An expensive venture

Krsma Syrah Hampi Hills 2016 has lush and opulent flavours of ripe blackberries, dried black currant, and mocha on the palate, with a characteristic lingering black pepper spice note

I am often asked why wines are so costly in India as compared to the West: In Europe one can get a decent glass of wine in a bar for as little as 2-3 euros (Rs 150-200) — and they often throw in a free snack — whereas here the minimum price for even an ordinary Indian wine is anywhere from Rs 350 upwards. (Free snacks? Forget it.)

The simple answer is that the cost of doing business (for a restaurant or hotel) here is several times higher than overseas — both above and below the table.

States and the Centre have crafted a regulatory regime that mandates a plethora of licences, permissions, clearances, and “No Objection Certificates” that anyone wanting to serve alcoholic beverages has to obtain. Every such regulatory authority requires reams of documents and fees. However, the problem is that almost everybody with the power to say either yes or no monetises that position, both when a hostelry is starting off as well as on a regular and ongoing basis.

This corruption afflicts almost all organs of local governance, particularly state excise and the police. Nothing new there — the hafta has been immortalised in countless Bollywood films. A local player gave me a further insight to the situation: “Almost all state government positions are bought and paid for, either in cash or kind. Once in position the incumbent has a fixed time period to recoup his or her investment before being transferred. This system is deep-rooted, goes to the very top in each state, and continues regardless of who is in power.”

A noted historian once put this into perspective for me. “The feudal system of paying for imperial firmans and trading privileges was disrupted by the British once they came to power in India. Under the Mughals you had hazari, dastur, peshkash — to mention just a few of the ways officials would extract a price for work permits. In modern India we’ve merely reverted to older systems.”

Interesting perspective. However, understanding the problem is only the first step towards finding solutions, and there are no short cuts to eliminating corruption and improving the ease of doing business in India. Certainly, if the dispensation from the very top at the Centre is that rent-seeking behaviour will not be tolerated, that’s a start.

Krsma Syrah Hampi Hills 2016

In the meantime, we continue to pay through our noses for the privilege of sipping wines on-premise in India because both the duties on wines and the cost of doing business here are so high.

Wines I’ve been drinking: Krsma Estates is a tiny boutique winery located in North Karnataka, about 70 km north of the famous ruins in Hampi, that was started nearly 10 years ago by Hyderabad-based Krishna Prasad and Uma Chigurupati.

Much has been written about this remarkable couple, who have brought their passion for running (they ran the Triple7quest in 2017 when Krishna turned 60: 7 half-marathons on 7 continents in 7 successive days!) to producing among the best wines in India, in an area which is notoriously water-deficient.

Their newly launched Krsma Syrah Hampi Hills 2016 (Rs 2,000 in Karnataka) was one of five Indian wines that received a Diamond rating (Best of Class) at the recent India Wine Awards, where all 320 wines were tasting blind.

The rich and elegant red fruit-driven bouquet of the wine has layers of dried rose petals and spice undertones from the oak. Lush and opulent flavours of ripe blackberries, dried black currant, and mocha on the palate, with a characteristic lingering black pepper spice note, balances well with the fine-grained tannins, with a complex finish.

Do try — I promise you’ll go back again & again for more.

Cheers!

Alok Chandra is a Bengaluru-based wine consultant