The growing potential of the wine market in India has been widely chronicled in the wine world, and the government of India is taking notice, too.

The Indian ministry of food processing industries is looking at setting up a National Wine Board to develop standards and generally promote the wine industry in the country, according to economictimes.indiatimes.com.

The Web site said, “Domestically, the market is growing at 30 percent per annum as the health angle of red wine, in particular, has caught the fancy of India’s ever-burgeoning middle class. India now consumes 3.5 million bottles a year, which translates into a pathetic half teaspoon per head against France which consumes 60 liters.”

(Vintners could do well to curry the favor of the Indian consumers.)

All for global warming

There may be one wine region that is rooting for global warming — British Columbia.

With global warming dominating recent headlines and concerns voiced that producing regions such as Napa Valley could be adversely affected, the B.C. Grapegrowers Association has been given $40,000 to study the feasibility of growing wine grapes in the Lillooet-Lytton area, which previously had been considered too cold to support commercial winegrape production, according to Canada.com. Currently only the Okanaga area is producing wine commercially in B.C.

Lillooet is about 200 miles northeast of Vancouver along the Fraser River, and, according to the city’s Web site, high temperatures there are frequently the hottest in Canada, but in the winter, the area boasts cross-country ski, snowshoe and snowmobile trails. Wikipedia said Lytton “in the summer, is often the hottest spot in Canada.”

(And this is considered too cold to grow winegrapes? What will it be if global warming is real?)

   

Alaskan wine

Eleven wineries in Alaska are asking the Legislature to pass a law allowing them to ship directly to consumers and across state lines.

Do they really make wine in Alaska? Yes, typically using a grape concentrate with Alaska berries, according to the Anchorage Daily News Web site. “From salmonberry wine to honey-based meads, Alaska’s wineries squeezed out nearly 5,000 gallons of wine in 2006,” the site said.

“Our products are all wild and generally pretty healthy,” said one vintner. “If you’re looking for antioxidants, these northern berries are full of them.”

Currently wine can be shipped only to distributors, but most of the state’s wine market is generated by tourists.

(Perhaps they’re counting on global warming and are laying the groundwork to expand the industry.)

Imus wine review

The Don Imus controversy has even extended to the wine business.

Wine publicist Ed Schwartz, a graduate of Rutgers University, wondered if Imus would go into the wine business following his firing from MSNBC and CBS as a result of comments made about the Rutgers Scarlet Knights women’s basketball team.

He fantasized this review: “Imus Horse ‘Scarlet Knights’ Zinfandel. A rough wine, difficult to swallow. At first, it gives a funny impression, followed by a very sour taste in the stomach. A wine difficult to take, easy to dismiss.”

 (CBS and MSNBC must have read this and realized it was directed at the man, as well as the wine.)

The ultimate

birthday party

Cliff Lede Vineyards has created what it calls the ultimate birthday celebration, which offers five couples “an unforgettable trip to the Napa Valley.”

For $60,000, the couples will have three nights at Lede’s Poetry Inn, a dinner “personally cooked by Chef Thomas Keller and his French Laundry staff at Poetry Inn,” dinner at either of Keller’s other Napa Valley restaurants, Bouchon or Ad Hoc, a picnic catered by Bouchon Bakery, and six bottles of Poetry cabernet sauvignon for each couple.

In addition, the birthday celebrant will be given a bottle of a First Growth Bordeaux from the birth year.

All travel will be by limousine.

(That would make a great lot for Auction Napa Valley — then everyone in the valley could benefit.)

Quote of the week

“Wine to me is passion. It’s family and friends. It’s warmth of heart and generosity of spirit. Wine is art. It’s culture. It’s the essence of civilization and the art of living.” —  Robert Mondavi, in his autobiography, “Harvests of Joy”

Jack Heeger can be reached at jheeger@npanews.com