…and a bubble-fight in a tulip glass.
When at the fag-end of March another brand of champagne was launched in India, you could be forgiven for thinking that it was French — for isn’t all champagne French? But luxury label Korbel is actually Californian, and, according to promoter Amrit Kiran Singh, is “youthful and effervescent in comparison to the stodgy French alternatives that are available in the market”.
In cocking a snook at the market leaders, the area director of Brown-Forman, who created a market for bourbon with Jack Daniel’s and more recently brought in Finlandia vodka — both whisky and vodka from non-traditional markets —, is hoping to leverage Kornel’s 127 years in the trade to create a niche that will challenge LVMH’s Dom Perignon and Moet & Chandon.
Kornel is the only champagne produced outside the Champagne region of France that has been allowed to retain that appellation, referred to as méthode champenoise, because of its long tradition of being produced in California before the enforcement of geographical identities by WTO, though Rajiv Singhal, who represents the Comite interprofessionnel du vin de Champagne (CIVC), says that strictly speaking, since it is not produced in France nor uses any of the three original grapes, it should only be referred to as méthode traditional.
“We’ve always called it champagne,” says Singh. Singhal agrees that Korbel has been the exception in the world of champagnes “since the US law is less stringent than India with regard to IPR” as far as geographical identities are concerned, but since India protects the champagne GI, “to promote Korbel as champagne in India”, he says, “is unethical”.
Singh, however, is ecstatic about getting a toehold into this niche, luxury segment, especially since the label has had a long association with the rich and the powerful. Toasted by Hollywood, raised at the Olympic Games and the champagne of choice at the White House continuously since Ronald Reagan (yes, including Barack Obama, though it was JFK who first endorsed it for presidential banquets), Singh is hoping that India will take to it’s youthful appeal not just at the expense of the existing LVMH brands, but definitely grow its own market to LVMH’s existing level in the next few years.
According to CIVC, which compiles the figures for champagne exports to India, the market the last three years has been “stagnant” at approximately 20,000 cases, or a little over 220,000 bottles “which has become a benchmark”. The fact that the market has not grown is seen as an indication that champagne being imported to India is no longer being re-exported, since domestic consumption is up, and it has, says Singhal, “a promising future”.
Singh, however, isn’t worried about the meltdown, saying this niche segment — Korbel Natural retails for Rs 6,500, and Korbel Brut for Rs 3,500 — “is recession-proof”. A very small segment of the market belongs to Bouvet-Ladubay, which is imported into the country by United Breweries. A very large segment, however, is made up of Indian sparkling wines, chiefly (and mostly) Indage’s Marquis du Pompadour, popularly associated in the mindset as “Indian champagne”, as well as Sula’s Brut, which might account for as much as 230,000 cases between them — though these are, of course, not in the premium segment.
Brown-Forman hopes to promote Korbel through “any events where the elite celebrate”, says Singh, and is hopeful that growth will be fast and steady. That is if the Indian government and CIVC don’t play spoilsport as invigilators, with Singhal insisting that referring to Korbel as champagne is “not really in the right spirit”.
