Nick Pringle, commercial director of Accolade Wines, was in India recently. He chatted with Divya Kaushik about growing awareness on wine pairing and inroads by international brands here
During his second trip to India, Nick Pringle made some interesting observations. Indians have good understanding of pairing wine with their food and we prefer “easy-going”, light on palate wines over complex and crisp ones. Nick is the commercial director of Accolade Wines, Hardy’s in India. Sula Selections, the import arm of Sula Vineyards, is the largest importer of Australian wine brand. Nick attended a tasting session, dined at various hotels, pairing his Indian selections with chosen wines, and he tried to know more about wine drinking habits of Indians. “The Indian market is growing exponentially and is open for international brands. The change that is coming in the wine drinking segment is because of increase in disposable income of the middle class. Second, wine education and awareness has increased in the last few years so we have youngsters switching over from beer, whisky and other spirits to wine. But I would say that education in wine drinking is important and it should continue and grow in the next five years. India being an important market for us, we will try to be more progressive in the coming years in our promotion and marketing,” said Nick, a former cricketer, who has been in the wine industry for his passion for the drink.
While international brands do well in India, the reason why most Indian wine brands take time to establish or gain popularity at the home ground, said Nick, is “may be because of bureaucracy and inter-state difficulties, that might not really be obstacles but they make the process slow.” However, for his brand, Nick has special promotional plans, like expanding his retail base and reaching out to masses. “Also we might plan events in major cities like Delhi and Mumbai. Wine tasting sessions can be one way to reach out to young consumers. Hospitality chains can help us a lot in this direction. I have been eating at many places and I am surprised how well most places pair wines with Indian food,” said Nick, who is yet to visit Indian vineyards “but I have heard a lot about them and how they are becoming popular in other countries as well.”
Nick also discovered that apart from “spicy, complex and delicious food”, Indian cuisine has variety of desserts and those too can be paired with wines. “So far I haven’t got a chance to pair Indian desserts with wines but I am sure that will make for an interesting combination,” he smiled.