Well, i have a new box now from RIS. This may have English and Chinese programme that i like. :)) This time is on Indian wine drinking. Wine Drinking on the Rise in India
November 18, 2005
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| Click to listen to interview | | |
Traditionally, India has never been considered a wine producing or wine drinking country. However, in the last two decades India has started appearing on the world's wine map. For those who only swore by French and other imported wines and looked down on the once meager offerings of the Indian wine industry, things have started to change beyond compare. And the facts are there for all to see.
Till the mid 1980s, India hardly produced any wine and over 99.9% of the grapes grown in the country was consumed as fruit, jams and other food products. The choice of wines available in the market was so limited that one could literally count the brands on the fingers of a single hand.
Today the Indian wine industry is annually recording double digit growth. Three years ago the consumption of wine in the country was about 4,30,000 cases. In 2003-2004 it grew by about 14% to almost 5,00,000 cases. And in the last fiscal year the growth rate has been close to 30% to about 6,50,000 cases in 2004-2005.
If reports are to be believed, the country’s wine industry is expected to grow ten fold in a decade from it’s current modest value of about 50 million U S Dollars. Red wine still leads the way in terms of preference and consumption. And the country is not just drinking wine by the case-load, Indian wines are also being exported to various destinations across the world including classic wine-producing countries, such as France and Italy. No mean achievement for a country where just two decades ago, wine production and consumption was virtually non existent.
Historically wine making is not new to India. Infact historical records authenticate the fact that wine has been made in the country for thousands of years. As late as in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, foreigners visiting the courts of the great Mughal emperors Akbar, Jehangir and Shah Jehan spoke of tasting wines from the royal vineyards.
It was the British in the nineteenth century, who systematically helped establish vineyards in some parts of the country. But till the 1980’s there really wasn’t much to talk about. Then a few enterprising industrialists decided to experiment beyond their personal love for the beverage. As a result, for the first time grapes were imported and carefully cultivated exclusively for wine production. Sound technical advice and collaboration with some leading international wine producers and a few years later the country was on the global wine map. Today three main wineries in India, Sula, Grover and Indage are producing quality wines that tempt the palates of wine drinkers both in India and abroad.
With millions of Indians increasingly taking to the beverage both restaurant owners and vineyards are regularly conducting wine appreciation courses. They are also training their staff in the art of advising customers about how to pair wine with food.
The western Indian state of Maharashtra has virtually become the wine hub of the country. Two districts within the state grow over 100,000 tonnes of grapes every year. To boost production further, the state in now developing two wine parks. Besides Maharashtra, Goa and some areas close to Bangalore are the other wine producing regions of the country.
In terms of geographical spread, wine drinking is not really growing all over the country and is basically concentrated to a few cities and regions. Mumbai even today accounts for over 1/3rd of India’s total wine sales followed by Delhi at about 15% and both Goa and Bangalore less than 10% each.
One of the main reasons why wine drinking has not caught on nationally is that quality wines are priced relatively high. And pricing is the direct consequence of low volumes, high production costs and government taxes. The market is price sensitive. Wines priced between US $ 4 to 15 account for most sales. Wines priced over US $ 20 per bottle account for less than 10 % of the Indian market. No wonder wine producers await every government budget with bated breath since in a relatively low volume production scenario every reduction in taxes helps cut prices further.
While imported wines are increasingly finding their way into restaurants and Indian homes, high import duties make prices almost prohibitive. French wines tend to dominate, but many Indians are displaying their preference for the wines from the ‘New World’ - Australia, Chile and California. Experts feel that both their relatively lower prices and fruitier taste tempt the Indian palate better.
But no one’s really complaining. Even though volumes are miniscule when compared with whisky, rum, beer and other beverages, Indians are actually taking to wine as never before. And given the trends, lets raise a toast to wine production and drinking in the country!
Written by New Delhi-based writer Nalin Kohli. |
