The predominant reason for women having wine is: it is not a hard
liquor. It is a better option for social drinking. It is healthy. And a
glass or two of red wine has medicinal impact too, and wine is
definitely an experience they like to talk about and share," Bahl added.
The Delhi Wine Club has 160 members, out of which 40 percent are women.
But data is not available on how much women account for in the annual
Indian wine industry sales of 2.5 million cases, with each containing 12
bottles of 750 ml each.
Another reason for women taking to
wine is the alcohol content. While hard liquor comes with an alcohol
content of over 40 percent, and has to be mixed, the strength in wine
varies between 11 and 15 percent. Soft drinks, with an overdose of
sugar, are passe!
"Not for me an aerated drink - nothing but
calories. Wine is my choice. If I want fizz, I can always go for a
Champagne or a sparkling wine. For a romantic evening a sparkling rose
is another option. Unlike a whisky, a glass or two of wine does not make
you miss a step," Iyer told IANS.
"Wine drinking among upper
middle class women has gone up, since many family members feel it is
less on alcohol and women will be fine with it," said Subhash Arora,
president the Indian Wine Academy and founder-president of the Delhi
Wine Club.
Bahl and Arora also said those days are gone when
women just could not go to a liquor shop, what with a long queue of
tipplers jostling to reach the caged selling counters. Upmarket outlets
have come up today where buying wine is like shopping for a branded
watch or apparel.
"The culture of Indian women visiting these
well-appointed stores is catching up fast in metros. Overall, too, wine
drinking has matured in the past 10 years. Many restaurants now have a
good cellar and sommeliers. Overseas travel is also adding to the
exposure," Arora told IANS.
There is also a rigorous push from various wine-growing countries like
France, Chile and Australia that helped women today not to look at wine
as taboo, but a drink they can nurse without evoking raised eyebrows.
Rakesh Ahuja, a senior advisor to the government of South Australia who
promotes wines and other products from that region in India, says there
is a quiet revolution that is taking place in terms of wine drinking in
India - notably among women.
"We are observing a sea change. In the early 1990s people hardly knew
about wine. Today this is changing. It is something amazing! One of the
reasons could be the rise of middle class, hence greater disposable
income in their hands," Ahuja, an Indo-Australian who was the former
Australian deputy high commissioner in India, told IANS.
During the British Raj, Ahuja said, people were mostly into drinking
gin and whisky. Women would sip on an occasional gin and whisky was
looked upon as a men's drink. "So women didn't have much of a choice.
Today this is changing, and changing fast."To know details go to our site http://www.allindiayellowpage.com.