India: Yes, Virginia, there is wine in India
India does indeed have a wine industry. It is still nascent at this point, but it is certainly promising. I have tried a Zinfandel that was passable, although it suffered from poor storage, a red Pinot blend that was simple but decent, and a Cab/Shiraz that was very good.
The Cab/Shiraz came from Grover Vineyards which is associated with the Bordeaux wine star, Michelle Rolland, and it showed.
As with China, another country that has had little modern wine experience, India will probably find early success with joint ventures with those from more traditional wine producing regions.
Again, like China, the local population has little to no expectation of what wine should taste like, or in some cases even exactly what wine is. The local wine store we went into actually had no wine. They probably just liked the sound of it on their sign. Our hosts where we are staying have never tasted any wine, and one of our friends asked if it was similar to Tequila. The restaurant we went to last night was decorated with wine motifs, but did not actually have any wine for sale. A decent Riesling would have been a great addition to the meal.
Dry reds remain the wine of choice among those who fancy themselves to be wine lovers, but considering the spicy foods and the difficulty in learning to enjoy something truly foreign, it is probably the slightly sweet wines that will first win over the population here. We saw a program on local TV that featured Grover Vineyards, and the host was unnecessarily apologetic about the residual sugar in the Sauvignon Blanc only to gush about the dry red.
Once more drawing a parallel to China which has a much more mature wine industry, one of the largest hurdles will always be price, but those with ability to afford luxuries always turn to wine first as a status symbol, and eventually for the pure love of it. The attitude towards wine, even among those that have never tried any sort seems to bear this out.
I think it is no coincidence that a country's wine evolution so closely resembles an individual's. It may take a decade or more, but the love of wine is sure to be part of India's culture eventually.
Assuming I can actually find another bottle of wine or three, I will bring you further updates.
The Cab/Shiraz came from Grover Vineyards which is associated with the Bordeaux wine star, Michelle Rolland, and it showed.
As with China, another country that has had little modern wine experience, India will probably find early success with joint ventures with those from more traditional wine producing regions.
Again, like China, the local population has little to no expectation of what wine should taste like, or in some cases even exactly what wine is. The local wine store we went into actually had no wine. They probably just liked the sound of it on their sign. Our hosts where we are staying have never tasted any wine, and one of our friends asked if it was similar to Tequila. The restaurant we went to last night was decorated with wine motifs, but did not actually have any wine for sale. A decent Riesling would have been a great addition to the meal.
Dry reds remain the wine of choice among those who fancy themselves to be wine lovers, but considering the spicy foods and the difficulty in learning to enjoy something truly foreign, it is probably the slightly sweet wines that will first win over the population here. We saw a program on local TV that featured Grover Vineyards, and the host was unnecessarily apologetic about the residual sugar in the Sauvignon Blanc only to gush about the dry red.
Once more drawing a parallel to China which has a much more mature wine industry, one of the largest hurdles will always be price, but those with ability to afford luxuries always turn to wine first as a status symbol, and eventually for the pure love of it. The attitude towards wine, even among those that have never tried any sort seems to bear this out.
I think it is no coincidence that a country's wine evolution so closely resembles an individual's. It may take a decade or more, but the love of wine is sure to be part of India's culture eventually.
Assuming I can actually find another bottle of wine or three, I will bring you further updates.
posted by Wineguy at 11:31 PM
1 Comments:
Wine is booming in India - as you rightly said in your post. There are some very interesting marketing going on for spreading Wine in India - through sponsoring events or by floating clubs targeting people who want to drink Wine in India
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