April 27: There have been seemingly no modifications or changes at the Delhi Duty Free Store at Terminal 3 of the Indira Gandhi Airport with only 10% discount available on any two Spanish products, but the prices of Prosecco seem to have gone a bit illogical, making Carpené Malvolti docg, the best option available for Prosecco lovers, writes Subhash Arora who feels that there might be turmoil in the Duty-Free business due to the ruling a couple of days ago that GST will be chargeable on these purchases
Ti Amo is a label being sold in Delhi (Rs. 1220 and other cities for around Rs. 1300-1400. It has a nicely shaped bottled used by Sartori and a catchy label and the title-it also means I love you in Italian-very romantic, very inviting. But at the duty free shop it has been priced at Rs. 1790.
Teresa Rizi Prosecco doc is priced at Rs. 1530 Zonin doc Prosecco has been priced at Rs, 1,460 while Danzante is yet another version of Prosecco available from Frescobaldi at under Rs. 2000. But the best value is available from Carpené Malvolti 1868 Brut docg (representing the year of foundation, which has caught t fancy of Italian wine producers where older wineries have started highlighting their year of foundation by either in the winery name or in this case, on the label.)
Although docg does not guarantee a better quality than doc, it is universally accepted that docg from the classic areas of Conegliano to Valdobbiadene areas are superior in quality consistently. In any case, Carpené Malvolti is made in Conegliano and was the first sparkling Prosecco to be made in 1868 by this winery which is still very active in the business in the center of Conegliano (which 
cannot be imagined even in Italy these days). The wine available at Rs. 1660 is very well priced for the Duty Free Store and is perhaps the best value-for-money wine in the whole wine section- certainly the bubbles section and is highly recommended for purchase.
There is a 10% discount on the purchase of any two of Spanish products. Thus the Freixenet Negro Brut Cava and the golden coloured Oro (Carta Nevada) which sells for Rs. 1330 a bottle costs Rs. 2390 in a pair or Rs. 1200 per bottle, making it a very good buy for the well known Cava, made by Methode Traditionelle, cheaper than or similar priced as the Indian sparkling wines.
There are several stickers- saying ‘Maximise your Allowance -2 litres of Spirit; at the bottom it reads in fonts illegible to my naked eyes- Whiskey ḷ Spirit ḷ Wine’ as if the 3 are a part of the same genre! They make the wine area look a bit colourful but a closer look tells you nothing has changed, except of course, the fact that the prices are in Rs. now and not in US dollars.
AND, we have to wait and watch the impact of GST that has been announced by the Panel a couple of days ago. Wine is not a subject matter of GST but VAT could well be substituted for GST once it has been established that the Delhi Airport (and for that matter all international airports in India) comes in Indian Territory (for customs and immigration purposes, once you cross the immigration section you are considered ‘out of India’. This new definition, if unchallenged, will be disastrous for the DDF and of course, the sale of wine could go still further down at the duty free stores.
With GST/VAT in place, who knows- Excise department may want to have their pound of flesh by demanding excise duty- as the sale is proven to be on Indian soil. Never mind that there are still other duty free shops at airports at other destinations to consider and coupled with the ridiculously high rents and the taxes like these, would sound a death knell for the Duty Free Stores which ought to be worried about the possibility of declining business...
And individuals passing by the different shops, saying... non Ti Amo! (I don’t love you!)
For an earlier Article on Prosecco, visit: Say ‘Chak de Phatte’ with Prosecco This Festive Season
Cav. Subhash Arora
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