for the Year can be downloaded from here. Posted Aug 07 2007, 05:35 PM by venki with no comments Filed under: Wine Business, wine report, wine sales