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Deepak Roy who has invested Rs.150 million ($37 m) in
his vineyards and winery, is ready to hit the Indian wine market with
his Zampa brand of wines. Just when UB announced its arrival with Zinzi
brand of wines, Deepak Roy brought his Zampa wine from Valle de Vin, his
35-acre vineyard on the periphery of Nashik. He plans to add another 100
acres to his portfolio soon.
Mr Roy is now heading the Kishore Chhabria group company
which produces Officer's Choice whisky and Gillbey's Green Label, the
competitors of UB.
According to Roy, his winery Vallee de Vin has planned a unique marketing
strategy with a direct response approach. He selected about a thousand
wine connoisseurs and sent them a miniature wooden cask filled with varietal
wines grown in his vineyard and literature describing his wines and the
project. This will be followed up within a fortnight with a bottle each
of red and white wines. He believes the word of mouth communication will
be the best form of advertising for his product.
'UB is the latest entrant here, but it is well prepared with a winery
at Baramati and another one being set up at Nashik.' He claims that his
wines would be able to out do Zinzi and beat them in the market.
According to a report in the Economic
Times, Mr Roy said: "We have brought experts from the best vineyards
in the world to ensure high quality for the grapes and the wines we make
here. In terms of quality, our wines can be among the best in the world."
This is really amusing and does reek of rhetoric, or else Mr. Roy is
a true whisky man who believes that any French wine (even their famous
vin de table) is one of the best in the world. Even the top quality Indian
producers privately admit they are decades away from making that claim,
even as a tall claim. So when he talks of making and selling 25000 cases
of wine, his statement needs to be taken with awe and inspiration.
The claim that his portfolio of Zampa Chenin Blanc, Shiraz, Sparkling
Rose wine, etc. selling in the Price range from Rs 600-650 in the said
article will outshine the under Rs.300 (in Delhi) of Zinzi, amuses many
people including Abhay Kewadkar, VP and Chief Wine maker of UB. 'I am
happy to read about what he has to say as he has put Zinzi at a higher
platform. I wish him all the luck.'
UB has not yet released their regular Four Seasons wines due to excise
formalities.
Whatever be the statements attributed to Mr. Roy who could not be contacted,
it promises to be an interesting development, and perhaps a revolution
in Indian wine quality and marketing is fermenting slowly.
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