Now that the Maharashtra Government is allowing supermarkets to sell wine, wineries are planning to stock wine in boxes through them as well. Sula and Vinsura Vineyards plan to sell box wines with the wines being kept in aluminised PET film. Box wines save around 20-25% of the packaging cost compared to bottled wines. Conventional wine bottles cost Rs.30 while these go for Rs.20 only.

These box wines are especially popular in restaurants where wines are served by the glass. The film prevents the wine from getting oxidised immediately allowing the wine to last longer sometimes upto a few weeks even.

According to The Economic Times, the UB group, a leader in India’s spirit and beer market, has set up its first wine company in Maharashtra signalling hectic activity in the Rs 90-crore Indian wine industry which till now was cluttered with small and mid-sized players only. Industry experts estimate that wine sales in India are expected to reach 30-million bottles in the next five years, although there is no proper record of such figures.

It is also widely believed that rising incomes and an exposure to international fashion trends are popularising wine drinking in India. On a separate note, Maratha leader Sharad Pawar’s family could take up to 49% stake in UB chairman Vijay Mallya’s Four Seasons winery in Baramati, touted as the biggest wine project in India till date. Read the complete article.

Did you know that 41% of the wine consumed in India is drunk in west India followed by the north at 29%. Or that the wine market is expected to grow to 8.3 million litres by 2010? Nearly 80 per cent of wine sales are accounted for by the major cities, especially New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Pune and Bangalore. And even more interesting, 63% of the volume sales takes place through five-star hotels, pubs, bars and restaurants.

Vittal Mallya was among the first wine makers of this country. He was part of the team that set up a winery with Appasaheb Pawar in Baramati in 1971 to make Italian Cinzano wines. But those wine dreams were not to be. Son Vijay Mallya is all set to re-write history in Sharad Pawar’s Baramati where he is setting up the country’s largest winery. He could uncork the bubbly spirits in September 2007, adding scale, style and sparkle to the Rs 150 crore Indian wine market.

Read the rest of this article at The Financial Express

The US and Australia has joined the European Union in the WTO negotiations pushing the Indian government to reduce its import duties on wine. Currently they are so expensive that consumers across the country cannot afford the wines that they'd like to try. While import duties are supposed to be restricted to 150%, they range from 177.33% to 264% for imported wines. The US is the leading exporter of wines and spirits to India and despite the high duties, its exports have increased by 350% in the last few years.

Sommelier India believes that duties must be reduced to more managable levels so that wines are more accessible. It is not meant to be a drink just for the affluent. With Indian wines improving dramatically each year, we believe that they can stand on their in an globalized market.

According to Daily News and Analysis (DNA) Champagne Indage Ltd (CIL), India’s largest wine maker, is on the lookout for acquiring wine manufacturers abroad. It will soon initiate discussions with a few companies in Australia, and plans to explore possible buyouts in France and the US, the major wine consuming countries.

According to the Indian customs authorities, wine worth around $10m was imported in 2005-06. High end French wines accounted for more than half of the value of all imports into India followed by wines.

Authorities are surprised at the increase in consumption of imported wines, since the duty on imported wine is around 250% (which includes a 100% basic duty, and an additional duty of 75%). One reason suggested could be the duty-free imports by high-end restaurants.

Another day and another wine enters the Indian market. Seagram India, the Indian arm of Pernod Ricard launched its first line of Indian wines, christened Nine Hills, in the price range of Rs 450 to Rs 550 per bottle this Thursday. . The range of Nine Hills wines include Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chenin Blanc and Sauvignon Blanc.

The company expects to sell 10,000 cases each year. The total Indian wine market is just 100,000 cases at the moment.

Expect to find more Sula wine in stores near you. Sula has introduced ann assortment of 10 red and white wines in Himachel Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. Delhi and Chandigarh achieved sales of around 12,000 cases in 2005-06 with more people choosing red wine over white.

Indian wine is a hot topic these days. The industry has grown at 25 per cent plus over the last three years to its current value of Rs 260 , and could be worth Rs 2,000 crore by 2010. Brand Line of The Hindu newspaper caught up with Rajeev Samant, CEO of Sula Wines, to get his perspective on how to keep the momentum going.

Indigo Delicatessen held the third part in its wine tasting series on November 18th, 2006 in Mumbai. The class was taken through four wines namely, Laroche Merlot, Chateau St-Michelle Columbia Valley Merlot, Montes Merlot 2005 and woodbridge Merlot 2004. To learn more about the classes and their costs call 022 6655 1010.

It was CNN-IBN's turn to cover the Indian wine story recently. They discussed the major wine players and focused on Amit Burman the man behind Darbur Foods. In December Burman will launch his wine venture, Nature's bounty, and will market Australian brand Casurina Creek priced under Rs 1000. He hopes to do a turnover of Rs 2-3 crore in the very first year.

Also mentioned in the article is Raidico Khaitan which is considering importing bulk wine and bottling it in India. Currently, wine makes up less than one percent of the Rs. 8,000 crore alcohol market in India. We can't wait to try the wines and see if they are any good. The Indian wine market is in its infancy and hopefully as it grows the quality of wine available will stay high.

UB Group is all set to step into the wine market by the end this calendar year. The first one to hit the shelves would be the sparkling wines from the stables of Bouvet Ladubay, a French wine company it recently bought says DNA in a recent article on the UB Group. Sommelier India contributor, Alok Chandra is quoted in the article.

According to the article, the Kingfisher wine will be an extension of the Kingfisher beer brand and will target youth (between 21 and 26 years) who inhabit the pubs. Can you imagine drinking Kingfisher wine? Will it seems strange or will you gravitate towards it? Tell us what you think.