Raising the Bar

An increasing number of Indians are sipping on wine. Or maybe the same lot of us are just guzzling more of it. Either way, wine sales have risen 217 percent in 2010 over sales in 2009 according to Myles Mayall, wine advisor to The Wine Society of India. (In previous years, growth in sales has been about 25 percent a year, with 2008-09 seeing a dip, thanks to the R-Word.)

Sula Vineyards, for instance, sold 2.6 lakh cases in 2010 and is looking at pushing that figure to 3.5 lakh in the next year, mostly in the premium segment. Sula, however, predicts that there will be about 50 percent rise in the growth of imported wines.  

Sula, that brags a 50 percent share of the wine market in India, is also hopeful of a growth of 20-25 percent in the coming year and a growth of 20 per cent in the two years after that.

Also blossoming: Wine appreciation sessions. You’ll find many new classes, courses and sessions that promise to help you learn the tricks of tasting and identifying good wine.

Our goblet runneth over.