Indians 'want sweeter wines'

Published: 09 February, 2010

Importers need to research the taste profiles of what Indian consumers would like to drink instead of pushing European-style wines, Robert Joseph has said.

Speaking to Harpers following a debate on the state of the Indian wine market at the Taste Food & Wine Conference in Mumbai, Joseph, chair of the Indian Wine Challenge, said: "European-style wines are not necessarily what the Indian consumer likes.

"You can't expect them to like Bordeaux.

"Indians tend to have a sweet tooth and wines with 11 grams of sugar may be better suited.

"Maybe importers should find out their consumers' taste preferences and tailor brands accordingly if they want to grow their market share."

But Nishant Kapoor, general manager of The Wine Society of India, disagrees: "I think it is too early to research taste profiles. The Indians currently drinking wine are aware of wine regions and brands, and France is still important to them for the status it holds.

"More than anything they need labels they can pronounce so as not to lose face when ordering a wine."

Loic Dennulin, director of Sopexa India, confirmed that French wine holds a 45% market share of imported wines by volume in India and Bordeaux is very active.

He said some wineries such as Aimery Sieur D'arques and Tableaux wines, present at the Taste Conference, have developed wines "specifically targeted at the Chinese and Indian consumer." The wines have less tannin and are sweeter.

Joseph also criticised the industry for making it the consumer's job to learn about wine.

"If you take music, people don't go to school to learn how to read music. They know what they like and will listen to what they like - whether that means Coldplay or Beethoven and it shouldn't be any different with wine," he said.

Joseph added that: "With the risk of sawing myself off by the knees, I feel that we should introduce a separate criteria [in the Indian Wine Challenge] for judges to assess wines such as Blossom Hill. The wines don't win medals but they are brands people like to drink."