March 19: There may not have been a massive activity on stand 9E01, in the international pavilion at Prowein that is being held from March 17-19 and on its last day today, but the activities within Grover Zampa Vineyards are absolutely mind boggling with both the new Chairman Ravi Viswanathan and the CEO Vivek Chandramohan sharing optimistic plans some of which are to be announced later, writes Subhash Arora who chatted with both over a glass each of the Mercurey Red and white, a Côte Chalonnaise sub-region of Burgundy
It is an open secret that Kapil Grover, son of the founder, Late Kanwal Grover is out of the management with his share being around 9% and expected to come down to 7% with an imminent right issue; thus motivating him to sell out his shares to the existing management or any of the shareholders, no doubt with good profits. Similarly the fate of Karishma Grover who has been the winemaker in the company and is currently studying at the UC Davies hangs in the air. Projected as the winemaker of the family-run winery, she may not continue with her job. Same goes for the other minor partners from Zampa-they are expected to sell out their shares, thus increasing the share of Ravi Viswanathan’s PE companies based in Singapore.
Coming to the production and marketing, massive plans are on to expand the wineries in Bangalore and Nashik with the latest gizmos like egg shaped tanks, amphoras from Georgia, to say the least. The goal is not only to improve the quality but increase the production- emphasis being on the premium products. Ravi strongly believes that Indian wine drinkers are ready and willing to pay for higher quality- the quality that has not even existed so far.
Some of the new products include a white wine version based on Chene- a different, innovative, processed Chardonnay grape will be the base of this wine. Similarly a Reserve version of sparkling wine with 2 years on the lees and a touch of oak is on the cards. Another variant of Vijay Amritraj would be also released this year, costing over Rs. 3000, I believe.
The most exciting action seems to be happening in their marketing plans. Last year they had done 260,000 cases but this year, a growth of 54% is projected and that too in the value. Our readers would recall that Sula plans a 25% jump in the value this year and is on target, just as Grover is. Says Vivek Chandramohan, ‘though the base is small, Chene has already achieved a 104% growth, Vijay Amritraj 116%, La Reserve 79% and sparkling wines 65%. Art Series has seen the lowest growth but that too of 43%!
La Reserve is the brand to watch. The 3 wines from their Burgundy stable will be priced at Rs. 3000-4500 approximately with the Mercurey Premium Growth to sell at Rs. 4500. The Aligote based white will be sold at Rs. 3000. The last two were tasted at Prowein and have a good potential in the BIO category. These will be under the La Reserve Label as would be the sparkling wine. Most of the production at Nashik is being shifted out to Charosa Winery. The Nashik winery is being expanded for premium wines. A new cooled barrel room is under construction with 32 tons chillers for better storage.
For the first time in its history, Grover Zampa has started looking at wine tourism and has started construction of La Reserve Lounge and a Resort under the same name. There will be a Club House, perhaps for Members only.
Ravi Viswanathan is sure that within 5 years the production/Sales will reach 1 million cases and the distribution plans and production capacities are underway. He does have ambitious plans to match Sula in numbers and value in 8-10 years, though he is not saying it explicitly.
RTD to join the family
An interesting entry in the wine grapes fermented with 4 flavours like strawberry, lemon etc are to be brought out this year for the young audience. These will be fruity wines with 2.8 psi pressure- that of Prosecco- though the method would be infused carbon dioxide and not Charmat like Prosecco.
Details will be published after a visit to these facilities. But this bodes very well for the wine industry. With Sula already targeting a 25% growth in value, these 2 companies alone are charging ahead to take wine drinking to a new level. With no support from the government, it is a creditable performance and one hopes the wine industry will make decent profits to encourage new players to add to the capacity to produce and sell.
Subhash Arora
Station Prowein 19 March
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