Indian Wine News and Messages : UK

Indian wine and the UK – The Independent

anisha sharma — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 17:24:00 GMT

India produced more than 13.5 million litres of wine last year (five times more than the UK) and although it has been making it for decades, this is the first year it has made a real splash among British oenophiles.

The white Ritu viognier 2010 and red Zampa syrah 2008 flew off the shelves when Waitrose became the first UK supermarket to stock Indian wines during a special promotion in August and the Ritu had such success that the supermarket's online arm now stocks it permanently. Indian producers had a strong visible presence at the London wine fair for the first time this year and Sula Vineyards' Sauvignon Blanc 2010, which is produced in Nashik in Maharashtra, was awarded a silver medal at the prestigious 2011 Decanter World Wine Awards.

Indian vineyards mostly grow French, Italian and Turkish grape varieties. Wine production in India has increased 300 per cent since 2003 and there are now 30 more wine companies than 10 years ago, offering a greater sense of competition.

Wine consultant Aloka Chandra is a fan of the Ritu voignier that proved so popular among British supermarket shoppers. He also recommends Luca Exotic Lychee wine, which he says is "reminiscent of a Gewurztraminer", the sweetness of which works well with spices.

More: The Independent

The danger of memories is one reason why London's top Indian restaurants have been relatively cautious when approaching wines from India - The Hindu Businessline

anisha sharma — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 05:42:00 GMT

Indian wines, of course, have been sold in the UK for many years (now collapsed Indage being the biggest among them) but, somehow, they never seemed to permeate the British consciousness, or when they did it didn't bode well. A British friend grimaced when I once suggested a bottle of Indian wine to accompany our meal: she recalled a sickly sweet headache-giving red she'd had years ago. Why take the risk when there was a safe bottle of quaffable Argentine Malbec for a couple of pounds more?

Indeed, the danger of memories is one reason why London's top Indian restaurants have been relatively cautious when approaching wines from India.

Many made big play of the fact that Waitrose, a posh supermarket chain, began stocking two Indian wines belonging to United Breweries — Zampa syrah 2008 and Ritu viognier 2010 — as part of its ‘unusual wines' segment. They sold out swiftly, and Waitrose says it is considering selling them online in the near future.

“We are keeping an eye on Indian wine producers as the industry develops,” Waitrose wine buyer Matt Smith said on email. He discovered the wines at the annual London Trade Fair. “The wines do match well with Indian food, but this isn't the main reason we stocked them, as I believe they do stand up on their own,” he said.

More: The Hindu Businessline

UB’s Ritu Viognier and Zampa Syrah wines become pioneers in Indian wines at UK supermarket – Decanter.com

anisha sharma — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 06:59:00 GMT

Waitrose becomes the first UK supermarket to stock Indian wines. Waitrose is featuring Ritu Viognier and Zampa Syrah (produced by United Breweries, a Vijay Mallya company) as part of the Waitrose World of Wine Showcase.

Waitrose describes UB’s Ritu Viognier as a ‘crisp, aromatic white wine with floral and peach aromas.’

Awards’ chairman Steven Spurrier thinks that the initiative by Waitrose points to a wider trend for Indian wine.
‘Indian restaurants have always been a natural for stocking Indian wine. But Waitrose doesn’t supply restaurants so they must think that the public is a natural for Indian wine too. And I think they’re right.

‘Indian wineries have spent the last five years improving their cellars. It’s all very recent and a lot of money is being invested.’

With a burgeoning middle class increasingly interested in wine, and punitive taxes on imported wine of up to 300% in some states, India has a good reason to increase domestic production of wine, Spurrier added. ‘The wineries are very much being supported by the government.’

More: Decanter.com

Indians selling wine to the French - Birmingham Post

anisha sharma — Sun, 14 Aug 2011 05:40:00 GMT

Two West Midlands entrepreneurs are on a mission to convert the world to Indian wine – and are even sending it over The Channel to beat the French at their own game.

Alok Mathur and Melvin D’Souza, who run Soul Tree Wine, are convinced the nascent Indian wine industry could soon compete on an international stage with more traditional wine-producing countries.

The Coventry-based pair, who are moving the firm to Birmingham next month, are initially focusing their efforts on wines that go well with spicy foods.

For the past year they have been busy building up a network of Indian restaurants around the UK that stock wine grown in the Nasik region of India.

Since January the firm has added another 100 Indian restaurants as well as hotels and pubs to its network, mainly in the Midlands and the South, and has sold a total of 8,000 bottles to date.

But Soul Tree is adamant it doesn’t want to be confined to the UK’s Indian restaurant sector.

It has just appointed distributors in Ireland and France – and sees no reason Indian wine can’t overcome the famous French snobbery for their own viticulture.

“The first shipment is on its way so I will be able to tell you in about six weeks time,” said Mr Mathur.

More: Birmingham Post

Soul Tree Wine - Selling Indian wine to curry-loving Britons - Director.co.uk

anisha sharma — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 15:35:00 GMT

Alok Mathur and Melvin D'Souza are taking Indian wine to curry-loving Britons

Dining at an Indian restaurant, Alok Mathur and Melvin D'Souza wondered why they were drinking French wine when the beer served would invariably be Cobra or Kingfisher. As Mathur explains, they spotted a business opportunity in producing a wine designed to be consumed with Indian cuisine. "Melvin is from Nasik, which is where Indian wine comes from, and we knew that India had started producing really good wine. In spite of all the curry consumed in the UK, and £180m worth of wine sold in Indian restaurants, Indian wine wasn't available. The opportunity was glaring."

India's domestic wine industry has been growing at over 35 per cent annually. Soul Tree Wine wants to bring Indian wine into the mainstream, but it knows there are sceptics. "People don't necessarily want to invest in a wine that they're unsure about," says Mathur. "Some may have had an 'experience' with Indian wine. But I've tasted awful French wine. Almost every person who's tried our wine has liked it."The pair supply wine to 40 restaurants and have a target of £10m worth of sales by year five. Before then, they're looking to raise bank debt to grow the business.

As we already know, top Indian wine producers are also on track in taking the Indian restaurant route to selling Indian wine in Britain.

More: director.co.uk

Bibendum to distribute Grover Wines in the UK market - Harpers Wine and Spirit Trade Review

anisha sharma — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 08:15:00 GMT

Taking the restaurant route

Bibendum has joined forces with India's premier wine producer, Grover Vineyards to distribute its wines on an exclusive basis in the UK.

Kapil Grover, director of Grover Vineyards said the company was delighted to be associated with Bibendum in a very challenging UK market.

Bibendum buyer, Tim Marson MW, said: "With more than 6000 Indian restaurants in the UK this is a very exciting opportunity to bring India's best wines to a wider audience. Grover Vineyards have the passion and vision to succeed in seeing Indian wine become the beverage of choice in good Indian restaurants across the country. Crucially, the wines more than hold their own in terms of quality which will enable them to gain fans beyond the Indian dining sector."

More: Harpers.co.uk

Niche marketing of Indian wines in the UK and France market - Will USL hit it right? - Economic Times

anisha sharma — Mon, 31 May 2010 07:28:00 GMT

Instead of opting to battle with the rest of the wine-producing world on crowded supermarket shelves, USL hopes to uses the curry house circuit, like Kingfisher beer, and leverage the India name.

The move, say wine industry watchers comes at an interesting time when Indage, which also tried exporting to curry houses, has gone bust. Grover has also gone subdued, while the other good new ones, like Reveilo and York are still too small to export, leaving Sula as the main competitor for USL.

To start with, Mr Rekhi believes that the UK market will take up to 10,000 cases a year – the French market, he believes will be about half that volume. USL has already tied up with importers, and will be offering its entire range of varietals to importers, for bottling under the ‘Ritu’ brand name. USL has a Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz, and Voignier. In India, says Mr Rekhi, USL sold some 600,000 bottles last year, and plans to double that.

The name is `Ritu'

USL has just kicked off its plans to introduce Indian wines under the brand name “Ritu” to UK and France, targeting the Indian eateries.

Ritu, says Vijay Rekhi, MD and president of UB Group’s USL, was chosen as it sounds Indian, and sounds a bit like Four Seasons, USL’s domestic wine brand. Four Seasons was considered too much an entrenched European brand name to differentiate itself as ‘Indian’ wine. Unlike the domestic market, selling wine to France and UK requires a completely different orientation.

More: Economic Times