Wine is fine, say Indian women

Relishing a drink seems to be fast becoming a fashion statement for the fairer sex in the country, says Ketan Thakkar

While Indian men still enjoy their whiskies, an increasing number of women and young adults are knocking back glasses of wines, flavoured vodkas, ready-to-drink (RTD) spirits and cocktails with élan, sending sales to dizzying heights.

According to the chief bartender of one of the most sought-after lounge bars in Mumbai, chilled white wine remains ladies' favourite, but cocktails are hot too. "Women have definitely become more adventurous today, be it wines, assorted cocktails or flavoured vodka, and they want to have more."

With the opening up of markets for foreign liquor in 2001, coupled with fast changing lifestyles, increasing affluence and influence of the West, the Indian market has witnessed significant increase in the availability and the acceptability of finest wines and flavoured vodkas.

On the one hand, you have sought-after wines from leading vineyards of France, Australia and California, apart from delectable Indian wines from the houses of Champagne, Sula and Grover. On the other, a range of flavoured alcohol beverages (FAB) like Absolut, Bacardi Breezer, Smirnoff Vodka, Romanov and Flink too are hot favourites. Flavoured drinks are very popular with lemon, orange, blackcurrant, peach and pepper heading the list of flavours. And these two segments have been registering a YoY growth of above 25 per cent. If this was not enough, France-based Alize, a premium fruit liqueur made from a blend of VS Cognac and fresh and exotic juices, is entering the Indian market soon. Says Lewis Johnstone, international director of Kobrand International, which oversees the global sales and marketing of the Alizé: "We believe we will have more success in this promising market. Women earn their own money and want to spend it. Women are keen on socialising with friends in women friendly environments. They are increasingly confident and in charge of their lives."

Ramona Desai, a regular at the city's discs and pubs, believes it's all about the outlook. "According to women, whisky is for men, and wines and white spirits are for women. They are curious to learn about low alcohol base drinks and want to try out different varieties." Santosh Kanekar, director (marketing), Diageo, accepts that the number of women drinking flavoured vodka has increased but it's only restricted to cities and only a small portion of five- seven per cent of their sales comes from women. He maintains that vodka is purely a masculine drink.