‘Other new entries include Sanjay Menon of Sonary's, one of India's biggest wine retailers,’ says Adam Lechmere in his news report.
The survey of Top Ten wine importers conducted by Indian Wine Academy last year placed Sonarys as the second biggest Indian importer. When delWine contacted Sanjay Menon in Mumbai, he was shocked and taken aback, with no knowledge about the coveted entry. They did contact him a while back but he did not know what it was all about, he said.
And how does he feel about it? ‘Frankly, in the context of the current scenario, I don’t think I deserve this honour. It is true I have done a lot in the initial stages for wine consumption growth in India but for the last few years, I have lost the leading edge,’ he said, adding with a pondering smile,’ perhaps the recognition is for the historic performance.’
He shares the company of the likes of Robert Parker (2), Jancis Robinson (8) and Steven Spurrier (15) who are known to most wine lovers in India. The top spot in the bi-annual listing of the most powerful figures in the wine world has been given to Richard Sands, the 58 year-old chairman of Constellation Brands, the biggest wine company in the world
Robert Parker, the numero uno in 2007, has had to vacate the top spot amid signs that his omnipotence is waning ever so slightly, according to the July issue of Decanter. Arguably, there is less and less interest in the 'big, ripe, high-alcohol wines' Parker favours in countries outside US. Besides he is facing increased criticism over the recent reports in the Wall Street Journal questioning the proprieties of a couple of his tasters who rate the wines and also accept various monetary and non-monetary benefits from the same producers.
The top ten includes three new entries – teetotal French premier Nicolas Sarkozy (9), Jean-Christophe Deslarzes of screwcaps manufacturing company Alcan, and Pernod Ricard chief Pierre Pringuet.
The Wine Library's effervescent presenter Gary Vaynerchuk who was in India last year and Shin & Yoko Kibayashi, the team behind Japan's cult Manga comic, The Drops of God are some of the other new entrants.
DelWine congratulates Sanjay Menon for perhaps being the first Indian to find a spot in the Power List.
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