For The Love Of Wines

Indians are well travelled and are now looking at wines beyond red, white and Rose. They’re now looking up the vintage, terroir, blends and so on and that’s why Abhay Kewadkar decided to launch his own brand producing handcrafted small batches of wine for the Indian tipplers, after working for more than three decades in the wine industry. His venture focuses on bringing to India a Grand Cru Class of wines under the umbrella brand Tetrad Global Beverages Pvt Ltd, along with partner Rishad Minocher and Joseph Andrade. Long-time friends and wine lovers, they have a carefully curated portfolio of wines under the Early Dark label, that has been produced in the celebrated vineyards of near Boudreaux in the Sud Quest region in France. RITZ Magazine speaks to the wine aficionados on the making of the Early Dark.

- Namita Gupta

HOW DID THE IDEA OF FORAYING ON YOUR OWN COME ABOUT?

ABHAY: Having spent my entire career in the wine Industry, from being India's first Wine maker to being in a unique position to be part of the "Grape to Glass" and “Farm to Fork" movement, I felt it was time to create my own brand and business. I always felt consumption of wine in this country has not really grown the way it should have. One of the main reasons being the price a consumer is expected to pay for quality wines both domestic and bottled at origin brands. I have wanted to fill this gap for a very long time, and starting a brand of my own has always been an ambition. I started Tetrad Global Beverages with my long-time friend Rishad Minocher and Joseph Andrade.

RISHAD: Abhay and I have been close friends for over 25 years and in many conversations (over a glass of wine or more!) we've talked about doing something about making wines more accessible. If I have learnt anything from my 40+ years in the food, beverages and hospitality business, its's that wines in most restaurants and hotels are too highly priced, hampering growth. One cannot do much about the taxes and duties that alcoholic beverages are subjected to, but we felt that there must be something we can do to change the situation. While we decided to go ahead to put our business together, an old friend Joseph Andrade, who is a very successful entrepreneur and businessman, also agreed to come on board with us.

WAS GETTING INTO WINES A NATURAL PROGRESSION AFTER WORKING IN THE WINE INDUSTRY FOR SO LONG?