Growing footprint of Indian restaurants abroad is an opportunity for Indian wines: Sumit Jaiswal

While a fast growing economy, growing young population with high disposable income, increasing outbound travel by Indians and exposure to lifestyle products like wines, and also rising expatriate population in India—are expected to create huge demand for wine in the domestic market, there is an equally potential in the overseas markets for Indian wine, especially on the back of the ever expanding footprint of Indian restaurants abroad, felt Sumit Jaiswal, COO of Grover Zampa Vineyards (GZV).

“Indian restaurants abroad are the low hanging fruit for Indian wines. The popularity of Indian food is at an all time high globally,” Jaiswal said.

While many of the wine producing countries do not have rich culinary legacy, India has a strong culinary history and culture, he said adding that “Indian wines go well with our food”.

With Grover Zampa having won over 200 global accolades for its wines and being popular both in India and abroad, Jaiswal said they are well-poised to leverage the market opportunities both in the domestic as well as overseas markets.

“We are currently present in 18 export markets and expected to grow our presence to 25 countries in the next 2 to 3 years,” he informs.

France is Grover Zampa’s largest export market, followed by Japan. The company currently has a capacity of around 3 lakh litres annually and 15 - 20 percent is exported, he informed.

GZV has launched nine new wines in the last three years which include five Signets (Signet is a super premium range) , a couple of Reserves, Art Collection range, late harvest dessert wines, and sparkling wines, he added.

The New Year, 2025, also started with a big bang launch announcement for GZV. The company launched a high-end limited edition wine - Grover Essence De Cabernet Sauvignon.

“It’s a really high-end wine embodying the true essence of Cabernet Sauvignon grape varietal, a grape variety quite difficult to grow in India. We have been able to grow it in the luxuriant surroundings of Nandi Hills in Karnataka,” Jaiswal said. “We have the highest collection of reserve wines in our portfolio today since we launched our first reserve in 1998 with the technical expertise of George Vesselle,” Jaiswal added.

After Vesselle retired, GZV had another world renowned wine maker from Bordeaux, Michel Rollon helping craft world class wines.

“We brought a change in the way wine is produced in India through introducing different fermentation equipment - claypots, amphoras, foudres and concrete tanks of 1000 to 2000 litres,” he said.

Talking about the growth prospects for wine in the domestic market, Jaiswal sees several green shoots which are expected to further evolve and create unprecedented demand for premium wines. The first and foremost is the expansion of organised hospitality players into tier two and three cities in India.

“We expect direct proportionate growth in demand for premium alco-bev products including wines with the growth of the hospitality industry,” he said.

When asked about increasing the capacity, Jaiswal said they already have 53 acres of their own vineyard in Nashik and 150 acres on long lease in Karnataka and will consider roping in more contract farmers on long term lease in Maharashtra and Karnataka post 2026 harvest.