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Photos By:: Adil Arora
 One has seldom seen in the recent times when the top producers and importers congregated at a function with the senior executives of several hotels and restaurants including many owners to attend a wine and hospitality event. Rajeev Samant (Sula), Kapil Grover (Chairman of Grover Zampa and his family, Ravi Jain and Sumedh Singh Mandla (Director and CEO of GroverZ resp.), Craig Wedge (Fratelli), Abhay Kewadkar (Four Seasons), Parag Kamat (COO of Charosa), Ravi Gurnani (York), Darby Raju (Bangalore Soma Vineyards) were the producers who came to attend the ceremony. Ravi Viswanathan, the PE investor from Singapore, the only person who has invested heavily in both Sula and GroverZ also came especially from Singapore.
All the leading importers like Aman Dhall (Brindco), Jackie Matai and Arun Kumar (Aspri), Sumit Sehgal (Prestige), Cecilia Oldne (Sula Selections), Rohit Mehra (Mohan Bros.), Sanjay Menon (Sansula, Mumbai), Farhad Bhaba (Berkmann Cellars India, Mumbai) Sandip Parson (Ace Beveragez), Vishal Kadakia (Wine Park Mumbai) came from Delhi and Mumbai- not only to watch the evening proceedings but also to show solidarity with the delWine Awards and  give moral support and a sign of thumbs up to the organisers for initiating what the industry felt was overdue. Recognizing those who walk that extra mile to improve the wine quality and delivery, both in hotels and restaurants in Delhi and NCR, was one of the objectives for initiating these Awards.
While welcoming and thanking and the 300 guests - especially those from out-of-town and country , Subhash Arora disclosed that the idea had germinated in his mind a few years earlier and he had teamed up with Sourish Bhattacharyya to take the idea forward as he felt these Awards were the need of the hour. But due to practical difficulties the idea had to be shelved for a while. The support came from Tristan Beau de Lomenie, General Manager Delegate of Pullman Novotel Hotels Aerocity New Delhi, who is  a visionary and coming from Bordeaux a wine aficionado and appassionato. Gauging that these Awards were the need of the hour he decided in a record time to whole-heartedly support the project and became our hospitality partner.
Earlier in the evening at 6 pm, , one of the three banquet rooms of the Peacock Ballroom was converted into a Pop- up of a huge wine bar with 12 producers and importers in the World of Wines Showcase event where the guests could sample 107 labels of wines and champagnes from across the world in a very tasteful and elegant set up. Vishrut Gupta and his F & B team at Pullman also served delicious snacks running into dozens that complimented wines and the mood of the evening.
 The Award Ceremony commenced after felicitating Sonal Holland, co-chairperson of the jury for the Awards. She has been recently conferred the coveted title of Master of Wine-the first and the only one in India. She also announced that the Mumbai edition of delWine Excellence Awards would take place in Jan-Feb, 2017 followed by Indian Wine Awards in June-July next year.
Sourish Bhattacharyya co-organiser of the Awards explained the methodology for the 27 Awards-12 of which were Jury-based Awards including 12 Popular Perception  Awards which were based on the Jury nominating 4-6 nominees in each category and public casting vote for their favourites. Arora explained that as in the international wine competitions of which he has had the privilege of judging in 50, it is possible to find weakness in any system. He emphasized that the objective was to initiate the process and select a knowledgeable jury across different cross-sections and more importantly, maintain the integrity and neutrality of the Awards.
In a different-than-usual format Subhash Arora and Sourish Bhattacharyya doubled up as announcers and the Awards were given between the courses during the dinner. This was done inviting on stage presenters from the wine producing and importing community and the hospitality industry to symbolise the synergy between the two.
Maximum Awards were corned by the Wine Company (4) and Sula (3). Kapil Grover, Chairman of Grover Zampa Vineyards was honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Awards.
For a List of Nominees, please click here
For List of Awards, please click here:
Subhash Arora
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