‘There are people in Bombay rich enough to send their shirts to Paris to be laundered. A resident of Harlem has a lower life expectancy than a citizen of Bangladesh,’ writes Fortune magazine in a recent issue that speaks of 'India Inc. - a tech revolution, a new middleclass and a sizzling economy...’. Wines of South Africa’s (WOSA) André Morgenthal has just returned from representing the country at the fourth India International Food and Wine Show (IFOWS) in Delhi. ‘This was my third trip to India and definitely the best,’ he says. ‘One observes advances in wine culture and consumption with every visit, but I am particularly enthused after this year’s event.’ Morgenthal, Communications Manager for WOSA, says he saw a marked difference in the size and extent of wine lists and the education and finesse of wine serving staff, and reckons the pairing of wine and food is an increasingly popular pursuit. These and other experiences have led Morgenthal to proclaim 2006 a make or break year for South African wine in India, a country WOSA classifies as a ‘research’ market for the purposes of planning and budget appropriation. Morgenthal calls for a concerted effort between the South African diplomatic presence in India, WOSA, South African Tourism and the Indian wine trade and media and says that waiting any longer could be detrimental to market share and allow SA’s New World competitors, most notably Australia and Chile, to make inroads. Political will may have already been secured in this regard. South Africa’s High Commissioner in Delhi, Desmond Nxiweni, addressed delegates at the opening of the IFOWS committing the support of the economic division of his office ‘to drive this (the wine) agenda’. ‘Wine,’ High Commissioner Nxiweni added lyrically, ‘is a gift for all seasons’. Nxiweni called on the Indian authorities and trade to alleviate the barriers hindering wine sales – specifically referring to high import duties – and asked for the simplification of the vast regulations complicating the distribution of wine across India’s regions. There is no disputing India’s mammoth potential for consuming wine – a possibility sure to be explored by the world’s wine producers in a time of global oversupply – but, warns Suketu Mehta in Fortune, ‘India frustrates description because everything you can say about it is true and false simultaneously. Yes, it could soon have the world’s largest middleclass. But it already has the world’s largest underclass.’ Mehta’s sentiment was shared by Su Birch, CEO of WOSA, in a presentation delivered at a VinPro Information Day in January. Birch told South African wine producers not to get over-excited about India and China’s potential, citing the former’s total current market for wine – 0.6m litres. Compared with that of the UK – SA’s biggest export market – at 826m litres, or newcomer Russia at 298m litres, India is clearly not the miracle answer to wine producers’ problems of oversupply and dwindling profits. Morgenthal concurs: ‘It will take time to grow and educate the Indian market. However, wine culture is increasingly fashionable among middle to high income professionals. And the secret here will be to enter the market with quality at price-point. This is an image-building process in a market that is extremely image-conscious. We can not afford to dump average or below-average wine in India.’ Rajeev Samant, CEO Sula Vineyards, was quoted on Just-Drinks.com last week as follows: ‘India’s current per capita wine consumption stands at 0.006 litres – that’s almost 50 times less than China’s! Growth over the last three years, however, has been 25% in volume and 30% in value. 600,000 cases of wine were consumed in India last year; by 2010, India should hit 1.8m cases.’ Reshma Punja runs a small import company specialising in South African wine. ‘Five years ago Indian women hid Bacardi in their cokes. These days they confidently sip white wine from the world over,’ she says. Samant agrees: ‘Ten years ago you never saw the heroine (in an Indian film) with a glass of wine or a cigarette. You still never see them with a cigarette, but now you often see women with a glass of something and it’s almost always wine.’ ‘The lifestyle promise of Western culture is entrenched in the enjoyment and appreciation of wine,’ says Morgenthal and cites the rise of Italian cuisine as a factor contributing to the foothold that country’s wines have achieved in India in recent years. Our own Two Oceans brand has had considerable success, supported by its advertisements dramatising the luxurious pastimes of Cape Town’s jet set. The Mother City, Morgenthal says, is a popular filming spot for Bollywood productions, adding further impetus to a steady stream of inbound tourists from India. And although Australian wine have had great success in India with its promotion campaign founded on the two countries’ mutual love of cricket, Morgenthal is upbeat about SA’s ties with the latter. Other than Bollywood’s presence in Cape Town and the game of cricket, SA has strong historic and cultural associations with India, most notably Mahatma Ghandi’s legacy and our sizeable population of Indian descent. But best of all, Morgenthal believes SA’s so-called home-grown cultivars – Pinotage and Chenin Blanc – are ideally suited to Indian cuisine and give the country and its wines an edge over competitors. ‘I believe Pinotage and Chenin Blanc offer a simple message with which to introduce new wine drinkers to the full spectrum of the South African portfolio.’ Also see Globalization opens up vast opportunities for wine, and South African wines sizzle with seekh kebabs