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| Did you know that much of the modern wine culture derives from the practices of the ancient Greeks? Wine was known to both the Minoan and Mycenaean cultures. Dionysos was the Greek god of wine and revelry, and wine was frequently referred to in the works of Homer and Aesop. Dionysos not only represented the intoxicating power of wine, but also its social and beneficial influences. Dionysos was commonly known as Bacchus. In Homeric myths wine is usually served in "mixing bowls"; it was not traditionally drunk straight. It was thought to be referred to as "Juice of the Gods." |  |
Today many of the grapes grown in Greece are grown nowhere else, and are similar or identical to varieties grown in ancient times. In addition, the popular modern Greek wine, retsina, is believed to be a carryover from when wine jugs were lined with tree resin and imparted a distinct flavor to the wine. Pictured above is Bacchus by the artist Caravaggio.
 | Sotheby's London has sold a 12-bottle case of 1967 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti for £58,650 ($119,259), making it the most expensive case of wine ever sold in their saleroom according to Decanter magazine. The case had a high estimate of £22,000 and was sold to an American private collector.
Domaine de la Romanée-Conti (DRC) is an estate in Burgundy, France that produces white and red wine. |
It was established in 1232. Its flagship wine is produced from the Romanée-Conti vineyard. Describing the vineyard, eminent wine critic, Clive Coates says,
The scarcest, most expensive - and frequently the best - wine in the world ... If you can lay your hands on a case - and that is a big 'if' - you would have to pay £5,000 or more for a young vintage, double or treble for a wine in its prime. ... This is the purest, most aristocratic and most intense example of Pinot Noir you could possibly imagine. Not only nectar: a yardstick with which to judge all other Burgundies.
| Cork or screw cap? Which is the right closure for wines for the Asian market – or are both equally good?
This issue will come under scrutiny at a symposium to be held at Wine for Asia 2007. The Asia Market – Cork or Screw Cap Panel Discussion will be held on 25 October, the opening day of WFA 2007, at Singapore Expo, from 2pm-3.30pm. |  |
The Times of India is reporting that the number of drinks consumed is a poor measure of consumption. Generally, two pints of normal beer, one large glass of wine or three vodka pegs can push a person beyond the 80mg limit. Blood alcohol content (BAC) is not an accurate indicator of the level of impairment either.
Tolerance to alcohol varies from one person to another, and can be affected by factors like adaptation to chronic alcohol use, genetics and synergistic effects of drugs. Therefore it is important to know your own drinking limits and to stick to them.
While General Bilimoria is keen to quickl expand its Cobra beer presence in India, it is also looking at the wine market. According to sources, a pilot study has already been conducted and the company plans to enter the Indian market under the General Bilimoria brand. The company plans to launch its wine business within the next three years.
According to Karan Bilimoria, when the company enters the Indian market, it will be manufacturing the wine in India through licensing arrangements with existing wineries in the country.
| According to industry statistics, the domestic wine consumption has increased from three million litres in 2003-04 to 7.60 million litres in 2005-06 and 11.25 million litres in 2006-07. The Indian wine market is growing at about 30 to 40 per cent and is expected to maintain this pace for the next five to six years reports The Hindu newspaper. |  |
The big names in the wine production industry include Indage, Sula and Grover Vineyards. Presently, there are 51 grape wine units in the state, including 28 in Nashik, 8 in Sangli, 9 in Pune and 3 in Solarpur. India at present imports 72,000 wine cases (each case consists of about nine litres), out of which 32,000 cases are bottled in origin and the rest imported in bulk flexi bags and subsequently bottled by Indian wineries.
Winemakers in California will benefit from a $50,000 government grant to improve their knowledge of the emerging Indian market according to Drinks International.
California’s Wine Institute will use the funding, cleared under the US Department of Agriculture’s Emerging Markets Program, to conduct a comprehensive study of India’s wine market.
Now an Indian company, Bouvet-Ladubay produces excellent French bubbly in the Loire Valley. In November 2000 UNESCO added the Loire Valley to the World Heritage List as a cultural landscape, in recognition of the quality of the site and the efforts being made for its preservation. And this is also where Vijay Mallya's recent acquisition, Bouvet-Ladubay is situated in the town of Saumur.
| Sommelier India was presented in the pages of Courrier International in a special wine issue last month. The French weekly magazine which has a circulation of around 160 000 copies covered the burgeoning wine scene in India and the pioneering part played by Sommelier India magazine. In addition to other reports, the Weekly also featured an extract from the latest issue of Sommelier India regarding the pairing of Indian food with Champagne by Prashanth AK. Courrier International selects, translates and publishes articles from around the globe. |  |
Sula Vineyards has raised Rs. 45 crore from Indivision India Partners (Future Capital Holdings) and another private investor. The money will be used to setup a new winery at Pimpane near Nashik and to expand the capacity at its existing winery. After the investments both wineries will have a capacity of 2 million litres each. In 2005, GEM India Advisors (GIA) had invested Rs 15 crore in the company.
| Decanter Magazine is reporting that Stormhoek, the South African label owned by Orbital Wines, has created a wine specifically for Microsoft. Blue Monster Reserve Sauvignon Blanc is named for a cartoon character developed by Hugh MacLeod, Stormhoek's marketing strategist. We're told that the wine has it that the wine has no viruses.
Interestingly, most of Stormhoek's marketing efforts are rooted in two blogs Stormhoek.com and Gapingvoid run by MacLead. |  |
 | Nature’s Bounty Wines and Allied Products launched an array of wines made by Cantine Calatrasi of Sicily at the Tapas restaurant, Vasant Continental Hotel, New Delhi on 14 September 2007. Speaking on the occasion, Amit Burman, chairman, Nature’s Bounty, predicted a bright future for the wine industry in India. “I expect the wine industry to pick up pace and grow even faster than the current growth rate. |
As we have seen in other industries, increase in competition leads to high growth of the industry because every industry participant is investing in not only promoting and distributing its products but also in educating the consumer. I believe the wine industry will take off into the high-growth phase in the near future,” Mr. Burman said. Reporting by Malini Sood for Sommelier India.
Chennai is one city that really suffers from strict local laws governing the sale of liquor. For example, hotels can only serve liquor to residents and that too until midnight. The license for serving liquor in the state is priced at Rs 1 lakh to Rs 4.5 lakh for different categories of star hotels. In short it is a tough market to function in and the hotels are now protesting.
Responding to queries we have been receiving regarding the supply of wine to be tasted for the India Wine Challenge, Robert Joseph noted in an email to Sommelier India, "Almost all wine competitions rely on samples submitted by producers. Financially, it would be very hard to run a competition in which everything was purchased – and we would in any case run the problem in India, in particular, of producers claiming that the samples we had bought had been spoiled by bad shipping/storage.
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