Smart Skills
Taste of things to come
Usha Albuquerque

Pop the cork and raise a toast to the Indian wine industry! With more and more Indians beginning to enjoy good wine, the industry has been bubbling. Today, wine is not only produced in India, but there is also a huge demand for a variety of wines from around the world. There are many more Indian producers of quality wines and production figures have been gradually increasing, almost 25-30 per cent a year. Moreover, in the past few years a bevy of international wines have hit the Indian market, including Californian, New Zealand and South African wines.

The wine industry in India is beginning to establish itself as an industry. The demand per annum for wine in the domestic market is estimated to be around 6 million bottles (750 ml). Against this, the estimated annual production of wine by the domestic industry is around 2.4 million bottles.

Nor is the annual growth in the market likely to slow down yet — at least not in this decade. Domestic consumption may be fuelling most of it, but wine producers like Sula and Indage are also exporting large volumes overseas.

There is therefore a great opportunity for all those interested in working in this industry — in the production of wines, as a wine taster, sommelier or in marketing and distribution.

Cultivating grapes for wines is called viticulture or oenology and involves several specialised professionals. The vineyard manager is responsible for all aspects of the production of grapes, from planting and irrigation to pest control and harvesting. He also has to know all about the cultivation process, soil and weather conditions, and other such details.

The winemaker is the true scientist of wine and is responsible for producing the wine. The winemaker handles the selection of the variety of grape to be cultivated, as well as the production, storage, bottling, and packaging of the wines. The winemaker also handles the blending of the wines so to create the best flavour. As wine-making is in a nascent stage, there are as yet, no Indian qualified and experienced winemakers. Most of the wine-producing companies hire trained professionals from abroad for this very specialised job.

The same hold good for the wine taster — the most sought-after person in the industry. It is the wine taster who sips each of the new wines, differentiates between different kinds of wines and helps determine which is a good vintage. With today's knowledge of wine and winemaking however, there are very few "bad" years, only greater and lighter vintages. Wine tasters need to have a natural talent and an acute sense of taste and smell. They also need to be trained to detect wine quality by looking at the brightness, colour, strength and flavour of the wine. They have to be trained to make their palates proficient enough to register even the minute differences. Wine tasting is both an art and a science and requires a thorough knowledge of wine and its flavour.

A sommelier too, has to be knowledgeable about wines. A good sommelier or wine steward helps customers choose wine to be consumed according to the occasion, the meal, accompaniments, time of the year and so on. Not many hotels and restaurants take on trained sommeliers, but bartenders and food and wine service professionals with a knowledge of wines are certainly preferred. Some hotel chains are also sending their staff abroad for training in wine service.

Marketing and distribution of wine is important as it involves educating the public about the wines available, creating an image around the wine and developing marketing materials. Manufactures and importers of wines recruit marketing professionals — a training in wine tasting can certainly therefore be an advantage. This may involve attending wine events, making contacts with foreign wineries and winemakers, selecting the appropriate wines for import and keeping in tune with industry trends. Magandeep Singh, a French-qualified wine expert, conducts regular events to promote appreciation of good wines: "There is a lot that can be done to promote wine sales and help people understand wines and learn to drink it."

If you are interested in good food and wine and have a flair for writing, you can also become a wine writer or columnist. With more and more people taking to wine drinking, and the need for specialised information on wines and selection and service of wines, wine writing can be quite lucrative.

Although there are no courses in India that provide knowledge of wine-making, or wine tasting, a degree in oenology or viticulture may help you get started in the cultivation of grapes and the production of wine. You could also get into this field with a degree in food science, horticulture, agriculture or even chemistry or microbiology. However, even without formal training anyone with an interest in wines can start as an intern with a wine-producing company where you will get valuable hands-on experience. A course in fermentation technology can also be of use. A hotel management course will introduce you to serving of wine and spirits, after which you can take up a specialised programme on wines.

Alternatively, there are many courses abroad which cover oenology, wine production and wine tasting. The Universite du Vin ( University of Wine) in the Rhone Valley, the heart of wine country in France, offers a range of courses, including a 5-6 month diploma courses in wine tasting. There are some institutes in the US, as also in Europe that also train in wine making. Keeping in mind the growth of the industry, the Maharashtra Government has plans to start wine institutes at Surat and Nashik, one of the major grape-producing regions of the country.

Job opportunities in this field may be as yet premature. You may be able to work in the cultivation of grapes, or in production, but an understanding of wine making comes from years of experience, reading and tasting of wines. You must have a passion for wine, according to Magandeep, who also writes a column on wine for a leisure weekly.

Today, there are only three to four major producers of wine. Chougules were among the pioneers in this industry. Sula Wines have also placed large acreages under grape cultivation, while Grovers in Bangalore has several varieties blended with some of the finest French grapes. Special strains of imported grapes are also being cultivated for the wine industry, while there are moves to start cultivation in Himachal Pradesh too.

With more than 24,00,000 bottles of wine being guzzled every year, the wine industry is on an upward swing. Although it may be some time before Indian wines can compete with some of the vintage French, Italian, Californian or even South African, the wine produced in Narayangaon and Nashik in Maharashtra and Bangalore, is keeping many Indians in high spirits. As more bottles get uncorked, those looking for a career in this industry will have much to cheer about.