Tulleeho is organizing a Wine Appreciation Workshop on Sunday, May 13th 2007 at Moksha, New Friends Colony at 11:00am. It costs Rs. 1,500 per individual and Rs. 1250 per person for a group of 4 or more. Click ahead for a listing of the Indian and imported wines being served. To sign up and learn more call Neeta at 9971154955.

Miguel Torres of Torres Wines was in Delhi recently. He chatted about his own life, Torres Wines and the Indian wine consumer with Reva Singh of Sommelier India over lunch at La Piazza in the Hyatt Regency, Delhi. The Miguel Torres Santa Digna Sauvignon Blanc 2004 and the Torres Atrium Merlot 2004 were served at the lunch. If you're wondering what food was matched with these wines, read on. You'll find more coverage of Torres wines in the print issue of Sommelier India.

Today Torres is Spain's largest wine producer with vineyards in Catalonia, California, Chile and China! Torres wines are exported to over 120 countries. In 2006 Wine Enthusiast recognized Bodegas Torres as the Best European Winery of the Year.

FENAVIN, the most important wine business fair in Spain starts early this month. At the last FENAVIN 789 wine producers from Spain, 24,512 wine professionals, 627 media representatives and 725 international purchases were present. View a list of exhibitors participating in this year's fair.

Upto 1000 wineries and cooperatives from all of Spain will be participating at the fair which will be held between May 7th & 10th. Some of the Indian wine importers participating include Brindco, Sonarys, Aspri Spirits, Mohan Brothers, High Spirits and Diplomat Impex. The India Tourism Development Corporation will also be attending. Watch for coverage of the fair in Sommelier India.

Sopexa organized a wine and spirits event for members of the trade in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore between April 23-27th, 2007. 21 wine and sprits producers from France participated in the event with the goal of showcasing their wines and learning more about the Indian market. These wine producers were also on the prowl for local importers and distributors.

Some of the wine producers present included Baron de Montfort, Cellier des Dauphins, Champagne Eric Taillet, Chassagnoux & Fils, Chateau Bellefontaine, Brague, Mallevielle, Tariquet, Rousselle, Denis et Florence Dubourdieu, Domaine de Val d'Estable, Domaine du Parc Saint Charles, Dubos Frere-Bordeaux, Gerard Bertrand, Louis Max, Maison Tricon, Malbec Cahors International, M. Chapoutier, Rhum Clement, Vinovalie and VMV.

Needless to say, India is a tough market and these wine producers will need all the patience they can muster if they want to break into it. Some of the wines showed promise, but with the Indian retail market just emerging, there currently aren't enough distribution points for all these new wine producers. Not surprisingly, some of the producers had difficulty in getting their samples through customs.

The Wine Society of India hosted its second promotional wine tasting event in Mumbai recently. Their goals are to promote wine education, organize wine events and arrange the supply of good quality, great value wine direct to members through a licensed system.

The event was hosted at the Grand Hyatt Mumbai and was a packed affair. It was hard to tell the true wine enthusiasts from those that were there just for some free wine. Nevertheless, the wine industry was well represented and it served as a nice venue to meet friends and fellow wine enthusiasts.

The Bombay Wine Club recently held an event in which they blind tasted several Indian white wines. They tasted 8 Sauvignon Blancs, 6 Chenin Blancs and 3 Chardonnays & Viogniers. 20 members participated and ranked the wines. Please note, these results are the opinions of the Bombay Wine Club and do not reflect Sommelier India's views.