Word: winings
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Steven Spurrier was in Mumbai but thinking of Paris. He is the British wine expert best known for organizing the so-called "Judgment of Paris" - a 1976 blind tasting between French and U.S. wines in which the Americans improbably came out on top. The contest was a sensation, and sparked the explosion of the American wine market. Now, 33 years later, Spurrier is hoping to witness another revolution, this time in India. He went to Mumbai in November to co-chair the inaugural Sommelier India Wine Competition, in which a panel of India-based experts judged more than 450 wines...
...Indian market for alcohol - mostly spirits and beer, as well as wine - totaled $14 billion last year, and was one of the fastest-growing alcohol markets in the world. Imports account for only a tiny fraction of that, but with India booming while demand elsewhere stalls, no international beverage company can afford to ignore it. Over the next five years, the Indian market for alcohol is projected to grow at 10% a year - more than in China, the U.S. and Europe combined, according to an estimate by KPMG India. "You've got a sizable population, a growing middle class...
...Drinking patterns in India are unlike those of any other major market. Hard liquor is far more popular than beer and wine, with spirits accounting for about 70% of the market. Nearly all of that is whiskey - a legacy of the colonial fondness for Scotch. India is the largest whiskey market in the world, so American whiskey producers figure they've got a head start in India compared to other new markets. "Indians are preordained whiskey drinkers," says Frank Coleman, senior vice president of the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, a trade group for American spirits makers. "They...
...taxes on imported whiskey, not the taste, that prevent it from winning more market share. The import duties begin at 150%, and additional state taxes can add another 150% or more to the price of a bottle. Wine and beer face similar import duties, as well as additional and constantly changing state taxes and regulations. The complexity of the market means that only big producers like Jack Daniels and Jim Beam can afford to make a go in India on their own, and usually only with their premium labels. Although single-malt is a new status symbol in India, Scotch...
...Wine consumption, meanwhile, is growing much faster than spirits or beer in India, but from a much smaller base. Only about 700,000 cases were sold last year, about 2% of the total alcohol market, but it has benefited hugely from the growth of the middle class, particularly women, for whom drinking wine is a mark of urban sophistication. The wine market has grown from virtually zero 10 years ago to $253 million last year, and it is expected to more than double to $630 million by 2013. "There's a complete turnaround," says Gianander Dua, an importer based...