Champagne Indage of Narayangaon and Mercury Winery of Nashik have won a total of six Commendation Certificates at the Decanter Awards announced at the London International Wine Fair last week

Only 2.84% won a gold medal or a trophy. 12.4% won a silver medal. No Indian wine won any medal. Indage has won 5 Commendation Certificates for its Merlot 2006, Chantilly Chardonnay 2007, Chantilly Chenin Blanc 2007, and Ivy Merlot 2007 in still wines and Marquise de Pompadour in the sparkling white category.

Nashik based Mercury Winery has received a Commendation certificate for its Chenin Blanc 2007 Aryaa label. Says an elated Viral Pancholia, the director of the company,' this is a moment of pride for us because we entered the competition for the first time.

Champagne Indage is a veteran at these awards and debuted in the Awards list in 2005 with a Commendation each for its Ivy Chenin Blanc and Merlot. In 2006, it won the only Bronze by an Indian winery for its Merlot Reserve. Last year its Cabernet Sauvignon 2006 and Ivy Brut had also won the Commendation certificates.

Over 9200 entries were received for the Decanter World Wine Awards (DWWA), almost twice the number that took part five years ago when the awards were launched. A total of 36,800 bottles were supplied. As is the normal practice, the left-over bottles were given away for charity.

Approximately 27% of the entrants won a Bronze while about 22% received the Commendation certificates as above.

The competition is based on different price point categories: (A) £4.99, (B) £5-6.99, (C) £7-9.99, (D) £10-14.99, (E) £15-19.99, (F) £20-29.99, (G) £30-39.99,and (H) £40+. Within each category wines are awarded as: Commended, Bronze, Silver, and Gold. Gold medal winners are further judged within a particular varietal or style category, based on price point of under £10 and over £10 to award the overall Regional Trophy.