An introduction to Indian wine

The steady increase in the quality of Indian wines in the last 10 to 15 years, combined with experimentation in both the vineyards and cellars of India, has positioned the country to offer an enticing and great value selection of wines.

Literary records date the history of winemaking in India back to the 13th century BCE, but today’s burgeoning wine industry owes its heritage to Indian entrepreneurs in the late 20th century.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for 12 Indian wines

Entrepreneur-driven industry

Literary records date the history of winemaking in India back to the 13th century BCE, but today’s burgeoning wine industry owes its heritage to Indian entrepreneurs in the late 20th century.

The pioneering Chateau Indage was founded in 1986 by the late Shamrao Chougule in Narayangaon – half-way between Nashik and Pune in the state of Maharashtra.

‘Omar Khayyam’, its bottle-fermented sparkling wine, astounded journalists by bagging medals in wine competitions in the UK in the late 1980s.

Kanwal Grover was another pioneering industrialist who developed a passion for wine during his business trips to France in the 1980s, so he set up Grover Vineyards in the Nandi Hills outside Bangalore and launched its first wines in 1996.

French expertise played a key role in getting Indian wines off the ground: Piper-Heidsieck advised Chateau Indage, and Champagne Mumm consulted for Grover.

In 1997, Sula Vineyards was established by Rajeev Samant when he returned to his native Nashik from Silicon Valley.

Boom and bust

The Maharashtra state government’s wine policy and subsidies encouraged the establishment of numerous other wineries in the early 2000s.

However, the lack of expertise in growing wine grapes, and producing or selling wines left many of these new businesses struggling.

The global financial crisis of 2007 and the Mumbai terrorist attacks in 2008 were the final nails in the coffin for many.

For example, the astronomic rise of Indage, listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange at one point, was followed by a sudden fall and the eventual collapse of the group in the early 2010s.

Unsurprisingly, a wave of consolidation started: distressed producers were acquired, or their facilities leased; and contract-farming arrangements re-shaped grape supply too.

Investment funds entered the wine industry, most notably Visvires Capital amalgamated Grover Zampa – the second largest producer today – from Grover Vineyards in Karnataka and Vallée de Vin in Nashik.

Visvires has also purchased Charosa Vineyards in Nashik and Four Seasons Vineyards in Pune, creating the first multi-faceted wine group in India.

The latter, formerly owned by Vijay Mallya’s UB Group, boasts a French-styled chateau as its winemaking facility.

New winery trends

But others have thrived. Sula, with annual production over 10 million litres, is now the largest winery in the country.

Furthermore, post-Covid a number of small garage wineries, such as the 500-bottle Plateaux Vintners, have been established.

This is run by former Sula chief-winemaker Ajoy Shaw and Nipha Winery, a truly artisanal outfit with winemaking literally in the shed and home-made pizza from their very own wood-fired oven.

There is also a growing market for fruit wines, made using local produce such as mango and the indigenous jamun, a rather tart-deep purple fruit.

Subtropical Diversity

It’s good to remember that the distance between Nashik in Maharashtra and the Nandi Hills in Karnataka is 1,000 kilometres, the same as the distance between the Rheingau in Germany and Tuscany in Italy.

This brings a substantial difference in climate conditions. The idea of uniform warmth and humidity in the Indian subcontinent is very far from the truth.

In addition to the vast expanse of the country, altitude matters a great deal in terms of temperatures.

During the period of the Raj, Bangalore used to be the summer retreat for the British in the south, as its cooler climate provided welcome relief from the heat.

This is why the old Kanwal Grover chose the Nandi Hills (920 metres above sea level) outside Bangalore as its base.

Similarly, Nashik, at an altitude of 670m, offers significantly cooler temperatures during the growing season which helps the retention of acidity.

Grapes harvested from lower-altitudes meanwhile – e.g. Solapur and Sangli in the south of Maharashtra, or inland vineyards such as Bijapur in northern Karnataka – show better ripeness, adding a plusher quality to the wine.

Monsoon influence

The location of vine-growing regions also means different patterns in the monsoon: the direction it arrives from, how long it persists and the amount of rain it brings.

Considering that vines have no dormancy in the subtropical climate, the monsoon significantly influences work in the vineyard.

The pre-growing season pruning starts in late August, sometimes as late as early October, depending on the confidence of the grower that the monsoon has petered out and there will be no more rain.

The excess vegetative growth is cut back, so any rain in the ensuing days poses less of a risk of fungal infection.

The timing of this pruning determines the timing of the harvest: the later in the autumn the pruning, the later in the new year the harvest is.

Why this matters is because the temperature curve in this climatic zone is diametrically opposite to both the northern and southern hemispheres.

The temperature is high at the beginning of the growing season and subsides as the fruit sets after flowering. It reaches its lowest in late December and early January after which the mercury starts to rise rapidly as the start of the new monsoon season approaches.

Growers are keen to pick once grapes are ripe enough, both for sugar and tannins; but not overripe which can easily happen with quickly escalating temperatures between late February and early April.

Consequently, grapes destined to be the base wine for sparkling wines are often harvested from mid- or late December onwards; followed by whites in January and then the reds.

Drinking Compass: Regions, producers, varieties & styles

Invariably, most Indian wineries are in or around Nashik, which is located 180km northeast of Mumbai, the commercial capital of India.

Just off the Mumbai–Nashik highway, the meandering road – at times still nearly a dirt track – takes the traveller to two wineries: Grover Zampa and Vallonné Vineyards.

Grover Zampa’s plush Cabernet-Shiraz blend La Réserve was charming punters at Gordon’s Wine Bar in London’s Embankment nearly 20 years ago and continues to provide great value for money.

It’s worth noting that Cabernet-Shiraz is the ‘classic’ Indian blend, probably because these are the two red varieties produced in the largest quantity in the country.

Grover Zampa offers a full portfolio: bottle-fermented sparkling (Soirée), fruit-driven still wines (Art Collection), to seriously full-bodied reds (Vijay Amritraj or Chêne) as well as special series reds differentiated by the type of vessel – foudre, egg, barrique – used for fermentation (Signet).

On the other hand, family-owned Vallonné’s wines are made in small quantities and its zesty Sauvignon Blanc, peppery Cabernet Sauvignon rosé or special edition Anokhee Cabernet and Syrah are the ones to look out for either at the winery itself or in Mumbai’s trendy restaurants.

Tourist attraction

Sula Vineyards is among the most visited wineries in the world with 360,000 tourists arriving every year.

Sula offers everything from entry-level, fruit-forward wines up to barrel-aged premium labels. The Chenin Blancs, which come in both an off-dry, fresh and zesty style as well as in an oak-fermented dry edition, are particular favourites.

Meanwhile, the Dindori range, named after a sub-region of Nashik, never fails to impress with its more serious take varieties such as Viognier and Shiraz.

Recent additions include a Provençal style Grenache rosé and the re-invented Tropicale Brut, which now comes as a tank-fermented sparkling wine.

Talking of sparkling wines, Chandon India produces a supremely fresh and elegant brut from Chenin Blanc, the white grape of choice for most sparkling wines in India as Chardonnay and Pinot Noir have been to difficult to grow.

Home far from home

Fratelli Wines, located three hours’ drive from Pune, was set up by three pairs of brothers, one pair from Tuscany, hence the Italian name.

Sangiovese has found a second home for itself in the rolling hills of Akluj, thanks to the Secci brothers and the late Piero Masi who was the first master winemaker at Fratelli.

Sette is a full-bodied blend of Sangiovese and Cabernet, aged in oak barrels and with a good potential for further cellaring.

Near the World Heritage site of Hampi, there is Krsma Estates. It is nestled in a breathtakingly beautiful landscape in remote, mid-state Karnataka.

The proprietors run a multi-billion-pound global pharma business and spare no expense to craft seriously good wines.

It was one of two producers that convinced me that India can make premium Cabernet Sauvignon with great ageing potential.

Currently, the wines are available in the Hyderabad and Bangalore markets only and when quantities allow, New York City wine merchants get allocations.

Bangalore is home to Grover Zampa where visitors can try wines with the Nandi Hills as their backdrop and Sula’s twin business Domaine Sula – created because the fragmented domestic alcohol market of India makes wines imported from another state prohibitively expensive.

Big Banyan Wines offers a perfect wine destination just outside Bangalore too, with a lush tropical garden, an excellent outdoors restaurant as well as a tasting room and bottle shop.

Big Banyan offers mid-range, fruit-forward varietal wines from the most widely produced varieties in India: Chenin Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc, Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon, as well as Riesling, Chardonnay, Viognier, Zinfandel, Merlot and Grenache as well.

Five producers to know:

1. Sula Vineyards: India’s largest wine producer, located in Nashik, which is quickly becoming India’s ‘wine country’. Fruit-forward wines that are especially good with spicy food.

2. Grover Zampa: with its roots in the Nandi Hills outside Bangalore, the winery has a base in Nashik too. European-styled wines with a distinct Indian charm.

3. Fratelli Wines: a blend of Italian and Indian cultures, notable for being the sole producer of Sangiovese in India. Also producers fine wines from Akluj.

4. Krsma Estates: close to World Heritage Hampi, fine and age-worthy wines.

5. Vallonné Vineyards: picture-perfect location just outside Nashik, gastronomic wines from a charming small producer and open to tourists.

Indian wines to try:

Related articles

• Making wine in India – not for the faint-hearted
• Moët-Hennessy announces sparkling wine project in India
• India wins its first DWWA trophy