At the recent edition
of Vinitaly, Vikash Gupta, Director of Vinner Enoteca, was invited
to speak at a conference where he shared his views as a wine importer
and his vision about the future of the Indian wine market. Subhash
Arora, who was present at the conference, reports.
A full house listened with rapt attention when Vikash addressed
the audience, a majority of which consisted of producers who
are exporting or planning to enter this potentially lucrative
but paradoxical market.
An Idea is born
'Despite having gallons of wine, we could not
find the right mix or the desired satisfaction level, both taste
and price-wise,' said Vikash, while talking about how he got into
the wine business.
While celebrating a re-union with two good friends
Anand Khattar and Vipul Nanda, in 2006, having a wonderful time
reminiscing about younger days and tasting different types of
wines, they realised that there was a gap to be filled.
'An idea was born on that day, which resulted
in our expedition into the world of wines.' The three started
attending wine sessions, buying different labels and trying to
understand why wine was becoming such a special drink in India.
They felt the existence of a vacuum which could
be explored and exploited. A company was formed by them. Selecting
the location for grape growing was not too difficult; with one
of the partners with a farming background in the grape growing
area of Nashik, the same was selected and the vineyard land was
bought.
Available options
Explained Vikash, 'the business model that would
work in India could be one of the following:
1. To develop an Indian label at our own vineyard.
To the surprise of many people, there are a few successful labels
which exist in India, i.e. Sula, Indage and Grover's.
2. Import wine in bulk from abroad, bottle it
in India and create a new brand.
3. Import bottled wine. Under this we had a choice;
(a) To import an established label either by
acquisition or by purchase of specific quantities at a time.
(b) Get imported bottled wine and create our own brand.'
Creating a Label
As the story unfolded when their wines were
launched, they had decided 'to import bottled wine and work towards
creating our own brand. This was because we felt that this strategy
would give us flexibility to get the ideal product at the right
price-point for our target consumers. The other reason for this
option was to give the Indian Consumer an absolutely new and different
product, which would not be affected by existing pr ejudices against
prevalent brands,' said Vikash.
Opera is Born
The complexity of names and labels in Italy and France is not
lost on many consumers who prefer to select a wine with a label
simple enough to read or pronounce.
India is not different either. Therefore, they
decided to go with the maxim, 'Simple is beautiful.'
Numerous names were considered and finally,
'Opera' was the chosen brand. 'It is simple, rolls off the tongue
quite easily, gels well with our people and of course, it is easy
to remember! The bottle label too has been kept clean and simple,'
added Gupta.
Problems and Challenges
Doing business in wines in India is not easy
and has a lot of administrative hurdles. Vikash talked about:
* Unstable and unfriendly import policy
* Poor warehousing and logistics facilities
* Ban on advertising of wine in any form
* Administratively, every state is a different country because
of a federal character.
* Lack of wine culture and awareness.
* Many illogical, antiquated laws, like one cannot take the left-over
bottle in a restaurant though the full bottle has been paid for.
* Categorisation by the government, of wine as an alcoholic drink
like whisky and other hard liquors rather than part of food, as
is prevalent in most other parts of the world.
“Those are only a few of the challenges
that are being faced by the importers”, Vikash told the
interested producers.
Indo-Italian Collaboration
Perhaps the first of its kind in the Indian
wine industry, Vinner collaborated with Enoteca Regionale Emilia
Romagna, as a 50-50 joint venture. It was a well thought out strategy,
says Vikash. 'We felt there was mysticism of the unknown in Italian
wines. The wonderful aroma and flavour of Italian wines is largely
unknown to the Indian mind. This was an opportune moment for us
to exploit.'
'An Indian cannot be an Italian. We, therefore,
required an Italian association to exploit the intricacies of
Italian wines. Our clear intent was to import select Italian wines,
while also utilising Italian technical prowess and modern machinery,
to produce superior quality wines at our own vineyards in Nashik.
We have already planted the grapes at our property, and construction
shall commence in a while.
‘The company has bought 17 acres of land in a beautiful
spot in Nashik. A combination of mountains, water body and even
a small temple nearby makes it an ideal spot where we plan to
build a winery, along with a sample vineyard and a resort. The
first planting was done a year and half ago. A kaleidoscope of
Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Malbec, Sauvignon and Chenin Blanc,
the first crop this year was sold off, as will be the next year's
vintage', confides Gupta who believes it takes a minimum of 2
years before it is worthwhile to crush grapes for quality wine.
And Gupta, belonging to the second wave of wine
producers, believes that quality is a must for survival and he
has plans to grow, not just survive. The collaboration with Italians
is a long term relationship. The existing partners are very excited
about the possibility of collaborating in the Indian winery business
- foreigners cannot buy vineyards but can own a winery.
Collaboration
The excitement was not this high in the beginning.
'Enoteca', based in Dozza near Bologna, in the manufacturing-strong,
economically rich region of Italy, was undoubtedly interested
in India. Says Gian Alfonso Roda, President of Enoteca Regionale
Emilia Romagna, 'We are pleased to have joined hands with Vinner.
They have a clear, long term vision and are extremely passionate
about Italian wines, which is good for us too.' The company has
a broader vision of the wine market in India and does not insist
on selling wines only from Emilia-Romagna. 'We want them to concentrate
on Italian wines that can be popularised for the Indian palate.'
'The best part of the partners is that they do
not interfere in our working, so long as we focus on the Italian
wines. 'The Opera' label jointly owned by the two can well be
exploited in China or Russia in the future, though we jointly
own the brand globally,' adds Vikash.
The confidence was built when Roda visited India
and spent several days getting a feel of the Indian lifestyle,
eating and drinking habits. He even went to Nashik to study the
existing wine industry and knew this was the market to be in.
Wine Tourism and Events
Gupta, who has a strong desire to get into wine
tourism through his 17-acre existing property which will be turned
into a resort, is already negotiating for 80 acres in the neighbourhood
to expand his crush capacity.
He understands that the wine market can truly
be expanded through wine tourism and organising wine events. These
events can be informational, presentations, awareness-oriented,
on a website (under construction) and can be at the guest or staff
level.
Second visit to Vinitaly
This was not the first visit to Vinitaly for Vikash. He came here
last year where the Opera label was formally launched in the Emilia
Romagna Padiglione (Pavillion). One could appreciate the seriousness
with which he and his team did their homework, as all the wines
selected for the Indian market were matched with both the Italian
and Indian cuisine here.
Earlier, the company had imported samples of
several labels and had them tested and tasted with various experts
and hoteliers, including a group of consumer friends, at a guided
tasting session conducted by the Indian Wine Academy. The invited
guests acted as ’sommeliers’ and gave their individual
opinion of all wines tasted.
Today, Vikash is happy because the four wines
they had selected with the help of several guiding stars including
these 'sommeliers' – Lambrusco Frizzante, Sangiovese, Pignoletto
and Chianti Reserva 2001, Opera all, have caught the fancy of
women, younger folks and many novices alike.
'India is a nation with more than half of the 1.1 billion being
under 35. If we want to expand the market, we have to target the
25-40 age groups. The off-dry, picnicy Lambrusco caught the fancy
of party loving women and men alike. It goes well with spicy Indian
food and the gentle bubbles cleanse the palate as one sips along.
Even vegetarians love the low alcohol 8% wine with low tannins.'
Vikash and Vinner Enoteca are serious about the
wine business and optimistic about the future. They have set their
goal rather high- to make Opera the number one brand in five years.
Always keen to learn about wines, he took training for a day from
Roberto Gardini, the 'Best Sommelier of Italy' in 1993. An entrepreneur
to the core, he feels there is scope to expand the market in multiple
ways.
Vinner Enoteca will be the wine company to watch
during the next five years, not only for its wines - produced
overseas and in India - but also the business plans he has made
around many wine related opportunities.
Subhash Arora
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