Dec 24: Indian Wine Day (IWD) was celebrated in many places across India this year on or around 16 November and though it might be too early to see if it has picked up the inertia to make it a regular feature in the national calendar but there are enough enthusiasts who hope to see it reach the next level, writes our Mumbai Correspondent Sheetal Kadam who organised an event in Mumbai with the maximum attendance, with inputs from Subhash Arora, co-founder of IWD
Indian Wine Day (IWD) was co-founded by Subhash Arora, President of Indian Wine Academy on 16 November in 2017. Wine influencers in major cities across India organised the 5th edition of IWD around this date this year. Interestingly, it fell on a Tuesday, when many Indian aficionados do not imbibe alcohol. To accommodate such people, Indian Wine Academy had re-stated the policy so one could choose any day (s) from the week-end preceding or following 16 November, THE Indian Wine Day.
IWD at Mumbai by delWine
This event at Mumbai was hosted on 19 November by Sheetal Kadam, Mumbai Correspondent of delWine. She volunteered to organise the event with no commercial interest, with the clear objective of collecting a maximum possible number of wine aspirants for tasting wines and promoting quality Indian wines.
Soma Vine Village, Fratelli, The Wine Park & Good Drop Cellar actively participated in this annual event. We collectively had almost 20 wine labels to enjoy. The Daily Dose Red & White wines - by the Wine Park, Italian collection of Frizzano- by Good Drop, Tilt (semi-sparkling wine) by Fratelli; Brut, Chenin Blanc, Rosé sparkling and Pomegranate Wine from Soma Vine Village were the wines selected.
Majority of the wines served were sparkling, fruit-forward, aromatic, flavourful and light-bodied, perfectly suitable to quench thirst in the humid climate of Mumbai. We decided to host at Ricky's Bar & Kitchen, a ‘Fine to Dine’ exclusively for wines. Unlimited finger food with two veg & two non-veg dishes were served with a choice of tasting portion of any three wines at an all-inclusive price of Rs. 499.
Experienced bartenders and sommeliers had engaged themselves in serving wines to the guests. Over 110 guests recorded their presence during the event. The crowd responded overwhelmingly in honour of Indian wines. The show was a grand success because of the number of people attending and enjoying the event with a variety of wines to choose from. The extremely attractive pricing was also an important factor.
I presented the wines, discussing diverse wine styles and various wine characteristics such as aroma, flavour, acidity, alcohol, balance & finish. The session was interesting as it was interactive and engaging. The guests, mostly families, couples, women and girls enjoyed the wines and an understanding about them.
Celebrating IWD is an excellent platform and opportunity to create awareness about Indian wines. Therefore, I believe one must participate and spread the word of Indian wine in their individual capacities.
Wine Clubs celebrate IWD
Siddhartha Banerji, President and Co-founder of Apex Wine Club India organised a virtual event to celebrate IWD on 16 November and rounded up several members of the Club, who were addressed by Subhash Arora welcoming the members and gave the background of Indian Wine Day and why the date had been specifically chosen as 16 November. While he explained his position against changing the date (it is now a part of the logo) he advised that the celebrations could start on Saturday prior to IWD and end on Sunday following the IWD. However, Banerji and his Club combined with another event and celebrated it on 19 November at a 5-star hotel restaurant too.
Nagpur Wine Club- The Club decided to join in to celebrate IWD for the first time by clubbing the event with the quarterly Wine & Dine event at the Samrat Banquet Hall of the Nagpur Ashok hotel of 13 November, attended by 82 members and guests who enjoyed Grover wines with an affirmation that it will be celebrated with even greater vigour in the coming years.
Durgapur Wine Club was founded on IWD 4 years ago and it was only natural that Ashok Chandak, President decided to celebrate IWD but not on 16 November as it was a Tuesday but on 20 November.
Hill Zill Winery –The fruit wine and Mead producer near Mumbai organised a Wine Dinner on IWD and offered Stay at their Resort at special price, offering a dinner with their fruit wine selection. There is a lot of scope for expanding the scope of such annual events and with enthusiasts like Priyanka Save, the celebrations are bound to get bigger.
Same may be said of Bangalore where Big Banyan Winery organised special winery visits. Vishal Nagpal, another wine enthusiast organised the Indian Wine (Day) Week with dinner evenings at the Trippy Goat Café at Cunningham Road with Krsma, Fratelli and Grover wines on different days.
It appears that IWD has gathered momentum where it should be able to reach the next level. Like most such initiatives, its time will come and hopefully more and more people will recognise the constantly improving quality of Indian wines, thanks partially to Indian Wine Day and will celebrate 16 November quaffing at least one Indian wine and blogging or writing about it in Social Media.
Sheetal Kadam
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