September 4, 2008
A Peep into the history of Wine in India
If you thought that Wine is a gift of West to India and its something new to the Indians, you cannot be more wrong. If mentions of ‘Somras’ and ‘Madira’ in the Hindu epics are no solace, the history as per records suggests that wine in India was made as late as 5000 years ago! However, unlike France, where wine is literally a common household kitchen item and an inseparable part of the daily food menu, India is still a rather shy consumer of wines.
It is estimated that the wine industry in India was groomed by the Portuguese in the 16th century, when they ruled over Goa as their colony for some time. The Portuguese also gave India its famous recipe of Vindaloo, originally derived from the word Vin d’Ail. The sailors from Portuguese used to store meat soaked in barrels full of wine and garnish of garlic cloves. This when mixed with Indian spices gave birth to the dish called Vindaloo, which is still popular in Indian restaurants that serve wine.
The Portuguese, during their reign, improved upon the crop of wine and its making to make it suitable for their own consumption. This, in turn, saw more quality wine being produced in India through the 21st century and beyond. Today, Indian wines are produced across India, especially in vineyards at Nashik (or Nasik) in Maharashtra and Bangalore in Karnataka. According to a reliable estimate, Indian vineyards sprawl over 1,23,000 acres of land, of which hardly one percent is actually used in production of wine.
Wine Awareness in India, Wine, Wines 