Moet-Hennessy India's Managing Director Ashwin Deo foresees a future where global brands will become the principal protagonists of Indian wines in the international market. And he also spells out an agenda for wine clubs in a conversation with SOURISH BHATTACHARYYA
 For over five years, Ashwin Deo has been cosmpolitan India's principal provider of life's bubbly diversions. For those of us who have observed the Managing Director of Moet-Hennessy India tirelessly acquaint us with the possibility of ordering a Moet & Chandon (or a Dom Perignon) for sheer drinking pleasure, it isn't hard to believe that the champagne market has grown to 7,500 cases (90,000 bottles) from a situation, five years back, where Air-India was the only notable consumer of bubbly. Times have changed with such lightning rapidity that across metropolitan India – especially in the main wine markets of Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore and Pune – champagne at weddings is no longer greeted with expressions of surprise. As Ashwin puts it, “Weddings are becoming an important part of our business.”
Ashwin is equally bullish about the wine market, though he reckons that the consumption of imported wines (outside the grey market) has grown beyond 75,000 cases (900,000 bottles). Significantly, wine connoisseurs are moving away from picking up wines from duty-free shops to ordering them at hotels. In other words, people like us are getting adventurous and increasingly ordering wine with our meals.
MARKET SHIFTS
More significantly, we're moving up the quality ladder and don't mind paying an extra buck for something better. Five-star hotels, meanwhile, are becoming better-equipped to cope with the growing sophistication of our demands – their wine lists are growing both in numbers and in quality because of greater availability. At the same time, there's been a fundamental psychographic shift in the market. “A 40-year-old doesn't feel or behave like a 40-year-old of the previous generation,” Ashwin rationalises. Not only does he have the disposable income to order a good wine at a restaurant, he's far more inclined to engage in experimentation.
The Moet-Hennessy portfolio today includes two formidable Australian wine labels – Cape Mentelle, famous for its Sauvignon Blanc-Semillon, and Green Point, whose champagne-style sparkling wine dominates 33 per cent of the Australian market, though my personal favourite is its Shiraz; the celebrated Cloudy Bay, New Zealand's gold standard from Sauvignon Blancs from Marlborough; and Terraza, the rising star from Malbec country, Argentina. And they're becoming regular features on five-star wine lists.
AND THE BAD NEWS IS ...
Here's where the good news stops. The worrying news is that Indians still associate wines with an international dining experience. If the market has to grow significantly, we must develop the confidence to order a wine with an Indian meal. “At the same time, we must leverage the current star status of our cuisine to develop an international market for Indian wines in the same way as Kingfisher has become synonymous with curry in Britain,” Ashwin points out. Wine importers and producers, therefore, must get a bit more proactive about matching Indian dishes with their portfolios. If the Chinese and the Japanese and the Thais can find matches for their distinctive cuisines, why can't we?
Of course, the customs and excise framework continues to be a nightmare (“there are as many excise laws as there are states,” Ashwin informs us). The customs duty regime is in dire need of modification. “I don't mind coming in at the peak agricultural import duty of 30 per cent. There's no question of killing local business because there's no local business in our market segment,” says Ashwin. In places where governments have loosened up (as in Maharashtra and Goa, where imported wines are allowed to be retailed), “getting the right retail environment” is a major problem. The big leap forward will come when states allow wines to be retailed in supermarkets – “they have the right ambient temperatures and enable us to set up the right kinds of displays.” Chandigarh already allows it, so why can't others? It is up to wine clubs to create the right kind of pressure on people walking the corridors of power to change the laws. The mood in the government is for change, but politicians feel confident about leading change only if people speak up.
THE ROAD AHEAD
There are straws in the wind that offer some hope. Maharashtra now allows a five-year excise holiday for importers of bulk wines (they, incidentally, have to pay a lower customs duty of 100 per cent) who bottle their products in the state. Rajeev Samant's Sula was the first mover in this area – it has been bottling the Chilean Merlot named Satori at its Nashik winery. That makes Ashwin wonder why others haven't woken up to this big opportunity. It's also time for people in the business to stop compartmentalising imported and domestic wines. The business has to move in the direction of international collaborations. “We must stop seeing Indian wines as being fit for only the Indian markets,” avers Ashwin.
There's already a model to follow – Veuve Clicquot, an LVMH label, for instance, owns 20 per cent of Grover Vineyards. More such tie-ups would mean greater visibility for Indian wines in the international market. “Today, Moet-Hennessy is the greatest protagonist of an Argentinean brand. Tomorrow, it can be an Indian brand,” says Ashwin. “Global players have the distribution network, the knowledge and knowhow to penetrate new markets, the appetite for investing in the future, and the skills to train food and beverage staff.”
If the future is globalisation, we shouldn't forget that it's going to be a two-way street. As global players start thinking local, it's going to be a win(e)-win(e) situation for all.
Sourish Bhattacharyya
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