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| Yolanda tasting Sula wines |
Prowein stands out by the hugely cosmopolitan nature of the exhibiting countries and visitors. Being at the heart of Europe it attracted visitors from all corners of the continent, including Russia, Scandinavia, Eastern Europe, many from Asia and this year an increased number from Northern America and the United Kingdom. There were 3600 exhibitors from over 50 countries and 38,000 visitors during the 3 days-27-29 March.
Being the first major wine event of the year, there is always a certain eagerness to taste the newly released vintages (in particular the Northern hemisphere harvests from autumn 2010).
This was especially the case this year, the 2010 vintage having been rated so positively by the experts.
It was also very important to note the growing number of wineries from every country following the global trend towards wines being produced from sustainable and organic wine growing.
This is also the only wine trade fair which has such a vast central tasting zone where thousands of wines, red and white are available for tasting. The central theme this year was, ‘Trend experiences: Tradition versus Modernity’.
This was India’s very first participation at Prowein, The stand organised by the Indian Grape Processing Board showed ‘Incredible India’ at its best and attracted a huge amount of interest, mostly out of curiosity, as the large majority of visitors were unaware of the fact that India actually produced wine. Many visitors, who have been to India and loved the country as tourists, showed very keen interest in tasting Indian wines.
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| Lladies appreciating Aryaa rosé |
The Indian brands exhibited included York Winery, Luca, Zampa, Sula, Aryaa, Ritu (Four Seasons export label) and Fratelli, giving the visitors a very wide range of some of India’s best to taste, which enabled them to have an all round first time experience of ‘Indian’ wine flavours. After all, this is all about ‘Terroir’ (soil and climate) and as with every wine growing country Indian wines have their own personality. There was great interest in the varieties that were grown – particularly those crisp, fresh whites that could be produced in such a hot, arid climate.
The rosé wines were a big favourite, especially with the ladies – including the stunning Aryaa rosé, infused with rose petals which gave it a beautiful seductive touch and made it quite unique. A group of young ladies from the German hospitality industry said that they found the Indian rosés much nicer than many others they had tasted.
A number of visitors tasted on every stand and were able to get a good overall impression of the styles. Andreas Bosse, a wine merchant from Stuttgart in southern Germany, commented ‘I travel a lot in Asia, but have never come across Indian wines. I was quite impressed with the quality. The Ritu Viognier is very crisp and fresh and the rosé is elegant with good fruit.’
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| Andreas Bosse tasting Ritu Viognier from Four Seasons |
The India stand was in the largest hall, surrounded by stands exhibiting wines from all over the World. The other foreign exhibitors from neighbouring stands were equally intrigued to taste wines made in India. For Yolanda, the winemaker of a Spanish boutique winery ‘Viña Santa Marina’, who have themselves exhibited at several Indian wine exhibitions, this was the first opportunity to discover the wines first hand, and she was taken through the Sula range by Rajeev Samant himself.
All of the exhibitors were surprised at the amount of interest surrounding the wines and winemaking. Mr. Randhir Patel from the IGPB, in charge of the India Stand was very pleased with the response ‘This first participation was to create awareness about wines from India – I believe this has really been achieved’
Maureen Kerleau
30 March, 2011
 Maureen Kerleau has been part of the wine world for over 25 years, mainly involved with sales and marketing of French wines to various export markets. In 2005, she approached the Indian wine market and travelled extensively around India,In 2008, her husband was appointed to lead a venture in India for an Aerospace company and she spent two years in Bangalore, devoting her time to promoting first French, then Indian wines. She advised the organisors of the first Bangalore wine festival which has lead to even more involvement for this year's edition.
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