TNWG Wine Times: Ep 43: Wines of India
- aplofthouse
- 1 hour ago
- 7 min read
One of my favourite places in the world to visit is India!
Great people, great wildlife, great cultures AND great wines too! And in this episode, we are going to talk a little bit more about the wine scene of India.
First up though, let me give everyone a quick reminder of the next Wine and Cheese Network that is coming up at the end of the month.
The Wine and Cheese Network - April Edition
👉 Thursday 24th April 6pm - 8.30pm
👉 Yard Gallery in Leah's Yard in the Sheffield City Centre
Wine. 🍷 Cheese. 🧀 Networking. 🤝
A great, fun, enjoyable way to taste through 4 wines from a different region each month and 5 paired cheeses, whilst talking and meeting others.
Wines of India
Let's get cracking with Wines of India though and showcasing what great wines they can offer and that are largely not reported on as much as they should be in the UK too.
As with a large number of winemaking countries, India's first forays into wine date back as far as the 13th century but the majority of the recent winemaking developments are owed to entrepreneurs and the growing number of wine specialists based in the region.
It was in the 1980s that pioneers Shymarao Chowgule and Kanwal Grover are said to have set themselves a goal of trying to make reputable wine in India. Fast forward to today, and Sula Vineyards are the largest Indian wine producer - producing some incredible wines.
Maharashtra, illustrated on the India map above, was the first state in India to introduce any sort of wine policy in 2001 which then obviously had a knock on effect of a number of large wineries being established. Following Maharashtra's lead, three further states announced a wine policy in the next 5-6 years - namely, Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu in 2006, and Karnataka in 2007.
However, it has been far from easy to cultivate vines in India. The dreaded phylloxera hit Indian at the end of the 19th century. There was also of course, more recently the financial crisis of 2007-2008 which forced many producers into liquidation or bankruptcy. A classic example of this was the Chowgule’s Chateau Indage, the largest winery at the time and best known for its Omar Khayyam sparkling wine.
What about the climate in India though, surely its not a grape growing environment?
Ah well, you see there is such a diverse amount of climatology in such a large land mass, that actually there is good grape growing areas. That being said, the majority of wine production is done in two states: Maharashtra and Karnataka as mentioned above.
The country is said to now plant 60,000 hectares of vines albeit a large portion of this is table grapes and therefore, the growing nature of the industry is more the big fact behind this rather than the amount of vines.
What does happen, which is rare in wine producing regions, is that because of the monsoon season coupled with high temperatures, there is a distinct lack of dormancy (when the vines have a nap and preserve their energy!). Thus pruning actually takes place TWICE a year - once after harvest and once after monsoon.
Altitude also plays a key part in certain wine areas, so that the diurnal temperature change aids wine production but also keeps it cooler than ground zero.
What does the Indian Wine Scene look like TODAY?
The reality is it is light years from where it was originally. There has been vast reems of investment and international brands such as Pernod Ricard, Diageo and Moët Hennessy have all taken an interest in wine production in India.
There has been a rejuvenated mindset to want to be a part of the global winemaking society and that has led to memberships with in 2011 India joining the OIV (International Organisation of Vine and Wine).
Grape Varietals range from indigenous to international and here are just some of them that you will find in India:
🍇 Bangalore Blue
🍇 Bangalore Purple
🍇 Gulabi (Black Muscat)
🍇 Anabeshahi, Arkavati and Arkashyam (table grapes)
🍇 Sultana (Turkish grape)
International Grape Varieites:
🍇 Sauvignon Blanc
🍇 Zinfandel
🍇 Chenin Blanc
🍇 Cabernet Sauvignon
🍇 Shiraz
🍇 Merlot
🍇 Tempranillo
🍇 Sangiovese
(There are more international grapes available too).
The styles of Indian wines are quite systematic of the demand domestically and whilst wine is HUGELY in demand now, it is still behind beer and spirits in terms of consumption. So with that in mind, the styles all work with the type of foods and often will be seen as off dry to compliment the spicy foods. Depth of flavours though have changed over time and the red wines are quite often aged in oak with there also being a large demand for sparkling Chenin Blanc and Shiraz as bottle fermented options.
⚠️🚨 TNWG HOT TIPS 🚨⚠️
If you want to try Indian wines and haven't seen them before, I would argue that the most readily available wines come from SULA - and can be bought in the UK - I would recommend the reds - especially the Shiraz and Merlot wines if you love your red wines!🍷
If you are out in India and looking to visit some Vineyards, here are some recommendations for you:
NASHIK REGION:
👉 Sula Vineyards - as mentioned, most well known and most prestigious plus you can actually I believe stay there too!
👉 York Winery - a 20 min drive from Nashik city.
👉 Chandon India - obviously if you are looking for BIG brands and sparkling then this would be on the list
👉 Grover Zampa - focus on premium wines in the region.
OTHER REGIONS:
👉 Fratelli Vineyards in Solapur
👉 KRSMA Estates near Hampi
👉 Nandi Hills near Bangalore
👉 Chateau Indage near Pune
Go and Enjoy Indian Wines and let me know how you get on - feedback always welcome!
🗞️ LATEST DRINKS INDUSTRY ARTICLES 🗞️
Wine is not alone in its impact with the new 'tariff war' regime but it is certainly going to feel the pinch. This article gives some heart to the idea that there may also be some opportunities not seen from the situation.
OTHER ARTICLES OF NOTE THAT CAUGHT MY EYE THIS WEEK:
📈 MARKETS IN BRIEF 📉
On the week (as at 10th April 11:00 LDN) changes:
EQUITIES: ⬇️ FTSE 100 down 5.9%; ⬇️ DAX down 5.2%; ⬇️ S&P 500 down 0.21%; ⬆️ Nikkei 225 up 1.8%; ⬇️ Dow Jones down 3.9% (yet to open today).
COMMODITIES: ⬇️ Brent Oil down 9.3% ; ⬇️ Crude Oil down 11% ; ⬆️ Gold up 0.5%; ⬇️ Silver down 5.4%; ⬇️ Copper down 11.1%
BONDS (in yield terms): ⬇️ UK 2yrs lower 0.097%; ⬆️ UK 10yrs higher 0.0695%; ⬇️ German 10yrs lower 0.0225%, ⬇️ US 2yrs lower 0.065%; ⬆️ US 10yrs higher 0.23.
WOW! Heads you are up, Tails you are down!
Anyone else feel like they have been on a Nemesis run at Alton Towers this week without even stepping outside your front door step? No, just me then.
📉 A see-saw of emotions and a bit of a rollercoaster as Trump continued to hold the world to ransom via tariffs. The 'on the week' percentages do not really do themselves justice for the intra day moves that we have seen in all assets. The outcome at one point this week was looking like massive pensions in the red for all thanks to our exposure to equities both in the US and UK, but a 'u-turn' of sorts, has at least aided some of that underperformance. Note I am writing this still mid week and prior to the US open today, which will hopefully aid the equity momentum that we have seen in the Asian and European sessions.
📈 I didn't do anything with my book. In truth I watching it lose value, like many, but felt that Trump would be at liberty to need to concede something. So looking at my own outlook, my short term book is heavily invested in short end gilts, hold to maturity, as mentioned previously, for me the safest items and some NS&I bonds. The Gilts you only pay tax on the coupon, there are no capital gains tax and the yields have been better than savings accounts - so no change.
📊 The medium term book, is filled with ISAs in stocks and shares - this piece has hurt a little although it is quite well diversified and whilst I have lost on my equities, it has done well with the exposure to gold and some long end bonds to partially cover (not all) the downward momentum. Possibly need to look at some readjustments to exposure once we see some stability next week.
📉 Long end book - hmm, well that is the pensions sector and that is a little worse for wear. The loss at around 5% currently is not the worst out there and again some further recovery likely but I am still not changing my outlook and whilst I can see equity pain in the future, I am happy being positioned as I currently am over a longer term outlook.
I'm going to leave it there this week, it's been a headache and a half with markets and the wine scene is no different, with fine wine still to be determined on fair value for some of the big names concerned as we head into En Primeur season. Stay tuned for more on that in the coming weeks.
As ever, if you have any questions, wish to order some wine, book a corporate event or just want to talk wine - then you know who to DM, message or call.
Also look out for a great podcast with Chanel owned Californian winery, St. Supéry Estate Vineyards & Winery which will be coming out SHORTLY.
Have a great rest of the week, I am off to play some more padel!
Cheers
Andy aka The Northern Wine Guy 🍷