|  A Poll was conducted for the 1000+members of the closed group of Indian Wine Academy last week to know if the Indian wine drinkers would like to drink wine in a can. ‘After Australia and USA, now France, has come out with wine in aluminium Can. Would you like to drink wine from a Can?’ was the question asked. Three options were available: Yes, I don’t mind, No, Never and I don’t mind.
88% said they would never drink wine from a Can while 12% said they don’t mind sometimes. Not a single vote was polled for ‘Yes, I don’t mind.’
Several members posted interesting comments while recording their opinion. The most interesting comment came from Santosh Jindal, a restaurateur in Delhi. ‘Wine in can -- Beauty in a steel chamber; wine will not breathe. Please, it is not Coke,’ he writes. Arun Verma who is a travel agent and a keen wine lover who also organizes wine tours overseas says , 'Wine is too feminine or too fragile and should be served from a fragile bottle or it loses its appeal. After all it is a matter of look, smell and feel.’
Some people expressed the health aspect of wine in a metal container but Jaideep Patil says, ‘Forget about carcinogenic effect of metal contact or its appeal. Commercial exploitation of wine is intolerable. Australians are notorious but French also have followed the same, it is really not digestible.’ Balu Pandyan, a professional sommelier shows his emotional connect with wine as he says, ‘according to the old wise men's saying, wine is a God's drink. Wine has its own uniqueness and is an elegant drink. It should be consumed respectfully. Making it commercial is for mere business!’
It may be pure business for some but the producers and importers may be well advised to take a cue from the Poll and think hard before taking any step to bring wine in a Coke Can into India.
Poll on Serving Portion for wine-by-the-glass
Wine-by-the-glass is an important part of wine promotion and also for consumers to order wine in a restaurant. Yet there are no standards internationally where it seems to have shifted from 125ml (6 glasses to a bottle) to 150 mL (5 glasses to a bottle). In UK it has reportedly reached a dangerous 375 mL (2 glasses to a bottle) in an effort to increase the sale and for consumers (generally women) who want to drink just one glass of wine, actually ordering this size.
In order to gauge the members’ opinion we asked them in another Poll, ‘what size would you prefer?’ although 150 mL (5 glasses/bottle) has become a de-facto standard for serving in a glass in India, giving them the option of 125 mL, 150 mL and 187 mL (airline size-4 glasses/bottle).
This one had a divided house and was really an eye opener. Though most restaurants have opted for 5 glasses a bottle, a distinct majority of 58% have indicated they would prefer a smaller portion of 125 mL, implicitly with the equivalent lower price, while 39% prefer the current 150 mL measure for a glass whereas only 3% polled for 187 mL serving.
The results may be questioned as statistically insignificant due to the size of the sample but are useful indicators of the trends since they are based on the independent views expressed by those who like wine actively as members of the closed group of Indian Wine Academy.
If you would like to indulge in discussions with the Indian cognoscenti and share the Poll results on various topical subjects of importance or even make suggestions, you are welcome to join the group which currently enjoys a membership of around 1000 wine lovers in less than 3 weeks of formation; a majority of members are from India. We request only Indians and those living in India to be a part of the Polls so that we may have an accurate insight into the trends in India
Please request directly to join if you are on Facebook or write to arora@indianwineacademy.com with a request to join ‘Indian Wine Academy’
Subhash Arora
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