NEW DELHI – Patrons at the Polo Bar in India’s Hyatt Regency Delhi pay $147 for a bottle of 2010 Cloudy Bay sauvignon blanc. That’s more than at the Grand Hyatt Tokyo in the world’s most-expensive city.
Wine and spirits imported into India are subject to duties of at least 150 percent, and costs are further inflated by other taxes. That benefits homegrown vintners including Sula Vineyards, India’s largest, as the industry is projected to grow 40 percent in the two years through 2012.
“The demographics favor the growth of wine in every single way,” said Sula Vineyards CEO Rajeev Samant.
“Young, urban professional women are starting to drink socially, which never happened a generation ago, and a lot of them are preferring wine.”
Wine consumption in India increased 16 percent to in 2010 and could grow about 19 percent this year and 18 percent next year, according to Euromonitor International, based in London.
Sula, which sells a 25-ounce bottle of its Dia wine for as little as $5.43, will probably ship 20 percent more this year, Samant said in an interview.
Sakshi Manchanda, 24, said she gave up tequila and vodka after visiting France two years ago.
“After having my first glass of wine, I realized this is the only form of alcohol I could enjoy,” said Manchanda, who works at her family’s real-estate and construction business.
“It’s one of the most sophisticated forms of alcohol. I’m trying to get my friends hooked on to wine, too, to keep me company,” she said.
Manchanda regularly visits New Delhi’s Olive Bar & Kitchen, which on a recent Saturday night was full of diners choosing from a list of almost 60 wines to pair with their Mediterranean food.
“In the last seven years, wine culture has really evolved,” said Anshuman Vyas, Olive Bar’s manager. “We used to sell three to four bottles at that time. Now, we sell 14 to 15 bottles a day.”
Wine still trails whiskey in popularity with India’s drinkers, but growth in whiskey consumption may slow to 12 percent next year, compared with 15 percent in 2008.
“An increasing number of young people like to have wine, because wine is seen as upmarket, sophisticated,” said Alok Chandra, a wine consultant with Gryphon Brands in Bangalore.
