Vintners look to make it a common man’s drink

NASHIK: Will wine ever be the preferred drink for Indians? Vintners (winemakers) in the country agree that if the cost of wine comes down and quality goes up then more Indians would take to wine.

All efforts are being made to promote wine in the domestic market. Most winemakers in Nashik are catering to the local market for they maintain that “the market potential is huge”. But so far, it has not been easy.

There are claims that the market is growing by 30 per cent every year, the number of functioning wineries in Nashik valley is increasing and established winemakers are increasing their production capacity. Yet, marketing remains the problem area.

“The economics of wine business revolves around its cost,” says Kishore Holkar, director, Vinsura wines. “If the cost comes down, wine will gain more popularity,” he said.

Today, the price of wine is almost three times its cost of production. Average quality wine costs about Rs400-500 a bottle, better ones go up to Rs700-800. And this is mostly due to the huge marketing costs.

Wine making is a complex process that begins in the vineyards. Wines are costly as they are made in labour-intensive and time-consuming style in the country. Out of the total juice yield of 60 per cent, only 30 per cent is used to make ‘A’ grade wine. The rest is used up for making ‘B’ grade.

“The cost increases as the raw material like bottles, corks and foils used for packaging have to be imported. Crushers, bottling machinery etc are also imported. If good quality raw material is available here, the cost will come down,” says Kishore Holkar.

Agrees Shailendra Pai, MD, Renaissance wines. “We pay an import duty of about 40 per cent on bottles, corks, capsules and boxes. Unless the cost of dry packaging reduces, the price of wine will remain the same. The cost of wine is in its making. A good quality wine is going to cost more as factors such as over cropping of grapes, maturing the wine, its infrastructural cost, etc., will have to be taken into account,” he says.

Sales tax is another reason for the high cost. “In different states, the sales tax varies. There is no uniformity. We have demanded a uniform structure for sales tax, but as of now the same structure continues,” Holkar points out. The answer is to increase wine awareness. “We have to change societal perception of wine as an alcohol and start treating it as a healthy, social drink,” says Holkar.