Bollywood 's influence on Wine Consumption

👎 Diageo issued a warning that this year’s revenue and profit will be significantly lower than previously expected – a blow which has had a serious knock-on effect for the European drinks sector. (Harper’s)

🏷 Digital nutritional wine labels, accessible via QR Codes, will become mandatory in the EU on 8 December. From next month, all wine being sold within the EU’s 27 member states, including wine made in the UK, must include full ingredient and nutritional information.

💷 UK wine drinkers will face an extra 68p in tax on every bottle they buy if the government increases duty in line with inflation this month. Experts warn that the reforms would cost wine drinkers £500m per year in extra duty and VAT.

Do we really know our customers?🤷‍♀️

In the Financial Times last weekend, Jancis Robinson highlights the divergence between what’s fashionable and what customers actually want to drink.

Apparently, 56% of customers take recommendations from family and friends, compared to 48% who seek help from shop staff. Only 22% take recommendations from magazines and newspapers*. (Robinson’s concern is that her writing and suggestions aren’t contributing to much!)

Customers mostly favour “full-bodied” wines, the “very opposite”, she says, to what is fashionable in wine circles.

Another area of divergence is sweetness. Customers request dry but unknowingly, drink sweet, especially when it comes to those wines aimed at the mass market. The Thousand Live Cabernet by Peñaflor, for instance, has up to 12g/l of residual sugar.

Lastly, favourite grape varieties?

Of the red varietals, Malbec comes in at number one, following by Merlot, Shiraz, Cabernet and Pinot Noir in that order.

Of the white varietals, Sauvignon Blanc tops the ranking, followed by Pinot Grigio and Chardonnay.

*according to a survey published by Hallgartum and Novem.

Bollywood good for wine 👍🇮🇳🎬🍷

Henna Bakshi, for Vine Pair, describes how Bollywood influences wine culture in India.

The traditional Bollywood script went something like this: ‘villains drank hooch, rich villains drank wine, and heroines didn’t drink’.

But almost 30 years later, things have evolved. Wine is now viewed as a refined way of living which has opened up the market to a new set of consumers. In both TV and film, young and discerning characters are drinking wine, including female leads.

So what caused the shift?

A combination of higher income, especially among the middle classes, and travel, especially to Europe’s wine destinations, has sparked this growth in wine consumption. In 2007, the median income of the Indian household nearly doubled over seven years.

The growth is staggering - wine consumption increased by 19 percent in 2022. However, there is still a long way to go — wine makes up less than 1 percent of India’s growing alcohol market.

The author predicts we will soon see own-label brands by famous Bollywood actors.

Wish List 💸💭

One of these please, for my future rich self:

Invintory is an aspirational app that records where each wine is located in your home cellar. The data also organises cellar contents into colour, vintage, price and more. The ultimate wine collector toy.💸

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