Wine is meant to be enjoyed with great food, great friends, and family - at the end of a long day it helps you unwind, says a corporate executive. He also loves to pamper his girlfriend with a bottle of crisp wine - what he calls the ‘official beverage’ for romance.
“I used to drink whisky earlier - but not any more. Wine is my drink now - I guess that’s also because I go for business luncheons and dinners, where others around me drink wine,” said this gentleman, Mr. Singh.
Subhash Arora, the president of the Delhi Wine Club, is quoted as saying that he had observed that more and more youngsters are joining the club.
“In the last five years, we have seen a paradigm shift in our membership. Earlier our club saw members in the 40s but now more and more youngsters are joining.”
“Drinking wine has a lot to do with the culture and upbringing. Youth is attracted to wine because it is fashionable and a smart thing to pursue,” Arora told IANS.
He added that young women are also taking to wine.
“Pursuing wine is all about fine taste and refined choices. These days a lot of women are intrigued by the growing wine culture. Instead of a mere fashion statement; women are learning the intricacies of wine tasting.”
“Youngsters have more disposable income - this has led to a drastic change in the lifestyle quotient of the youth, ” says Linda Viviani, a winemaker from Napa Valley in the US, who wants to invest in the Indian market and was here recently in this regard.
Most youngsters prefer red wine over white or rose. Wine makers in India have been taking giant strides in recent years, and it’s now chic to drink wine produced in this country. However, the import market is still huge, led by the French, Australians and Italians, according to the report.
Nixon d’Mello, the national marketing head of Grover Vineyards, a Bangalore-based wine producing company that is one of the largest in India, told IANS, “Our market has grown stupendously in the last few years and the major credit goes to youth who are lapping up the wines quickly.”
“Youth today are conscious of their image in society and wine is more acceptable,” adding that more and more women are becoming wine drinkers because it’s dignified and fashionable.
P. Vivek, a 23-year-old graphic artist, reportedly says: “Wine is one of the very few drinks that one can savour and experience the richness of. It has no discernible flaw.” Incidentally, the legal minimum drinking age in Delhi is 25 years.
“I enjoy drinking wine with my girlfriends because it’s classy and chic and they all love it. Wine looks more sophisticated, plus it feels feminine and empowering,” says a young female event manager, as a conclusion of the report.
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