The grapes of wrath

THE WINE CLUB

As many of you may be aware, the harvesting of wine grapes in the northern hemisphere (i.e. Europe and North America) is going on even as we speak: the berries have been ripening in the autumn sun, and will largely have been harvested by end-October.

Come winter much of the vineyards are under snow and the vines go dormant, coming to life again next spring.

The first wines produced from the 2006 harvest would be ready within six months "" which is why the Vinitaly Wine Fair at Verona is held every April, the Bordeaux Wine Fair in May, and the London International Wine & Spirits Fair every June.

Buyers taste the current vintage, negotiate prices, and work out how much wine they will indent that year.

In the southern hemisphere (Australia, South Africa and South America) the cycle is reversed: the grape harvest is February-April as their winter extends from May to July, and the wines are ready for tasting 4-6 months later.

The Australia Wine International show was held in late July. Wine makers from South Africa, Chile and Argentina prefer to exhibit their wares at premier shows held between April and June as this allows enough time to get their wines to market by the year-end.

Of course, as you're probably aware, in India, despite our being in the northern hemisphere, our farmers have admirably adapted viticultural practices to the terroir: since we have a long dry and relatively warm winter, this is when the grapes ripen "" to be harvested February/April.

So wines made in India are ready to hit the markets by October/November "" which, coincidentally, is also the peak consumption time for wine.

So far so good.

What happens if you've not been able to sell your wines by the time the next harvest rolls around?

Overseas, where the vintners have years of experience, they would bottle the wine for selling over the next year "" even the next few years, depending upon the ageing potential of the wines.

In India, where our farmers have slim financial resources and little understanding about sales and marketing, there's usually a crisis: of money, or space, or both.

A particular winery's ability to make wine in the new harvest depends upon the availability of tanks to ferment the juice "" so wine from the last harvest must have been cleared by end-December.

Most new wineries have not provided for the working capital required to bottle and age any part of their wines for any length of time "" and so end up having to scrabble around for buyers or financing.

It's high time people getting into wine understood that their business will take 3-5 years to just break even, and that they need to invest almost as much in the marketing, distribution and financing of their wares as they have in setting up the winery and vineyards.

Sorry, fellows: there are no free lunches "" just because this is one of the foremost emerging wine markets in the world does not mean it is easy to enter.

Do be prepared for very hard competition "" from both existing players in wines, as well as the spirits and beer companies: for distributors, for listing on-premise, for shelf space, for consumer mindspace.

So, if you're ready for a fight, come on in: there's a potentially 100 million thirsty souls who could be drinking your wines tomorrow. Sante'!