A Maharashtra minister publicly praised the benefits of wine as a health drink and said there was a need to educate people about the difference between wine and liquor.

Speaking at the inauguration of a convention of Maharashtra State Grape Producers Association in Pune on Saturday , Co-operation and Relief Minister Mr Patangrao Kadam, said: "Wine is not liquor."

The minister has said what Delhi Wine Club and many other wine clubs in the country have been saying for years. The government would be doing a favour to the people and their health if they could educate and encourage people to switch to wine for health or beer for low alcohol.

Delhi Wine Club salutes the minister for a bold, true and encouraging statement, with the hope that the right message goes to the people.(What the minister meant by education surely included the dictum that it should be drunk in moderation to get the health benefits and not the damage due to alcohol)

"Our people do not understand it. The excise department should start issuing separate licences for wine and liquor shops to encourage consumption of the former which is healthy, added the minister." Mr Kadam said it was necessary to educate people to differentiate between wine and hard liquors. Maharashtra accounts for 85 per cent of the total grape production in the country and it defies logic that just around one per cent of this produce is being used for making wine, which has a booming global market, the minister, said.

In fact Mrl Sharad Pawar is on record saying that wine is a food product. Unfortunately, due to the ignorance of the people and the political reasons, he was criticised by some political faction as promoting alcohol consumption. Mr Kadam recalled the Union agriculture minister's statement made in the past advocating promotion of wine as a health drink which had export potential and regretted that it was misinterpreted by the media.

Mr Pawar, who was also present on the occasion, said to capture the global market it was necessary for Indian wineries to ensure constant quality control of their product without compromising on the (viticulture and vinification) brewing standards.

The need of the hour is to promote wine drinking. While Delhi Wine Club is proud of the progress made by the Indian wine industry during the last 10 years and hopes this will continue, the people should be given the choice of drinking what they like. In fact, the wine education also encompasses the beauty of drinking diversified range of wines from different regions, countries, varietals and even wineries.


Delhi Wine Club raises a toast to the Honourable Minister for making a bold and beautiful statement.

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