Back in 2006, the International Wine & Spirits Records UK (IWSR) had reported an a combined consumption in India at 17 million litres for 2011. It now appears that India will consume wine in those numbers sooner rather than later. Grover Vineyards, Chateau Indage and Sula Vineyards are all in agreement that the market is growing at 30% each year and will continue at this pace for a while. China is seeing 7%-8% growth annually while global consumption is increasing by 2%-3% only.

Pubs, bars, restaurants and five-star hotels are the primary wine selling outlets with 63% of sales volume coming from these channels,' a recent Rabobank report states.

Yatin Patil, director, Vintage Wines, set up business in 2005 and has seen demand for his brands jump "Our bottled wines sale for 2007 was around 10,000 cases (1 case = 9 litres). Consumption of wine has spread deep into the country, from metros to towns, he points out. Jagdish Hodkar, owner of Flamingo Wines, puts his wine sales at 20,000 cases for 2007.

For more on this topic, read the Economic Times article and also browse the highlights of the Rabobank study which emphasizes that the bulk of India’s current wine grape production comes from smallholding vineyards on just 1 to 2.5 hectares.