After automobiles, Germany woos India with wines

After luxury automobiles, high-endtechnology and Black Forest cakes and pastries, Germany is set to woo Indiawith a select range of white and red wine - which the country's ambassadorclaims goes best with spicy Indian food.
"The German Riesling (white wine) with its unique flavour, texture and lowalcohol levels, goes very well with the Indian palate and cuisines. We expectthat German wines will gain popularity in the days to come," the country'sambassador to India, Michael Steiner, told IANS on the sidelines of a winetasting here.
"German wines have very different characteristics, taste and craftsmanshipwhich are very different from that of other well-known wine makingcountries."
The low alcohol levels and dryness of German wines pairs them well with avariety of Indian foods with exotic flavours and spices.
According to the envoy, India is "slowly but surely" getting hookedon to German wines, which compete with more popular French, Italian and Spanishwines, apart from the domestic brands.
"German wines are gaining popularity, people are taking about these wines.The average knowledge about German wines has definitely gone up," theenvoy said.
Indian wine importers too are enthusiastic about German wines, even thoughtheir current penetration is still low in comparison to other hard drinks anwines - both domestic and imported.
"German white wines are gaining popularity in India as they go well withour spicy food like the kebabs. I expect that if the German wines are promotedproperly they may gain a sizeable market share in the near future," saidVikram Sethi, director of Shervick Services that imports nearly 60,000 winebottles from France, Italy and Spain.
"Currently, I am experimenting with the German wines. It's a very initialstage," Sethi said, adding that in future he may import around9,000-10,000 bottles a year.
The whites definitely have the edge among German wines, the envoy said.
"Germany is known for its white wines rather than reds. Towards our borderwith France, we manufacture more of red wines and towards our border withAustria and in northern Germany, we manufacture white wine," Steiner said.
Some 48,000 people are associated with Germany's wine making industry.

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