From 150 percent to 20 percent over the course of 7–8 years. This is certainly significant news for several areas of the agri-food sector and therefore also for the world of wine.
The figures are highly impactful and carry with them far-reaching considerations. It is Monday morning when, as usual, I sit down to skim through the press review, and this piece of news immediately catches my eye. I read forecasts of potentially very strong sales and about how this step represents a starting point and a source of hope for finally making India a market of real relevance.
In light of my recent visit to the country to follow ProWein in Mumbai, however, I have some reservations about seeing a positive impact, at least in the short term.
By experiencing the market firsthand (currently very small for Italian wine, and in general still heavily reduced compared to spirits), I had the opportunity to understand that a major cultural operation is required.
In other words, it is necessary to prepare the ground with initiatives that introduce consumers to wine (or at least to wines with certain characteristics) and to develop a form of language that is well suited to a fascinating yet complex people.
Significant investments will be required, along with a presence that is consistent over time, in order to carry out work in the field that can ultimately bring great satisfaction to our wines. This must be hands-on work, rooted in an overall Italian territorial unity, capable of conveying the general concept of our production culture and then articulating the different identities of our regions.
All of this is needed to convey the historical and cultural value behind each of our products, so that it is clearly understood that offering an “Indian Super Tuscan” (at least to the undersigned) is something that, in my view, does not help in understanding either the identity of our products or theirs.
Riccardo Gabriele
