[Assam] (Assam): Clink of a wine revolution in Kingfisher land

[BBaruah at aol.com]

This morning I educated myself on the burgeoning wine industry of India. I  
reproduce below my source: The Sunday Times..
 
Forget about Vijay Mallya. He is a born entrepreneur. But what about  the 
surgeon who retires from the National Health Service in UK, then goes  to 
California,USA to study about wines and now is a successful wine-maker of  some 
repute. I really marvel at people like this.
 
Bhuban
 
             July 23,  2006
Clink of a wine revolution in Kingfisher land
Dean Nelson, Delhi
      
INDIA is toasting its new-found affluence with  wine as its rapidly growing 
middle class discovers the joy of the  grape.  
The subcontinent has long been regarded as “Kingfisher country”,  a 
reference to a popular beer and spirits group. But the combination  of an economic 
boom and a relaxation of import duties has seen wine  consumption soar, 
particularly among young, well-travelled  professionals.  
Wine clubs are spreading  throughout the country and newspaper society pages 
regularly feature  tycoons, fashion models and Bollywood stars clinking 
glasses of red.  Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai, Lucknow and Hyderabad all have 
established  clubs, while branches are opening in call centre capitals such as  
Chandigarh and Gurgaon, a mini-city of office towers and shopping  centres in Delhi’s 
southern suburbs.  
Last week Vijay Mallya, the boss of Kingfisher and one of the  world’s 
wealthiest brewing billionaires, marked another stage in the  country’s conversion 
when he bought Bouvet-Ladubay, a French  sparkling wine producer.  
Mallya will ship its wines to India, where they will be bottled.  He will 
also use his new reserve of expertise to improve the quality  of locally produced 
wine. The tycoon, who owns an airline and is  regarded as India’s Richard 
Branson, is also considering takeover  bids for two South African wineries.  
“India has a huge youth population and they’re growing up with  western 
values, willing to try new products,” he said. “They enjoy  wine — especially the 
girls.”  
According to Bhaichand Patel, a wine critic with the Hindustan  Times, the 
country’s love of wine has grown as increasing numbers of  Indians have 
travelled to Europe and America.  
“Before there wasn’t much wine available,” Patel said. “Grovers  and Sula 
are producing decent Indian wines and you can buy good  Chilean for £6.25 a 
bottle. It reflects an increasing sophistication  and wealth in India. Now if you 
go to a dinner party in Delhi,  people expect wine. Even people whose parents 
never drank are now  drinking wine.”  
Until recently Indians were restricted to home-grown varieties,  while wines 
from Europe and the New World were either unavailable or  astronomically 
priced because of high duties.  
Subhash Arora, founder of the Delhi Wine Club, said interest  started growing 
four years ago when the government lifted some  import restrictions and cut 
duties on wines sold in restaurants and  hotels.  
“It unleashed a hidden demand, not just among foreigners here,  but among 
people who had been students overseas, and businessmen.  The Indian wine makers 
started making cabernet sauvignon, and it  took off.  
“Wine has become the standard drink of fashionable parties, but  it’s also 
popular among low-strata people who see it on television.  They feel it’s 
glamorous,” he said.  
Arora has arranged almost 100 wine-tasting evenings since his  club was 
launched less than five years ago and specialises in  pairing western varieties 
with Indian dishes. He said the acidity of  riesling made it a natural partner 
for slightly spicy food, while  kebabs called for a fruity shiraz or beaujolais. 
 
The Indian government is considering allowing Oddbins-style  chains to open 
in the shopping centres emerging throughout the main  cities.  
The lucrative potential of India’s taste for wine is also  attracting 
wine-makers from Europe and California. They include  Indians who have risen to the 
top of the industry in France, such as  Ariff Jamal, chief wine-maker at Albert 
Bichot, Burgundy, and Raghu  Sawkar, a retired surgeon who now has a 
successful vineyard in  California’s Napa Valley.  
Sawkar developed a taste for wine at departmental meetings when  he was a 
young surgeon at Queen Elizabeth hospital in Gateshead,  Tyne and Wear, in the 
early 1970s and later in Ohio. When he retired  he studied viticulture at Napa 
College.  
He is launching a wine bar in Bangalore and plans to buy a nearby  estate to 
create a new wine mixing his own Napa Valley syrah grapes  with Indian 
varieties.  
“Bangalore now drinks 50,000 cases a year, Mumbai takes 100,000.  It’s not 
huge, but it is growing fast. They have been to the UK and  the US, Germany and 
France. They’ve tasted good wine, and they like  it,” he  said.

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