Dec 21: We are proud to present for the third time the List of Top Ten Women of Wine in India (WOW-2017), the earlier ones being in 2015 and 2013, covering the entire spectrum of women working actively in the wine industry as producers, wine sommeliers, importers, marketing professionals, retailers
Although just as in the previous editions, we have not ranked them, but listed them according to the of importance of each category. Previously, it used to be in alphabetical order but this time they are being categorised and listed in terms of the difficulty factor. Anyone can claim to be a blogger or become a journalist but it’s not an easy job becoming a producer and risking the money as well.
It’s not easy for a woman to be a successful sommelier, importer and retailer but as in many other fields, Indian women have proved once again that given an opportunity and support, they are as good or better than men. The purpose of initiating this project was thus to recognize the talent, grit and determination of women and give them the confidence to be taken seriously and encourage other women to join the respectable industry.
Based on the importance of each category-in the order of Producer, winemaker, sommelier, importer, marketing, Retailer, Restaurateurs, educationist and journalist (print media/online blogger or both), here is our list of Top Ten- emphasizing that one must have worked for at least 5 years in the respective areas:
Our Congratulations to them (Sorry, no one else qualified yet) and we are sure they are already role models to many young women in the field. Uma Chigurupati is the wife of a big industrialist in Hyderabad with an annual revenue of over Rs. 1500 crores. She could have been admiring her diamond collection or flying to London for summer holidays. But she chose to directly look after a boutique winery and found out a fast way of learning by spending her full time at the winery.
When Kadambari started importing wines, no one gave her any odds for success, in a man’s world. But she proved them wrong by shifting to Mumbai with her husband and a small baby to do it right and is soon to touch the 10,000 case sales in India.
Madhulika Bhattacharya may look like a typical rich socialite married into the family of liquor merchants in Delhi. But she has given a big impetus to the retail sale for a market category where women did not even like to be seen buying for their alcohol needs and she has been educating them through wine tastings and dinners.
One thing common in our new entrants is their passion for wine and the desire to excel in their work sphere which is possible only by learning and keeping eyes and ears to the ground. We hope they will be happy to mentor the younger and newer generation to enter the field of wine and liquor
while wishing them well so they can make it tougher for anyone else to take the spot back. Keeping the current interest alive we plan to announce a list of Top 11-20 as well in 2019 and make it an annual affair. We are proud of you. Congratulations to you all.
For WOW2015 Click WOW 2015: Top Ten Women of Wine in India (Final)
For WOW2013 Click WOW: Top Ten Women of Wine in India 2013
Jai Ho!
Subhash Arora
If you Like this article please click on the Like button