AT VINITALY INDIA EXPO PROSECCO BLOWS AWAY COMPETITION. ITALIAN STANDS ATTRACT MORE CROWDS THAN THE FRENCH AND SOUTH AFRICANS

Indians prefer Prosecco. This was confirmed by the end of Vinitaly, the first Italian wine exposition in India, held within the context of IFOW, the largest Indian food and wine fair in the country. Thousands of visitors filled the halls, contending for a taste of the many Italian, French and South African wines. While the French have a long time tradition in India, the South Africans have an important political-commercial bond (it was not by chance that Mahatma Gandhi studied in South Africa), but for Italians the connection has been an entirely new endeavor. Regardless, they managed to knock out the competition.

Italian stands were by far the most crowded, Prosecco and white wines the most sought after, but even reds regarded with interest. Prosecco was the star of the show and at the Villa Sandi stand, a producer from the Veneto region making the renowned Valdobbiadene Prosecco, they worked overtime to meet all of the demands for a taste.

“Our Prosecco - explained company president, Giancarlo Moretti Polegato - has received great acclaim both in Mumbai (ex Bombay, where Vinitaly made a stop before arriving in the capital) and in Delhi. Possibly because of such a historically strong French presence, Indians are more inclined to sparkling wine, wine with bubbles”.

But why exactly Valdobbiadene Prosecco’s success? According to journalist and wine connoisseur Amitesh Gupta, “Prosecco is halfway between white wine and champagne, which here in India both have a longstanding tradition. The Prosecco from the province of Treviso unites these two flavors and weds well with Indian foods that are strong and spicy and which need a decisive but not strong flavor, precisely that of Prosecco”.

Moretti Polegato believes that there could be a market in India: “I am positive, we have had excellent feedback from people who have come to taste our wines, with Prosecco being the most popular. The problem is still, however, duty fees. India, which registers a 30% yearly increase for the wine market, with over 1.2 million bottles sold, maintains an average customs tax of 270% on wine imports. With this exposition we hope to familiarize our best products but also convince the government of New Delhi of the idea of significantly reducing the barriers for our wine exportations to India”. Help from our government in this sense is most welcome and the presence here of Vice Minister Urso in support of our initiatives was a good thing for us”.

The success on the Indian market, “besides the quality of the product - concluded Moretti - is due to the Italian system, which gives us the advantage. Our company, for example, is located in a 17th century Palladian villa. Many of our foreign buyers are fascinated by this and numerous Indians who have come to meet us have asked to visit the villa. Italian culture, our tradition, history, and quality are the best business cards possible to present our products all over the world”. This includes Prosecco and all other types of wines.

Along with the top Italian wineries, known as the “big name brands”, there were also numerous medium-sized Italian companies displaying excellent products at the fair thanks to support from the Verona Chamber of Commerce and Ice (National Institute for Foreign Commerce). “Red wine? It is more popular in Delhi than in Bombay”, explained Giovanni Ficulli, a public relations representative for a Tuscan company. “Indians - explained wine expert Cristina Fugatti - are very fascinated with our wine. In Mumbai white seemed to be more popular, maybe because the food is mostly fish based, but here red seems to attract attention”.