Manjit’s Wharf, one of Sydney’s premiere Indian Restaurants, will host on Monday, the 28th January, an Indian Wine Buyer/Seller Meet bringing together 8 Indian wine and mead producers in perhaps first-of-its-kind Indian wine showcase events in Australia. These include Sula, Grover Zampa, Good Drop and Reveilo, alongside newer entrants like Moonshine Meadery, Seven Peaks Winery, and Talisva Fruit Wine. Chandon (which already has a production facility in Australia anyway), Fratelli, Virgin Hills and Vallonne are conspicuous by their absence.

Ashwin Rodrigues, Founder of Good Drop Wine Cellars in Nashik and currently the Secretary of the Wine Growers Association of India (WineGAI) along with Sanjeev Paithankar, Senior Vice President of Sula Vineyards, are representing the industry along with 3 executives of APEDA. Ashwin Rodrigues talked to delWine from Adelaide and informed that the event is being organised in collaboration with the Consulate General of India in Sydney and supported by APEDA, India’s agro-export body under the Ministry of Commerce.

The event is a showcase of producers who are steadily ascending in the space in a market still adjusting its palate to Indian wines. Interestingly, in tune with the recent developments of promoting fruit wine along with grape wine, a concept strongly supported by Indian Wine Academy and delWine for over 6 years, fruit wines and meads (wines made from honey) are being showcased together at the event.

The showcase runs parallel to India–Australia efforts under the Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA), which includes a joint dialogue on wine. WineGAI, one of the key participants in that dialogue, sees the Sydney tasting as a soft-power play that goes beyond brochures and trade tables. The first step of this dialogue had taken place in Delhi two years ago. According to the ECTA, such dialogues would be ongoing to promote the partnership beyond Australians selling their premium wines in India.

India is still not well-known as a wine producer in Australia so many Australian guests might be surprised at the high quality and typicity of these wines. There are several challenges that include regulatory hurdles thanks to the States being federal and independent in their liquor policies. Wine quality also used to be mediocre earlier but has improved tremendously in the last 10-15 years and the industry has matured significantly. A few of the wines being showcased in Sydney have already made it to shelves in Europe and the US, according to Ashwin.

“Indian wines are not trying to imitate French, American or Australian wines but aiming to express their own terroir,” said Ashwin. There is a story between the fruit and the vineyards or even the family. Every bottle has a story to tell. We are also trying to be sustainable,’ adds Ashwin.

‘We hope the event will lead to future collaborations, such as joint branding, reciprocal tours, and retail partnerships, as wine becomes part of broader cultural diplomacy’ says Ashwin with optimism in his voice..

“There’s now a generation of Indian Australians who want to introduce their friends to Indian wine, not just Indian food,” one importer told Ashwin. The old pairing of curry and beer is giving way to something more refined, more explorative, according to him and wine will be the one beverage that ought to do it as Indian wines are ideal with Indian cuisine.’

‘I hope the few bottles poured in Sydney at the event and other samplings will lead to shelf space in Australian Retail by Christmas. “I am not saying Indian wine will replace Barossa or Margaret River, but I believe there’s room at the table for our wines, especially with the increasing and substantial presence of the Indian diaspora in Australia.”

For more information contact WineGAI at info@winegai.org.

Subhash Arora