South Australia Launches Wine Education Programme

South Australia makes more than half of total Australian wine (according to one delegate present, 80%) and yet people don’t know that the ubiquitous Jacobs Creek and revered Penfolds Grange are both from South Australia with a wide range of decently priced delicious wines in the middle. The launch of an education programme will tend to fill in the gap and hope to give insights into wines from the region. The evening included tasting of several interesting wines and tableful of cheeses and light bytes with streaming hot snacks, hosted by the Senior Trade and Investment Commissioner Ms. Leonie Muldoon at the Australian High Commission in Delhi last evening.

‘India is a huge market and has a great potential for South Australian wines as Indians have propensity to spend on fine gastronomy, despite high taxes,’ said Ms Muldoon who is a Vinotaller (a term coined by the Indian Wine Academy for teetotallers who drink wine)during her  welcome address. She believes that wine is all about good conversation and this first-to- arrive gracious lady was affable and mixed around with the guests, occasionally even pouring wine and talking about it.

Brian Smedley, Chief Executive of South Australian Wine Industry Association gave a quick review of the South Australian wine industry and said they planned a 2-year period wine education programme in Delhi and Mumbai. The programme will give the Indian market insights into South Australian wineries and the diverse portfolio of varietals, styles and price points to meet the present and future demand in India. This initiative by theGovernment of South Australia indicates their growing interest in the Indian market which he said was tough but lucrative in the long run.

The program was launched earlier in Mumbai on November 6 by Mr. Martin Hamilton-Smith, Minister for Investment and Trade, who had to skip Delhi as he had another engagement. This evening’s programme was only a part of the week-long visit to India from November 06-11 by the India Business Mission 2017.

‘The program will focus on educating wine opinion makers , sommeliers, journalists and  professionals to educate them about the quality and variety of South Australian wines’, said Brian who said its Capital Adelaide was recently added to the Great Wine Capitals of the World. The nine member wine Capitals are Adelaide | South Australia, Bilbao | Rioja, Bordeaux, Mainz | Rheinhessen, Mendoza, Porto, San Francisco | Napa Valley, Valparaiso | Casablanca Valley and Verona | Veneto. South Australia is home to Adelaide and 18 other distinct wine regions including the famous Barossa and McLaren Vale.

 ‘As a destination renowned globally for its wine, we are keen to create a deeper understanding of South Australian wines in the Indian market through this programme. We hope our efforts to build a better understanding will go a long way in enhancing the appreciation and hence sales of our wines here, says Brian’. Later Brian explained to delWine that the programme would be structured to include novices and experts who wanted to learn about South Australian wines. ‘It’s all about wine education. We have been running these courses in Australia for the last 16 years and conduct about 15-17 every year –each course costing more than AUS $200.’ He stressed that the programme would be complimentary for Indians during this period.’

From the discussion it appears that the earliest start would be in mid 2018. Since the backbone of the programme would be the visiting winemakers who would showcase their products, one hopes it does not become a pure marketing gimmick which might not impress the Indian consumers. But Brian stresses, ‘we plan to impart general wine knowledge with focus on South Australian wines so that hopefully, the special character and quality of South Australian wines would leave a lasting impact. There would be no exams or certification and the duration would be around 3 months for the course with a couple of hours in the evening, 2-3 days week.’ (The discussion is presented here to give an idea to those interested and by no means is an official information-editor)

Wine Tasting

The evening was convivial 3with networking over several wines and a generous helping of snacks, thanks the High Commission. A few South Australian wine brands and companies including 1847 Wines, Yaldara (earlier imported by Hema Connoisseurs till the company changed hands), DOC Adams Wines, Négociant Australia, the Great Australian Wine Company and Aus Indo Trading Co were represented and served. Neither Jacob’s Creek nor Penfolds Grange was poured though!

It’s hard to describe each wine or producer because of limited space but the wines were generally in the range of AUS $6- 30 ex-cellar which would translate to- well, very expensive in Retail but a few wines were exceptionally impressive. Adam Jacobs, MD of McLaren Vales based DOC Adams (one of the partners is a doctor) is soon to sign a contract with Air India for his delicious Cabernet Sauvignon (sorry cattle class travellers, they will be served in the Business and First Class, starting January). A couple of labels from 1847 Winery, Claymore (out of a portfolio of 5 wineries represented by Johar Kumar of AUS Indo Traders) Riesling Joshua Tree 2014 left a lasting impression.

If the ridiculous, old-fashioned excise laws in India allowed easier, cheaper and more affordable label registration, it would be a virtual paradise for the Indian wine consumers and a decent market for select producers and would add much larger amount to the exchequer through higher revenues.

It would be interesting to see the response to the wine programme-at no cost, it is certainly more affordable than drinking wines and if one can prove his/ her eligibility, Ma Saraswati and Bacchus will shower their blessings on those enrolled in the Programme.

But remember, there ain’t no free lunch!

Subhash Arora

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