Sunday! Traditionally it's a day of rest and recreation, where one can, without any degree of guilt or concern, sequester themselves as far away from the trials and tribulations often associated with the machinations of life in Mumbai town. Trust the pioneering spirit of the team from W3 to throw a spanner in the works. A brunch centered around a wine tutorial?? Now there is a new level of wine entertainment to be admired....
Left: Dharti Desai Founder W3, Nikki Palun of De Bortoli Wines, Chandni Dhall Partner W3

There's no better way to taste and judge medal-winning wine than to sit down in exclusive company over a 4-course gourmet meal paired with the wines. So when 50 wine lovers got the invitation to be present to try out the Nine Hills range of Reserve wines by Pernod-Ricard and have the first official tasting of the SIWC Gold medal winning Nine Hills Reserve Shiraz, few could refuse the offer.

Sometimes our wine industry is done a disservice by how it is represented in the media - whether that be the mainstream or the trade press. Recently in a trade consultant's newsletter, the Sommelier India Wine Competition results were misinterpreted and did an injustice to the winners. The record needs to be set straight as sloppy journalism drives uninformed opinions. Shiv Singh takes umbrage at the report.

"In the old days royalty travelled long distances with great fanfare and style. We would like to carry on the tradition and invite you to a luxurious afternoon in Mandwa (Alibaug). Ocean Blue will whisk you across the harbor to Ccaza Ccomodore for a lavish Miazma BBQ brunch." Sommelier India's Suneeta Sodhi Kanga found this invitation irresistible

Finding a decent glass of wine in India is enough to drive a person to drink. While wine is increasingly popular - consumption is expected to increase between 25 per cent and 30 per cent a year between 2009 and 2012 - polite drinkers would probably describe many of the over-sweet offerings from the nation's vineyards as "passable". Others would be able to come up with some much pithier descriptions says Jason Staines of Monocle, the well-regarded global briefining magazine.

We are pleased to note the growth of wine culture in the capital marked by the proliferation of wine clubs. To cater to a different demographic than that served by the established clubs in the city Isheeta Gupta has launched Saturday Wine Club at Ai which sounds like a fun place to be.

UB's formal launch of the Four Seasons Reserve range of wines took place in great style in Bangalore on 11 January 2010, writes Ruma Singh.
Left:Guests raising a toast to SIWC award winner Four Seasons Viognier

The Bangalore Wine Club crowned a year full of wine events with a glittering Christmas Gala on the Prince of Wales lawns at the Taj West End, Bangalore, in December, writes Ruma Singh. The lawns looked magical, lit up with fairy lights, Christmas wreaths, white damask and gold. Left: Bangalore Wine Club members enjoying the Christmas Gala

DISCOVER THE WINNING WINES.The January/February issue of Sommelier India is hitting the newsstands as we speak. Subscribers should expect their copies any day now. This is our largest issue yet (yes, we keep getting bigger and bigger!). With a 16-page special section on the Sommelier India Wine Competition including tasting notes of the Gold winners, this issue has much to offer. From an analysis of the competition, photographs of the tastings and the gala dinner, and a piece on wine clubs in India to informative and entertaining writing by prestigious columnists like Jancis Robinson, Steven Spurrier and Jug Suraiya, this issue is both enjoyable and essential reading if you want to know the best wines in India as judged by the country's top experts. Don't miss it. If you're not a subscriber, you can subscribe here and view the table of contents.

Prego, the Italian restaurant at Pune's all-new luxury hotel The Westin Pune Koregaon Park, hosted an enjoyable wine dinner on 21st December 2009 to announce its presence on the city's culinary map. And what could be more apt than an offering of Italian wines to pair with authentic Italian specialities? writes Brinda Gill.

Sunshine, cheer, wine, food, music and art warmed the lawns of Rohi Villa Palace, Koregaon Park, Pune, as the third Pune Wine Tasting Festival progressed over the weekend of 19th and 20th December 2009, reports Brinda Gill. As in the previous two years, the festival was hosted by the Pune Gourmet Club, an informal group of food and wine lovers, who enjoy cooking and sharing their efforts with each other and guests.

The Times of India announced 25 trends that made the last decade different. The trends included "Justice versus Media", "Luv my SUV", "Big Fat Indian Wedding", "Cheap Wings" and "High Spirits" representing the alcohol and beverage industry. To quote, "From 300,000 cases of wine in 1999, including 15,000 imported cases, Indians guzzled 1.5 million cases in 2009." See all the other trends here.

At the end of last month, I spent a day tasting some 75-odd international and Indian wines -- that arrived in a seemingly interminable series of flights -- at the Sommelier India Wine Challenge in Mumbai. It may sound like an easy day's work, but by 9 p.m., when we were finally done, I was so exhausted and so done with fermented grape that I would have accepted a can of Coke in lieu of a glass of 1947 Cheval Blanc. Mukund Padmanabhan discusses the Sommelier India Wine Competition in a piece for The Hindu newspaper and excerpted here.

Wine is a recent phenomenon in India, so most people forget that some wines have been around for a fairly long time: Indage since 1986, Grover since 1992 and Sula (which is celebrating the 10th anniversary of its first harvest) since 1999. Time was when the only "wines" available were either the port-style stuff from Goa (remember "Adega de Velha"?) or Golconda. In 1986 Indage launched "Marquise de Pompadour" -- touted as the first "Indian champagne" (we really didn't know much about wine back then, did we?).

What a difference a year makes. At this time last year, India was reeling from the Mumbai terrorist attacks. The sudden drop in tourism-related revenue plus the downturn in the economy hurt the wine trade. And now industry insiders are projecting that the wine industry is poised to make a strong comeback. Shiv Singh reports on the changing landscape. (Pictured are SIWC winners who stand to gain as the demand bounces back)