The recently concluded India Food and Wine Show at the Taj Palace was a delightful wine journey to all continents of the globe with foods like pasta, rice, olive oil, condiments and cheeses to boot. Numerous wine tastings from 14 countries, seminars and many other concurrent events marked the second edition of the Show that provided a platform to the producers of food and wine from India and overseas to showcase their products.

One of the interesting events organized was the culinary competition where 12 chefs including one from Mumbai, who arrived late thanks to the infamous Delhi traffic but managed to win the second runner-up prize. Marriott chefs bagged both the top honours, the winner getting an all-expense paid trip to VinItaly 2004. The key element in the contest was the mandatory use of either red or white Sula wine provided by the organizers to craft one appetizer and any main dish within one hour. A gourmet safari- the sophisticated wine equivalent of pub-crawling spanned a 4- course meal with exquisite wines from South Africa and Italy. It started in the Tea House of the August Moon at the Taj Palace and coached its way through La Piazza at the Hyatt, Dumpukht at the Maurya, finishing off at 1911 at the Imperial. Spread over five hours and thoroughly enjoyed by all participants, this unique gastronomical event resulted in the addition of at least 100 kgms. during that evening alone.

Apart from being a show where the sellers could interact with buyers and personnel from the hospitality industry, it provided implicitly a crash course where a wine-lover could become a hero from zero in three days. The guided tasting of Italian wines centered on Veronese wines including Valpolicella and Amarone, which were lauded alike by the participants of the seminar and visitors to the fair. The seminar on French wines by the well known wine writer and publisher from Singapore, Mr. Ch'ng Poh Tiong was an instant hit with everyone. Using his infectious smile he took us through a descriptive tour of most wine producing regions of France followed by guided tasting of four wines, which were no match to his knowledge but nevertheless helped even the novices to climb a step towards being a serious wine taster. Mr. Rajeev Samant, CEO of Sula Vineyards, presented the Indian wine scene with a tilt towards Maharashtra. An overflowing audience even in the absence of any tasting was proof enough of how seriously the stakeholders in wine are to understand the Indian scenario marked by heavy taxation, a non-homogenous excise policy exercised by the different states under our Federal form of governance, a none-too-easy Indian cuisine to pare with wine and the changing social habits and mores of our masses and classes.

A projected annual growth of 20 % to the current market of 300,000-400,000 cases of wines may not be an optimistic scenario for a foreign wine producer to enter the Indian market. But the mood of the foreign participants was well reflected by the comments made by Mr. Ernesto Casetta, a fine wine producer from Piedmont. He is a regular participant in wine fairs like VinItaly, VinExpo and also IFOWS. He explained with optimism in his smile that the situation here is very similar to that of Japan about 20 years ago. Facing a bleak outlook he persevered with patience and today it is one of his major markets consuming even his upper end, single-vineyard Barolos and Barbarescos.

Most of the other exhibitors were more pragmatic and showcased lower and mid range wines in view of the existing stingy duty structure. As was evident, Sopexa and the Australian Trade Commission are very gung-ho about the Indian market if one believed in the smiling faces of Mr. Jean-Francois Balusseau, the Regional Director of Sopexa and Mr. Dean, Head of Australian Trade Commission at the Show. Australia saw a massive depression in the export of wines in November after a steady increase during the last one year and would be very aggressive to keep pace with the earlier growth. French, on the other hand have a Brand French advantage traditionally in this market even with their cheap bulk wines and would like to build on this brand with slightly better quality wines.

Delhi Wine Club was one of the exhibitors to showcase its objectives and achievements in the area of wine promotion. There were numerous membership enquiries and recognition of the good job it has done so far. As exhibitors, all members and a few eNewsletter subscribers were invited to attend the day programmes including wine tastings and seminars free of charge and were offered substantial discounts for the evening programmes. This was a great learning opportunity and several members could benefit, time constraint due to the Events being held during office hours notwithstanding. More than a hundred Wines and food products from 73 exhibitors from 14 countries were there for tasting and sampling.

Anyway one looks at it, this professionally handled event will go a long way in wine promotion in this country and help expand market both for Indian and foreign wineries. Having attended a few wine fairs abroad, I can say it with conviction that this one was a very well organized show with eye for every detail and will continue to grow and provide even bigger platform in the years to come. Good luck to the organizers, LEMS and the co-organizers, Veronafiere who organize Vinitaly- the biggest wine fair in the world.

Subhash Arora
President