Tennis legend Vijay Amritraj manifests his love for grapes with the launch of the eponymous label. He talks about his inexplicable cellar fascination and why the concept of celebrity tags never caught his fancy until now. By Devi Singh
Still very much suave and poised, the smooth operator that he is even at 62, Vijay Amritraj might be content with the moments passing by but he hasn’t let the unhurried space influence him. He’s still pushing the boundaries and serving volleys as he did in his heyday. With the launch of his own collection of wines presented by Grover Zampa Vineyards, he proves yet again he’s still in the game. A self-proclaimed wine enthusiast, Amritraj swears by wine as the only liqueur he has ever been into. “Wine is the only thing I’ve ever been drunk on,” he declared. “I never really could acquire a taste for any liqueur other than wine,” he added.
Having been friends with the Grover family for a long time, he couldn’t deny Kapil Grover when the latter made an offer of coming up with a premium wine label. “See I had been approached by a lot of people before, the Italians and French but my only condition was the label I associate with has to be Indian. And that’s how it finally took shape,” he told us. But the entire process of coming up with the collection comprising both the red and white wasn’t something easy. “It took us nine months to design the cork of the bottle. I wanted it to be of the highest quality with no compromise whatsoever and the end result in my opinion speaks for itself. At least it’s something I would enjoy drinking,” he shared.
The wines both the red and white are really mild, not at all overwhelming on the palate and a little high on the sweeter side but Amritraj prefers it that way. “My taste is indeed a lot lighter,” he said. Considering he hails from Chennai and lives in los Angeles both being hot cities, he tends to drink more white than red.
But is he content venturing into a country which is known for its love for hard liquor, a nation of whisky and beer - still catching up on its consumption for wineIJ He chooses to show an equable sense of confidence, “I would say this is why it’s the perfect place and time to enter the wine industry in India. Fine, I agree our consumption is still very less compared to other countries but we have a huge potential and the kind of growth rate we have is pretty impressive.”
But his reaction to the stereotype of wine being a woman’s drink is stupendous. After deriding the notion for some time and being prodded further he narrated how Pierce Brosnan loved his VA (Vijay Amritaraj) collection, and how other brawns around the world enjoy their glass of wine.” I don’t really believe that men should only go for Scotch, this perception is pretty much wrong, it all depends on you and your preference.”
Indian wines have definitely made inroads in the international market and won a number of awards as well. But is that enoughIJ He analogised it with his own success story of how people in the West couldn’t believe a guy from India playing tennis, and exceptionally at that. “I proved that I was good enough by beating the best in the world. Similarly when I speak of Indian wines in the international circuit people go “wine from IndiaIJ” and when the same people go for blind tasting sessions, praise Indian wines, so it all boils down to the taste and quality.”
He added, “This June we’ll hit two years for the label and already won 10 international awards which is very unusual for a debut label and an extraordinary feat for us. I’m not saying it happened because of my name on it but for the taste which won people over. Today we’re in eight states in America and competing in San Francisco with northern California wines and in France with French wines. Even the price range has been kept across the board, so more and more people can enjoy, we just want to be a decent weekender wine.”
But can Indian wines ever turn into a big brand globallyIJ “We’re not mass producers of wine; we’re always going to be a boutique wine. We don’t want to be one of those cost cutting wines from Taiwan or Singapore. In order to be at par with wines from Italy, New Zealand or Chile, we need a lot of time and work on the quality. Also I think as a country we are being seen as a brand now especially with “Make in India” initiative and not an offshoot to anything anymore. So I see a lot of positive stories happening,” he told us.
Touted to be the first ever celebrity wine label in the country he said, “I have no respect for someone who does endorsements just for the sake of endorsing. I have a brand relationship with products I feel for.” He never really thought about his label being seen in that light. On being asked what his plans are for VA, he told us, “I don’t really fancy owning a vineyard. The only thing I would want is to take my wine to every country I’ve played in,” Amritraj concluded.