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As an indicator of Indians moving on to the international scene, the culture of wine drinking in India is on the rise. This is indeed a recent trend especially in much of India since wine was not considered a drink strong enough for the Indian male.

For most Indians, drinking is taboo and was associated with loose living. But with time the social taboo over liquor waned and it became an acceptable to drink on social occasions and celebrations such as weddings or on auspicious days such as �holi�. For the traditional Indian, especially in the north, liquor meant whiskey or rum or vodka. For liquor was required to be strong enough to give one a �kick�, if it was drunk at all. Then again liquor had to be consumed until the bottle was over or until one acted tipsy. This perception was fortified by the Indian cinema where only villains or the �baddies� were seen tottering with a bottle. Drinking was therefore portrayed in a bad light despite the fact that most of the film fraternity both actors and actresses consume alcohol. With Indians getting into the foreign loop and having tasted the good things of life, wine drinking has slowly crept into Indian culture. Wine at first was considered only for ladies while the macho male still clung to his �stronger stuff�. However over the years, wine has come to be accepted both by men and women especially those who have lived or traveled abroad.
The culture of wine in India began somewhere around the early �90�s, when the first Indian brands such as Sula hit the market. Wines however in India are limited both in the areas grown and the variety. The oldest of the areas is the Pune-Narayangoan areas where Sula varieties of wines come from. More recently Grover�s have located their vineyard near Bangalore. India with its diverse climatic conditions would be in a position to have vineyards in the upper Kullu and Manali regions as also in several parts of the Northeast. But since there is no tradition of wine in these areas, the scientific cultivation of vineyards has not progressed beyond some homemade local varieties of wines. Now with the growth of the Indian market for wine, there is a significant increase both in the acreage of vineyard cultivation as also better species being cultivated.
Wine however is still not fully accepted as compared with the figures of consumption. For the Indian market consumes only 5 million cases as compared to 50 million cases in China. For many of these who came to Goa, the mindset was usually that the state was cheap in liquor and girls. Ask many of those who work in hotels and they would tell you that this is one of the first requests that these people will make: open a bottle of liquor or where to find girls. Of course this class of tourists are certainly not wine drinkers but bibbers who come to Goa only to get drunk!
With the Indian moving up in wealth, culture and travel, a significant number have now taken to wine drinking. Goa with its Latin background had always maintained a tradition of wine drinking especially at dinner. It was tradition for Goan families to serve port wine after dinner. But of late, wine drinking has grown in many of the metropolitan centers of the country. The biggest wine market in India is Delhi, Mumbai followed by Bangalore and then interestingly enough Goa. Goa even during the Portuguese era retained a tradition of wine drinking. Today however, it is the tourists who are the largest consumers of wine in Goa.. This is since they would normally drink wine with their meals at home. Thus even small beachside restaurants stock wines.
Goa with its Portuguese tradition of wine has a few distilleries that have now got into the act of making wine. The Tonia Distilleries owned by the Sequeira Brothers in Raia have experimented in white wines. Goan wines however have still to perfect the finer art of distillation that prevents the residue from reaming in the wine. Further the corking and the labeling � the finer aspects of wine have yet to be mastered. Port wine derived from the Portuguese continued to be made in Goa much after the Portuguese left. Over the years there has been little improvement in the quality of this wine. Still the tradition remains and for those who prefer the sweeter variety of wine, Goan port is a good choice.
With liberalization, the government now allows the importation of wine. Many of the local goan producers have found it profitable now to import Portuguese wine rather than to manufacture a local variety. Thus Portuguese wine is imported in barrels and then bottled in India. There are even certain outlets dealing exclusively in wine. �O Nau� in Panjim vends Portuguese wines while Venite also at the Panjim market sells a variety of both local and imported wines. In India, for the purposes importation duties and sales tax, wine is still clubbed with alcohol with significant high duties. Placing wine within a concessional tariff would make it affordable and bring many more people into drinking wine rather than consuming alcohol.
With the increasing in the custom of wine drinking, many of the fashionable eating-places in Goa now instruct clients on the right combination of wine and food. Restaurants usually advice clients to try a �merlot� when ordering spicy foods such as masala chicken or a biryani. The white wines are generally recommended with fish dishes. For celebrations the gourmets would suggest bubbly Champagne like � Madame Pompadour�. Wine with dining has become a regular feature in Goa.
Of course the culture of wine drinking in India has a long way to go. With only 3 million bottles drunk a year, it compares to a half a teaspoon per head as against 60 litres per head by a Frenchman. But with the awareness of wine being good for the heart created in India, several social drinkers have now taken to wines. With India moving on to the global scene with the inflow of tourism and economic growth, the culture of wine drinking will continue to grow in the country.

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