Present Scenario of wine industry in India

G.S.Karibasappa1 , P.G.Adsule2 , S.D.Sawant3 and K.Banerjee4

N.R.C. for grapes, Manjri Farm, Pune – 412 307.

ABSTRACT

This paper reviews the nascent Indian wine industry in terms of the area, production and marketing of
wines in the country. Approximately 38 wineries are presently operating in the country with a total
production of 6.2 million liters annually. Maharashtra is leading among the states with 36 wineries and
5.4 million liter production. Apart from this, 72,000 wine cases are imported mainly by ITDC, Sansula,
Brindco, E & J Gallo and other private companies. At present 7,62,000 wine cases are sold every year,
which includes 46,000 cases of sparkling wines. Which is in contrast to the much higher figures of other
drinks such as whisky, brandy and rum sold in the country. Eighty percent of wine consumption in the
country is confined in major cities such as Mumbai (39%), Delhi (23%), Bangalore (9%) and Goa (9%).
There is growing awareness about the wine as a product in the domestic market.

Poor storage and transport facilities inspite of tropical climate are the main problems of wine marketing
in the country. Other constraints are the lack of promotional activities for wine consumption in the
country and unfavorable rules for domestic marketing of wines except in few states. These and other
factors contributed to India’s low wine consumption which is hardly 0.07 L per capita. Certain
promotional strategies, such as easing of tariff barriers for the wines, developing awareness on health
benefits of wine and to supply good quality wines in reasonable prices in the domestic market are
emphasized.

Contributions made by major wineries such as, Champagne Indage (CI), Grover Vineyards and Sula
Vineyards for indigenous production of quality wines in the country are highlighted. CI at Narayangaon is
a pioneer of French style wines in India, produces exquisite qualities in both still and sparkling wines.
The company has the capacity of producing over 3 million bottles annually. Some of their wines are
exported to many European and Asian countries. The company has a good collection of European wine
varieties. The Grovers Vineyards located in southern Karnataka state also exports wines worth $
4,35,000 every year. This company has 200 hectares of vineyards under wine grapes of 35 varieties.
Sula vineyards at Nashik has new welcome additions to India’s smarter wine list. In Nashik region
‘Chenin Blanc’ is quite predominantly grown but emphasis should be given to red wine varieties. Sangli
is another region but here farmers are advised to choose appropriate varieties depending upon soil and
microclimate. In all these regions, yield regulations are required to achieve quality wines and for their
good storage life.

Grape growing is a highly capital intensive project, concerted efforts are required by the Financial
agencies to reduce the rate of interest to 6-7% from the present 10-13%. Viticultural and wine making
aspects influencing the quality of wines have been emphasized on. Wine grape cultivation practices are
given in detail along with the prominent European varieties which are commercially grown in the
country. The performance in terms of fruit yield, juice yield, TSS, acidity and pH measurements of major
wine varieties are presented. The discussions highlighted in this paper will be of immense value to the
grape growers, wineries, policy makers, financial institutions and government agencies dealing with the
production, marketing, processing and certification of wines in the country.
1,3,4
Senior Scientist ; 2Director
1. Introduction

Historically, grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) is grown mostly for wine making in the world over. In
India on the contrary remarkable success has been achieved in table grape production and yield
levels of fresh grapes are among the highest in the world. At present in India grape is grown
over an area of 60,000 ha with an annual production of 1.6 million tonnes ( FAO, 2005).

Wine has been made in India for as many as 5,000 years. It was the early European travellers to
the courts of the Mughal emperors Akbar, Jehangir and Shah Jehan in the sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries A.D. who reported tasting wines from the royal vineyards. Both red
(Kandhari) and white wines (Bhokri, Fakdi, Sahebi etc.) were produced. Under British influence
in the nineteenth century, vineyards were established in Kashmir and at Baramati in Maharashtra
and a number of Indian wines were exhibited and favourably received by visitors to the Great
Calcutta Exhibition of 1884. However, Indian vineyards were totally destroyed by unknown
reasons in the 1890s.

Due to limited domestic consumption of wine and non availability of standard wine varieties to
produce good quality wines of international standards, much emphasis was not given for research
during previous decades in India. Commercial wine grape production, however in India has
begun only since 1980’s. Although exact figures are not available regarding the current area
and production of wine grapes in India it is estimated around 1000 hectares in Maharashtra
and about 200 hectares near Bangalore in Karnataka. Among these vineyards 70 per cent are
yielding another 30 per cent are in establishment stage. In Maharashtra, wine grapes are grown
in 3 regions, such as Pune-Narayangaon, Nashik and Sangli-Solapur areas. It is expected when
all these vineyards start yielding in about 2-3 years, around 15,000 tons of wine grapes will be
ready for crushing each year yielding on an average of 90 lakh litres of wine annually. There is
a steep annual growth rate of about 20% in the present turn over of around Rs. 200 crores.
Besides demand for imported wine is increasing day by day in India. About 38 private wineries
have come up in the country 36 exist in Maharashtra and one each in Karnataka and Goa. The
total investment on wineries of Maharashtra was Rs. 77.75 crores in 2004 and raised to Rs.
109.17 crores in 2005.

These private wineries were initially established under joint set-up with European
collaborations, preparing wine from standard varieties. The most popular red varieties in
cultivation are Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir and Merlot and for Rosae still wines,
Zinfandel is used. The most popular white wine grapes are Chenin Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc,
Ugni Blanc, Viognier, Chardonnay and Riesling.

To meet the domestic demand and for exporting wines from India, good quality wines
comparable to standard wines of Europe and USA has to be produced. To give impetus to the
grape processing and wine industry in Maharashtra and for the benefit of farmers, the state
announced a comprehensive ‘Wine Policy’ in 2001 and recently in September, 2005 it has
established ‘Maharashtra Grape Board’ especially to develop marketing channels for grape
products in our country. This Government policy aims at sustaining grape cultivation and wine
industry in India in general and Maharashtra in particular. Hence, interest of table grape grower
is gradually switching over to wine varieties.
As a promotional activity for Indian wines, the MIDC on their website www.indianwine.com
selects wine of the month for the brands of quality wine that is available in the market to give
a publicity to the wine consumers. A list of selected ‘Indian wine of the month’, during the
previous year is given Table 1.
Table 1. Selected Indian wine of the month during the last year
November 2004 Sula Vineyards – 2004 Chenin Blanc
December 2004 Grover Vineyards- 2002 La Reserve
January 2005 Grover Vineyards - Viognier
February 2005 Chateau Indage Estate Vineyards - 2002 Chardonnay
March 2005 Rajdheer Wines – Le Vine
April 2005 Flemingo Wines -Cabernet Sauvignon – Shiraz
May 2005 Chateau Indage Estate Vineyards- Omar Khayyam
June 2005 ND Wines - 2003 Sauvignon Blanc
July 2005 Chateau Indage Estate Vineyards – 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon
August 2005 Sailo Wines 2002 Red wine
September 2005 Flemingo Wines – 2004 Sauvignon Blanc – Chenin Blanc(A blend)
October 2005 Chateau Indage Estate Vineyards – 2005 Shiraz
November 2005 Grover Vineyards- 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon – Shiraz ( A blend)
January 2006 Mountain View-2005 Chenin Blanc (A Dessert Wine)

2. Role of Wine Parks

The Government of Maharashtra has nominated Maharashtra Industrial Development

Corporation (MIDC) as a nodal agency for establishment of grape wine parks in the state and
would coordinate efforts of various organizations from central and state agencies and the stake
holders such as farmers, processors, service providers etc. Under this policy two wine parks
have been established by MIDC, one Godawari Wine Park at Vinchur, Nashik District and
Krishna Wine Park at Palus, Sangli district. In addition a Grape Processing and Research
Institute(GPRI) at Palus under the Bharati Vidyapeeth Deemed University has also been
established. The objectives of GPRI are;

1. To give formal training to the farmers through various courses. The successful
candidates will be awarded certificates, diplomas and degree in wine grape cultivation,
manufacturing of standard quality wines and marketing of wines.
2. To set up grape vine nurseries to provide authentic plant material to growers.
3. To manufacture standard wines on pilot scale through demonstrations.
4. To set up quality control laboratory for wines.
5. To impart wine blending techniques.
6. To explore domestic and international markets and
7. To help farmers by setting up of a ‘Mother Unit’ for manufacture of wines.

Two mother wines one at Vinchur near Nashik and another at Palus near Sangli have been
established. The concept of mother unit is to set up common facilities such as equipment for
processing like pneumatic press, crusher, destemmer, filtration unit, bottling unit, quality control
lab, cold storage (celler), packaging house and the services of the wine master and wine tester,
which are costly and required for short period of 2-3 days in a season.
3. Domestic Wine Market

Both the Indian wine market and the indigenous wine industry are in their nascent stages, but
growing by leaps and bounds (Table 2). Fifteen years ago there was no locally made wine that
was drinkable. Now there are three significant wine makers, all family-owned businesses, the
Chougules, the Grovers and the Samants. There is also great interest in wine makers from
France, Italy, Australia, South Africa, America, and Chile to enter the Indian market.

Adam Strum the owner-cum-editor of widely circulated magazine ‘Wine Enthusiast’ on his
visit to the Indian wineries, has said ‘The one thing that struck me in general was that the
varietals are true to their taste. Sauvignon Blanc from Grover and Sula were crisp, herbaceous,
and fresh- very similar to New Zealand wines. Chenin was particularly impressive, it was fruit
driven and like in Loire Valley. The sparkling Ivy from Indage was full of bubbles, crispy and
light on the palate. I think it will go very well with the spicy Indian food,’ he felt. What amused
and pleasantly surprised him was the Zinfandel from Vinsura. Wondering how they got the
clones from California he was impressed by it being so fruity and light in comparison with some
Californian Zins which tend to be too powerful, big and tannic. The market position of wines in
2003 and 2004 is reported in Table 2.

Table 2 . Segment wise Indian wine market during 2003 and 2004
Domestic Retail Value
Sl. production Imports Total (Rs. Million)
No Segment (‘000 cases*) (‘000 cases) (‘000 cases)
2003 2004 2003 2004 2003 2004 2003 2004
1. Sparkling wines 35 35 5 11 40 46 258 297
2. Still wines -premium 117 143 53 63 170 206 779 944
3. Still wines -cheap 234 240 -- --- 234 240 281 288
4. Fortified wines/Others 4 5 1 1 5 6 13 16
Total 390 423 59 75 449 498 1331 1545
*Note ; A case is a unit of 9 litre capacity or equivalent to 12 bottles

During the year 2005, the total annual production of wine in India was 6.214 million litres, out
of this 5.4 million litres is produced in Maharashtra alone that comprises 2.54 million litres of
red wines, 2.69 million litres of white wines, 0.15 million litres of sparkling and 0.036 million
litres of rosae wines. This is a very small fraction as compared to world’s annual production of
32,000 million litres. The country also imports 72,000 wine cases (9 litres/case) in a year where
32,000 cases are bottled in origin and remaining 0.36 m litres are imported in bulk flexi bags
and subsequently bottled by Indian wineries. Besides this, about 12,000 –15,000 wine cases are
sold through gray market.

The biggest consumption up to 80% is however confined to major cities like Mumbai (39%),
Delhi(23%), Bangalore (9%) and the foreign tourist dominated state of Goa (9%), where as Rest
of India has only 20% consumption. Some Indian wine makers have also started importing
foreign made wine and bottling and selling it here in India. Among the importers ; ITDC (Indian
Tourism Development Corporation), Sansula, Brindco and E&J Gallo predominate. The Indian
market is way behind major wine drinking countries. The per capita consumption in India is only
0.07 litre/person/year as against 60-70 litres in France and Italy, 25 litres in US and 20 litres in
Australia and even China has 0.4 litre.
4. Growth and Promotional activities for Indian wines

With the government planning to showcase “Wines of India” across the globe. The Agricultural
and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) are working out the
strategy and the campaign will be finalized soon. India has recently received its first order for
wine exports to the US and Indian wines were also being served in restaurants - both Indian and
Western. Approximately 0.1 million litre of wine is exporting to France, Italy, Germany, USA,
NewYork, U.K. and Singapore from Maharashtra state.

Stating that the promotion strategy would include analyzing the internal support mechanisms
including easing tariff barriers for the liquor, the sources added, “the promotion campaign will
target the US, the European Union, South Africa and Southeast Asia in a major way. There is
more and more awareness about wine as a product in Indian market. Changing life styles,
frequent travels abroad, more and more women employment. Increase in per capita income,
international research on health benefits of wines; all have combined together to create wine
awareness in India; apart from the fact that good quality wines are now available in the market.

5. Constraints in Wine marketing and consumption in India

Vintage Wine; Table Wines, Sparkling Wine, Dessert Wines, Fortified Wines (port, Sherry,
Marsala, Madeira, etc or aromatic wines like Vermouth, Dubonnet, Lillet, Cynar, etc.) are the
major types of Indian wine.

Table wines account for 85 per cent of the market and expensive varieties of vintage wines
account for the remaining 15 per cent. However, as compared to other wine-producing nations,
the domestic wine consumption is very low. Indian wines have to go a long way to gain
recognizable positions in the world.

The flip side of the industry is that of the 762,440 cases sold every year, only 46,000 cases of
sparkling wine and champagne are consumed in India. In contrast the figures of other drinks are:
37 million cases of whisky, 11 million cases of brandy and nine million cases of rum. Industry
officials believe that the market will grow rapidly once the government drops import duties on
bulk (currently at 108 per cent) and on bottled wines (currently 264-420 per cent).

One of the other reasons why wine drinking has not caught on is that quality wines are priced
relatively high. Since the volumes are low, production costs are high, as are taxes. In all hot
countries relatively new to wine, both local and imported wines are clearly extremely vulnerable
to poor storage and transport conditions. The main constraint in achieving the quality goal is the
fact that the quality compliance is very poor among the wine manufacturers.

Thus the real challenge for winemakers in India is to develop a domestic market, and that is
where the problem arises. First, people believe wine and curry do not go well. "It is a myth," says
Thomas Abraham, F & B Manager of Delhi's Hyatt Regency hotel. " The truth is most Indians
prefer beer, whiskey or rum over wine and champagne. That's why the per capita consumption of
wine in India is very low." In exports, says Aman Dhal, one of India's leading wine importers
and distributors, Indian winemakers face a peculiar problem. " Traditionally wine lovers around
the world have some kind of a mental block against Indian wines. They are just not comfortable
with the Made in India tag."

However, Oz Clarke, one of the presenters of the BBC's Food and Drink programme, refutes
that. " Western wine drinkers are some of the most imaginative aficionados in the world. I think
when they see Made in India, they won't say: "What a weird idea." They'll say: "Fantastic! I
haven't tried it. Give me some." In fact, one of Chateau Indage's most popular wine, Omar
Khayyam, is in the British market for a decade now! A spokesman of spirit major McDowell
that also distributes imported wine in the Indian market, says that wine imports, both bulk and
bottled have gathered momentum in the last three years. Growth rates, he claims, have touched
25 percent per annum in the last few years." Volumes are driven mainly by Indian wines that are
priced below Rs 150 per bottle," he adds. McDowell's, in fact, has an agreement with Concha Y
Toro, the largest producer of wine in Chile for importing wine. The company is represented in
the Indian market by two premium brands, Bosca Riesling and Red & Rose. Shaw Wallace too
was a pioneer wine manufacturer. Though Shaw Wallace's Golconda has a 25 per cent market
share, the leader is Chateau Indage, a diversified Indian Private company with interests in
viticulture and wine distribution.

6. Indigenous Wine Production

6.1 Chateau Indage

Chateau Indage (CI), Narayangaon nested in the high Sahyadri Valley of western Maharashtra
pioneered by Sham Chougule was established in 1984, with the technical collaboration of
Champagne's Piper Heidsieck. The company owns vineyards spread over 600 acres located 230
km from Mumbai. The company kick-started the Indian wine revolution in the 1980s with a
surprisingly appettizing methode traditionelle fizz sold on the local market as Marquise- de-
Pompadour but exported with considerable success as Omar Khayyam. It manufactures 18 types
of wine and the main varieties used by the winery are Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Ugni
Blanc, Pinot Noir, Gamay, Riesling, Muscat of Alexandria, Semillon, Sauvignon Blanc, Chenin
Blanc, Zinfandel, Viognier, Shiraz, Malbec and Grenache. The ultra-modern winery in
Narayangaon, produces a wide range of high-quality wines under the watchful eye of French
and Californian winemakers. Chateau Indage also sells a range of still wines on the domestic
market under the names Riviera, Figueira, Ivy and Chantilli. The Riviera red based on Pinot Noir
is well made and attractively dry; it takes chilling well. Pioneer of French-style wines in India,
CI produces a variety of exquisite still and sparkling wines. The company's wineries have a
capacity to produce over three million bottles of wine per year. In the Indian market Indage holds
75 % share of the premium still wine category and the virtual monopoly in Sparkling wines.
Chateau Indage's Riviera label includes a fruity, well-balanced white blend of chardonnay and
Ugni blanc and a soft fresh red made from pinot noir. The Chantilly label wines; a white
(chardonnay) and a red (cabernet sauvignon) are aged in French oak and show their varietal
characteristics. Omar Khayyam is a top-quality chardonnay-based sparkling wine, made by the
methode traditionelle, that compares favorably with champagne. The company also distills a fine
oak-aged grape brandy. Their wines are also exported to U.K., Sweden, Switzerland, Germany,
Canada, Bhutan, Nepal, Srilanka, Mauritius, New Zealand, Japan and U.S.A.
 Over the years the company has introduced 84 accessions of wine varieties ; 52 from France,
24 from Germany, 4 from Italy, 1 each from South Africa, Korea, Chile and California, USA. It
has also 28 accessions of rootstocks introduced mostly from France and Germany.

6.2 Grover Vineyards

Grover Vineyards, in Dodballapur, 40 km north of Bangalore at the foot of the Nandi hills, on
the other hand, uses French grapes Vitis vinifera in its vineyards in Bangalore. It exports wine
worth $435,000 every year. "The Grover range produced from high-altitude vineyards north of
Bangalore, with help from the ubiquitous Michel Rolland of Pomerol, is extremely respectable.
The reds, particularly the Reserve red, are a distinct notch above the slightly dull Clairette-based
white.

Fifteen years ago, the Grovers took on the task of reviving wine drinking in India. The company,
together with Mr. George Vesselle accepted the immense challenge of growing for the first time
French varieties of grapes, suitable for wine production in India. Grover Vineyards is jointly
owned by Kanwal Grover and Veuve Cliquot. Kanwal Grover is advised by two top French
winemakers, Michel Rolland and Georges Vesselle. The vineyards are planted at 2,000 feet
above sea level and some varieties can produce two crops a year. Still white and red wines from
Bangalore Purple, Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz and Thompson seedless grapes are made under
the supervision of winemaker Bruno Yvon. The white is medium-dry and fairly bland; the red is
cabernet-style with good depth of fruit.

Bangalore, with the ideal combination of rich, well drained soil, warm sunny days, cool nights
and temperate climate, was finally selected over six other places as the most suitable site. Thirty-
five important varieties used in France for making wine were planted. In the next five years there
was an emissary of French oenologists to study their adaptability to Indian conditions, as well as
to assess the quality of wine they would ultimately produce. Finally, in 1988 Grover Vineyards
was established on 40 acres of land at the foot of the Nandi Hills. Here nine varieties which had
responded well to Indian conditions were planted on an industrial scale. Today, Grover
Vineyards has over 200 hectares under plantation. Unlike other wine makers in India, Grover
Vineyards is the only company which shuns ordinary table grapes, while exclusively using
French wine grapes, selected from the original thirty five varieties of the Vitis vinifera
species. The company has export target of 25% of its production for the current year i.e. 1.5 lakh
bottles. Exports are mainly to France, US and UK. APEDA has chosen Grover Vineyards for
bronze medal for the excellence in export for the year 2003-04. “ So began in earnest Grover's
quest to produce India's wines made exclusively from French grapes and to world standards - and
to persuade the great whisky drinking Indian dinnerati to drink wine. Neither quest has been
easy." - Mark Nicholson, Financial Times, London, September 14, 1997.

6.3 Sula Vineyards

The most recent entrant into the Indian wine market is Sula, complete with labels of almost
California sophistication. This winery was started in 1998 and setup about seven years ago near
the town of Nashik, 200 km north-east of Mumbai, at an altitude of 600 metres, by Mr. Rajiv
Samant, a Stanford trained software engineer and a returnee from Silicon Valley, USA. Initially,
he was trying to plant Alphonso mango trees, but he found that his land near Gangapur Lake is
similar to Napa valley in the USA. He, then, turned to viticulture and wine making. He built a
winery with the help of Mr. Kerry Damskey, a wine maker from Sonama county in California
and planted Chenin Blanc and other wine varieties. The winery was designed by Mr. Rahul
Mehrotra, Mumbai’s leading architect.

The Sula winery is growing rapidly during the last few years, which actually indicates the
potential of Indian wine industry. The annual turnover has increased from Rs 55 million in
2002-03 to Rs 180 million in 2004-05. The sales have increased from 20,000 cases in 2002-03
to 70,000 cases in 2004-05, out of which 4700 cases were exported. The company plans to sale
over 1 million bottles abroad, during 2005-06, for which they have doubled their annual
capacity from 0.75 million litres to 1.5 million litres.

Sula Brut, Sula Seco and Sauvignon Blanc will be some welcome additions to India’s smarter
wine list. Sula wines are available in finest hotels and restaurants in India, which includes
premier hotel chains like J.W. Marriott, Grand Hyatt and Taj Hotels. The company feel proud to
mention that their wines are available at ‘Lavinia’ the France’s largest wine shop and are
imported by ‘M/s Gaja Distribuzione’ of Italy, who also produces Italy’s most famous
eponymous wines. Sula wines have been exported to US, UK, France, Italy, Canada and Ireland.

7. Major Wine markets of the World

Out of world’s total annual production of 32 billion litres, the following are among the top
countries and MNC’s have their major share in the world wine market.

France : 5.6 billion ltrs

Italy : 5.3 “
Spain : 3.5 “
US : 2.2 “
Argentina : 1.4 “
Germany : 1.0 “
South Africa : 770 million ltrs
Australia : 750 “
China : 690 “
Gallo (MNC) : 675 “
Portugal : 611 “
In case of Australia, that exports 230 million litres annually worth more than 1 billion
dollars and UK is its major market worth $489 million.

a. Prospects for Indian Wine Market

At the moment India produces only 8.35 million bottles per year. There is a huge potential in
Indian market itself. For export market, the increasing popularity of Indian cuisine is an
automatic opening. With more and more professionals visiting India on regular basis, and the
fact that Indian wine exports are going up every year, word is getting spread very fast creating
awareness of Indian wines in International market. What the country needs now is set of rules
and norms to monitor quality compliance so that credibility of Indian wines as a product or
brand is established.

The Govt. of Maharashtra is giving lot of support to wine manufacturers in the state but wine
needs to be encouraged as a product. Wine culture is not going to develop by wines
manufactured only in Maharashtra, it will be short sighted to discriminate manufacturers from
other States by imposing higher taxes and registration fees. Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil
Nadu also should frame Wine Policy based on Maharashtra state. There should be uniform law
in all the states, to be controlled by the Central Govt., to develop wine industry as agro based
product. Govt. should also encourage participation of Indian wineries in trade fares/exhibitions
at national and international level.

In Nashik region, Chenin Blanc is quite predominantly planted but there is need to work more
on Red wine varieties. Sangli is another promising area. But farmers should choose appropriate
varieties depending on soil, micro-climate etc. Also, there should be influence of yields, both
for quality and life of wines.

There is a school of thought that old world regulations made the wine industry very complicated
in terms of approach to consumer and only after 1970’s that wine culture really started after New
world started to be more and more aggressive. With a result that Australian wines have taken
over French wines as No. 1 sellers in UK market, both quantity and value wise, apart from the
more obvious fact that they are more value for money. If Australia, Chile and US can become
leaders in wine exports over just 10 years of operation, there is no reason why Indian wines
cannot achieve such status. There is a vast potential to be tapped provided meticulous planning
is done. In order to understand export potential for Indian wines, it is of utmost importance to
address quality related issues. The wine industry in India is in its nascent stages now, to follow
quality parameters will go a long way in making wines from India as a brand in international
market, the same way Australians and Chileans have achieved.

Grape growing is a highly capital intensive project, concerted efforts are required to reduce the
rate of interest to 6 or 7% from the present 10-13%. This will initiate farmers to grow wine
varieties of grapes, which is the only way to achieve exports. The embassies and consulates of
India all over the world should make a point to serve only Indian wines in their official functions,
which will help in creating awareness. We have already made the beginning and wines were
exported to Beijing, Islamabad and Paris.

Last but not the least, there must be constant financial backing and support from government
authorities. The subsidies for wine projects should not take 2-3 years for release. We are very
happy that Maharashtra Grape Board is looking into this problem with utmost sincerity. The
Govt. of India is also actively considering setting up of Indian Wine Board under the
Ministry of Food Processing Industries at the Central level for promoting the domestic wine
industry.

8. Factors affecting wine quality

Wine grape plant prefers warm bright days, dry cold night temperature and mild winters under
tropical regions. “Terroire” can be defined as basic identity of the wine owing to soil, climate
and the wine making practices. There is bound to be variation in weather during the ripening of
grapes from year to year bringing in variation in quality of must. The vinification practices have
to be modified in accordance with the climatic changes.

Based on climatic conditions, vine growing areas are classified into cold, cool, warm and hot
regions. However, yearly climatic variation may shift the positioning of a vineyard within this
classification eg. Cool vineyard either cool to cold /cool to warm. These variations are more
likely to occur in cool to cold vine growing regions than in warm to hot vine growing regions
which show less vintage variation since climatic conditions during ripening are more or less
consistent from year to year. However, blending of wines with different varieties, vineyards and
years helps overcome vintage variation. One must use European wine varieties such as Cabernet
Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Shiraz, Pinot Noir, Sangiovese, Sauvignon Blanc,
Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc, to make quality wine but unfortunately most of the wine
manufacturers either use table grape varieties or blend with wine varieties. For varietal wines
there must be minimum of 75-85% of particular variety. A model can be chosen with the best
from old world and new world countries. There is a long way to go still, and there must be some
set of rules governing wine industry to create credibility on a long run.

9. Classification of Wine
Wines are categorized using a number of different methods. Sometimes they are grouped into
different categories by grape variety, region of origin, by color, by the name of the wine maker
or viticulturalist, or by production technique. Three basic groups of wines are most easily
distinguishable for the consumer: table wines, sparkling wines and fortified wines. Table wines,
also known as still or natural wines, are produced in many different styles and make up the
majority of wines on the market. Traditionally consumed as part of a meal, table wines contain
between 10 and 14 percent alcohol and are further classified by their color, sugar content, and the
variety and origin of the grapes that were used. Depending on the grape variety and wine-making
technique, wines can be white, red, or pink in color. Most table wines are fermented until they
are dry i.e, all the grape sugar has been turned to alcohol by the yeast. Slightly sweet or off-dry
wines are made by stopping the fermentation before all the sugar is gone or by adding grape
juice back to the wine afterwards.

10. How Wine Is Made ?

Wine is the product of the fermentation by yeast of grape juice or grape must, grape juice that
still contains the fruit's skins and seeds. Once the grape sugar has been completely consumed,
fermentation is complete, and wine has been produced. The science that deals with wine making
is known as Enology.

While the basic production elements of wine are simple, manipulation of the grapes, juice or
must, and wine to produce the desired combination of flavors and aromas is very difficult, and
many recognize this process as an art form. Wine makers try to optimize production of specific
aromas and flavors described with terms like cherry, chocolate, vanilla etc and minimize the
formation of negative flavors and aromas described as wet dog, plastic and rotten egg. It is also
important that the wine acids and alcohol are balanced. If the wine is too acidic, the wine may
taste sour. If the ethanol level is too high, the wine will have a strong taste of alcohol.

The single most important factor that contributes to a wine's character is the grapes that are used.
Grapes influence the wine's flavor, alcohol content, acidity, and even its color. White wine,
which is actually straw to golden-yellow in color, is produced from white grapes, and red wine is
produced from red grapes. Red and white wine production is basically the same except for one
primary difference: the presence of the grape skins during fermentation. White grapes are
crushed and the juice separated from the skins prior to fermentation. Red wine is fermented with
the grape skins. Red pigments called anthocyanins and other compounds in the grape skins are
extracted during the fermentation process to impart the characteristic red color of the wine as
well as other features. A blush or rosé wine is light pink in color and is produced from red grapes
not fermented with the skins. A little pigment is released when the red grapes are crushed, but
not to the same extent as during fermentation.

In modern wine production, the grapes are harvested from the vineyards and taken to a winery
where they are passed through a machine called a destemmer-crusher that separates the fruit
from the stems and cracks the berries open to release the juice. To make white wine, the must is
transferred to a press where pressure is applied to separate the juice from the skins. The amount
of pressure used influences what flavor compounds are extracted from the skins. After pressing,
the white juice without the skins is transported to a fermentation tank. In red wine production,
the must from the crusher is transferred directly to a tank for fermentation.

The containers used for fermentation are mostly stainless steel or wood. The type of container
used and the temperature of fermentation influence the characters of the wine. Many of the
aroma components of wine are volatile that is, they leave the wine by evaporation. This
evaporation occurs faster at higher temperatures, so to retain fruity characters in the wine the
temperature of fermentation must be controlled, usually by direct cooling of the fermentation
tanks. Stainless steel is much easier to cool than wood and is preferred for temperature-crucial
fermentation.

The wine maker may allow fermentation to proceed relying only on the yeast naturally present
on the grape skins and in the winery equipment, or the wine maker may add extra yeast in a
process known as inoculation. Two yeast species are used in fermentation, Saccharomyces
cerevisiae or Saccharomyces bayanus. Yeast is responsible for the presence of positive but also
negative aroma characters in wine. For example, when yeast is under stress it produces a
compound called hydrogen sulfide, which smells like rotten eggs. To avoid this undesirable
quality, a wine maker may add nutrients to the fermentation tank. The duration of fermentation
also influences wine character.

Other naturally occurring microorganisms may grow in the must or juice, affecting the flavors
and aromas of the finished wine. For example, lactic acid bacteria use the acids in wine as a
source of energy, reducing the wine's acidity. These bacteria also produce other aromas and are
responsible for the buttery smells that can be found in wine. Sometimes the wine maker restricts
the growth of lactic acid bacteria, especially if the wine is already low in acidity or if the buttery
character would clash with other aromas of the wine. Acetobacter, another type of bacteria, can
spoil the wine by converting ethanol to acetic acid to make vinegar.

When fermentation is complete, red wine is separated from the stems and grape skins by passing
it through a press. Both red and white wines appear cloudy after fermentation, and the wine
maker must wait for the yeast and other solids to settle to the bottom of the fermentation tank,
forming a sediment called the lees. The clear wine is racked or drawn off the lees and stored in a
clean cask. In a process called fining, the wine maker may further clarify the wine by adding
ingredients that attract unwanted particles, such as proteins that can cause cloudiness. These
added ingredients settle to the bottom and can be easily collected and removed.

After fermentation, the wine maker has to decide how the wine will be aged. Aging of wine
significantly affects the flavors and aromas present, and several different techniques are used.
For example, wine aged in oak barrels picks up some flavor and aroma characters from the oak
wood, a very desirable quality in some wines. A wine may be aged under conditions encouraging
the loss of some of the fruity, volatile compounds, producing a wine rich in other characters,
such as spicy or toasted flavors. Air exposure during aging can cause the phenolic wine
compounds, extracted from grape skins and seeds, to combine with each other, producing large
chemical compounds called tannins. Over time the tannins become so large that they form
reddish-brown sediment in the bottle. This reduces wine bitterness and astringency. The length
of time a wine is aged before it is bottled determines the extent to which these reactions occur.
Once the wine has been aged, it is ready to be put into bottles, where it may continue to slowly
age for many years.

11. Machineries and Accessories and other inputs for wineries

The quality of the wine is decided in vineyards. But making appropriate and good quality wine
out of good grapes is more of a skill of a wine-maker than pure science. Such skill can be better
executed by the wine maker consistently and hygienically, if the winery has good machineries,
like destemmer, crusher, pneumatic/ hydraulic press, screw pumps, fermentation tanks with
cooling jackets/ cooling system; filters & insulated tanks for cold stabilization of the wine,
vacuumized bottling plants and water softeners are the major machineries required in wine
Industry. Most of these machineries in large old wineries, were imported from European
countries especially Italy. Makes of Della Toffola, Velo, Grotto Derfanceschi etc are commonly
seen in Indian wineries (Photo). However, Maharashtra is the only state in the country given
impetus to develop wine industry and leads in winery machine manufacturers in India. Many of
them have developed prototypes of full range machineries suited to variable sizes of wineries.
Companies like M/s Winetech Engineers and Datacone Wine machineries Pvt. Ltd. have
displayed their prototypes with specifications on their websites. Destemmer, crusher, press and
screw pump are the machineries which handle grapes when arrive at winery and prepare must for
fermentation. These machineries play very important role in deciding wine quality and involve
lots of sophistication. Most wineries in India, have not opted to go for Indian machineries for
preparing must for fermentation and use imported units where destemmer, crusher, press and
screw pumps are integrated and the unit works on digitally programmed & sophisticated
software. Krishna wine park at Palus in Sangli district lends out such units to the smaller
wineries on hire. Fermentation tanks with cooling jackets and cooling system in most new
wineries are made in India. The tanks are normally made by using medical grade stainless steel
(SS-316L/304) and have mirror finish from inside surface. Even old wineries are now opting for
Indian made fermentation tanks and cooling systems, which are of international standards. It is
also hoped that other Indian made machineries like filtering units and bottling plants will be
used especially by small & newly established Indian wineries.

Oak wood vats and barrels are required to mature good wines. This is a very expensive input for
any winery since such material can only be imported from European continent and other
countries. Use of large vats is difficult due to high temperatures in tropical region. Hence small
barrels are used by some big wineries in temperature controlled rooms to mature high value
wines (Photo). Sparkling wines are prepared by only big wineries so far. Special kind of bottles
sustaining high pressure of trapped gas and special device to gradually tilt the bottles during
secondary fermentation are imported. Wine bottles, corks, labels and silver foils are also
imported from outside India.
12. Wine yeast culture formulations

This is one of the most important input required for wine making. Even small winery spends
about Rs. 3 to 5 lakhs to purchase these culture formulations. Normally yeasts are imported in
the form of dry active yeast granules. ‘Red star’ and ‘Lalvin’ are two major brands of wine
yeasts. The different strains sold by them are from old wine making countries in Europe but they
are available in old and new wine making countries all over the world. Dry active yeast
formulations need to be activated in warm water along with malt extract for 24 hours before to
be used to start fermentation in must. Wine yeasts strains available are highly specialized. Most
of the available yeast cultures are Saccharomyces cerevisiae or S. bayanus. But each strain is
selected for specific characters, such as tolerance to high alchohol ( up to 18 %) and SO 2 (100-
500 ppm), high temperature tolerance (Up to 35 oC), low temperature tolerance ( 5-7oC) to have
slow fermentations in white wines, ability to start stuck fermentation, low foaming etc.
Recently, some strains are available which are known to enhance the body and aroma of a wine
made from specific grape varieties such as Shiraz, Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc etc. By and large
the decision on selection of wine yeast is done by wine maker. More than specialized characters
previous experience with the culture plays dominant role in the selection. Tropical viticulture
receives relatively higher fungicides applications for control of air borne diseases. Hence, native
yeasts on the grapes will not be sufficient in case of Indian wine grapes to go for natural
fermentation. However, Saccharomyces yeasts have potential to control powdery mildew on
bunches in vineyards. Application of good wine yeast cultures on grape bunches in vineyards
may help in control of diseases and to suppress less efficient wild yeasts.

13. Viticulture Aspects affecting wine production

Natural factors make wine from a particular region unique, known in the wine industry as
terroir, these factors include local climate (temperature, rainfall, and sunlight), location of
grapevines (altitude and slope) and soil (structure, composition, and water drainage). In general,
a grapevine produces the best fruit when the moderate climate provides much sunshine and cool
nights without frost or hailstorms and the soil is well drained. Grapevines grow best in sandy,
chalky, or rocky soils.

A wine's character is strongly affected by vine growing, or viticultural practices such as training,
trellising, harvesting, and pruning. Training and trellising enable the viticulturalist to control the
sun exposure to ensure the grapes ripen evenly. Grapes harvested when they are not ripe may be
low in sugar and may not ferment properly. Overly ripe grapes have very high sugar content and
produce wine high in alcohol. Tropical vines do not show high dormant, the viticulturalist
prunes the vines twice a year. First pruning is carried out during first fortnight of April every
year to induce vegetative growth and in this phase fruit bud formations occur in mature canes.
The second pruning of matured canes is done during late September or early October to obtain
fruits. As most of the wine varieties have basal fruitfulness of the canes, pruning level is
normally kept low between 4-7 buds from the base depending upon varieties. Pruning enables
the grower to control the size and shape of the vines, as well as the number of buds that will
develop the next year. Too many buds on a vine may stress nutrient availability, reducing the
quality of the future harvest.

Grapevines have many natural enemies: insects, molds, bacteria, fungi, viruses and animals such
as birds that eat the sweet grapes. Certain soil-borne pests, such as nematodes,
phylloxera(wasp), phytophthora (fungus) etc may destroy the roots of grapevines. To counter
this problem, vineyards use the rootstocks from resistant American vines .(Vitis champini,
V.riparia, V.berlandieri, V.rupestris and their interspecific hybrids etc.) and the scion cultivars
from European species (V. vinifera).

13.1 Climate & Soil

Overall performance in terms of growth, yield and quality of grapes for wine making is greatly
influenced by climate & soils.
I . Climate –
It is the summation of weather conditions throughout the year.
Factors : i) Temperature
ii) Solar radiation, sunshine hours
iii) Rainfall, Relative humidity
iv) Wind, Evaporation etc.
Vitis vinifera grape varieties grow under wide range of climatic conditions.

i) Temperature : Diurnal variation with cool nights (15-18o C) and warm days (28-32oC) is
essential for successful wine grape production .Degree days that are available during September
to March 2200-2750 (Nashik), 2750-3000 (Pune, Narayangaon) 3000-4000 (Sangli, Solapur)
normally influences which wine variety to grow and the type of wine to produce. Table wine
grapes are grown at 2200-2750 degree days. Dry table wines require mild ripening period with
average temperatures of 22-28oC and low diurnal variations. Growing season length should be
sufficiently long to mature moderate to heavy crops of grapes. In areas where there is sudden
temperature drop and onset of wet weather, there are ripening problems and crop losses. Each
variety requires certain heat summation to bring its fruit from full bloom to maturity or a given
brix reading. Cool, mild temperatures increase the production of acid (malic and tartaric )in the
berries, increase the sugar acid balance and enhances the colour in the red varieties. By contrast
hot conditions during ripening period increases the sugar level, hastens maturity, lowers the acid
level of grapes and inhibits pigment formation in red varieties. The organic constituents of wine
such as alcohol, acids, esters, colour, tannins and aldehydes do have direct bearing on the
bouquet, taste and other qualities of individual wines. The level and balance of these
constituents in the musts and wines in turn are largely determined by climate (heat summation).
High temperatures cause yield loss due to poor fruit set, moisture stress and reduces the rate of
photosynthesis. Optimum temperature for photosynthesis 25-30o C and declines rapidly above
and falling to zero at 45-50oC and also decreases rapidly below 15oC.

ii) Solar Radiation : Optimum light intensity for photosynthesis varies between 700-1100
micro molar units (30,000-50,000 lux) depending upon the location, topography, variety and
training systems.
Both light intensity and temperature are involved in the formation of fruitful buds during May-
August. The number of bunch primordia increase with higher light intensity and the fruitfulness
of new buds depends on the daily duration of high light intensity falling on the bud itself rather
than on whole plant.
High light intensity with high temperature(>36oC) are not conducive for berry colour
development, whereas with moderate temperature (28-32o C) and high light intensity there will
be good colour development between veraison and ripening.
 iii) Rain fall & relative humidity: Generally for economical wine production a reasonable
rainfall amount of 55-65 cm annually is desirable between June- October for recharging the
subsoil with moisture.
For maximum yield, vines need at least 75 cm water with good distribution throughout fruiting
season. Avoid water stress during flowering and early berry growth period till veraison, whereas
slight moisture stress during veraison to ripening enhances the quality of berries.
iv) Evaporation : Evaporation is based on various climatic factors such as temperature, day
length, wind, vapour pressure and solar radiation which affects plant growth. The actual and
potential evapotranspiration is based on the amount of available water in the root zone and the
evaporative power of the air.

II . Soil requirements of vines

Grapes can adapt to a wide variety of soil types ranging from coarse gravelly sands to heavy
clays, shallow to very deep soils and soils of low to high fertility. Best performance is however
obtained in deep medium textured soils (loams and sandy loams) which are low in salts and are
well drained. Wine Grapes are successfully grown under irrigation on soils that Provide 45-60
cm of root zone. However most V.vinifera varieties are deep rooted and fully explore the soil to
a depth of 6-10 feet or more if the aeration is satisfactory and there is no obstruction to root
zone.

Soil physical features such as soil colour affects the absorbance of radiant heat. Soil texture
influences water holding capacity, the nutrient status, infiltration rate, permeability and aeration.
Soil chemical properties such as pH is a measure of degree of acidity or alkalinity where vines
are tolerant to wide range of pH conditions. The pH gives an indication of nutritional status as it
is related to cation exchange capacity(CEC). In broad terms acid soils have low CEC broadly
dominated by hydrogen, whereas alkaline soils are dominated by calcium, magnesium and
potassium. Optimum pH range is 6-6.5 for wine grapes. The quality of wine is related to grape
variety, followed by climatic area and by soil type.

13.2 Cultivation Aspects

i). Soil prepartion ; All types of soil require deep trench spaced 1.8 M-3.0 M apart and
oriented towards north-south direction. Apply 2.5 tons /ha Superphosphate along with 50
tons /ha of FYM. Copius watering of the trench to get weathering & decay of the organic
matter at least 15 days in advance before planting.

ii). Planting : Only Vitis vinifera varieties shall be used for new plantations. These varieties
should be grafted on the recommended rootstocks for wine varieties such as Salt creek, 110 R,
1103 P, 140 Ru, 99R, SO-4, DogRidge, etc which are salt tolerant, drought and nematode
tolerant. Plant the rootstocks in the month of Feb-March in enriched soil along the trenches.
Graft the desirable scion variety in situ on rootstock during September and October. Normally
recommended spacing for most wine varieties is 2.0 M between rows and 1.25 M between
plants accommodating 4000 plants per hectare.

iii).Training of young grafts/plants : Frame work establishment with single main stem,
primary arms and cordons require proper training system. For this recuts, topping , pinching
and tipping are followed. Training systems such as Kniffin, double cordon and trellis system
are mainly followed. Pendal system which is common for table grape is not recommended for
wine varieties. Drip irrigation / fertigation facilities will compliment quick establishment of the
vineyard.
iv). Manuring & fertilizer application : For one hectare vineyard 250 kg sulphate of
ammonia, 250 kg superphospate and 250 kg sulphate of potash , 75 kg magnesium sulphate
should be given in 3 doses after foundation pruning. The first half doses should be mixed with
40 tons FYM just prior to pruning, second quarter dose should be given 30 days after pruning
and next quarter dose after 60 days of pruning. Subsequent nutrient doses should be guided by
soil and petiole analysis. Optimum petiole concentrations of yielding wine grape varieties in
general, should have for N-0.632 %, P-0.25% and K-0.981%, Ca - 0.6 %, Mg – 0.4 %, S-0.1%,
Zn-20 ppm,Cu-8 ppm, Mn – 25 ppm, Fe- 75 ppm and B- 30 ppm.

v). Fore pruning : Early September is ideal for most of the wine varieties as they take longer
period for maturity and harvest. Most of the wine varieties have basal fruitfulness hence the
level of pruning is normally kept low; either spur pruning or short cane pruning are adopted.

vi).Training systems for wine grape:

1.48M
0.38M

1360 Angle
0.7M
1.95M
1.35 M

0.6M

a. Trellis system

b. Kniffin system c. Telephone system d. Double cordon

Fig.1 Different training systems for wine grape varieties

It is desirable to have trellis system among the various training systems for most of the wine
varieties grown in tropical climate with bright sunlight that may get sun damaged on kniffin.
Whereas bower system tends to delay the ripening process and often fruits become highly
acidic with poor colour development.

14. Important Wine varieties

14.1 Red Wine Grapes

Cabernet Sauvignon
Most of the great red wines of Bordeaux and some of the finest wines of the New World are
based on Cabernet Sauvignon. It is often blended with Cabernet Franc and Merlot and its flavor
is reminiscent of blackcurrants or cedarwood. It demands aging in small oak barrels, and the best
wines require several years of bottle age to reach their peak.
Merlot
This variety takes second place to Cabernet Sauvignon in most premium red wine blends. Merlot
is fragrant and usually softer than Cabernet Sauvignon. It also shows best with oak maturation,
but usually requires less bottle maturation before it is ready to drink. Merlot bottled as a varietal
is becoming popular in India.
Shiraz
This grape is also known as Syrah. It makes a soft and rich wine often characterized by smoky
and chocolaty aromas. It matures faster than cabernet and is sometimes blended with it to speed
accessibility.
Zinfandel
This variety probably originated in Southern Italy as the Primitivo grape. It is planted by only a
few Indian wineries. The quality of wines have been very good, especially when they receive
enough oak maturation.
Pinot Noir
The grape from which complex and elegant wines are made in Burgundy. There are several
clones in pinot noir that show great promise. The Pinot Noir wines in are clean and lively with
the flavor of ripe cherries.

Cabernet Franc
This variety possesses qualities similar to those of Cabernet Sauvignon, although they are a little
less pronounced in Cabernet Franc. It is an important part of blends and is often blended with
Cabernet Sauvignon.
Cinsaut (Cinsault)
Formerly known as Hermitage in the Western Cape of South Africa, it produces light wines and
is most often used as a blending wine to increase accessibility at an early age. Cinsaut is one of
the parents of Pinotage.
Pinotage
It is a unique South African grape made from a cross of Pinot Noir and Cinsaut. It was
developed locally in 1926. It is hardy in the vineyard and generally produces a wine that is full
bodied with good fruit flavors and a distinctive spiciness, but often referred to as possessing a
"sweetish acetone" flavor. Previously thought to be early maturing, it is now believed that
Pinotage benefits from extended maturation.
 14.2. White Wine Grapes
Chardonnay
It is currently one of the most popular if not the most popular dry white wine variety in the
world. It is planted in almost every wine producing country and is one of the easiest varieties to
grow. Chardonnay generally benefits from oak and is especially complex when it is barrel
fermented as well as barrel aged. However, over- oaking has been a common fault of some the
first Chardonnays.
Chenin Blanc
This grape is the Cape's most popular white variety with about thirty percent of her vineyards
producing Chenin Blanc. It produces a wide range of wines from sweet to dry, including
sparkling and still wines. Its dry wines are fresh and fruity and Chenin Blanc's sweet wines and
botrytis dessert wines are becoming more fashionable.
Sauvignon Blanc
India now can produce international quality wines of Sauvignon Blanc as evidenced at few
wineries located in Nashik and Pune district. These microclimates in Maharashtra are suited to
the growing of this variety. The Sauvignon Blancs tend to be dry and grassy. Its plantings have
increased though it is a moderate yielder

Performance of some prominent European wine varieties at NRC for Grapes , Pune is given in
Table 3.

Table 3. Performance of Prominent European wine varieties at NRCG, Pune.

Sr. Variety *Average Juice yield TSS Acidity Juice

Fruit Yield hectoliter °Brix g. l-1 pH
tons ha-1. ha-1
A.Red Wines
1. Shiraz 17.87 1.197 20.60 5.40 3.35
2. Cabernet 13.65 0.951 22.20 5.70 3.54
Sauvignon
3. Merlot 15.85 1.022 23.10 5.30 3.41
4. Zinfandel 14.87 1.007 21.20 5.37 3.42
5. Saperavi 11.38 0.696 19.60 6.40 3.34
6. Carignan 16.52 1.113 19.80 5.48 3.00
7. Grenache 18.87 1.169 19.70 5.62 3.18
8. Convent Large 18.47 1.035 19.00 4.80 3.67
Black
9. Pinot Noir 7.80 0.413 24.80 4.25 3.57
B. White wines
10. Chardonnay 6.64 0.408 18.00 3.65 3.52
11. Chenin Blanc 20.75 1.411 18.50 4.72 3.55
12. Sauvignon Blanc 12.19 0.780 20.80 5.10 3.63
13. Ugni 22.63 1.448 19.80 3.75 3.33
Blanc(Trebbiano
)
14. Clairette 15.26 0.931 17.80 3.52 3.58
15. Vermantino 16.28 1.043 20.60 3.77 3.37
16. Garganega 15.84 0.926 19.60 5.48 3.07
th th
* Average of 2 years on 4 & 5 year-old vineyard.

Shiraz Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot Pinot Noir

Chenin Blanc Sauvignon Blanc Chardonnay

15. Indian Standard specification for wines(IS 7058)

As per the Prevention of Food Adulteration (PFA) Act 1954, Standards of weights and Measures
(packaged commodities) Rule,1977 and State Excise Duty Rules, following specifications have
been recommended for Indian Wines. However these are subject to the restrictions imposed
under these Acts and Rules there under, wherever applicable.
For the purpose of deciding whether a particular requirement of this standard is compiled with
the final value, observed or calculated, expressing the result of a test or analysis, shall be
rounded off in accordance with 2: 1960 ‘Rules for rounding off numerical values (revised).The
number of significant places retained in the rounded off value should be the same as that of
specified value in this standard.

15.1. Scope

This standard prescribes the requirements and the methods of sampling and test for Table Wines.

15.2. Types

15.2.1 Table Wines : Shall be the products obtained from the alcoholic fermentation of fresh
grape juice/ must, grape juice concentrate (obtained by reverse osmosis), or frozen grapes. It
shall possess the varietal character derived from the grapes or the constituents formed during
fermentation.
This standard covers the following types of table wines:
(a) Dry white,
(b) Sweet white,
(c) Rose dry and sweet,
(d) Dry red,
(e) Sweet red,
(f) Sparkling wine,

15.2.1a & b. Dry and Sweet White Table Wines:

These wines shall be the products obtained from the alcoholic fermentation of grape juice/must.
Their colour shall be colourless to golden pale.

15.2.1.c. Rose Table Wines

The Table wines having light red to pink colour can be designated as “Rose Table wines”.
It can be a combination of red and white Table wines; or produced by shorter maceration of red
wines. Dry and Sweet Rose(Blush wine); blending of Red and White wines(Rose Table) shall be
termed, as ‘Blush Wine’ and it must be stipulated clearly on the label.

15.2.1.d & e. Dry and Sweet Red Table Wines

These wines shall be the products obtained from the alcoholic fermentation of red, purple,
pink or black grapes. The wine shall possess distinct colour, which shall come from natural
pigments, mainly anthocyanins present in the grapes.

15.3 Sparkling Wine

These wines shall be the wines that have retained the carbon dioxide, which naturally
evolves from alcoholic fermentation ; or the wines that are carbonated externally with
carbon dioxide.
a) The wine that will undergo second fermentation in the bottle itself and that has
retained the CO2, which naturally evolves form natural alcoholic fermentation shall be
termed as Sparkling Wine “ Methode Traditionelle”
b) The wine that has undergone second fermentation in the pressure tank and has
retained CO2, which has naturally evolved form natural alcoholic fermentaion and
bottled by counter pressure filling shall be termed as Sparkling wine
“ Bulk Methode”.
c) If the CO2 retains in the wine is by carbonation method ( external addition of CO2 in
wine) it can also be termed as Sparkling wine. However, it should be properly
mentioned on the front label in suitable Font so that it is easily recognised by the
consumer.

15.4. Wine Quality Requirements

Table wines shall comply with the requirements given in Table-4.

 Table 4 Requirements for Table Wines(Clause 6.11)
Sr. Characteristic Red White Wine with residual Sparkling Desert
Rose sugar of 5 g/l or Wine Wine
more
1 Reducing residual Less Less More More More than More
sugar. g/l than than than than 10 g/l than
5 g/l 5 g/l 5 g/l 5 g/l 10 g/l
2 pH 2.9-4.2 2.9-4.2 3.0-4.2 3.0-4.2 3.0-4.2
3 Total acid (as tartaric 10 10 10 10 10
acid) g/l. Max
4 Volatile acidity 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2
expressed as acetic
acid .g/l Max
5 Esters as ethyl 4.0 4.0 4.0 4.0 4.0
acetate (expressed in
terms of g. per liter
absolute
alcohol)Max
6 Higher alcohols as 4.0 4.0 4.0 4.0 4.0
amyl alcohol
(expressed in terms
of g. per liter of
absolute alcohol )
Max
7 Aldehydes as 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
acetaldehydes
(expressed in terms
of g. per litre of
absolute alcohol)
Max.
8 Total sulphure 160 210 210 260 300
dioxide, mg/l. Max
9 Free sulphur dioxide, 100 100 100 100 100
mg/l .Max
10 Copper (as Cu), 5 5 5 5 5
Mg./l Max
11 Iron (Fe), mg./l Max 15 15 15 15 15
12 Extract, g/l Max 50 50 50 50 50
13 Tannins, g/l Max 4.0 4.0 4.0 4.0 4.0
14 Methyl alcohol 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4
(expressed in terms
of g. per liter of
absolute alcohol )
Max

15.4.1 Ethyl Alcohol Content

The ethyl alcohol content in Table Wines shall be in the range of 8% to 15.5% volume by
volume at 20° / 20° C or any other strength subject to approval by State Excise Authority,
when determined according to the method prescribed in 4 of IS 3752:1988. The tolerance
limits for ethyl alcohol content shall be ± 1.5 percent of the declared strength. However,
 the ethyl alcohol content, its tolerance and method of measurement may vary according
to the rules and regulations prescribed by the State Excise Authority .
15.4.2 Taste and aroma : Table wines shall be free from any unpleasant aroma , unpleasant
taste, cloudiness, sediments or suspended matters, mould and bacterial growth.

15.4.3 Freedom from Mould and Bacterial Growth

Table Wines shall be free from mould, bacterial or any other growth.
15.4.4 Freedom from Harmful Ingredients
Table Wines shall be free from any ingredients injurious to health.
15.4.5 Colour & Additives
Table Wines may contain permitted food additives as defined by PFA /CODEX /JECFA.
The limits will be in accordance with EU guidelines. Uses of Colour and additives are not
permitted in the Table wine unless specifically allowed by State Excise Department and
needs to be clearly mentioned on the label.
15.4.6 Taste & Aroma
Table Wines shall have the characteristic taste and aroma of whisky. To enhance the
characteristic flavour of the product, natural extracts and / or natural / nature identical /
artificial flavour permitted under PFA/FEMA GRAS may be used. When a varietal is
specified on the label the taste should respect the property and the characteristics of the
particular variety of grape and the style of wine. The addition of any artificial or external
aromas to enhance the palate and the flavours in the wine should completely be
prohibited. The natural flavour and taste of the wine should only come from the
fermentation process, and characteristics of grape variety.

15.4.7 In case of sparkling wine, it shall be carbonated with carbon dioxide conforming to Grade
2 of IS 307:1996 to pressure in accordance with its character. However, the sparkling
wines shall have minimum of one volume of carbon dioxide.
15.4.8 Freedom from Sedimentation
Wines shall be free from sediments or suspended matters.
15.4.9 Net Volume
Tolerance on net volume shall be as per the Second Schedule of the Standards of
Weights and Measures (Package Commodities) Rules, 1976. The net volume shall be
measured at a temperature of 27°C.

15.5 Packing

15.5.1 Table Wines may be filled in glass bottles conforming to IS 1662:1974 or plastic bottles
made of PET conforming to IS 14537:1998 or any other suitable neutral or non-
reactive containers. The bottles or containers shall be properly sealed. Used bottles shall
be permitted if sanitized and cleaned in a hygienic way by the manufacturer as per the
clause 5.6.1.1 of IS 14348:1996. Used bottles are generally not permitted for bottling the
wines. However, the State Excise Department may permit if the bottles are thoroughly
cleaned and sanitized in a hygienic manner by the producer. Containers, both before and
after filling, shall pass for inspection before a brightly illuminated background and be
viewed, if necessary, under magnification. Automatic inspection by specially designed
units may also be employed. Defective containers or products shall be rejected.

15.5.2 In case of carbonated / sparkling wines,

a) All containers shall be cleaned and sanitized according to 4.1 of IS 5837.
 b) The containers shall be filled under strict sanitary conditions as per IS 5837:1970 .
After filling, the containers shall be hermatically sealed with clean, new crown corks
conforming to IS 1994 : 1987 and fixed with wire hood.

15.6 Marking
15.6.1 The following particulars shall be marked legibly and indelibly on the label / crown /
body of the container.
a) Name and type of the material;
b) Ethyl alcohol contents , in percent, by volume;
c) Batch or code number;
d) Month and year of Packing;
e) Name and address of the producer;
f) Net volume in ml;
g) Geographical region from where the grapes are produced
h) Varietal name of the grape; in case of single variety wine is in excess of 85% of the
volume in the bottle. If less than 85% of single variety used which makes total
volume, twin varietal names shall be stipulated. When more than two varieties are
used in the wine, it should be clearly stated as “blended”. The stipulation of “ Indian
Wines” shall not appear on the label if Indian wine is blended with foreign (imported)
wine in excess of 25%.

i) Any other markings required under the standards of Weights and Measures (Packaged
Commodities) , rules 1977, and any other statutory requirement.

Note : Geographical designation /names may be used on the label solely for products originated
from that geographical region (the origin of the grapes should be proved by a way that has been
determined).The mention Indian wine should be precisely conformed to avoid the blending of a
large amount of foreign wine with Indian wines. The percentage to determine can be limited as
per example at 25% or any other value.

15.6.2 Certification Marking

The product may also be marked with the BIS Standard Mark. The use of the Standard
Mark is governed by the provisions of Bureau of Indian Standards Act,1986 and the Rules and
Regulations made there under. The details of conditions under which the license for the use of
Standard Mark may be granted to manufacturers or producers may be obtained from Bureau of
Indian Standards.

15.6.3 Geographical traceability of the wines

It is essential to establish the geographical traceability of the Indian wines to protect our
indigenous wines from adulteration and conflicts at international markets. The term
‘geographical traceability’ can be defined as the Signature pertaining to the geographical origin
of a wine sample. The components of a wine sample can be traced back from the grape berries
out of which it was prepared. Establishing the relationship between the characteristic chemical
compositions of the grapes with the specific features of different localities (e.g. peninsular area,
hilly area, nearness to water bodies, etc.) can help in establishing the geographical traceability.
Once the traceability is established, this will be particularly useful to identify any adulteration in
a specific wine with the wines from other localities or unspecified varieties. There are various
techniques available for this, but the techniques involving the abundance ratio of the stable
isotopes and application of NMR appears to be the most prominent. In stable isotope technique,
the ratio of the stable oxygen isotopes viz. 16O and 18O is used, which is characteristic to a
particular geographic location. Hence, just by analyzing the stable isotope pattern in a wine
sample, it is possible to identify whether there is any adulteration or not, or whether the wine is
really originated from the location declared in the label. Similarly, in NMR analysis, we find
specific signature for the wines from specific locations.

a) Appellation:

1) Geographical area to be mentioned on the labels. Specific regions /valleys /district

has be determined and published by Competent Authority and the wines produced
from that particular regions only could use that Appellation.
2) Quality region shall be determined by the Competent Authority in future depending
upon the quality of wine produced in that region, soil and climatic conditions. The
wines produced only in such quality regions shall stipulate that specific Appellation
on the labels.

15.7 Sampling

Representative samples shall be drawn and conformity of the material in the lot to the
requirements of this specification shall be determined in accordance with the method prescribed
in IS 3753:1984.

15.7.1 Sparkling Wine

1) To understand correctly this point we should clarify the following definitions:

• “Cuvèe” means: the grape must/ the wine/ the mixture of grape musts and or
wines with different characteristics, intended for the preparation of a specific type
of sparkling wines.
• “Tirage liqueur” means: the product added to the cuvèe to provoke secondary
fermentation;
• “Expedition liqueur” means: the product added to the sparkling wines to give
them a special taste qualities. The expedition liqueur may contain only: sucrose,
grape must, grape must in fermentation, concentrated grape must, rectified
concentrated grape must, wine or a mixture of thereof with the possible addition
of wine distillated.
2) Any enrichment of the cuvèe shall be prohibited. Without prejudice to enrichment of
Table wines authorized above the constituents of cuvèe or any enrichment of cuvèe
shall be prohibited in case of sparkling wine. Acidification of the cuvèe may be
carried out only up to a maximum of 1.5 grams per liter, expressed as tartaric acid or
 20 milli equivalents per liter, provided that the natural acidity of the products is not
less than 3 g/l expressed as tartaric acid.
3) The carbon dioxide contained in the sparkling wines may be produced only as a result
of the alcoholic fermentation of the cuvèe from which such wine is prepared. Such
fermentation, unless it is intended for processing grapes, grape must or grape must in
fermentation directly into sparkling wine, may result only from the addition of tirage
liqueur. It may take place only in bottles or in closed tanks.The use of carbon dioxide
in the case of the process of transfer by counter pressure is authorized under
supervision and on condition that the pressure of the carbon dioxide contained in the
sparkling wine is not thereby increased.

4) Total alcoholic strength by volume of the cuvèe intended for their preparation
should not be less than 8.5% .
5) The tirage liqueur intended for their preparation may contain only: grape must/ grape
must in fermentation/ concentrated grape must/ rectified grape must/ sucrose wine.
6) Total sulphuric dioxide content in sparkling wine shall not be more than 150 mg./l .
Maximum sulphur dioxide content shall be raised as regards to wines with the
residual sugar of not less than 50g/l to 200g/l.

15.7.2 Liqueur wine

1) For the preparation of liqueur wine, the following products shall be used : grape must
in fermentation ; or wine; or mixtures of products referred to in the preceding indents;
or grape must or a mixture with wine.
2) Further more, the following shall be added : neutral alcohol obtained from the
distillation of products of the wine sector, including dried grapes, having an alcoholic
strength of not less than 96% by volume/ wine distillate or dried grape distillate with
an alcoholic strength of not less than 52% and not more than 86% by volume. The
addition of alcohol, distillate or spirits in order to compensate for losses due to
evaporation during ageing is also authorised.
3) The natural alcoholic strength by volume for the preparation of a liqueur wine may
not be less than 12 per cent. But the total sulphur dioxide content for direct human
consumption may not exceed 150 mg/L when residual sugar content is below 5 g/L
and not exceeding 200 mg/L when residual sugar is more than 5 g/L.

Conclusions: Presently Indian wine industry is in a nascent stage, though it has kick started
only from Maharashtra much remains to be seen at the national level. The growers will have to
reorient themselves for wine grapes cultivation. The Indian wine makers should learn from new
world’s ( Australia and Chile ) wine makers and strictly adhere to international quality standards
so that exports of wines will be their prime target. Indians will have to go generously and in
celebrating manners for wine consumptions and be able to descriminate wines with other
alcoholic liqueurs. The wine in fact is a social and health drink, its consumption has to be
promoted through various media campaigns and wine festivals. We hope, subsequently there
exists a huge scope for expansion in area and production of wine grapes in our country.