Newstrack

Brindco to acquire major stake in Grover Wines, to become India's largest

Grover Wine poised for historic Nashik debut with more varietals

Bhisham Mansukhani - Mumbai

India's largest wine importer Brindco is now bidding to become the country's largest wine company in terms of value by acquiring a stake in Bangalore-based Grover Wines, India's third biggest winery. Brindco imports volumes in excess of 60,000 cases annually.

Grover Wines MD Kapil Grover tells Express Hospitality that it is poised for a Nashik debut which will see the addition of more varietals to its existing portfolio. Brindco's stake acquisition in Grover Wines, he says, would enhance the company's marketing effort and exponentially stretch its current distribution footprint.

"We are set to enter Nashik by the year end. We will crush the grapes in February and have already tied up with several farmers for sufficient grape supply. In the initial phase, we will focus on Chenin Blanc and Chiraz which will be bottled under our new range called Sante that we recently launched in Bangalore and Goa. The production for Cabernet Chiraz and Sauvignon Blanc, which have been our mainstays for long, could also be partly shifted to Nashik," Grover says, adding that although it was too soon to comment on the scale of production it would be significant. Interestingly, Grover Wines has made the transition to screw cap bottling for all its wines save the Cabernet Shiraz.

Brindco currently has a turnover of more than Rs 40 crore in the Indian wine import market which is set to increase to Rs 60 crore by next year. The stake acquisition, according to sources, could well make it India's largest wine company by value. Sources also revealed that a board of six directors could be constituted for the company following the acquisition, adding that Brindco had cited over eight local markets to introduce Grover Wines. Brindco has an institutional clientele that includes 400 hotels and restaurants apart from over 450 wine shops nationwide. It has a wine portfolio of over a 1,000 labels and will eventually look to manage Grover's export portfolio and increase the number of labels and add more varietals in its premium range. . The Indian wine market is a 6,50,000 cases a year market totalling a sale of US $40 million, representing a mere 0.2 per cent of India's 75 million case-market. However, annual wine consumption could well break the 15 million litre barrier by 2011.