Trend Tracker | Wining with the West

At the last Master of Wine conference in Florence in May, global wine satraps marked down one particular session on the calendar as a “must-not-miss”. Consequently, when Rajeev Samant, founder and CEO, Sula Vineyards, took to the podium to speak on the strategy for sustained growth, he found the hall was packed. “A lot of people came up to me afterwards, saying my talk had helped enhance their understanding of the Indian market as well as the opportunities and challenges,” Samant recalled later.

Seated in the audience, well-regarded wine critic Jancis Robinson noted, “Samant injected real life into his session.”

The full house for an Indian wine stakeholder at a conference in Italy, attended by some of the industry’s biggest names, including winemakers, critics, viticulturists as well as global wine sellers, wine board country representatives and wine buyers, was nothing short of a landmark. Interest levels in Asia might be rising, but it is now India’s turn to make its presence felt on the world stage.

Mindspace

“We now export to 25 countries, with the UK as the largest market, followed by Germany and Japan,” says Cecilia Oldne, Sula’s global brand ambassador.

While highly regarded new entrant KRSMA Estates has put its Indian expansion plans on hold to concentrate on exports to the “more receptive markets” in the US, India’s oldest, Grover Vineyards—now Grover Zampa, following the merger with Nasik’s Vallée de Vin—recently became “the first Indian wine company to be included in Starwood Hotels’ Asia Pacific Wines of the World programme”, according to CEO Sumedh Singh Mandla.

Apart from being showcased at the right forums, Indian wines are being picked up by leading Asian—and, more specifically, Indian—restaurants, to be sipped alongside chicken tikka masalas and Thai green curries. United Spirits Ltd’s (USL’s) export brand Ritu, for instance, is on the wine list at London’s Michelin-star Indian restaurant Quilon, along with handpicked bars and wine stores.

“India does not yet have the image of a serious winemaking nation, and credibility takes time. So it is important to get recognition from consumers abroad, with their evolved palates,” says Abhay Kewadkar, USL’s chief winemaker and business head.

“(Indian restaurants abroad) are low-hanging fruit for Indian wine producers looking to the export market,” says Adrian Pinto, Pernod-Ricard’s senior manager, wines, who observed surging interest in Indian wine at a recent programme hosted by the Indian embassy in Paris, France. “It allows Indians abroad to abide by the European habit of drinking wine with every meal, while enhancing their own Indian food experience (with an Indian wine).”

Oldne agrees: “The influence of Indian cuisine and culture across the globe is driving growth.”

Eye on the East

As a result, even as Indian wineries try to coax the best out of regular grape varieties such as Chenin Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz, some depend on international consultants for the extra edge. Fratelli, for instance, has veteran Italian winemaker Piero Masi at the helm of vineyard affairs. “Good wines are made in the vineyard,” says Kapil Sekhri, director, Fratelli Wines.

His belief is backed up by the 12 medals Fratelli has received in four years, including wins at the International Wine Challenge and Decanter Asia wine awards. Sekhri estimates that 700,000 litres of wine will be produced in 2014-15; and 27,000 litres of it will go abroad.

International wine professionals are watching and tasting. British wine expert Steven Spurrier, who visited Fratelli Wines in Akluj, Maharashtra, recently, said that their reserve red, SETTE, could become India’s first iconic wine, like California’s cult Opus One.

In Karnataka, Alpine Wineries’ Vindiva stirred up a great deal of interest when it was launched in 2012 with the stamp of renowned French viticulturist Stéphane Derenoncourt. “The fact that famous flying winemakers like Derenoncourt and Michel Rolland take up projects in India has strengthened curiosity in Indian wines abroad,” says Simon Blanchard, one of Derenoncourt’s team of consultants.

France still has little knowledge of Indian wines, but young drinkers, eager to discover wines from new countries, are snapping up bottles. The French, notes Blanchard, are “very surprised with the expressive Indian whites, with their sugar, and the spicy aromas in their reds”.

No one’s saying, however, that the ride will be smooth. “Entry into the European wine market is not easy. But the producers who establish a presence now will be winners in the future,” predicts David Rowe, a Bordeaux-based consultant who has been working with the Vinchur Wine Park near Nashik since 2006.

Wine watchers are also aware that Indian wine needs to be promoted as a brand. “Stakeholders in the Indian wine industry must work more closely,” says Rowe. “Indian wine producers have to leave their competition at home and work together to build ‘Indian Wine’ as an international brand.”

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Pair and Square

Oenophiles on Indian wines and global cuisine

■ SETTE 2010 with Tagliatelle wild boar ragu at La Locanda di Pietracupa, a small family run restaurant in the heart of Tuscany (Italy). The SETTE is a powerful wine and I feel proud at how it controls a strong dish and still stands out.

Kapil Sekhri, Fratelli Wines

■ To mark the launch of our wines in the Dubai market, I hosted a wine dinner at Sanabel, the restaurant at Sheraton at Mall Of Emirates Hotel. It was an evening of great pairings. My favourite was the Grover La Reserve paired with pan-seared lamb loin.

Sumedh Singh Mandla,Grover Zampa Vineyards

■ One of my favourite pairings abroad is our Sula Sauvignon Blanc with the lime-cured yellowfin tuna at the restaurant Daniel in New York.

Cecelia Oldne,Sula Wines