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                   India Gradually Acquires a Taste for Wine

   by Anjana Pasricha

   Although whiskey remains the top choice for most Indians when they
   reach for an alcoholic drink, the country is gradually acquiring a
   taste for wine. India's first vineyard began operations 15 years ago,
   and since then the domestic wine industry has grown rapidly.

   Software engineer Nagesh Kamble and his wife Snehal have come to the
   rolling, green Sula vineyards in Nashik from Pune in western India to
   take a first-hand look at how wine is produced. The young couple took
   to drinking wine on special occasions two years ago.

   "It was in in Pune when there was a wine tasting festival going on, it
   was the first time we had wine, we liked it, and then we thought of
   going to the tasting rooms, to look at the vineyards and all," said
   Nagesh.

   "We wanted to explore, like [see] how it is prepared and how it is
   made...  And it is our anniversary this week, so we are kind of
   celebrating," said Snehal.

   Sula Vineyards - India's largest domestic wine-maker -- opened a
   tasting room in the midst of hectares of lush plantations 10 years ago
   to create a wine culture among people like the Kambles. It is packed on
   weekends - about 200,000 visit every year. After touring the vineyards
   and looking at how red, white and sparkling wines slowly ferment, the
   mostly young visitors learn about the finer nuances of enjoying a glass
   of wine.

   ''

   Tens of thousands of middle class Indians are acquiring a taste for
   wine in a country where the alcoholic beverage market is still
   dominated by whiskey and where many have traditionally frowned upon
   alcohol consumption.

   Sula's vice president, Neeraj Agarwal, is a first-hand witness to the
   transformation that has taken place since the company struggled to sell
   the first 500 cases of wine it produced in 2000. Last year, Sula sold
   600,000 cases. He believes that wine is helping change mindsets about
   alcoholic beverages.

   "In five years, the scenario has completely changed. Earlier talking
   about alcohol in the open and seeing a woman having a glass of wine in
   hand was a taboo. Now, it's wonderful, families coming, sitting
   together and enjoying. And with the education about wine, these have so
   many complexities, so many aromas and how you pair it with your
   cuisine, and enjoy it, things are changing," said Agarwal.

   Visitors to the Sula vineyards, like IT professional Akshay Rajguru,
   who is picking up some wine for his friends, agree.

   "It is for good times, that's it... In India people treat liquor as bad
   thing, but it's not that bad, I would say it is in the mind," said
   Rajguru.

   Young professionals like Kamble and Rajguru are driving the growth of
   India's domestic wine market, which is expanding at a faster rate than
   other alcoholic beverage - at 13 percent annually. Over the last
   decade, 90 wineries have sprung up across Karnataka and Maharashtra
   states, where the sub-tropical climate is favorable for growing wine
   grapes.

   Among those contributing to the surge in wine consumption are middle
   class women. They are still a tiny segment of wine drinkers, and only
   about three percent of women in India have even one drink a year. But
   their numbers are growing more than twice as fast as men.

   That's thanks to several factors. The last decade has seen more women
   join the workforce and have independent incomes. In big cities like
   Delhi and Mumbai, women buying wine or nursing a drink are no longer
   taboo.

   Once a week or so, 32-year-old Pallavi Kohli heads out for a drink to a
   restaurant or a pub.

   "I love unwinding with a glass of wine over the weekends, specially
   when there is no movie to watch, and going out with my friends," said
   Kohli.

   Subhash Arora founded the Delhi Wine Club in 2002. He said 40 percent
   of its members now are women.

   "Some of them, they do think it is like soft liquor in a sense, low
   alcohol level. It is basically a lifestyle drink anyway. So when they
   go out to outings and parties, before they would not imbibe alcohol,
   now they say OK, a glass of wine is fine," said Arora.

   However, the nascent wine culture is still restricted to the country's
   main cities, such as Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore, which account for
   most of India's wine consumption.

   Wine companies are now targeting the smaller towns. Agarwal at Sula
   said that because of a ban on advertising to promote alcoholic
   beverages, they have to tap customers in other ways, such as through
   wine festivals, fashion shows and music festivals.

   "We have developed teams all over India, so second tier cities and
   three tier cities, our people are going and reaching to potential
   customers, giving them the taste of wines, explaining about wines.
   Still [a] big way to go and big potential is there," said Agarwal.

   With middle class incomes growing and aspirational lifestyles spreading
   beyond the big cities, the wine industry hopes that the market will
   grow exponentially in a country where the total consumption of wine is
   less than a teaspoon per person a year.
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   wine/2546893.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/india-gradually-acquires-a-taste-for-wine/2546893.html