The importance of wine education

India's rapidly growing wine industry has brought into focus the need for qualified wine professionals in the business. In an effort to bridge this gap, Sonal Holland Wine Academy offers globally certified courses for professionals as well as the cognoscenti who want to know more about their favourite subject. By Sudipta Dev

It was her singular vision to educate and provide globally certified training to manpower resources in India's emerging wine industry that made Sonal Holland launch the Sonal Holland Wine Academy in 2009. “I looked around me and found out that in India there was no formal institution offering wine courses that had global credibility. I thought how will the industry develop if there is a lack of qualified wine professionals in the market,” says Holland, who also happens to be a well known wine consultant and writer on the subject. She concedes out that while she was fortunate enough to be able to go to London and do all all her wine studies there, not many people will be able to make the kind of investment in terms of time and money.

Even as recent as three years ago, most professionals in the sector were oblivious to the significance of formal training. Today the scenario has changed as not just winery owners and hotels, but even retail shop owners understand the difference that a trained resource can make to their business. Holland acknowledges that within this huge umbrella that is the wine industry, wine education will form a very formidable sector. The two courses run by Sonal Holland Wine Academy have accreditation from the Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET), which is one of the foremost institutions in the world for wine education and where she herself got trained. “I got the franchise to conduct their certificate courses in India. WSET courses are recognised all over the world, I thought if I got these courses here, not only will it save people the cost and time to go overseas, but will also really help the Indian wine industry. Besides, these professionals can go anywhere in the world and seek global employment in the wine industry. That was my vision,” states Holland.

Course types

Currently the academy conducts two types of courses – the foundation level and the intermediate level. These are short-termed certificate course targeted towards anybody wanting to make a career in the wine industry, whether it is production, sales, service or marketing. The foundation level course is just a day course followed by an examination in the evening. It is almost like a crash course but very well structured that runs the students through basic introduction to wine, the different wine styles, sales of wine, service of wines, service temperature, the hospitality of wine and a section on food and wine pairing. “That is why it is targeted towards not just wine professionals but consumers who enjoy drinking their wines. It is a beautiful course for wine enthusiasts who want to learn about wines in a more structured fashion. The pass rate is 70 per cent and then you are given a certificate by WSET,” informs Holland. The fee is ` 10,000 (all inclusive).

The intermediate level course is more indepth covering key grape varieties, where do they grow, regions, climate, etc. There is also a bit of revision about food and wine pairing. This is a three-day course followed by examination. “The beauty of these courses is that it is very adaptable to client needs. For example, if a hotel management says that it cannot spare three consecutive days for the staff to get trained, then we can do it over three Saturdays. What is important is the number of learning hours - 18 hours for intermediate and six hours for foundation,” says Holland. The fee for intermediate course is Rs 25,000 plus taxes (approx Rs 28,000).

Why training matters

Employers in the wine industry today recognise and acknowledge the importance of training. That is why they are now more ready to sponsor their staff for training, which apart from giving them the right skills for the trade also builds loyalty and helps in employee retention.

The courses see a mix of candidates who enroll on their own or are sponsored by their company. Almost 20 per cent comprise of individuals like wine enthusiasts who want to learn about wines. She would like to see the academy be recognised as a foremost institution for wine education in India. “The most important factor for an institution is the quality of its educators. Your wine trainer makes all the difference, I believe that if I have the credibility as an educator, a large part of the benefit accrues to my academy. I have invested in my own education with no compromises. I have just enrolled for Master of Wine which is the highest qualification one can achieve in wines. I am the first Indian to have enrolled for this,” states Holland.

It is also very important for a wine academy to offer excellent wines for students to study. Holland always ensures and selects the most representative wines for all courses. The venue for the courses are also selected thoughtfully as Holland believes that the ambience makes all the difference.

Dynamic industry

There has been a tremendous shift in the industry in the last few years. The new wineries that are coming up, particularly the boutique wineries, offer better quality of Indian wines. “This is indicative of the fact that some care is being taken at the viticultural level (growing of grapes) or wine making level,” points out Holland. Besides, improvement in quality is made possible through the best machinery and techniques, and also getting qualified professionals who know their business. “I think the industry will go through a great shift in the next 10 years. Indian wine will become a brand. Foreign investment will come in. We'll make better wines. Indian wine producers will hire international professionals,” adds Holland. She believes that wine belts other than Nasik, which currently controls 90 per cent of India's wine production, will be created. There are many soils and climate types in the country that offer conducive conditions for different wines. E.g. in the north, the cooler regions like Himachal Pradesh or the North Eastern states are best for wines that require less heat like Pinot Noir or Riesling. Nasik's tropical climate is best for Shiraz.

There will also be more qualified professionals which will benefit the industry, reminds Holland. Some will become wine producers, educators, journalists, others may join operations or sales in a wine company. “Wine in India will become a serious industry. Right now a very small percentage of Indian wine gets exported. There is certainly a lot of work to be done in this field. In the next 10 years this will happen,” she states. As far as the growth drivers are concerned, Holland asserts that at a regulatory level government support is required very badly, specially for liberalisation of imports. Right now the import duty is very high, almost 150 per cent, followed by octroi and state excise. “It is a complicated web of bureaucratic policies that prohibit the growth and consumption of wines. At a socio economic level the excitement that people get by drinking wine will drive the the industry. Then there is education - informal tastings - as consumers get better informed about wines, they will drink more wine.”

Holland is also a wine consultant – at an individual level she is a fine wine investment advisor while at the institutional level she organises wine tasting evenings and advises restaurants on their wine programmes. “I recreate an exciting wine list for restaurants that does not just allow consumers more variety but also looking at the economic aspect - how to maximise sales, looking into pricing, procuring at lower cost, advising on inventory, training staff food and wine pairing. The idea is ultimately to improve sales through wines,” says the wine advisor whose personal goal, not surprising, is to help India achieve its status as a superpower in the wine world.