One often reads about the bricks and bouquets thrown at the South African wines but they had their moment of glory at the third edition of the India Wine Challenge, where ironically, the country as a nation was missing as a participant while countries like Austria, France, Italy, and Spain and of course India marked their national presence through some Association or the other.
There were only 8 silver, 34 bronze medals awarded, making medal winning in this Challenge very prestigious. This was a medal drought if one compares with the recently held SIWC where a deluge of medals caused many even to back off from sending samples, fearing the stricter medal tally. There was also an impression created in that competition that the Indian wines were synonymous with ‘Incredible India’ and had suddenly arrived with band baja with the Gold medals winners feeling they had conquered the last frontier and were now the ‘king of the world.’
Robert Joseph did not mince words when he said before the start of the competition that although the country of origin would be known to the judges, they were expected to keep the standard of judging same for all the wines. This brought memories of the first edition of the Challenge held in London where the country name was not indicated on the judges’ sheet and the few wines that were submitted did not even cross the sipping stage.
In the current context, any medal won by Indian wines would be an equivalent of Gold or at least Silver at the SWIC. Case in point is the Bronze won by the Barrique Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon from Four Seasons Winery belonging to the UB Group. Also
notable was the Silver won by Sula’s Chenin Blanc Late Harvest which had to compete against the fabulous sweet wines with centuries of wine making experience behind them.
After a dismal performance in the first edition of the Challenge in 2007, Nine Hills reportedly had taken corrective measures to better manage their viticulture and went on to win the Best Red Wine last time. This time around, their two Bronze medals for Chenin Blanc and Sauvignon Blanc indicate their resolve to keep on working on the quality rather than crying themselves hoarse from the roof tops about their quality.
Another surprise was a Rosé from Chateau d’Ori winning the Bronze and Best Indian Rose. Surprised but pleased since it was their first edition, Ranjit Dhuru, owner of one of the more progressive wineries nevertheless was critical of the high entry charges around 3.5 times that of SWIC and would have liked to send all their labels had the charges been more reasonable. He has been a great proponent of the Indian wines competing against the wines of the world rather than hide behind the skirts of protectionism.
While Robert Joseph expressed doubts that a competition could be run at such low entry charges (even at these so called high charges, India Wine Challenge is expected to lose money third time in a row), a possible answer to Dhuru’s concern could have been the submission of samples for the Indian producers through the Indian Grape Processing Board (IGPB). They ought to have been proactive, negotiating for better rates from the organisers due to the collective clout, and subsidising the entry charges at 50% like many developing countries like Slovenia, Croatia and Slovakia are doing.
Stung by the problem at IFDE in Delhi last month, where the big stall booked by them was practically empty, they seem to have gone into their shell and are more worried about avoiding controversies rather than being aggressive. One hopes they would not move towards being another bureaucratic venture and will continue with the good work they initiated at the Hong Kong wine show in October last year.
Whether they were subsidised or not, the entry from Croatia winning the Gold must be a moment of pride for the producer Kutjevo, boosting their chance of entry into the Indian market as also for their compatriots. A noteworthy feature in the third edition was the announcement of trophy winners at the end of the first day of Taste-Expo, followed by the printed list of winners announced on the late afternoon the next day. Hopefully, next time, the governmental impediment (so what’s new, pussycat!) forcing the organisers to hold the competition only on the day of the show opening will be resolved next year so that the trophy and the medal winners can proudly display their honours in their stands, earning their wines the respect they deserve.
It is also an indication that if SWIC wants to survive, they might want to tie up with some wine show where the winning entries can hope to get a marketing boost. Merely raining medals may not be an automatic route to success.
Meanwhile, the efforts of South Africa to increase their presence in the Indian market will certainly get a boost. Importers, many of them being reluctant to promote the country will be forced to re-think. The World Cup this year will be a good ally for them to promote their wines provided they do not get carried away with their incessant efforts to seek higher prices for their wines. Quality wines at a good price quality ration will help them garner a higher share of the Indian market.
List of Gold Medal Winners
Rietvallei Estate, Esteanna 2007- South Africa.
Saronsberg, Seismic 2006- South Africa.
Veenwouden Merlot 2006- South Africa.
Champagne Lanson Black Label NV- France.
Gulfi Nerojbleo Nero D'Avola 2006- Italy.
Saint Clair Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2009- New Zealand.
Vallegre Vinhos do Portugal, Vista aAllegre Vintage Port 2007- Portugal.
Vallegre Vinhos do Portugal Vista Allegre 30 year old NV- Portugal.
Kutjevo DD Traminer 2003- Croatia
Subhash Arora |