Winemaker
David Rowe’s wisdom nuggets…
Winemaker
David Rowe joined Indian Food Company in summer 2006 and soon
enough, Vin & Vouloir wines found themselves in the winning
list at India Wine Challenge 2007. This British winemaker, settled
in wine country Bordeaux, enjoys the challenge of working in
India, a new entrant on the world wine map.
Maharashtra
is great for growing grapes, concedes David, yet a lot of work
needs to go in at the vineyards to get the grapes that make
great wines. Though production of table grapes is much higher
than wine grapes, it is imperative to source the latter for
winemaking. ‘Given the scarcity of wine grapes, unless
a winery has its own vineyards, the current practice in India
is to blend table grapes and wine grapes,’ informs David.
Sourcing grapes is the first of the challenges, no doubt.
‘I
am using only wine grapes,’ he reports, which shows through
in the quality of his premium wines. He goes a step further
and has a special selection of yeasts, a different one for each
grape variety, imported from France.
Once the grapes, yeast, and winemaking itself is taken care
of, the bottles are imported from France. No second hand bottles
will pass the David test !
Nurturing
the V & V brand of wines with the very best, this winemaker
is not interested in bulk wines: ‘I refuse to blend from
other wines.’ Buying bulk wine and then blending and bottling
may be a new trend in India, according to David, but he keeps
to his own methodology of winemaking from scratch.
The
vineyards are where it all begins. David is looking forward
to improvement in viticulture practices and increased wine grape
availability. Mercier, a French company
is now collaborating with Indian Food Company Pvt Ltd on this
front, informs David.
‘It
is easy to build a winery and import equipment, have a very
good winemaking facility. But for good wine you need good grapes’
he summarizes. ‘Improve the quality of grapes.’
Viticulture is the cornerstone of the Indian wine industry.
Scarcity of wine grapes results in cost escalation, which then
makes winemaking a costly proposition in India. David who is
also an ex-editor of UK’s leading wine magazine Decanter,
says that increasing wine-grape production will make Indian
wine pricing competitive in the international market.
‘Compared
to most winemaking countries, the cost of grapes is high in
India,’ says the winemaker. Now that certainly is a chief
reason for high MRPs. Illustrating the current gap, David says,
‘I can buy red wine in France under 60 cents.’ Where
as an Indian wine is nowhere less than $10 a bottle. ‘Grapes
are available at up to Rs 40 a Kg,’ says David. Cost reduction
is inversely proportional to availability and cost of grapes.
That was
about pricing. Coming to market prospects, he enlightens that
quality consciousness and competitive pricing (which begins
at the vineyards) is the mantra for a larger demand in the export
market. The local market is also seeing a steady rise.
V &
V’s vintage 2007 -- Sauvignon Blanc, Chenin, Rose, Shiraz
and Cabernet are in the market, and doing well, given the increasing
number of converts to the wine-lovers’ club. ‘There
is an explosion in wine drinking in India. There is a lot of
interest in wine. People are much more knowledgeable about wine,’
shares David. And, for his favourite wine? ‘I love Shiraz
wines from France, Indian and Australia,’ admits the winemaker.
‘The Indian Shiraz is closer to the French, than Australian
Shiraz’ he adds.
Well, yes,
wine consumers are growing in India, therefore, wine production
has to take the cue. It is difficult to sell abroad with such
pricing. So what does the winemaker prescribe? ‘Control
grape quality. Wineries should try and have their own vineyards,
then cost of production comes down.’ And consequently
pricing…
Though,
new in the league of wine producing countries, India has much
to offer wine lovers across the globe, feels David, who spends
a lot of time in India. He knows the potential, but pricing
has to be worked out before Indian wines make it big in the
international arena.
Special
report for indianwine.com Venki & Anisha Sharma
Après
de nombreuses années d'étude et d'expérimentations
entre les pépinières MERCIER
et la société AGRAUXINE, les
pouvoirs publics viennent d'accorder l'autorisation de mise
en marché du produit à base de trichoderma,
champignon antagoniste des responsables des maladies du bois.
- 1er
: Esquive, en pulvérisation sur les vignes
adultes, pour les protéger contre les sporulations
des champignons responsables des maladies du bois.
- 2ème
: la protection par systémie sur les plants de vignes,
par le trichoderma atroviride T1.
MERCIER
a mis au point une méthode fiable d'introduction systémique
du trichoderma dans les plants, ce qui leur assure une résistance
pérenne contre les attaques extérieures des différents
champignons des maladies du bois.
Des multitudes
de contrôles ont été effectués par
PCR sur les parcelles expérimentales, et démontrent
la persistance de la présence du thrichoderma dans les
plants.
Ce procédé
de biocontrôle d'une pathologie grave, sans aucune
utilisation de molécule chimique, est à votre
disposition.
L'introduction du trichoderma atroviride T1 se fait pendant
la première croissance, en serres ou en pépinières.
Avec le
prochain lancement commercial de plants de vigne protégés
sous la marque Biorize inside 
,
MERCIER entend apporter une réponse
réactive au principal problème sanitaire actuel
de la Viticulture.
