Over the years people have addressed me as a wine journalist, writer, judge, Cavaliere, sommelier, vino, wine promoter, importer, educator, consultant and some even think I am  from the hospitality industry, with a recent journalist even dubbing me as a wine warrior. But I would best describe myself as a wine evangelist- with a difference.

The FreeDictionary defines an evangelist as an occasional preacher, sometimes itinerant (one who travels from place to place, especially to perform work or a duty) and often preaching at meetings in the open air. Shifting the thoughts away from the gospels, it also defines an evangelist as any zealous advocate of a cause- and this precisely def  ..more

Significant time and efforts are being spent to match wine with Indian food by producers and importers, oblivious of the reality that Indians are not really accustomed to drinking wine or generally alcohol with their main meals even as I believe that the campaign must carry on to get consumers to enjoy the synergy that only wine offers for a total gastronomical experience.

At a recent seminar in Santiago in which I made a presentation to the Chilean producers about the Indian market, one producer asked me if I was aware of the ‘Carmenere with Curry’ campaign being launched in UK by ProChile. Replying in the affirmative I said it would be a good match due to slightly higher acidity and spiciness in the wines  ..more

Pairing Wine with World Cup

Pairing  wine with food may be an absolute for some but it also depends upon the time and mood at the table and the basic common sense for selecting the wines suffices, if  you consider my  experience at the World Cup final where we paired four wines from the neighbouring Quintay Winery with food at an Italian Restaurant in Casablanca, Chile while watching the World Cup Final on Sunday.

As our group of 20 (G20) sat down at two tables of Casa Botha, an Italian Restaurant owned by a South African Chef David Botha and his wife in Casablanca, about 70 kms west of Santiago, my Indonesian friend Alex Effendi took out two bottles of Aji, the Chilean hot sauce he had bought in the supermarket the previous night. The delicious but bla  ..more

Sipping a glass of Montes Alpha M 2006 during my flight to Santiago this morning from San Francisco, my thoughts were full of sadness for the untimely and sad demise last Tuesday of Douglas Murray, a founding partner of Viña Montes and a pioneer and leading proponent of the exports for the contemporary Chilean wine industry, who might soon be reborn somewhere in India.

I am a great admirer of Montes wines, from the quaffable Sauvignon Blanc to the iconic Montes Alpha M I was drinking (a Bordeaux blend with 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cabernet Franc, 5% Merlot and 5% Petit Verdot, which if I remember correctly, was  ..more

It is ironic and tragic that as I wrote about the possible redefinition of moderate drinking by the US federal dietary guidelines for 2011-2015, there was a report about a drunken driving crash in New Jersey where an actress Amy Locane-Bovenizer killed a woman and critically injured her husband while driving under the influence of several glasses of wine. 

While this may not have been the first or even the hundredth known case when an over-drunk driver was involved in a fatal accident, most known cases of DUI (Driving Under Influence) involve  people after a binge drinking session of more than 4or 5 or even 6 glasses of hard liquor. This news did bring out once again, the significant negative factor of excess wine drinking besides causing damage to liver, higher blood pressure, increasing  ..more

If the government and the States take Article 47 of the Indian Constitution seriously, the alcohol free wines must be unshackled from the import duty of about 160% and the additional state excise duties which work out as high as import duty in Delhi or even higher in some states, while considering lowering duties on low alcohol wines.

Part IV the Directive Principles of State Policy says that the State shall endeavour to bring about prohibition of the consumption except for medicinal purposes of intoxicating drinks and of drugs which are injurious to health. Unfortunately, the government has not taken cognizance of the medicinal values of wine or else it might have been actively promoting it instead of loading it with insurmountable duties. At the same time, it has not disco   ..more

In the eagerness to deal with India, increasing number of producers are falling into the trap of giving liberal payment terms to importers, some of whom are either taking undue advantage while the others with their cavalier approach import at the risk of the producers many of whom burn their fingers and leave with bitter feelings about India.

A couple of years ago, I was invited as a speaker at a wine show called Fenavin, where importers were sponsored. I was there as a journalist even though I was reluctant to go as it was primarily for importers so that they could have B2B meetings with producers of ..more

A news item reported by the reputed news agency IANS about India’s participation at the London Wine Fair and picked up by online media like Yahoo, had so much erroneous and immature reporting that the producers, wine connoisseurs and serious wine lovers would be at sea whether to laugh or raise their arms with disgust.

“Eight Indian winemakers will compete with international brewers at the three-day London Wine Fair beginning Tuesday,’ roared the news item.

This is not a beer show where international brewers are congregating. What the  ..more

In the difficult wine scenario in India, it is not only the customs duties and unreasonable excise duties in states like Delhi, that are irksome and a bottleneck in spreading the wine culture, but the label registration charges and the excise licensing costs are particularly harsh for small importers and  producers, constraining the availability of several good value for money wines too.

Take as an example Delhi- the Indian Capital that aspires to become a world class city before the Commonwealth Games in October. Before making the first sale, the wine importer has to procure an excise license costing Rs.0.5 million (US $11,000) ann  ..more

As wine consumption in India goes up, one notices an increasing use of ‘Old wine in New Bottle’ to describe an old or existing strategy or plan- repackaged to make it look like a new idea, which does not make any sense, just as the use of ‘brewing’ wine may not is not the correct way of describing the process of wine making.

When is an old wine put in a new bottle to make it better or different? I don’t know- to the best of my knowledge-never. One of the biggest problems that hurt the wine consumption is the problem of oxidation. No matter, how perfect the conditions of transferring a bottle are safeguarded against oxidation; even the slightest of exposure to air is likely to  ..more

The recent IWSR Report on Indian wine market has made those on the east of Suez spring up in surprise with figures indicating much higher consumption of Indian and important wines as also suggesting an improbably higher proportion of red wine consumed, ostensibly to clean the arteries clogged because of butter chicken et al.

Red, red wine you make me feel so fine/
You keep me rocking all of the time/
Red, red wine you make me feel so grand/
I feel a million dollars when your just in my hand/

Looks like Indian wine drinkers are singing the song by Bob Marley. The younger      ..more

A recent article in the Economic Times implying that wine clubs are dependent on the largesse of wine merchants and restaurants appears to be inaccurate and irresponsible reporting and I must place a few facts on the table before suggesting that it ought to stick to reporting facts for which it is otherwise well known in India. 

Sitting in Zanotta, the elegant Italian Restaurant at the Leela Gurgaon, chatting with Ambassador Roberto Toscano over Italy’s top meditation wine Amarone, looking ..more

While the news report this week in an Indian business daily talks of the glut in the wine market with more than half the wineries either closed down or without fresh production, a French Report warns France and Europe to buckle up and get ready for competition from the very nations which offer opportunities today, including India.

Welcome to the new New World!!

According to ET, half of Maharashtra’s 58 wineries have either closed down or stopped producing wine due to the glut in the market, with about 2 million liters of wine,    ..more

After a few years of wine industry speculating about the formation of a National Wine Board to help promote the Indian wine industry, came the confusing and confounding news that an Indian Grape Processing Board was being created with an initial participation by the government and industry to help the wine industry. So what had happened to the National Wine Board?

Even the background papers floating around a couple of years before the news became public knowledge, the corridors in the Ministry of Food Processing Industries, also ta..more

This year’s New Year Greetings to our readers from delWine were well thought out and apt- wishing you all plenty of wine and wealth, health and happiness in 2010.

Relationship between wine and health is a lot similar to that between wealth and happiness. It is fairly well accepted by now that moderate consumption of wine on a regular basis is good for the heart and most other limbs of the body. (It certainly does not help bad back and I still suffer a stiff back even after two months of moderate wine intake!).

In fact, wine is anti-aging if you read, absorb and accept the findings of the book ..more

I was foxed on reading a news item on Saturday in the Central Chronicle which mentioned that ‘the Four Seasons Wines will open a wine club in the city similar to the one in Kolkata and that the company currently has three clubs, each in Bangalore and Delhi and one in Chandigarh’.  

Here is the excerpt from the news item and I quote:

‘Four Seasons Wines Limited (FSWL), a subsidiary of United Spirits Limited, will open a 'wine club' in the city as part of its initiative to promote 'wine-related tourism' across the country. Launching 'Four Season' wines here, FSWL Business Head and Director Abhay Kewad..more

The initial cynicism and sniggering on my strong plea to the government for allowing 6 bottles of duty free wines on arrival in lieu of 2 bottles of hard liquor has waned and I have been  receiving a lot of positive feedback as many readers see the logic and endorse the concept.

Apparently even in Gujarat which unfortunately is a dry state, one can get a permit with a valid cause. Such permit holders are allowed 2 or 4 units of liquor per month. According to one of our readers from Gujarat, one unit officially translates to one 750 ml bottle of hard liquor, 3 bottles of wine or 10 bottles of beer. If one goes by that logic, we should    ..more

Wine scene seems to be changing for the better in Bollywood with Kareena Kapoor talking appreciatively about red wine last week while her sweetheart Saif Ali Khan is seen holding a glass of Champagne at his party in a recent Ad where most people are drinking wine.

What is really heartening is that he is holding the flute perfectly-from the base and looking confident and suave. He could even be holding it from the stem-and that would have been alright too. Holding the glass correctly is important as it adds pleasure to the wine ..more

When the Bollywood star Kareena Kapoor made a statement in a recent interview that she was like a red wine, which matures with time she was only partially correct because not every red wine is like her, in fact, over 95% are not meant to mature at all.

Kareena Kapoor plays a tormented girlfriend in her latest movie Kurbaan opposite her real life beau Saif Ali Khan, who plays a terrorist. She was referring to her role and that of her boy friend. ‘ I am like red wine, which gets mature with time. As I grow older I will be    ..more

My blog last week created a lot of controversy with a lot of good advice forthcoming but most people did not see my basic point that the government must separate wine from hard liquor while following its policy on alcohol, without suggesting any liberalisation in this area.

Some of my well-wishers thought I was being critical of the customs department with a few inferring that my name would find mention in the computer and every time I come back from abroad, I would be specially marked for customs inspection. I ought to clarify ..more

Indian Customs allow two liters of whisky or wine duty-free for tourists on arrival at the international airports whereas duty-free goods worth Rs.25, 000 are allowed otherwise. I believe the limit on duty free wine should be raised to six bottles, for equitable justice.

During my return from Singapore a couple of weeks ago, I was surprised to see almost every other passenger carry big boxes of 32-46 inch LCD TVs.  Looking at the rest of the baggage accompanying them, it was a fair assumption that there were some commercial ..more

We have a global readership base of 16,000 which runs probably higher when there is important Breaking News, with a majority sifting through a few articles suitable to their palate. But there is one reader, Vikram Chopra who is magnums ahead of others and deserves our Perfect DelWine Reader Award 2009.

The award is arbitrary-it is not based on the multitudes of SMSs that we are being subjected to these days to select the best restaurant in town-filling the slot machines of the mobile companies with zero jackpot. The award is infrequent-this is the first time we are awarding someone- hopefully we have started a trend! It does not carry any cash award – only a simple recognition which to a true wine appassionato is more than money can   ..more

Many importers, foreign producers and consumers ask me everyday whether the excise duties will be rolled back in Delhi. I assure them they will be rolled back before the next fiscal year in April, not because we have been able to make them see the reason, but due to the mounting pressure from EU-our inadvertent allies. .

Predicting such governmental policies is like the stock market except that no one has the insider information- the lawmakers (politicians in this case) are as confused as a laymen. There are bears and bulls of course- there are bears like the wine importers who may eventually tart handling other products to survive or change the commodity and ..more

If you think Indian Customs Duties are a major deterrent to expand wine culture in India, I should also tell you that it also has something to do with the Indian Customs that might inhibit some of the most evolved Indians to stay away from an evening out with excellent Italian wines they otherwise love.
Here is a case that might be useful to illustrate my point. There was a dinner organised by the Delhi Wine Club on October 7 at I-Talia, an excellent stand alone restaurant owned by the Park hotel, in DLF Mall in Vasant Kunj, where the club had earlier launched the restaurant when it turned out to be an excellent evening with wines like Barbaresco and Brun ..more

A chance look recently at the Kingfisher Bohemia wine ad slogan, ‘Skip the Rituals. Drop the Ceremony’ seemed to me like a modern day sexologist urging you to forget the foreplay and go straight for the carnal knowledge with no post coital rituals either.

This is like telling a gourmet to forget the antipasti and the primo piatto and to just go for the secondo piatto (the main course) and the dolce be damned.In other words, wham, bang, thank you ma’am, or wham-bam-thank you-Sam for women.

From the producers of Kingfisher beer and McDowell whisky, treating wine like McD..more

The World Heart Day last Sunday was accompanied by a study conducted in 10 cities in India disclosing that 40% of Indians are prone to heart risks with the researchers finding no difference of the risk between drinkers and abstainers.

The latter finding of the study is the surprising part. Most studies across the world during the past twenty years have shown that with moderate consumption of wine or alcohol, the cardiac risks come down substantially, provided two standard units of alcohol are consumed regularly.It is pertinent to remind our readers once more on the occasion..more

It was a pleasant surprise but a privilege to share a common platform with Robert Parker and the likes of Jancis Robinson and James Halliday in the July-August Vinexpo Special Edition of La Revue du Vin de France, the first French monthly wine magazine in French language-a highly respected wine publication in France.

I received a mail in late January this year from Denis Saverot, Editor in Chief of the magazine, which Jancis Robinson describes as ‘France’s only serious wine magazine.’ Denis informed me that the magazine would bring out a special issue during Vinexpo to ..more

An article in a national daily a few days ago caught my eyes and made me sad yet amused. It appears that the first ever attempt to start a winery in Madhya Pradesh is facing failure because of government’s apathy and hostility as the producers claim.

Apparently, eighteen grape growers of Titri village of Ratlam district, 300 kms from Bhopal, in Madhya Pradesh had decided to venture into wine making on the cooperative model three years ago. But now the wine sale has been brought under government contro..more

I was startled to read in Decanter last week the news about Pancho Campo MW, President of the Spanish Wine Academy and Director of the prestigious Wine Future Rioja conference in mid-November being the subject of an arrest warrant on the Interpol website. Subhash Arora.

The warrant, issued in Dubai relates to an alleged fraud of €600,000 in that country for which a court case was initiated against him in 2002 by his then business partner. He was due to appear in the court in 2005 but did not attend the court as he had left the cou..more

Patricia Corcia, an exporter from Burgundy left a bottle of  Griotte Chambertin 2000 Chezeaux, a Grand Cru red Burgundy for tasting with me few months back which got bruised somewhere along the time in the cellar where I had stuck it in. What happened to it? Read on…

Let me tell you something about the label first. It was produced by Domaine Chezeaux, a producer of Gevrey Chambertin, one of the prestigious villages in Burgundy, which is one of the better known Burgundy villages in India. A Burgundy wine is classified in four..more

The reports about US President Barack Obama and the First Lady serving chicken samosas among other mouthwatering dishes and Champagne at a White House reception hosted on Monday for several ambassadors including our new envoy to the US Meera Shankar makes me salivate.

It was splashy affair, held under the chandelier glint of the Grand Foyer, and the music of the Marine String Ensemble which performed a few light jazz songs including ‘Shadow of Your Smile’ and ‘Come Back to Sorrento’, as the Champagne flowed, describe the ..more

With the growing interest in wine in India the number of wine articles on the net and in the print media has also taken an exponential jump, resulting in the non-wine aficionados mis-spelling some common wine terms that irk me a lot. Subhash Arora

I have often written and expressed my anguish when such writers use the word Wino for wine-lovers or wine connoisseurs rather than describing a destitute cheap wine ..more

I met Umesh Saini a couple of years ago when he came to my office looking for guidance to start wine import business. A commerce graduate, he was raw but willing to work with us. Looking at his passion for wine, I recommended him to go to Adelaide, UC Davies in California or Bordeaux to study and gain experience before taking the plunge.

Last week he met me at my house. Apparently he took my advice seriously and got admission in the University of Adelaide last summer for a 3-year degree course in ..more

The Deck, a Mediterranean restaurant in Delhi may be great value for money, with diverse and delicious dishes but it has a very disappointing and indifferent wine list and service including glasses as Subhash Arora discovered on a recent visit to the restaurant.

Have you ever been to a Mediterranean restaurant that has no Italian wine on its list? I had an occasion to visit one, which is perhaps typical of many restaurants in town th..more

I have always recognised the role Gaja played in my falling in love with Italian wines and possibly promoting them inadvertently a tad more than the others. I must have done something out of the way made the Italian government considered me worthy of the knighthood and awarding me the title of Cavaliere earlier this year. The man who unwittingly helped me meet Angelo Gaja who became a very good friend after  ..more

Participation in the international wine competitions is not a luxury but a desirable tool to promote Indian wines abroad but, barring Indage Vintners, not many producers have taken a serious look at them, necessitating the government wine bodies to focus and motivate the industry to take part in such competitions.

Ever heard of Moravia? No marks for guessing Alberto Moravia, the great Roman novelist who among other things explored modern sexuality and penned novels like Two ..more

Yoga is great for meditation but wine tasting can be meditative too when carried out in a proper room setting with certain types of wines in a conducive atmosphere as I found out during tasting of Barbaresco and Roero docg wines in Alba as a part of the Alba Wine Festival organised by Albeisa recently.

It is well established that after tasting 30-40 wines, the motor activity shifts to a lower gear despite the swishing and spitting of wine, as every sip does entail a few drops of the liquid getting into the system with tannins refusing to leave the palate and alcohol do  ..more

I was at a party recently where good quality wine and liquor matched the décor, food and the ambience. Wines were flowing in their usual white, red and the bubbly variants. But Sauvignon was the common denominator both for white and red. 

I find Sauvignon Blanc as an aperitif wine at the top of the desirable, uncomplicated choice-dry, crisp, fruity with floral aromas and pleasant taste on the palate-one can drink it by itself or with finger-foods, even with the mutton based shammi kebabs, cheeses (preferably soft and un-seasoned). Other options available could be un-wooded  ..more

It is that month of the year when the wine and liquor supply chain in Delhi and many other states goes completely dry- at least from the distributor to the retail shops or hotels. Reason: the excise license has to be renewed and till the process is completed, no can move from the excise warehouse.

The excise licensing period coincides with the fiscal year, i.e., April 1-March 31. All fees have to be paid for one full year, even if the application is made for a month or even less. There are the annual license charges of Rs. 5 lakhs which are same whether you import only one label of wine or the whole range of alcoholic beverages from 4 or 40% and beyond. Then each label has to be registered and the registration charges for each label have  ..more

Recently, I was approached by some magazines to let them use an article I had written for delWine- Rise and Fall of Wine in India 2008 for their publication. I gave them the authorisation explicitly and implicitly asking them to give due credits to delWine as the original source of publication.

I am occasionally told by friendly magazine publishers that they routinely cut and paste wine articles from delWine. I feel flattered that they find the material worth publishing second-hand.

Similarly, I wrote another article for a publication and was pleasantly surprised when I was informed by many friends that they had read it in another magazine from the sam..more

Many wine producers cry foul when they know of  their competitors importing bulk wines and marketing it as Indian wine and making windfall profits, at the same time making selling tougher for them.

Fingers are often pointed towards companies like Indage who own a winery or two in Australia. Last year, the figures released by Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation, the government body releasing the export figures had claimed that equivalent of 150,000 cases of Australian wine had landed on the Indian shores. This included about 110,000 liters of bulk wine which was branded and sold some place or the other in India. The question ..more

Wincarnis is a tonic wine that has been sipped for over 120 years for its health benefits much before it was discovered that tannins in red wine are anti-ageing and have anti-oxidants.

I was foxed by a call earlier this week from a church official.

The pastor was not well and had expressed a keen desire to drink some tonic wine. I didn't know where it would be available but I did advise him some tannic wine instead because our stringent excise registration license policy would not make it viable to sell it. Although chemists have the luxury of stocking cough syrups and ayurvedic formulations steeped with drugs, I doubt if wine would be allowed to be sold as a tonic in chemist shops     ..more

Over the last couple of decades, scores of studies conducted, have consistently indicated that wine is good for heart when taken in moderation. Two units constituted by about 250 mL of wine at 12-12.5% alcohol are considered optimum quantity that should be imbibed on a daily basis.

Several studies in fact have also indicated similar benefits with beer and liquor. However, red wine is generally found to be more beneficial, due to the presence of anti-aging compounds like resveratrol. White wine has also come up on top in a few studies ..more

Delhi Gymkhana and the Delhi Golf Club are the most  exclusive clubs in Delhi whose membership boasts of hundreds of elitists who despite their love for whisky, vodka and rum do condescend to tasting wine on occasions as I discovered during the last few weeks.  

There was a tasting organised by the DGC for its members with the Australian winemaker of a new Indian winery visiting to talk about the wine philosophy of the company over a few glasses of red, white and rose along with crackers etc. at a nominal cost of Rs.100 ..more

The newly refurbished Hotel Le Meridien might have added a lot of sheen and gleam to the Delhi property, but it still has to cover miles before it makes the grade as a wine-destination hotel, feels Subhash Arora who had another dejecting wine experience recently.

I don't remember the last time I had a glass of wine at a banquet at this pristine hotel. Many of my NRI friends choose this venue for its glamorous and glittering appearance for weddings. But I have often wondered what fascinates them to select the one-for-one (buy one, get one free) Riviera wines at such events. Perhaps, it gives them the illusion of the French or Italian Riviera!

When I ask my friends the logic of selecting this table wine, they would invariably    ..more

During the 25 odd years since I have been in love with wine, and constantly reading about it I have collected over a hundred books on the subject including the one lone Italian Wine Guide I wrote with my colleague Sourish. The one book I cherish the most is the Oxford Companion to Wine which is edited by the UK based wine diva, Jancis Robinson.

I was overawed by the mass of contents when I came across it in a library over a decade ago and I still get dumbstruck over the quality and amount of information it has every time I open it for referencing. I was surprised to find a lone copy of the 2006 edition last year at Galgotia's book store in Noida, selling fro Rs.2300,  and clung on to it instantly.        ..more

The recently concluded wine show in Delhi makes me wonder whether the passion for wine is really on the rise or there is plain hype. IFE-India gave an opportunity from a novice to the connoisseur to get the basic, intermediate and advance knowledge on wines in 3 days- besides the business opportunities galore.

The importers, hotel industry people and others interested in wines should have been there in hordes-provided they are truly passionate about learning and enjoying wines more, business viewpoint notwithstanding. Surely, all exhibitors hope to do business. But they still pour wines with delight for all and share their winemaking philosophy, pricing, culture and whatever else you might get them to talk about, relating to wine. Whatever be the reasons   ..more

Within 10 minutes after we published the Article U.S. report on the Indian Market Released, we got an email asking me that the sender was interested in buying the report.

That shows the dearth of good and reliable information in the market and the expected quality. Incidentally, the report has not been made by us though in all modesty I must admit we helped the authors along in giving valuable inputs. It was generous on the part of Jim Gore who had come with the team, to promise me that whenever the report came out, I would be the first one to get it.

True to his word, he sent it to me before mailing to his contacts and sure enough it was on our website on 4th morning. So we are globally the first ones to publish- not a first   ..more

For the last 2-3 days I have been in Paarl, 50 kms from Cape Town where I have been invited for a tasting of South African wines for South African Airways (SAA). There have been a total of over 900 wines tasted over 2.5 days by a panel of 12 judges split in two groups. There are several eminent judges including Dave Hughes, an honourary Cape Wine Master, who has been doing a research on taste and/of  wines for over 15 years, Susanne Wessels, the ' woman winemaker of the year' for last year and many sommeliers, journalists and other tasters.

Years ago when I was a judge at the Vinitaly wine concorso, we tasted about 60 wines every day for 5 days. Most non- tasters did not believe me and thought that would ..more

It is well known that it causes me mental agony when people refer to wine as sharaab. I have written and argued that wine is not sharaab, which historically refers to liquor- distilled spirits that have an alcohol content of over 40%. Traditionally, sharaab also has slight negative connotation not usually known to be associated with wine which is simply a lifestyle, food related product, I believe.

I also abhor people referring wine lover as a wino. This term is used explicitly for an indigent wine-drinking alcoholic. The dictionary also defines it as an informal slang for a destitute person who habitually drinks cheap wine. A wino is a chronic drinker, a person who drinks alcohol to excess habitually. There is not much of a disagreement on the use of this ..more