| We congratulate Rupali Bhatnagar-Winemaker at Sula, Farzana Contractor of UpperCrust, Ritu Dalmia of Diva, Karishma Grover-Winemaker at GroverZ, Sonal Holland from ITC Hotels, Cecilia Oldne- VP and Global Brand Ambassador of Sula, Kiran Patil of Vintage Wines, Sneha Rao of KRSMA Estates, Reva Singh of Sommelier India, Rojita Tiwari-Journalist and Consultant, our Top Ten Women of Wine for 2015:
The Top Ten has been arrived at after compiling a list of around 80 women living in India and actively involved in the wine industry in some capacity or the other. We have kept our original criteria of having been active in the industry for at least five years. In fact, last time we had to reject one woman solely because she had not been in the wine industry for 5 years. If their sphere of work is not exclusive in wine, they should have been spending substantial time and efforts in the activities resulting in wine promotion.
An effort has been made to keep a balance (the same key ingredient as in wine quality) in selecting women from different segments of wine- like winemaking, production, sales and marketing including export and import, restaurants and wine journalism, keeping in view the international exposure, wine educational background, corporate or business experience. Our preference has been and will be for those who are directly involved in the production and being a Sommelier that involves an active interaction with the winery, but it is not mandatory.
The purpose of this Recognition has been to highlight that the wine industry is not a male bastion. We need to encourage women to enter the industry and recognize them for their contribution in the increase of wine consumption. If the wine expert tasting with a group of people is a woman, there is bound to be a general impression that there is nothing wrong with drinking wine-as many people still believe. Wine may not still be a full time job for most women at this point of time. We have considered those with passion for wine and devoting a substantial time to wine related activities. In most cases, the figures and facts given by the potential WOWs have been accepted -we assume that they are women of integrity.
The list is in alphabetic order-based on the last names. We have tried to be as objective as humanly possible. We have observed their performance from 2013-2015 and finalised the list on March 31. We have also taken into consideration the fact that these women would continue to be in the industry for at least 2 years- their personal assurance has been honoured. The readers are welcome to send their suggestions or any glaring omissions – in fact we encourage and appreciate such inputs. Write in confidence to arora@delwine.com
Click on the name on the picture to go to the original article about a particular woman of wine.
For last edition (2013) click here WOW: Top Ten Women of Wine in India 2013
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