Anticipation Builds For LVMH's Nashik Sparklers from India

by David Kiley (RSS feed)
Mar 7th 2011 at 9:01PM

The global wine industry took notice when LVMH's Moet Hennessy bought its first 150 tons of grapes that were crushed in Nashik, India, where about 60 wine producers call home.

The Times of India quoted Indian wine writer, Alok Chandra as saying, 'Moet's move to enter India's wine sector is significant as it has a history of investing ahead of the curve in most big wine markets outside France.'

Moet's plan is to produce a local Nashik sparkling wine by 2012. In fact, the producer of Moet Chandon and Dom Perignon Champagne is buying land to construct a sparkling wine production facility over the next two years. [A Nashik vineyard pictured]

Meanwhile, the grapes for this year's crush were handled by Moet's Indian subsidiary and the resulting later wine is scheduled to be contracted out for bottling.

India slaps heavy tariffs on international brands. In Mumbai, Moet Chandon sells for almost 5,000 rupees (about $109). The move by Moet would certainly give it a leg up on international competition in the luxury wine market.

Moet Hennessy is already recruiting viticulturists for grape sourcing, as well as mid-level management, including winemakers.

India's wine consumption is estimated at 1.5 million cases annually. But since the 2008 global economic downturn, premium wine grapes lost 40% of their value, and last year's fall of the country's largest winemaker, Indage Vintners, did nothing to help the situation.

Maybe Nashik Chandon can turn things around for the region.

Check out the Nashik Wine Trail.

Tags: Moet-Chandon, Nashik, Nashik Chandon