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With exotic wines based on fruits such as mango, pineapple, lychee and strawberry making steady inroads into the Indian market, the Indian Grape Processing Board is looking at an opportunity to get new sippers.
In the last two years, wineries from Haryana and Pune have launched four exotic wines in the Rs 1,000-crore domestic wine market. These are primarily produced from tropical fruits.
Chairman of Indian Grape Processing Board (IGPB) Jagdish Holkar told Business Line that fruit wines are light-bodied compared with the full-bodied grape wines. New drinkers find these light wines easy to drink and then they graduate to more heavy wines, he said.
Traditional fruit wines are found across the country. The Indian Grape Processing Board is looking at ways to commercialise wines, through market research and lower duties, Holkar said.
Chairman and Managing Director of Nirvana Biosys J. P. Gupta, whose Haryana-based winery recently launched lychee and mango- based wines, said that most of the tropical fruits after fermentation have 12 per cent alcohol, “They pass the basic test of a wine,” he said.
Nirvana Biosys has sold over 10,000 cases (9 litres each) of wines in the last one year. It exports to countries such as the US, Japan and Germany.
Gupta said Indians prefer fruit wines because of the unique aroma and taste. The soil conditions are also more conducive for growing tropical fruits. European soil conditions are good for wine grapes, so Europe has an upper hand in wine trade. India should develop fruit-based wines, where it has an edge over other countries, he said.
“We are making our wines at about $6 a bottle but in the Japanese market our wines are fetching $50,” Gupta said.
Akalpit Prabhune, Director of Pune-based Rhythm Wines, which makes pineapple and strawberry wines, said that discerning drinkers, who don’t like hard liquor or the heady red wine, now have an alternative in the form of fruit wine, he said.
Holkar pointed that the massive inter-State duties and taxes had stunted the growth of Indian wine industry. IGPB has asked the Centre to levy a uniform tax across the country on all varieties of wines, which will help reach a wider market.
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