High spirits

Five labels 8211; Lamelle white and Il Borro, Pian Di Nova, Rosso Di Montalcino and Brunello Di Montalcino red 8211; from the Ferragamo Family Estates, Il Borro and Castiglion del Bosco, will now be on sale in duty free shops in India. Ferragamo is looking at selling about 10,000 bottles till March next year, until which time the wines will only be available in duty-free shops. The prices for the wines range between Rs 8,000 and Rs 10,000.

The suave and handsome Ferragamo, named after his fashion shoemaker grandfather, the founder of the Ferragamo brand, has always been quite clear that the world of fashion was not for him. The younger Salvatore8217;s passion lay in winemaking and this was quite

evident in the way he spoke about his vineyards and their products at the launch.

Ferragamo said he8217;s long wanted to enter the wine market in India. 8220;The trouble was finding the right partner,8221; he explained, 8220;Then I met Dharti at the VinItaly wine festival in Verona last year and I saw that she is just as passionate about wine as I am.8221; He was very particular about selecting wines which will suit Indian taste buds. 8220;The red wines go well with Indian food. The tannins found in them are rough and they go well with the smoothness in fatty and oily foods.8221;

Desai is very optimistic about the future of the wine market in India. 8220;This is a very good time for wine in our country. There is a higher demand for wines, both the sparkling variety and otherwise, and Italian food is also increasingly popular. So naturally, we thought that the time is ripe to launch these premier Italian wines.8221; She agreed that the total consumption of wine is India is barely a blip considering the levels of wine consumption in other parts of the world. 8220;We8217;re principally a water-drinking nation. Drinking wine with our meals is a new concept for us.8221; But, according to her, India is steadily catching up. 8220;The Indian consumer is very curious and very experimental these days.8221;