India is an emerging wine market; once the privilege of the educated elite, today the potential lies among tourists, women consumers and the growing middle-class. Agrees Jasjit Singh, restaurants and bars manager, Four Seasons Hotel, Mumbai: “The fact that the Indian consumer is well travelled means he/she is increasingly seen ordering wine. Moreover, wine clubs, wine magazines and electronic media have all added to this popularity. Multinational companies too are conducting special classes for their mid-to-higher level management to learn the etiquettes of wine. It’s not a fashion anymore, it’s a need.”
Though French wines still remain the favourite and Italian wines too are much in demand, the real competition comes from the New World brands, particularly Australia, California and Chile, producing fruitier, softer and an easier drinking style of wine. Also, wines like those from South Africa, Brazil and Spain are being appreciated by the Indian consumer as they are simply structured and well suited to contemporary Indian cuisine. Says Gaia Agnetti, beverage manager, The Claridges Surajkund: “I have observed that the most popular wines in India are the international wines, with the French – mainly Bordeaux and Burgundy – leading the scene, though the new generation of drinker in India is now more open-minded and exploring wines from other countries. Italian wines have great success, followed by Californian, Australian and Chilean. The latter, mainly the reds such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec and Carmenere, are surprisingly doing very well in India.”
Indian wines are also gaining popularity as hotels have realised they sell faster than the imported, in fact, are quite popular with the foreign clientele. Says Sachin Mylavarapu, food and beverage manager, The Westin Hyderabad Mindspace: “These wines are popular with a lot of foreigners as they like to try wines of Indian origin. Also, Indian wines are pretty robust and adventurous; Sula, Banyan Tree and Grovers cultivate decent-to-good wines which go well with the food, climate and palette of this region.” Adds Karishma Grover of Grover Vineyards: “Indians wines are gaining popularity with both foreign and Indian customers. We find the domestic demand growing at a rate of 25-to-30% every year – this demand cannot be driven by foreign customers alone.”
Interestingly, most sommeliers find Indian guests quite open to suggestions. The old adage, ‘white with fish and red with meat’, has been replaced with ‘drink whatever you like with whatever you want’. The latest approach to food and wine pairing in restaurants is either to choose a wine that acts as a reinforcer of the flavours in the food, such as an acidic and mineral wine will tend to enhance the complexity of a spicy Indian dish without itself taking over, else, to choose a wine that offers a wholly new flavour profile, bringing a new ingredient to the table enhancing both the wine and the dish. In fact, global flavours make for a whole new range of possibilities, more so in context with Indian food that boasts of a varied gastronomy and myriad regional specialty cuisines.
Sommeliers agree that pairing the right wine with south Asian cuisine is an interesting affair; they encourage guests to discover and realise their favourite wine and Indian food combinations. Says Manav Malhotra,director, food and beverage, The Park, Kolkata: “The use of spices in Indian cuisine makes the wine pairing very interesting, yet challenging. In my opinion, a full bodied like Chateaunauf du Pape, crispy young Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand, or the Argentinean Malbec would make good accompaniments, but guests now want to experiment and are more accepting of unusual combinations.”
Indian desserts are usually rich with ghee and sugar and tend to throw most wines off balance instead of accentuating the taste, though semi-sweet Indian desserts like the cottage cheese based sandesh pairs well with a sweet Muscat or even a rich Semillion. There is also a debate on how well Indian wines pair with Indian food. Most hoteliers feel that wine usually complements the traditional cuisine of the country of its produce, and recommend the Indian produced Shiraz, Viognier and Chenin Blanc sparkling wines. Agrees Agnetti: “With Indian food usually being spicy and oily, the best match might be with a red Indian wine; it will be quite aggressive on the tongue and will help in cleaning the mouth for the next taste.”
While most of the food and beverage outlets still follow wine lists on the basis of country of origin, many outlets have initiated a grape-varietal based wine list that guests find more informative and easier to comprehend. Says Singh: “In our wine lists we have wines described grape-wise and not country-wise. This is so that the customer does not have to waste time in looking for which wine to choose. We also make sure that there are varieties offered in wine-by the-glass selection. The guest is offered a small 60-millilitre taster to choose from. This creates an interactive experience and a good start to the meal.”
A well trained staff suggesting the right food and wine pairing can uplift the whole dining experience of the guests. Most luxury hotels in effect conduct monthly wine training by certified wine trainers/sommeliers to update the restaurant staff. Says Malhotra: “There is an elaborate wine module in our yearly training calendars to update the knowhow of our team. Some team members are also sent to wine regions to Italy and France to learn about wines, enabling the service team to offers suggestion based on dishes ordered by the guests. We also have professionals with extensive knowledge of wine and related areas and are in a process of launching our food/wine pairing menu.” Chefs too can add more excitement by creating some dishes with the wines on the menu, or by creating a dish-of-the-day targetted to match a specific wine on the menu that would enable the service staff also to introduce the wine to diners.
Additionally, a good wine display at the focal point of the outlet is a good visual tool that helps to generate better interest towards wine. For instance, the open wine walls at The Bar at Grand Hyatt, Mumbai; the imposing Wine Library of Trident, Bandra Kurla, Mumbai; and The Claridges, Surajkund glass-enclosed wine tasting room are some fine examples of display. Adds Siddhartha Natu, food and beverage manager, The Taj Mahal Palace & Tower Mumbai: “To enhance the experience, we use the world’s best glassware manufactured by Reidel from their exclusive sommelier series. Historically, each wine has a unique wine glass; also used widely are special decanters to allow maximum breathing of wines.” As a matter of fact, most hotels are coming up with interesting concepts to promote wine culture among guests. For example, Four Seasons, Mumbai, during special evening timings, offers a glass of premium labels like Moet & Chandon, Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin and Gonet Blanc de Blanc, at very attractive prices. The Park Kolkata organises wine appreciation sessions at various outlets to promote wine culture, while The Taj Mahal Palace & Tower, Mumbai, arranges champagne brunches with a special menu where the hotel sommelier recommends the best wines.
Internationally, a glass or wine-by-pitcher is what moves most in restaurants as it proves cost-effective for the customer and also allows trying different wines with courses. Hotels in India too are experimenting with different marketing strategies to encourage movement of wines such as offering wine-by-the-glass, as it can help better net sales per bottle. The concept has not really caught on with respect to premium label wines in hotels due to the cost factor as well as lack of preservation facility in most hotels. Adds Mukesh Sinha, marketing head, northern region for wine range, Brindco: “Top luxury hotels such as Taj Hotels and ITC Welcomgroup have invested in the Enomatic wine preservation system that increases the shelf life of premium wines by 10-15 days and thus these hotels can offer even premium labels by the glass. Once other hotels too follow suit this trend is definitely going to catch on.”
Abhay Kewadkar, business head, wines and chief wine-maker, United Spirits and director, Four Seasons Wines says that his company has seen a 30-40% growth in sales of wines served by the glass, definitely leading to a rise in revenue for premium brands too. “The Indian wine taste is primarily oriented towards light and easy-to-drink style of wines,” he adds.
Although wine consumption is picking up, hoteliers feel the availability and procurement of the right vintage, the condition in which the wine arrives and the time of delivery, remain big hurdles. The mode of transportation, which is mostly non refrigerated, leads to the problem of ‘cooking’ of wine in Indian conditions. Agrees Sinha: “Transportation facilities for wines definitely needs improvement; Brindco is the only supplier with refrigerated vehicles for wines.” The storage related problems too remain a matter of concern for winemakers. Says Rajeev Samant, founder and chief executive officer, Sula Vineyards: “Some good hotels don’t even have an ideal storage space. Moreover, not knowing, or using bad judgment on how to manage the wine list without overstocking, leads to hotel restaurants struggling with huge wine inventories.”
Further, though most hotels boast of wine consultants, competency in this area is still limited, one of the reasons being shortage of institutes and specialised courses in India. Hoteliers agree that most of the service staff and wine professionals have learned the ropes on the job itself. Says Grover: “As the wine industry is very new here it is not surprising that there is a shortage of trained people. However, this is changing rather rapidly, as the wine culture is picking up and the demand for trained sommeliers is rising.”
Santosh Parab, general manager, sales and marketing, Indage Vintners, feels that leading hotels and restaurants have realised the potential of wine sales for added profitability and attracting consumers. “The only unfortunate aspect is most Indian consultants are inexperienced, while most foreign consultants tend to promote only foreign wines and end up putting low-end retail wines produced overseas in fine dining restaurants in India. Also, far too many self proclaimed wine experts are swayed by offers from wine importers to use a certain brand, that defeats the objective of a sommelier,” he says.
However, the biggest challenge currently lies in the custom and state tax structure. The Indian hospitality industry is plagued by the price and very often non-availability of good wines. Anyone can import wine in India under the liberalised laws, but the selling laws are complex and stringent and discourage new importers to come into the field. Furthermore, liquor is a subject that varies from state-to-state and is full of statutory and regulatory controls. Says Mylavarapu: “Andhra Pradesh consumes the maximum alcohol in the country and yet offers the most strenuous and frustrating process of procuring labels. It has been very hard to procure wines in this state so far and currently I am operating with only 60% of my wine list.” A uniform excise tax is a necessity that can put better wines in the hands of consumers at more affordable prices. On the other hand, wine importers and suppliers are of the opinion that wine consumption can significantly increase in hotels if the 200-300% margin charged by major hotels came down to a more reasonable 100%.
As the global trend in wines moves towards technologies such as electronic wine lists in restaurants with the table as a virtual touch screen ipad to select wine, and read tasting notes, ratings, vintage and producer, in India too such systems will gain importance. Also, more premium wines would be put as wines-by-the-glass and priced at international prices. Hoteliers think that wine bars is a concept that is soon to be implemented. Customers would be able to read wine lists and beverage cards in advance before they go out for lunch or dinner and would already know what to order. Says Samant: “Wine consumption will increase but at a cautious rate. The number of wines on the list will come down and the focus will be to sell fast moving wines; more importance will be given to varietal specific wines as that are what is more in demand.”
