Posted: Tuesday, 03 October 2023 15:48
From Archives (2007): Is this Indian wine label confusing or deceptive ?
The website of Delhi Wine Club had published the launch of 30 Latt wine from Nashik. Produced by the Holkar Estate Winery in Nashik, it had been launched at Rs. 450 a bottle in Mumbai. Details at http://www.delhiwineclub.com
The report had described, ‘The wines have been named as 30th Latt to indicate that this wine comes from vineyards situated at 30° Latitude, claims the company sources. Traditionally, wine grapes have been growing in vineyards between 30-50° Latitude in both the Hemispheres.’
During my visit to Chandigarh earlier this week, I noticed the bottles with this label displayed at many wine shops, retailing at Rs. 470 as compared to Grover’s Sante and Sula Satori and Cab Shiraz at Rs. 550. The back label indicates that the wine has been made from grapes from Nashik which is at latitude (latt.) of 30°.
The producers are declaring explicitly that Nashik is at 30º latitude and falls within the traditional band of 30-50º .
I know that none of our present wine producing areas fall in this range. I had even discussed this with Michelle Rolland a couple of years ago. His comments were that due to improvements in viticulture and wine making technology, this is not so critical anymore.
Bangalore is at a latitude of 12.6º. Nashik is between 19º 33’-20º 53’; much lower than described by the company sources.
In a recent issue of delWine, an article captioned ‘Old World, New World & Now the New Latitude Wines’ <Visit http://www.indianwineacademy.com>, and I quote, ‘Jancis Robinson says the new latitude wines are not a threat to the best that Bordeaux or Northern California can offer. But she acknowledges that most of the upstart nations are at the same stage of development the French wine regions were at centuries ago.
“I still find it hard to believe that new latitude wines will ever be seriously good,” Ms. Robinson wrote on her Web site. “But then that’s what was said about New World wines not that long ago.” Unquote.
It looks to me that the label is misleading the customer. There are no real laws in the Indian wine making world. In this context, the label is confusing at best and deceptive at worst.
We seek comments from wine producers and consumers if it is fair to label a wine as such?
Subhash Arora
