Luxebook December 2021

BY SCHENELLE DSOUZA Certified sommelier Magandeep Singh shares his views on the growing industry of wine in India and China Evolution of the Asian wine industry A sommelier, author and columnist, Magandeep Singh is an award-winning sommelier with many years of experience in the wine industry. A professional wine taster, Singh has published two books—Wine Wisdom: Buying and Drinking Wine in India (2005), and The Indian Spirit (2017), which speak about the drinking culture in India. He is also the founder of ‘Wi-Not Beverage Solutions’, the only professionally qualified wine and beverage solutions company in India which consults top hotels and restaurants on their beverage selections. In a conversation with LuxeBook over a telephonic interview, sommelier Magandeep Singh spoke about the Asian wine industry, the budding appreciation for Indian wines and the growing homegrown wine industry. How has the wine industry evolved in India over the years? In the last couples of years, I’d say the last decade— which is a small amount of time in the wine world— we’ve come from not having enough consistency to having consistently, drinkable wine. That was the first achievement for us. And secondly, there’s been a little consolidation, because suddenly, in the middle, we had a lot of brands. But all of them weren’t making sense, or, weren’t making great wine. They were either acquired by SPILLING W INE 30| L U X E B O O K | D E C E MB E R 2 0 2 1 D E C E MB E R 2 0 2 1 | L U X E B O O K | 31