In the past two weeks, California-based Raj Patel has been a busy man, barraged with requests for interviews and orders from curious clients ever since a bottle of Patel wines, a company he founded nearly two decades ago, featured on the menu of the state dinner the Bidens hosted for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It came as a surprise to many. “When I started, any Indian person making wine was an outlier.Some of my own relatives were shocked at this,” the Gujarat-born entrepreneur says. “However, now they know that my wine is good enough to be served at the White House,” he adds with a sense of pride. Patel is an outlier alright. Indians, after all, are not known for drinking wine, let alone making it.
The country is predominantly a spirits market constituting whisky, brandy, rum etc. Wine makes up for 1% of total alcohol sales in India as opposed to a global average of 13%, according to a report by Kotak Institutional Equities, though substantial growth is expected over the next five years. Leading the change is Maharashtra’s Nashik which, with 45 wineries, has been dubbed as India’s Napa Valley.
Vineyards have come up in other states like Karnataka as well. In California’s wine-making regions though, Indian-American winemakers are a small but thriving bunch. Raghni Naidu is among the first female vintners of Indian origin. “When I started doing this, I did not set out to be the first Indian immigrant women to be doing this in the US. I just wanted to bring a really high-quality product from my own vineyard and offer an intimate boutique experience to people,” says Naidu, who grew up in Punjab, became fascinated by vineyards after moving to Australia, and then the US.
In 2018, she channelled her passion into setting up Naidu Wines, and bought a vineyard located in the Sonoma Valley. Her high-quality Pinot Noirs have walked away with several awards. Though people lauded her success, she realised that the lack of diversity in the winemaking industry was a real issue. “Some asked if I was the actual owner or there to represent someone else,” she recalls. Today, Naidu’s website proudly declares: ‘I am an immigrant woman claiming my space within this traditionalist industry because despite what others may say, I belong & you do too.’ So why the breakthroughs in the US rather than Europe? The reason is that in Europe, vineyards and wine estates have traditionally been passed on from generation to generation.
The barriers to entry are also immense in terms of resources: it’s fairly expensive to own an estate, and to run it. “In a nutshell, for centuries, wine has been made by Caucasian men, and consumed by Caucasian men,” Patel says. However, in California, the wine industry is younger, and more open to experiments. While the first commercial winery was set up in the Napa Valley in the late 19th century, the popularity of wines from the region has only grown in the last fifty years. Mumbai-born Priyanka Dhar French, who is now a winemaker at Signorello Estate, says the global wine industry can benefit from more diversity.
“As immigrants that grew up with different experiences, we bring to the table a fresh perspective to recognising, identifying and describing wines. We come from a culture of bold flavours, textures and aromatics.” As the space for innovation grows, there’s an element of surprise about trying out wines by Indian-American makers, admits Neeta Mittal, co-founder of LXV Wine, along with her husband Kunal Mittal.
“I think it’s a huge advantage being Indian because the clients and critics don’t know who to compare you to. So, when you start off they give you a chance. But later, you better make fabulous wine because then they will compare you with the best,” she says. The key is going to be experimenting and figuring out which wines pair well with Indian cuisine. Unlike a lot of her contemporaries, Mittal has based her vineyard in the coastal mountain region of Paso Robles, California.
There, the Mittals often organise wine tasting experiences paired with spices. 2020 The Jewel, for instance, is paired with the Sirocco spice blend, a mix of sumac, dry mango powder, black and green cardamom, cloves, star anise, fennel, rose petal, and other spices. In a review, food writer Allison Levine wrote: “The white pepper and dry mango compliment the wine; the sumac adds tartness which contrasts with the wine; the nutritional yeast adds umami flavours. The spice combined with the wine is harmonious and balanced.” Back home, most of the wine consumed is made in India, thanks to a string of domestic brands like Sula, Grover Zampa, and Fratelli.
Women and younger folk are warming up to wines owing to the perception that it is a more sophisticated beverage for socialising and healthier as it’s made from a natural fermentation process, says Sujata Patil of The GrapeWine Consultancy. Tasting sessions and curated dining experiences are likely to help in increasing wine consumption. However, in California, the Patels and Naidus have found a niche of their own.
The country is predominantly a spirits market constituting whisky, brandy, rum etc. Wine makes up for 1% of total alcohol sales in India as opposed to a global average of 13%, according to a report by Kotak Institutional Equities, though substantial growth is expected over the next five years. Leading the change is Maharashtra’s Nashik which, with 45 wineries, has been dubbed as India’s Napa Valley.
Vineyards have come up in other states like Karnataka as well. In California’s wine-making regions though, Indian-American winemakers are a small but thriving bunch. Raghni Naidu is among the first female vintners of Indian origin. “When I started doing this, I did not set out to be the first Indian immigrant women to be doing this in the US. I just wanted to bring a really high-quality product from my own vineyard and offer an intimate boutique experience to people,” says Naidu, who grew up in Punjab, became fascinated by vineyards after moving to Australia, and then the US.
In 2018, she channelled her passion into setting up Naidu Wines, and bought a vineyard located in the Sonoma Valley. Her high-quality Pinot Noirs have walked away with several awards. Though people lauded her success, she realised that the lack of diversity in the winemaking industry was a real issue. “Some asked if I was the actual owner or there to represent someone else,” she recalls. Today, Naidu’s website proudly declares: ‘I am an immigrant woman claiming my space within this traditionalist industry because despite what others may say, I belong & you do too.’ So why the breakthroughs in the US rather than Europe? The reason is that in Europe, vineyards and wine estates have traditionally been passed on from generation to generation.
The barriers to entry are also immense in terms of resources: it’s fairly expensive to own an estate, and to run it. “In a nutshell, for centuries, wine has been made by Caucasian men, and consumed by Caucasian men,” Patel says. However, in California, the wine industry is younger, and more open to experiments. While the first commercial winery was set up in the Napa Valley in the late 19th century, the popularity of wines from the region has only grown in the last fifty years. Mumbai-born Priyanka Dhar French, who is now a winemaker at Signorello Estate, says the global wine industry can benefit from more diversity.
“As immigrants that grew up with different experiences, we bring to the table a fresh perspective to recognising, identifying and describing wines. We come from a culture of bold flavours, textures and aromatics.” As the space for innovation grows, there’s an element of surprise about trying out wines by Indian-American makers, admits Neeta Mittal, co-founder of LXV Wine, along with her husband Kunal Mittal.
“I think it’s a huge advantage being Indian because the clients and critics don’t know who to compare you to. So, when you start off they give you a chance. But later, you better make fabulous wine because then they will compare you with the best,” she says. The key is going to be experimenting and figuring out which wines pair well with Indian cuisine. Unlike a lot of her contemporaries, Mittal has based her vineyard in the coastal mountain region of Paso Robles, California.
There, the Mittals often organise wine tasting experiences paired with spices. 2020 The Jewel, for instance, is paired with the Sirocco spice blend, a mix of sumac, dry mango powder, black and green cardamom, cloves, star anise, fennel, rose petal, and other spices. In a review, food writer Allison Levine wrote: “The white pepper and dry mango compliment the wine; the sumac adds tartness which contrasts with the wine; the nutritional yeast adds umami flavours. The spice combined with the wine is harmonious and balanced.” Back home, most of the wine consumed is made in India, thanks to a string of domestic brands like Sula, Grover Zampa, and Fratelli.
Women and younger folk are warming up to wines owing to the perception that it is a more sophisticated beverage for socialising and healthier as it’s made from a natural fermentation process, says Sujata Patil of The GrapeWine Consultancy. Tasting sessions and curated dining experiences are likely to help in increasing wine consumption. However, in California, the Patels and Naidus have found a niche of their own.