India Wine

Excise minister Renukacharya said he has written to excise commissioner Arvind Jannu to study the pattern adopted by the neighbouring state. "Last year we netted Rs 7,000 crore, this year the target is more than Rs 8,500 crore. The commissioner has been asked to study the AP model,'' Renukacharya told reporters here on Tuesday.

A similar move was made when Katta Subrahmanya Naidu held the excise portfolio. But the excise department submitted a report to the government suggesting that such a move would pave the way for illicit liquor culture, besides promotiion of liquor lobbies. In AP a wine store is auctioned at Rs 15 lakh for a two-year period. The cheapest Indian Made Liquor (IML) liquor is priced at Rs 50, but it is sold at Rs 70 due to this system, the report calimed.

Andhra Pradesh lifted the blanket ban on liquor in 2005. Unlike in Karnataka, AP was a green field (open field) for liquor, therefore it was easy for them to implement the auctioning scheme. Moreover, in AP only wine stores were auctioned while bars and other liquor shops were not.

In the latest war of words between Renukacharya and the Reddy brothers, the excise minister has clearly stated that he has no intention to shut his mouth. "People who are involved in illegal mining should be punished at the earliest. Let's put an end to the issue thus,'' he told reporters. Renukacharya's reaction comes after tourism minister G Janardhana Reddy asked him to shut his mouth for better coordination. "Only the central leadership, the CM and state unit president K S Eshwarappa can ask me to be quiet. The Reddys can mind their business,'' he retorted.

State eyes AP model of auctioning bars - Times of India

When genuine grape wines started being made in India, wine makers chose to go with the conventional ‘noble’ varieties of French-origin wine grapes: Chenin Blanc and Sauvignon Blanc white wines, and Cabernet Sauvignon & Shiraz (Syrah) reds.

This was only to be expected. In the early days of wine in India (the 1990s), few people knew what wine was and whether half-way decent wines could me made in India, so vintners sought credibility by seeking to replicate the most famous grape varietals.

Early on, bitter experience taught Indage (the pioneer) that cold-climate grapes like Chardonnay or Pinot Noir could not be grown here successfully, and so Indian sparkling wines are largely a blend of Chenin Blanc and Thomson seedless. Nothing wrong with that – the stuff is of quite drinkable.

Somewhere down the line people discovered that the American red grape variety Zinfandel also did well in India, and a few companies also went out and experimented with white wines like Viognier and Clairette. Today some of the most drinkable and fragrant whites are made from the Viognier grape. And there is one – just one – company making Chardonnay (Reveilo, from Vintage Wines, Nasik). Sula started growing Merlot, and indigenized its Satori Merlot (originally imported in bulk from Chile); the company has also launched a Riesling (amazingly palatable), having cracked the ability to grow this cold-climate grape in the hills around Nasik.

The surprises continue - Business Standard

People forget that their parents too were entrepreneurs...and have built their businesses step-by-step. Cyrus Poonawalla sold horses back in 1966 to raise $12,000 to start Serum Institute. GVK Reddy has numerous firsts to his credit including being the first fast-track independent power producer. Captain Nair moved from a successful career in textiles to start a hospitality business at the age of 65. Today, Leela Kempinski is 'a brand to be reckoned with' with its super luxury hotels opening up across the country.

Adar Poonawalla says he can make an acquisition. For that he needs to go public and raise funds. But that means being accountable to someone else. Explaining why he's using his private jet or why he's not spending the extra cash on his books.

I am curious to see which of the emerging leaders actually make it in the next decade. Who has the brains, the guts, the skill to take what they have and double it.

Rajeev Samant has taken his father's 20 acre plot in Nashik and turned it into India's wine hub. Today, Sula is India's leading wine producer. With Mumbai airport, Sanjay Reddy has put GVK in the nation's spotlight, and he says this is his chance to make a mark. Devita Saraf says even her father Raj Saraf of Zenith Computers is now focusing on her baby, Vu Television's success.

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Vallée de Vin Pvt Ltd plans to launch their pan-India wine appreciation programme by the end of August 2010, which will go on till the end of February 2011. The company will conduct the programme in cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Pune, Chandigarh and states like Jaipur and Goa for promoting their products. However, the company organises such events in Mumbai and Delhi on a regular basis.

Hospitality Biz about the upcoming programme, Shubhamoy Mukherjee, National Sales Manager, Vallée de Vin said, “We would like to promote and create awareness about wines and wine culture in the country. The wine appreciation programme will be conducted for four to five days at each of these select places. We will talk to channel partners like institutions and retails to promote our wines. For institutional promotions, we will provide training to hotel staff about our different varietals of wines and the process of wine making. We will also organise trips to our winery. Also, for hotel guests who are interested to know more about wines, we will organise similar trips.

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Noonu Miah, owner of Pataka Indian restaurant in Causewayside, said he wanted to warn other firms in the area not to leave cash on their properties overnight after thieves forced their way through the front door of his restaurant during the night.

Following the theft, which took place between 11.30pm on Saturday and 11am on Sunday, he said: "When we got here, we saw the door was wide open. They'd put in a post to break the lock and taken all the money and the charity money we collected money for our local mosque, and some wine and spirits.

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