India is a complex drinks market where wine’s share is miniscule

In an interview to Jane Anson, Bordeaux correspondent for UK’s Decanter magazine, whom he met at Vinexpo in June, Rajeev Samant  truthfully said, “India is all about contradictions, and you learn to work with them. This is a country with 32 states, 1.2 billion people, 22 languages, 100 dialects. It’s the furthest you can get from a homogenous society, and to date wine represents less than 1% of all alcohol consumed, representing maybe 0.016 litres per head. But it’s the biggest whisky consumer in the world, and you cannot overlook the potential. Things have started rolling, and they are going to keep rolling.”

Although SI readers will be familiar with Rajeev’s wine journey as Sommelier India‘s Person of the Year in 2016, the interview makes interesting reading….