“I have been impressed by the rapid growth of the Indian economy, and the booming indian wine market”.
South Australia, with its capital at Adelaide, produces 50% of all Australian wines: its 563 wineries made 724 million litres in 2007 (out of a total of 1.4 billion) and exported wine worth A$ 1.4 billion (Rs. 5,180 crore). Its wine regions are legion: the Barossa Valley, Clare Valley, McLaren Vale and Coonawarra are home to many of Australia’s best-known wineries.
These include Penfolds, Wolf Blass, Petuluma, Shaw & Smith, Torbreck, Grosset, Majella, d’Arenberg, Hardys, and Sepplt (to name just a few). Loxton winery which Champagne Indage bought is also based in South Australia. The Premier of South Australia, Mike Rann, who was in India in mid-March 2008 leading a 26-strong delegation of businessmen and industrialists to promote investment, education and migration, spoke to Alok Chandra in an exclusive interview for Sommelier India about wines from his state, the wine market in India, and areas where the two could meet.
A wine dinner was recently hosted by Seagram's at Royal Orchid Central, Pune, for members of the Pune Gourmet Club who were greatly impressed by their award-winning Indian wines. At the first India Wine Challenge, Seagram's Nine Hills Cabernet Sauvignon 2007 was declared the finest Indian red wine, while the Nine Hills Shiraz won a Seal of Approval.
Pictured above from left to right, are Rukn Luthra – Asst. Vice President, Seagram's, Karen Anand, Gourmet Specialist, Jean-Manuel Jacquinot, Master Winemaker for Nine Hill and Saurabh Bhatnagar – Regional Sales Manager, Seagram's.
In the latest issue of Sommelier India, Chardonnay makes a comeback, Reveilo reveals some secrets, Waiheke Island wines are discussed in awe and we learn that wine tastings are governed by an unwritten etiquette. Pick up the latest issue of Sommelier India for these original articles and more designed to be of interest to Indians across the globe who enjoy drinking wine. Its our largest issue yet. Don't miss this issue with original contributions from some of the best wine writers in India and around the world!
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With the Bordeaux En Primeurs just round the corner, the wine world is wondering what the wine will be like this year. Some UK En Primeur merchants believe that the 2007 Bordeaux vintage will confound expectations. But with the difficult weather conditions during the harvest, nobody is really sure how the wines will taste. The 2006 vintage was contentious. 2005 was brilliant. What will 2007 be like?
Pictured above is Château Margaux which is one of four wines to achieve First Growth status in the 1855 Bordeaux Classification because of its high price. Château Margaux wine usually consists of approximately 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, 5% Petit verdot and Cabernet Franc grapes.
The Indo-Italian Chamber in collaboration with The Gourmet magazine is introducing India's first sommelier course targeted at students and professionals in the hospitality industry.
The course will be held over three weeks - two of which will be in Mumbai and one in Italy. Upon completion of the course, students will receive an International Sommelier diploma. That's the certification handed out by the Federation of Italian Sommeliers and Restaurateurs and is recognized by the European Union. Topics covered will include wine-processing, organoleptic wine-tasting techniques and wine-serving. Each course will have a maximum of 30 students. Download the course brochure
or contact Maneesha Pereira at the Indo-Italian Chamber for more information.
Champagne Indage Ltd (CIL) acquired Australian Vintage Loxton winery for $60 million (Rs. 2.4 billion) in an all cash transaction. The acquisition will increase the production capacity of CIL from 32 million litres (3.5 million cases) to 122 million litres (13.5 million cases) per year. Loxton is situated in Riverland, South Australia and is the fifth largest winery in the country.
It has an annual crushing capacity of over 80,000 tons and an annual capacity of 90 million litres. It is also configured to handle smaller batches of more premium fruit, sourced predominantly from the Riverland vineyards.
Our last opinion poll asked whether wine competitions were good for India or not. 64% of the respondents believed that they were good and improved competition. 21% said maybe but only if the wine competitions were organized well. 7% weren't sure given how young the Indian wine market is and another 7% felt it was too early to judge Indian wines.
These are interesting results in the context of the 2008 launch of the India Wine Challenge. Participate in our new poll - Which country's wines do you like the most? We want to hear from you. Take the Poll.
Research from Spain performed on rats shows that polyphenols found naturally in red wine may keep blood vessels healthy in older, hypertensive women. According to a study that was published in the April 2008 issue of the medical journal Hypertension, compounds found in red wine could potentially help ease hypertension in postmenopausal women.
The study's authors note that women who have gone through menopause are at greater risk of hypertension than men of the same age underlining the need to identify potential therapeutic measures.
A Department of Health report in the UK shows that women who drink more than 14 units per week are 50 percent more likely to get breast cancer. The report suggests that alcohol consumption is implicated in 2,000 cases of breast cancer in each year as well as causing other cancer, liver damage and fertility problems in women.
With one 250ml glass containing up to 3.5 units, just one each evening would put a woman well over her weekly allowance. Official guidelines say women should drink no more than 14 units of alcohol a week, and men no more than 21. As Indians take to wine, it is important to keep in mind the health risks that arise when drinking in excess. Also read the BBC coverage.
Sula Vineyards is celebrating its tenth harvest with SULAFEST, a day-long concert at the beautiful new open-air Greek-style amphitheater, set in the middle of Sula's own estate vineyards. For Sulafest 08-Emcee Kunal Vijaykar will entertain the crowds and introduce Raghu Dixit and his folk stylings from Bangalore, as well as Shaair n Func, the Saturday Nite Blues Band and other performances. Then DJ's will take over to bring SULAFEST to a pulsating climax.
Tickets are priced at Rs. 500 per person. For further information contact Ruth Dolla at +91 98675 61244 or ruthd@sulawines.com.
Robert Joseph, chairman and organizer of the India Wine Challenge was recently in India to launch the second edition of the Challenge. Joseph, who is the former Chairman of the International Wine Challenge London, also runs Wine Challenges in other Asian wine producing countries such as China, Japan, Vietnam, Singapore, Hong Kong and Thailand.
“I've been running wine competitions for 25 years and place huge importance on the trust we have earned and maintain across the globe,” he commented last year in an interview with Sommelier India. Sommelier India supported the India Wine Challenge and were the first publication to announce the results.
At a Vinexpo curtain raiser at the Imperial Hotel yesterday at which Sommelier India was present this was announced. Major Indian newspapers like The Hindu and The Financial Express are reporting it too via PTI. The wine consumption in India is set to treble by 2011 to touch 17 million litres per annum. This is according to a study conducted by UK-based International Wines and Spirits Records (IWSR).
"Contrary to popular belief that only imported wines are mainly consumed, most wines consumed in the country is locally produced, accounting for 75 per cent of the total volume," wine exhibitor VinExpo Chairman Dominique Heriard Dubreuil told PTI.
Pictured above are Mrs. Dominique Hériard Dubreuil, Chairman, Vinexpo Asia-Pacific & Mr. Robert Beynat, Chief Executive, Vinexpo Asia-Pacific who introduced the report.
Investors in wine would have enjoyed a better return than those investing in Western stock markets over the last seven years, a study from London-based specialist Wine Asset Managers has shown.
Data from the London-based company shows that the average annualised return on an investment in fine wines would have stood at 16 per cent.
Sometimes a cartoon is worth a thousand words. This cartoon seems to tell it all. We can't find the original source so apologies to the original publisher. Its a uniquely Indian and uniquely wine cartoon.
Update: As a follow up the source of this wonderful cartoon has been identified. It was originally published in L'Aperitif - IFOWS News Magazine, on the occasion of IFOWS - India food & Wine Show.
Just go to any restaurant at the Imperial and order a glass of 2002 Frank Phelan Saint-Estephe Medoc, the prestigious 2nd wine of Chateau Phelan-Segur poured from a MAGNUM. A magnum bottle is 1500 ml, the equivalent of two regular bottles of wine. It's large size makes it very impressive.
This is an exclusive concept for a wine by the glass programme and is in India for the first time. It is a common practice in Top Michelin Star restaurants in London and Paris and is now available for guests at the Imperial in Delhi. Rs 680 150 ml glass. Rs 1360 300 ml glass, only in Spice Route and the French Brasserie — Stephane Soret, Head Sommelier, The Imperial, New Delhi
Master chefs from the world-renowned Il Palazzetto restaurant and Hassler Roma Hotel are here whipping up stylish confections and exquisitely creative and balanced interpretations of classic Italian cuisine to please the most fastidious palate. A fabulous five-course meal costs just Rs 3,100, inclusive of all applicable taxes.
Head Chef Vincenzo Di Tuoro hails from Naples and is now a consultant with Hassler Roma Hotel and Le Palazzetto in Rome while his colleague Pastry Chef Giulia Steffanina is a native of Rome.
Single Vineyard, Single Minded is what Craggy Range calls itself and what Craggy Range is. The owners’ focus is single vineyard wines, which is what makes Craggy Range so unique in the wine world. Terry Peabody and Steve Smith teamed up with a common vision and started the business, owned by the Peabody and Smith families in 1997. Pictured is Steve Smith, MW, managing director and viticulturist of the New Zealand Craggy Range.
The Wine Society had another wonderful evening with Anakena wines from the Rapel Valley in Chile, at 'Yantra' at The Park Hotel, New Delhi. Four varietals were presented, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon and the famous Chilean varietal of Carmenere accompanied by a delectable four course menu put together by Chef Dean of the Hotel.
Grai Import and Export and signed a deal with India's United Breweries for exclusive supply of South African wines to India. Jonty Rhodes, one of Australia's former cricketers is a director of the company. South Africa believes that it can sell 10 million cases to India over the next decade. Abhay Kewadkar was first quoted in Sommelier India as saying that his company wanted to sell six million bottles of wine over the next five years and wanted to capture a third of the market in India. This partnership is part of that plan.
Rhodes shot to fame when he got Imran Khan run out in the 1993 World Cup. It still considered one of the more spectacular feats of that World Cup. He's popular in India because he took a world record of five catches, to achieve the most dismissals by a fielder against the West Indies at Brabourne Stadium, Bombay. For more in this Indian Wine story visit Sify.
Maybe the best place to drink wine is going to be Hong Kong. With wine duties across India still extremely high, it might be better to drink your wine while holidaying in Hong Kong. In an imaginative move, the Hong Kong government abolished duties on wine and beer. This makes Hong Kong one of the few places in the world in which wine is not taxed at all. Last year taxes on wine were as high as 80%.
France's wine and spirit industry had a record 2007 with triple digit surges in the Chinese market and extraordinary sales from the Champagne region. Nearly $13.8 billion worth of wine and spirits was exported in 2007 marking a 7 percent increase over the previous year. Sales into China more than doubled to nearly $365 million largely because French wines are considered the most prestigious by the Chinese. Pictured is a map of France with the Champagne region coloured in red.
The New York Times is reporting that a large number of Russian and Indian buyers are scouting around for small Bordeaux vineyards. With wine consumption in France dropping, midrange wines are hurt the most. The Bordeaux region of Entre-Deux-Mers is particularly affected by this. A 150 acre tract of land along with a 6,500 square foot chateau can be purchased for as little as $3 million.
