|  It was not too far back in time; less than five years ago that the first wine event of the DWC was held in the Spirit Restaurant in Connaught Place in 2002. It was last Friday the 2 nd February that we celebrated the centennial event at Agni bar and the Mist Restaurant at Park Hotel, Connaught place with wines from Fèlsina vineyard in Tuscany. To reach the milestone of the 100 th event in such a short time is surely a milestone, something all members are very proud of.
When I founded the club in March 2002, my basic objective was to promote wine culture and awareness in India and more specifically Delhi . The concept of forming the club where like minded and socially compatible group of people could congregate frequently and enjoy drinking different wines with different cuisines and learning about them at the same time was noble but not sufficient to reach the public at large.
Design and development of a website that could reach far and wide, a site that would have a lot of practical India-related information on wine, a site that could be used as an educational tool for wine lovers and novices alike was a project close to our heart. Being in the business of software development for e-commerce websites, it was natural that we published India's first webzine, www.delhiwineclub.com even before we had the first club event.
 One person that was most supportive of the project and the concept was our Vice President, Sourish Bhattacharyya, who was then the Editor of HT City and whom I had met in Vinitaly in April that year. Not only did he have brilliant ideas and encouraged me to write about wine, he also gave us a lot of practical tips like avoiding admission of wine importers and keeping it strictly a consumer club, an idea fully supported by the executive committee formed later.
Our mission has been to educate people and train their palates through over 1000 tastings at dinners, tasting events, cheese and wine evenings and wine shows we have been part of, and drinking wine with dinners so that they can better enjoy the unique and healthy drink. We drink only wine (nothing but wine, water and coffee after dessert have ever been served at any of our events), usually 5 different kinds, at a typical dinner. We avoid reading out tasting notes but are light hearted about the educational aspect.
We do like to share with our members at most meetings that the amount we consume at dinners at a consistent .8 bottle per head is harmful for health. We have been very neutral in terms of selecting the producing country, venue or the vendors and have an open door and transparent policy. We have served wine from all major wine producing countries of the world including India, though the details on our website would indicate our partiality to French, Italian and Chilean wines due to their popularity, ease of availability and members' penchant for Italian and Mediterranean food with which these wines pair rather well.
One objective which we have failed miserably in achieving has been the desire to convert whisky and wodka drinkers into wine. If the first dinner was an indicator, we knew that pursuing the utopian task would endanger the existence of the club. After filtering out process, we were able to restrict membership to those who already drink wine and avoid people who wish to join because they think it is fashionable to drink wine.
The quality of membership has improved tremendously, though the membership of expats who see a lot of value being a member of the club, is inching higher. At the current stable number of about 160 members, we have always a few persons in the waiting list, to be screened by the executive committee.
The club encourages formation of newer clubs and chapters- Gurgaon chapter is already active and under our wings. We helped form Chandigarh and Lucknow Wine Clubs and are active supporters of Hyderabad, Bangalore and Mumbai wine club. We believe that there should be more than 20 wine clubs in Delhi, perhaps patterned after Rotary clubs, where members meet regularly to taste different wines.
The international press has taken a very positive note of the club activities. Thanks to the website, it is a very well known and respected wine club. Especially pleased are numerous overseas wine producers who google us regularly to ascertain the current wine scene from an unbiased eye. Foreign press from countries like UK , US, France , Italy , Australia has hailed our objective and performance. TV channels from India and several overseas companies often feature the club in their programming.
Delhi Wine Club is about the new lifestyle around wine. It provides the wine lovers an opportunity to taste and enjoy different wines. But it also gives the producers a great opportunity of trials with discerning consumers and a proper feedback about their wares. It also provides the restaurant an opportunity to showcase their product, the food, service and the ambience and of course, the opportunity to rope in a host of new clients.
 Many visiting winemakers applaud the role of crusader being played by the Delhi Wine Club, promoting wine constantly without any monetary reward. Said Giuseppe Mezzocolin, the visiting senior manager and family member of the much awarded Fèlsina Berardenga winery, near Siena, 'I am so happy to be amongst so many people who love wines and can pass very relevant comments about wines'. He invited members to visit their winery whenever they are in Roma or Florence next. Mr. Jorge Heine, an active supporter of the club is impressed that the club is known well not only in India but abroad. He endorses the 'neutral' policy of the club. 'It is good that the club promotes wines from other countries too. By motivating and educating people to drink wine, will expand the wine market and Chile will share the growth of the market', he feels..
With celebrations of 5-year completion in the offing, with several new wines to taste, even more exciting times are ahead. It may not be very long before we score our double century.
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