Dec 21: Madhulika Bhattacharya has been a very versatile person flirting with wine professionally for over 15 years but she came into her own when she started modern Retail, opened by husband Aman Dhall, owner of Brindco Sales and the meteoric rise in two years wins her a place in the Retailer category –typically a male bastion thus far, writes Subhash Arora who has been watching her performance from close quarters for the last 15 years
You have watched Madhulika Bhattacharya as an RJ on AIR Rainbow channel 102.6,, conducting the Matchless Music Hour on Sunday mornings. You have watched her at several wine socials and fabulous wine dinners. You might even have run into her at her store or any of the wine dinners so hosted. But chances are you have by now heard of her as one of the well-known retailers of Delhi
Behind every successful man, there is a woman, goes the cliché. However, the same can hold in reverse. In the case of Madhulika Bhattacharya, a modern Retailer and one of the new entrants to the Top Ten List of WOW (women of wine) in India, it really holds true. Though she has been active in promoting wine through PR assignments, she came into her own after her husband Aman Dhall took over the management of a liquor Retail store La Cave at the Saket Mall in Delhi a couple of years ago and handed her the independent charge of the business which she has given a new and modern twist to.
Madhulika Dhall Bhattacharyya was not only instrumental in the redesign and refurbishing of the shop on which she spent months, making it very modern and attractive, she was able to promote higher ended wines which other find a difficult ball game. If you want a sub Rs. 1000 a bottle, she would guide you when in the shop. If you wanted a bottle costing Rs. 60,000 a bottle she is equipped to talk about it and convince you to buy.
She has helped make retail sale and purchasing by women a very human chore and even women who find themselves intimidated while shopping for wine or liquor at a liquor shop, find themselves in a convivial ambience at her showroom which is centrally air-conditioned.. She has made many of her clients her personal friends and vice versa, who trust her judgment in recommending wines. To build up the credibility she organises wine dinners regularly at various top ended restaurants where she has pours to paid as well as invited guests-some of her events are even reserved for women.
Known as Madame La Cave ( a name suggested to her by Subhash Arora when they were together for a tasting at Shangri-la shortly before starting wine events, and she quickly adapted it for the new title which has helped her immensely), she has catapulted and self-propelled herself to hitherto unknown heights. In an informal survey carried out recently by the Facebook closed group of over 10,000 members of the Indian Wine Academy, administered by Subhash Arora, she was voted second on the list of choices/recommendations for the Top Ten spot, significantly higher than the third spot (The selection of Top Ten is not done by public votes but by the CV of each WOW and a constant follow ups). She conducts the well-publicised wine events in Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and even cities like Chennai with the specific purpose of increasing her clientele and the area of reach; she claims educating people about wine is her singular passion.
The crescendo of her events was reached last year when, in conjunction with Brindco and La Cave, Madhulika curated ‘The Fine Wine Affair’ in collaboration with the Oberoi Gurgaon, on October 14-16, 2017. A hundred wines from her portfolio were showcased along with various foods and snacks. This fine affair was the talk- of- town and was attended by over 1000 people.
Wines retailed by La Cave are selected by her, says Madhulika Bhattacharya who has been involved in completely refurbishing the store earlier known as House of Spirits and independently looks after the sales. Brindco has signed an exclusive arrangement with Godrej Nature’s Basket where all the Retail wine stores will be managed by her exclusively.
Madhulika has been living in the world of wine at least since 2002 when she was working as the Communications and PR Manager of ITC Maurya and organising wine events for the hotel as a part of her activities. In fact, that’s when I met her and she sat in several meetings where we discussed plans to organise several wine dinners for the Delhi Wine Club. She later joined the Park Hotel Delhi where similar events were held. Meanwhile she got married to Aman Dhall of Brindco and continued working for some time before quitting and taking charge of Communications for her husband’s wine business for a couple of years.
Indian Wine Academy welcomes Madhulika to the elitist List of Top Ten WOW of India.
Subhash Arora
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