The Spanish Ambassador held a cocktail to launch a five day business visit of the Chamber of Commerce of the Rioja region which accompanied various Spanish companies that deal in food, olive oil and wine. The wine companies that visited included almazara Ecologica de la Rioja S.L, Bodegas Enanzo, Champdore Distribuciones S.A., Bodegas Dinastia Vivanco, S.A, Bordegas Franco - Espanolas, S.A, Luis Gurpegui Muga, Marques de Reinosa S Coop, Bodegas Roda S.A and Vina Iljalba S.A.

Imported liquor is all set to become cheaper with the government likely to bring in a Bill in Parliament next month to scrap additional customs duty on wines and spirits, a move that will also pacify the country's top trading partners - the US and EU.

"The finance ministry has agreed to the proposal which will soon be taken to the Cabinet for approval. The Bill is likely to come when Parliament meets after a three-week recess," highly placed official sources told the Press Trust of India.

In an attempt to encourage grape cultivation and promote the wine industry, the Karnataka government has decided to establish two wine parks in the state. Financial subsidiaries will be offered to the farmers as well. About 9,700 hectares of area is under grape cultivation in the State and the estimated annual production is 1.67 lakh tonnes.

Bangalore has the third largest market for wines in India after Mumbai and Delhi. The city consumes around 31,000 cases per annum as against one lakh cases in Mumbai and around 54,000 cases in Delhi. Read The Hindu article for more information.

Realising that Indian wine is slowly but surely catching the taste buds of the western world, the Indian ministry of food processing industries is looking at setting up a National Wine Board (NWB) to develop standards and generally promote the wine industry in the country. Read more at The Economic Times.

The debate over wine tariffs continues. On Wednesday, the Indian government said it was considering a cut in tariffs on imported wines and spirits, shortly after the US complained to the WTO saying Indian duties unfairly restricted exports by US producers. Kamal Nath said a reduction in duties could have been announced in India's budget last week, but this could be done later on as well, the PTI news agency reported. With pressure mounting, it seems only a matter of time before the tariffs are reduced.

For more on the story, read CNN-IBN's and The International Herald Tribune's coverage. And don't miss this Reuters story which includes the important perspectives of the Indian wine producers.

Rajeev Samant and the Sula team tells us that Haiko supermarket in Hiranandani Gardens Powai is first off the blocks in obtaining the new wine retail license, recently announced by the Maharashtra Government, which allows supermarkets to sell wine for the first time. As seen on the left they are carrying a range of Sula wines.

Also listen to an audio interview of Rajeev Samant conducted by journalist Kamla Bhatt at the TIE Entreprenurial Summit. On a separate note, Sula's Cabernet Shiraz 2005 and Dindori Reserve Shiraz 2003 were featured in the greatest-quality wine list in Asia Wine Report 2007. The report which covers the Asian Wine Industry also mentions Chateau Indage and Grover Vineyards in other categories.

Queensland (Australia) Wine Industry Development Minister Margaret Keech is in India at the moment to encourage luxury hotels to stock their wines. She discussed their virtues with the former Bangalore Wine Club President on a visit to Grover Vineyards. Currently no Queensland wines are exported to India. To learn more visit their Wine Industry Association.

This does beg the question, will India at some point in the future need state and central wine ministers? Officials who can speak on behalf of the industry and help promote Indian wines around the world? Some government officials are already taking the initiative.

Chateau Indage is acquiring Tandou, an Australian wine company. Tandou was formed in 1972 and has a capacity of 3 million cases per annum. They market the Broken Earth and Wontanella wines and source from different vineyards. They are based in Riverland wine region at Monash, South Australia.

Chateau Indage currently produces 1 million cases per year and is one of India's largest wine producers.

The government has announced that there will be five dry days at the end of this month. These are January 26, 30, 31 and February 1 and 2 - so that people remain sober on Republic Day, the Mahatma’s death anniversary and the three days before, during and after the civic elections (Maharashtra only). As the Times of India has reported, drinkers have been stocking up on their 'liquid ammo.'

Others like Sony Sachdev, an advisor to the All India Hotels & Restaurants Association (AHAR) emphasize that it will result in big losses for the industry. His organization is appealing to the government to change the laws.

The Financial Times recently ran an informative article on the state of the Indian wine industry. Most interesting was how they compared the wine business to the broader liquor market in India. Here are some of the numbers highlighted from it.

Indians consumed more than 220 million cases of beer and other spirits in 2006. The market grew by 10%. Indian made foreign liquor (whiskey, gin, rum and vodka) accounted for half the market. Beer dominated with 90% of the rest of the market.