Australian wine technologist Diana Davidson has expressed concerns over Indian wine not meeting international standards and predicted that wine-makers from China, Argentina, Chile and South Africa could easily wipe out Indian wine from the international market.  Speaking at a workshop organised for farmers by the Indian Wine Producers’ Association in Pune, she said, “Some Indian wines are good but most are below international standards. This is because farmers do not have adequate knowledge about the variety of plants, the soil required, irrigation techniques and pesticides to be used in vineyards. Most grape growers use traditional methods of cultivation and non-existing wine-culture too affects the quality of wine production.”

The Indian wine industry is worth Rs 1,000 crore and is expected to grow to Rs 4,500 crore by 2011. Since January this year, Indian wineries have produced 22.5 million litres of wine, which is exported to countries such as France, Italy, Germany, United Kingdom, Singapore and Belgium.

More: Business Standard