Photos By:: Adil Arora
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| Governor McDonnell with two members of the Club |
At a reception held in Mumbai on November 15 at the Four Seasons Hotel in Worli, Mumbai attended by around 150 invitees from the travel, film industry and corporate sectors and wine industry including importers, retailers, sommeliers and journalists, with a token presence from the Delhi Wine Club as well. In all fairness, they were here to also promote Wine tourism and other businesses like inviting the filmmakers to choose Virginia for the shoots, besides wines from Virginia.
Sanjay Menon, owner of the Mumbai-based importer Sonarys, presented wines from Virginia, including those from Barboursville Vineyards, Narmada Winery, Trump Vineyard Estates, Breaux Vineyards and Horton Vineyards, highlighting the estates and presenting their wines.
Although today Napa Valley, Sonoma Valley, Washington and Oregon have overtaken Virginia, winegrowing in the US has its roots in Virginia where Thomas Jefferson the the third President of the United States of America, who was the principal author of the US Declaration of Independence in 1776 and once holding the same post as Governor McDonnell . He is widely credited with being America’s first wine connoisseur and planted grapes brought from Europe at his now historically famous estate of Monticello.
In a truly befitting style, Governor McDonnell raised a symbolic toast in a special Jefferson cup to develop stronger ties and friendship between India and the State of Virginia which sells over 450,000 cases. It is America’s fifth largest wine producer and seventh largest wine grape producer.
The USA and India share a common political system in that both are Federal nations where States are independent to pursue many of their economic policies including that of alcohol taxations and sales. Both the USA and many Indian States including Maharashtra saw prohibition at different times. However, while President Jefferson who was the principal architect of the Constitution planted the first vineyard in Virginia, our forefathers exhorted the States to enforce prohibition-including wine which was perhaps unheard of in India at that time.
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| Audience listening to the Guv intently |
Interestingly, the Governors of Maharashtra and Goa, Shri K Sankaranarayanan Maharashtra and Goa or Shri Hans Raj Bhardwaj of Karnataka might not be expected to make an overseas visit to promote wine or tourism, the power does lye with the respective Chief Ministers of the States and the Central government would have no powers to interfere in the decision.
A few months ago, Governor McDonnell had announced a wine export agreement between Barboursville Vineyards and Tianjin Tewoo Group of China. The deal was a result of the Governor's trade mission to Asia in May showcasing seven Virginia wineries. This was reportedly the first commercial transaction between a Virginia winery and a Chinese importer.
Hopefully Sonarys and a few of the bigger importers will make this happen in India too. Mumbai was the first stop to be followed by Delhi and Bangalore. |