Sommelier India wishes friends and family a Happy New Year

January 5, 2017 [email protected] Features, Spotlight

new-yearWine is warmth of heart and generosity of spirit Celebrate WINE with the new issue of Sommelier India now in circulation. Wishing all our readers, contributors and advertisers, A Happy New Year with good tidings of peace and joy.

Read on for the Editor’s note in the new issue:

Ring out the Old …. At the close of 2016 and the start of a new year SI has many reasons to celebrate. We successfully completed our 12th year of publication. Shiv B Singh, SI publisher and investor, was honoured by the American Advertising Federation as one of seven persons working in the US to be inducted in the Advertising Hall of Achievement 2016. SI’s website was included in the 100 best wine blogs in the world.

Finally, I received recognition by the Indian Sommelier Championship team as The Lynchpin for “meritorious service to the industry”. The citation read, “Your pioneering contribution in sharing knowledge remains pivotal in the creation of a local wine culture that helped shape and guide the industry.” To help create and foster a wine drinking culture in India was indeed SI’s publishing mission and it is very gratifying to have it acknowledged. Thank you ISC team! We in turn concluded 2016 by shining the spotlight on Sula’s founder and CEO, Rajeev Samant as the first SI Person of the Year. Sula Vineyards and Sula Selections together constitute India’s largest wine company and Rajeev Samant is a pioneer in many respects.

coverf…. Ring in the New. In Issue one of 2017, Italy and especially Tuscany feature prominently. Last year the Tuscan wine region celebrated its third centenary, a milestone we marked with two separate articles by Steven Spurrier and Peter Csizmadia-Honigh who report variously on the event and the region’s excellent wines. (Pages 20 and 32).
Italian wines (as also Italian food) are popular in India and a wide variety is available at different price points, as listed at the end of the magazine on Page 84. The latest Italian label to enter the country is Cecchi wine through the imports division of Fratelli Vineyards. (Page 14). Cecchi imports 60% of its combined eight million-bottle production to markets around the world, while selling significant amounts in Italy.
Moving beyond Italy, we have stories from Portugal, Bordeaux and Champagne, each with its own unique wines and what you need to know about them. The back of the book revolves around gastronomy with chef and sommelier interviews, restaurant reviews and food. My hope is you’ll find something of interest in all of this while I plot and plan for the next issue! If you were to ask why I produce a wine magazine, I’d say it’s because I believe in wine. It’s a wonderful world. It’s family and friends. It’s warmth of heart and generosity of spirit. And, as Robert Mondavi said, “Wine is art. It’s culture. It’s the essence of civilization.”
Happy New Year to all our readers, contributors and advertisers, with good tidings of peace and joy!