| Photos By:: Adil Arora
 Carlos Marques is a bold man. A contrarian to the core, he has decided to enter India and stay there for a long time. With a determination not seen often in wine producers overseas, Marques feels that India is the market he loves to be in and despite full knowledge that the road to success is bumpy and the wine weather rather choppy, he has determined to be here and his dogged perseverance might well prove to be his trump card one day.
There were a total of 12 wines from four wineries-Real Companhia Velha, Adega da Covilhã, Provam and Campolargo, from different parts of Portugal. The tasting event took place on October 17 for which a catchy Invite had been sent by Ambassador Oliveira earlier. But the preparations had been going on for a long time - the event was in fact tentatively scheduled for January this year. Carlos Marques had first contacted me 11 months ago, to the day, declaring his intention to export Portuguese wines to India from various producers.
 A resident of Porto, he is passionate about India and visits often. He has been a devotee of Bhagavan Sri Ramana Ashram in Tiruvannamalai for several years. During his trip to Bangalore last year, he did a small market research on wine business for Portuguese wines and was convinced that with the proper strategy, he would succeed.
He formed a Consortium of five smaller Portuguese wine producers from Douro, Minho-Vinho Verde, Beira Interior, Dão and Bairrada, covering several types of Portuguese wines in conformity with Indian taste, not only for export of wines but also offering several possibilities on bottling or even wine making facilities for Indian wine importers.His objective was to supply entry level, middle range and premium wines. He wants to work on a long term basis and has also opened an Indian company called PortIndia which is being looked after by a compatriot, Mauro Neves (+91 9873391924). He is also optimistic enough to be able to market Port Wine in India and in fact, one of the 12 wines tasted was a Ruby Port.
 The events at the Ambassador’s residence are always very informal and enjoyable around wine and this was no exception. Wines were generally quite quaffable and the prices Carlos told me were quite affordable for the quality which could still be better but at higher prices. Hopefully, importers like Brindco and Vinura Wines that were present along with several journalist, Sommeliers and diplomats that included Mr. Joao Cravinho, Ambassador of EU and his wife, would take a step forward and nose and taste the wines once again to set the ball rolling to discuss the import possibilities further. There were quite a few winners in the list of 12.
 Kudos to the Portuguese Ambassador H.E. Jorge Roza de Oliveira for the continued assistance provided to the producers in Portugal who desire to export to India. It is important for them to keep up the promotional activities as the Portuguese wines are still not very popular or well known in India. Without the governmental support in Portugal and the embassy/consulates in India, it may not be easy to break into the Indian market unless you are the largest Portuguese producer like Sogrape who is already exporting wines through Aspri.
Marques who left India after some more time in the market and meeting several importers only a couple of days ago, hopes to follow up with the potential importers. With the excellent price/quality ratio, it is more than likely that his perseverance will pay rich dividends in the long run. He will have the Ambassador to thank for the help and support given to him by the embassy at the earlier stages of his campaign.
For details of the wineries whose wines were tasted, visit www.realcompanhiavelha.pt, www.adegacovilha.pt, www.campolargovinhos.com and www.provam.com or write to Carlos Marques at carlos.portindia@gmail.com (+351 93 6005084)
Subhash Arora
Tags: Jorge Roza de Oliveira, Portugal, Carlos Marques, Portuguese Wine Producers Consortium, Porto, PortIndia, Mauro Neves, Sogrape |