Finally, an international news agency with the reach of The Associated Press has taken note of India’s emerging wine culture. “Escaping from the confines of a few high-end hotels, wine is rapidly becoming the drink of choice among Indians who have grown affluent as the economy has boomed,” says Gavin Rabinowitz in a dispatch that has appeared in a number of prominent American newspapers in the past week.

“People want a better lifestyle and wine is the symbol of the good life,” the report quotes Indian Wine Academy President Subhash Arora as saying. Arora, according to the report, estimates that there are potentially 20 million to 30 million wine drinkers in the country.
Fully tapping this market means creating a culture of wine drinking and in the process weaning Indians from their beloved whisky-and-sodas.

The report then quotes Indian Wine Academy Executive Director Sourish Bhattacharyya making out a strong case for India developing its “own lexicon for putting wine into a local context.”

“The beauty of nosing a wine is that it is personal. When I drink a Riesling I find lychee and jasmine,” Bhattacharyya told AP. “When you hear Indians talking about raspberry, they are just memorising tasting notes.”

“In recent months the Indian Wine Acaemy has brought together wine exporters from Italy, Germany, South Africa and Chile with India’s leading chefs, restaurateurs and sommeliers, to match wines with Indian dishes,” reports AP.

“We demonstrated one thing quite clearly, that Indian food can be matched beautifully with wine,” Bhattacharyya informed AP.

“We had chicken tikka with a viognier chardonnay from South Africa and the match was perfect,” he said. German Rieslings also went very well with Indian foods, particularly mutton dishes. “Who could have guessed that German wines, from such a different culture, could match so beautifully with Indian foods,” he said.

Chile’s Ambassador in India, Jorge Heine, provides a more realistic perspective when he says: “India for us is a very small market but there is tremendous potential. “With 1.1 billion people there is room in the market for everyone,” Heine said.

“If we could sell one teaspoon of wine to every Indian … ,” he added wistfully. A wonderful thought, Mr Ambassador!

For the complete story, follow this link:
http://www.smdailyjournal.com/article_preview.php?id=63841