Shining the spotlight on the Wine Growers Association of India

Brinda Gill catches up with Ashwin Rodrigues, Secretary of the Wine Growers Association of India as he tells us about the aims and efforts of the organisation to promote Indian wines

- Brinda Gill

Founder and maker of Good Wine Cellars, wine Drop based in Nashik, Ashwin Rodrigues, who is also the secretary of Wine Growers Association of India (WineGAI), Mumbai, says "WineGAI is a catalyst for the growth of the Indian wine industry. The first year has laid the foundations of the organization on four solid pillars. And we have introduced and accomplished a range of programmes and activities." WineGAI was formed in April 2023 to support the Indian wine industry and active wine brands in the Indian market. It was felt that wineries producing branded wines with a label - as opposed to wines produced in bulk for sale to other companies needed to work together to promote the category.

As a result, seven major wineries got together to found WineGAI including Fratelli Vineyards, Good Drop Cellars, Grover Zampa Vineyards, KLC (Virgin Hills), Moonshine Winery (Mead producer), Sula Vineyards and Vintage Wines (Reveilo). Membership to the association is open to wine producers from across the country, including small-scale and large producers, and grape wine or fruit wine producers.

"Small wine producers are an important part of the wine industry at countries around the world. Small producers bring vibrancy to the industry. We aim to extend support to grape wine and fruit wine producers in India to grow and market their wines and brands,” says Ashwin.

The four objectives of WineGAI or ‘founding pillars’ as Ashwin calls them, are promoting Policy Advocacy, Technical (Viticulture and Winemaking), Marketing, and Social Responsibility. “As each state in India has its own excise policy, our endeavour is to work through the complexity of regulations related to wines. We want to create awareness of wines being farmer-friendly,” says Ashwin.