Coincidentally, both of them have been announced within a few hours of each other. Steven Spurrier, Chairman of Decanter Awards and the Japan Wine Challenge would be conducting the first edition of the Wine Competition in collaboration with Wine Society of India of which he is also the Chairman, and Sommelier India, in November in Mumbai.
At the same time, Taste-Expo announced on its website the continuation of the India Wine Challenge. ‘The third edition of the India Wine Challenge has found its new home in TASTE. Finally, we are at the right place at the right time. TASTE provides the perfect setting for the challenge which is the single most important benchmark for Indian buyers looking for a reference point,’ says Robert Joseph, President, India Wine Challenge,’ (he was designated the Chairman of the previous two editions conducted in conjunction with the now defunct IFE-India Food & Wine Show), announces taste-expo.com, their official website.
Taste-Expo has announced a composite show that comprises four shows in the wine, spirits, food and hospitality sectors and will be held in Mumbai in end-January, 2010. The organisers claim that big contingents from France, Australia, Italy, South Africa and Spain have already confirmed participation in the wine sector, making it a promising wine show. A National Taste Week has also been organised by the Taste Expo on 25-30 January to coincide with the ‘TASTE’ being held from 28-30 January in Mumbai.
Confirming the report, Mel Shah, programme director of the wine show informed delWine in a telecom from Paris that the judging will be held in Mumbai a few days before the Trade Fair and the results would be announced at the Show.
‘Ever since I heard that the India Wine Challenge had been cancelled along with IFE, I have been mulling over the proposal that Sommelier India step into the breach with a wine competition of its own, says Reva Singh, Editor of SI.
Steven Spurrier informs delWine, ‘I strongly dislike the OIV system, which in my view is totally unsuitable for wine competitions that are targeted towards the consumer. We will use the same system as at Decanter, which is also the system used by all the Australian wine shows. It is based on the 20-point scale which, as you know, is a 10-point scale. The awards/medals will be Gold, Silver, Bronze and Commendations (similar to how Robert Joseph does it-editor)
‘As at Decanter, there will be panels of 3 or 4 judges who will taste like-with-like (both varietals/styles/countries/prices) in flights of not more than 12 wines. As Chairman, I will not judge, but will sit in on each panel for one flight and of course be the final arbiter if a panel cannot agree. I think the date planned is November 19th in Mumbai.'
Both Robert Joseph and Steven Spurrier are UK based well known and respected wine journalists, authors and jury chairmen of various competitions and have an unblemished record of organising them internationally. It will be interesting to see if both the shows can survive together-especially during this recession period. Although the successful India Wine Challenge had seen a record number of entries in 2008, with over 30% growth of wines submitted as compared with its maiden edition, it still suffered significant financial losses and hoped to break even in the fourth edition.
Another national competition was initiated last year by BT More, the national business magazine of the India Today group. This was meant to be an annual national event for Indian wines. But it lost steam mid-way and dropped the idea for further editions. There are no signs of its revival and the management seems to have cancelled its plans to continue.
Wine competitions are an important tool for quality improvements and market penetration for the wine industry. One hopes to taste both the wine challenges as they sustain-it will augur well for the industry.
Subhash Arora |