BANGALORE: It is not surprising that Bangaloreans are ringing in the new year with bubbly spirits.

The city has seen a steady increase in wine consumption in recent years, and according to a survey conducted by consultancy firm Brounens in July last, Bangalore has the third largest market for wine in the country after Mumbai and Delhi.

The city consumes around 31,000 cases a year as against the one lakh cases in Mumbai and around 54,000 cases in Delhi.

As the fastest growing city in wine consumption with 30 to 35 per cent increase annually, the wine drinking culture in Bangalore has grown with the growth of the Information Technology sector and a large and ever- increasing floating population of international visitors who come to the city on work.

While domestic wine brands have witnessed an increase in sales by 33 per cent in Bangalore, the imported wine segment has reported an increase by seven per cent over the previous decade.

"Bangalore has witnessed an increase owing to a variety of reasons, which demonstrates that wine has tremendous growth potential," M.G. Robin Somaiah, general manager of Mandala Valley, a recently introduced brand, told The Hindu.

Mysore is the next destination in the State for wine consumption. From 70 to 80 cases a month, the sales had now gone up to almost 200 cases a month in Mysore, he said.

At present, the total annual wine consumption in the country is estimated to be about 0.6 million cases (a case contains 12 bottles), growing at the rate of 25 to 30 per cent annually.

India is well behind other countries in per capita wine consumption.

While worldwide, the average per capita consumption a year is seven bottles, France tops the list consuming 62 bottles per capita.

The per capita consumption a year in India is 0.005 bottles.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail