India is slowly becoming a country that is embracing the new trends in alcohol and beverage industry and Kerala is no different though relatively slow to imbibe the wine culture. There are several whiskey, rum and gin brands available but the local cousins, toddy or handia (local rice beer) are equally loved. So, it would be expected that Kerala’s soon-to-be-launched wine brand, called NILA would be popular as it hits the shelves soon, according to a recent Report.

Already announced in October last year, one hope that there will not be more delays and that excise and VAT incentives will be given as in Maharashtra grape wine production so that it does not fall into the trap set by Maharashtra government where Hill Zill Winey had to shut down despite its glorious efforts of 7 years, earlier this year.

Apparently, the university has collaborated with Sula Vineyard as the reports indicate that the University has already received a nod of approval from Sula Vineyard, according to media reports.

It has also got an approval from the Karnataka Wine and Grape Board. What’s more, the first lot of 500 bottles of Nila were reportedly presented to the ministers and other VIPs last year before its official launch in the market. Presumably, this category of drinkers knows best about fruit wine and what to look for in the taste. (Surely, they know the difference between wine and fruit wine which is going to be the new-born alcoholic beverage). Perhaps, the State is awaiting the blessings of the ministers and the VIPs before it can be launched.

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The wine has been developed by the Department of Kerala Agriculture University. It has thus become the first university in the state to get a wine production license from the excise department. After the entire completion of the formalities, the wine would likely be sold through the government monopoly, Kerala State Beverages Corporation (Bevco). The fruit wine will be available in flavours like banana, pineapple and cashew apple sourced from the local market, according to the report in local newspaper Kalakaumudi.

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Last year the Kerala government had promised that the new liquor policy to be framed by the Kerala Government would soon allow production of fruit wine by issuing appropriate licenses with the procedures for issuing the licenses to be similar to those followed for distilleries. For the information of novices, fruit wine is made by fermenting fruit juice unlike wine which is a product of grape fermentation and has been the most popular form of wine globally for thousands of years. The new plan was aimed at supporting farmers in the state. The existing Abkari laws and excise rules had no mention of wine prepared from fruits till last year’s policy.

After deciding to implement the new policy, the government had unsuccessfully approached the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) laboratory in Thiruvananthapuram to develop a common technology to produce fruit wine.  So the government allowed private companies to develop their own methods to ferment the fruit. Incidentally, Bevco too has reportedly also expressed interest in producing wine.

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Incidentally, Diageo had also ventured in 2007 to produce wine under a similar label Nilaya but failed and had to fold up within 2 years. With the support of local government, hopefully the project will succeed even if at the proposed Rs.1000 a bottle of 750 mL. The producers are apparently making an error in judgement by keeping the prices similar to (grape) wines which are inherently much more expensive than the fruit wines.

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With a rather bold looking label in blue, probably more appropriate on a Gin bottle, Diageo had tried to convey the essence ‘Blue Heaven’. Nila, meaning blue, may not be offering a heavenly wine but perhaps with the limited production and support by Bevco, it will set a springboard to sample the wines and encourage others to jump in, the first-mover advantage notwithstanding.  

Interestingly, Blue (Nila) wine debuted in international markets almost a decade ago but has not caught on the fancy of the consumers so one hopes the producers would have done some research, justifying this label.

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But Fruit wine has a good future in various States and delWine would welcome Kerala as a wine producing State, the initial high prices notwithstanding.

Subhash Arora