The question of high taxes and import duties on wine is a vexed one. The labyrinthine ways of the Indian excise department are a mystery to most people, not least for wine and spirits importers who are closely affected. Ultimately, it is the hapless consumer who suffers the most. Sommelier India Wine magazine keeps the issue alive with regular comments and reports. Isheeta Gupta brings us some salient facts.

Globus Wines forms a separate division focusing on customised Wine Cellars and Wine Investments, reports Bunny Suraiya. Globus Wines was established in 2004. It has production facilities as well as collaborative partnerships in India and France and offices in India and the UK. Its new Liquid Asset Management division allows wine lovers to take advantage of a range of services designed specifically for them.

June 4, 2011: After the successful launch of Grillo and Nero D'Avola in 2010, Reveilo completed its Italian trilogy this year with the launch of Sangiovese. Reveilo's Yatin Patil, his wife, Kiran and winemaker Andrea Valentinuzzi launched this wine at Escobar in Bandra, Mumbai last week. Suneeta Sodhi Kanga from Sommelier India was present. Pictured: Kiran Patil, winemaker Andrea Valentinuzzi, and Yatin Patil

Wineessentially, FineWinesnMore's exclusive wine platform for American Express Platinum Charge members, hosted a dinner on Juhu Beach in the fabulous surrounds of the JW Marriott on Friday, May 13th, celebrating Arte Della Tavola or The Art of the Table, writes Akhilesh Sharma from Mumbai.Left: FWNM wine consultant, Craig W.Wedge entertains guests at a Winessentially dinner at the JW Marriott, Mumbai

Under the aegis of The Indian Grape Processing Board,Indian wines made a great showing at the London International Wine Fair for the second year in a row. Wine producers that exhibited at the Indian stand, which was strategically located near the Press Office were, in alphabetical order, Château D'Ori, Four Seasons Wines, Fratelli Wines, Good Earth Winery, Grover Vineyards, Indage Vintners, Mercury Winery (Aryaa), Nirvana Biosys (Luca), Surahi Wines, Vallée de Vin (Zampa), Vintage Wines (Reveilo) and York Winery.
Pictured: S.G. Chougule, Reva Singh and Dr. U.Venkateswarlu

The timing of the Torres wine dinner hosted at Caperberry restaurant at Bangalore, might almost have you believe it was a celebratory one. After all, Torres had scored an amazing 19 medals (gold, silver and bronze, plus commendations across categories) at the recently announced Decanter World Wine Awards (DWWA) 2011, at the London International Wine Fair, writes Ruma Singh

The Excise department has done it yet again. It seems the Rs 5 lakh (Rs 500,000) licence fee wasn't enough of an expense for importers, but the department wants more! Isheeta Gupta comments.

The next time you crib about the price tag on the imported wine you are drinking, blame the Indian Government. Not only are import duties high, with each state following a different excise policy, the mark-ups ensure that by the time the wine bottle reaches your table, it is considerably more expensive than it should be. SI correspondent Alok Chandra has the low down.

In what could come as a piece of good news for consumers and the Indian wine industry, alike, more wine producers will be able to enter the Delhi market if the excise department reduces the existing L-1 license fee on wine. Pictured: Spencer's, Bangalore, one of the few supermarkets in India where wine is retailed.

An early Sunday evening saw Bangalore Wine Club members gather together at the Park Hotel's Oak Room to watch the wine-focused movie, Bottle Shock, over an evening of sparkling wine, popcorn and more wine! writes Ruma Singh.
BWC members, Smita and Sanjoy Roy

The Indian Grape Processing Board puts Indian winemakers on centre stage. The Indian wines' showing at ProWein in Dusseldorf - the world's Number One wine trade show - was literally something to write home about. Among 3,600 exhibitors from 50 countries, the Indian exhibitors succeeded in impressing many of the record 38,000 visitors during the three-day event from 27 to 29 March. This was a test of sorts for the Indian Grape Processing Board, which had taken several Indian vintners to the show, where they seem to have made an impression.

The first thing that strikes you about Prowein is the sheer size. The 3-day show kicked off in Düsseldorf, Germany, on 27th of March with 3,600 exhibitors from 50 countries. In an exhibition of this size the main challenge for the visitor is to decide how to focus their time, reports Gaurav Anand from ProWein.

Good Earth Winery wines have been selected by the Indian embassy in Washington DC, to be served at official embassy functions. "Not only is the embassy selection a massive vote of confidence in our product, but it will also provide major visibility to the entire Indian wine industry", says Girish Mhatre, Founder Good Earth Winery, of the recognition.
Pictutred, a bottle of Antaraa Cabernet Shiraz

Wine holidays are popular abroad, but get prepared to experience them right here in India, says Shivani Dogra. The web portal, www.thewineclub.com organises guided wine tours in Nashik, known as the wine capital of India because of its vineyards. The tour is called the Vineyard Discovery Programme. After a long walk through picturesque vineyards you get to try some of the wine produced at them at a wine tasting session that's also been factored into the tour. Vineyard Discovery's packages offer a one night, two-day tour at Rs.9,500 per person and Rs.17,000 per couple and this includes the pickup and drop back from Mumbai, stay and food.However, unlike it's other cousins around the world, this tour doesn't have trained wine educators that guide people around but people that work in the winery.
Pictured above: A view of Nashik Vineyards from Sula's Tasting Room

Two great days of wine, food and fun that should definitely be marked on your calendar. For far too long, wine in India has been placed on a pedestal and seen as an aspirational beverage, only drunk by Page 3 folks or wine clubs you can never join. The Pune Wine Festival, now in its fourth year, is a tribute to ordinary folk. According to a wine company executive, 80% are first time wine drinkers, reports Vikram Achanta for Sommelier India.
Pictured, the Army Marching Band