Wine Regions of Asia – India

India’s large and expanding middle class, combined with high taxes on wine imports, have acted as a real impetus for the Indian wine industry. In 2001, Mumbai’s state of Maharashtra created financial incentives for wine investment, and now produces two-thirds of India’s wines, primarily in the high altitude Nashik district on the Deccan Plateau. The Sula winery, flush with Silicon Valley investment, has become India’s number one producer, making red wines from Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon,  Zinfandel, Merlot and Malbec, rosé from Zin, whites from Sauvignon Blanc and Chenin Blanc, and a late harvest dessert wine from Chenin Blanc. In the Nandi Hills near Bangalore in the Indian state of Karnataka, Grover Vineyards, with the help of renowned French winemaker Michel Rolland, has been producing whites from Sauvignon Blanc and Viognier and reds and rosés from Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz. In this tropical climate, vines never go into dormancy, but precise pruning tames them appropriately, allowing the vines to repose as they would otherwise do in winter. Goa, with its Portuguese heritage, has long produced a Port-like fortified wine.