|
 Touted as ‘The Best of Wine, Beer, Spirits and Allied Industry’ event, IndSpirit 2016 ‘the Mega Alcobev Trade Event in Asia’, (never mind if the wines get the least importance) was very well-organized with a lot of entertainment Bollywood style. Nevertheless there was plenty to cheer up the visitors with the chilled Chandon Brut ready to welcome as they entered the venue, on the left. Even though the Award winning Chandon Rose Brut was missing from the line-up, the Brut seduced the beer, spirits and allied industry people, as if to say Cheers or Jai Ho!
There was a decent sized stall from Grover Zampa which had a good line up of wines at the walk around tasting area, that included both their bubblies Zampa Soiree Brut and Rose Brut 2012. The company seems to have adopted a bold and conscientious decision to mention the vintage on the bottles-this is the equivalent of a Vintage Champagne which is produced in a limited quantity in Champagne where champs are generally made by mixing wines from different vintages and are rated as NV (Non-vintage).
Also present was Aspri Spirits which had its share of popular spirits but also wines from Zonin and Two Oceans for wine lovers. Jackie Mathai and Arun Kumar, the two Directors were also in attendance. The adjoining stand of Radico Khaitan was focusing on the RTD products with no wines on display. Understandably, their focus on Carlo Rossi wines from Gallo seems to have shifted to the CSD business where they have a good foothold.
The following Awards were announced at the ceremony:
1. Super Premium Red Wine - Zampa Chene Grand Reserve
2. Standard Red Wine - Charosa Pleasure Cabernet Shiraz
3. Premium Red Wine - Four Season Barrique Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2011
4. Premium Sparkling Wine – There was a tie between Zampa Soiree Brut Rose and Chandon Brut Rose
Although the website of IndSpirit lists premium and popular white wines as a category, there were no Awards for the white wines, perhaps because of lack of participation.
There were Packaging Awards as well. Chandon Brut Limited Edition bagged the prize in this category. "Excellence in Packaging Awards Special Prize” was awarded to Blue Nun Sparkling Gold Edition. Imported by Nature’s Bounty, the bubbly has small, micro-thin gold chips in the attractive bottle. Mr. A. S. Wadhwa, CEO of the import company collected the prize. Besides there were individual Awards-Excellence in Supply Chain was given to Brindco Sales as Distributors and Importers.
 Sumedh Singh Mandla, CEO of GroverZ who has been constantly adding Medals and Awards to its kitty since he took over 3 years ago seems very happy with the results. He says, ‘It was a pleasure to win 2 awards at IndSpirit for Chene Grand Reserve in the Best Super Premium Red wine category and Soiree Brut Rose in the Best Tasting sparkling wine category. Quality has always been a key focus for us and we spend lot of resources and time in our vineyards and wineries to produce quality wines. These 2 awards take the count for us to 59 during last three years. This reconfirms our faith that we are moving in the right direction. This Inspirit was extra special for all of us at GZV as Mr. Ravi Jain was felicitated with the Life time achievement award.’
The Lifetime Achievement Award was given to Ravi Jain, former Director and co-promoter of Zampa Vineyards (Vallée de Vin) and now the Director in the merged entity of Grover Zampa Vineyards. A graduate of my Alma Mater, IIT Delhi, Ravi had joined the spirits industry after his graduation and shocked his conservative family in doing so. But he went from strength to strength with big ticket achievements to his credit. He has been playing a key role in the strategy making at GroverZ. The Individual awards were decided by Sap Media Worldwide Ltd, based on data archived over the years and interviews taken during the tenure of the winners, according to Trilok Desai, Managing Director.
It was not disclosed how many wines had competed for the Awards. The Award Entry Fee was Rs. 2500/ per product for Alcobev tastings in the Product category and Rs. 2000/ per product in the Packaging excellence category. To enter one had to submit 2-bottle samples in each category.
Last, but not the least, the dinner buffet served by the Leela after the Awards, was very good-the service even better. Though I am not fond of buffets, I was quite happy with this important part of the program that was handled by the Leela Ambience Gurgaon with aplomb.
Subhash Arora |