Fusion Wines 

THE FACTS

Location: Mumbai
State: Maharashtra
Founded: 2012
Major shareholders: Ravish Ahuja
Total area: n/a
Area under vine: n/a
Production: 100,000 litres
Google map: click here

THE STORY

Ravish Ahuja is an engineer with a profound love of wine. His Mumbai-headquartered company imports and deals with a variety of machinery, including winery equipment by Italian manufacturer Della Toffola. He has thereby built up a substantial network of contacts with Indian wineries and, when one proposed going into partnership for the distribution of wines, but then retracted, Ahuja set up a wine-importing business himself with French, Italian and Californian producers in his portfolio.

 

Later he floated the idea of a joint venture to Dr Vincenzo Vernocchi, an Emilia Romagna-based winemaker, with whom he had been working through an importing agency, and Fusion Wines was born. The concept was to produce good quality quaffing wines in Italian style on Indian terroir. The grapes were sourced from the southern part of Maharashtra, so it made sense to make use of Grape City Winery. The cooperative in Sangli was delighted to partner, as it had spare capacity.

 

Dr Vernochhi travelled eight times to India for the first vintage in 2012, launched a year later. Fusion Wines includes three brands, all labelled under a fantasy name rather than the variety. The first 100,000 litres were well in excess of what the market was able to absorb, and so there was no crushing in 2013 or in 2014. As demand started picking up, the plan was to produce 150,000 litres in the 2015 vintage.

 

Fusion Wines’ innovation lies in the small bottle sizes that serve just one or two glasses of wine. The idea is simple yet brilliant. The Indian consumer is new to wine, so may be tempted to enjoy a glass, but often not prepared to commit to the purchase of a full bottle. Also, restaurants and bars that offer wine by the glass often serve from bottles that have stood open too long. As an engineer, Ahuja was probably able to distance himself emotionally and so focus on the need of the hour.

 

Currently, Fusion Wines has small market penetration and is available only in Maharashtra. With wine being his passion, Ahuja will not disrupt the market, but he needs to open eyes and minds to the idea of smaller packaging so that it can become more widely available and contribute to the spread of a wine culture in India.


THE WINES

The wines are simple, technically well-made and enjoyable to quaff with a curry or even bhel phuri from the street-food seller’s cart. I tasted the Amoroso and it was a basic red blend with some oaky flavours infused with staves. It would be great to see more of the stuff around so that wine evangelists can mingle with the spirits- and beer-drinking crowds.
As this book was going in press, I learnt that Fusion would be releasing a tank-method sparkling wine as well; something to look forward to.

THE LABELS

Fiorato: made of Sauvignon Blanc

Amoroso: a blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz

Vita: a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz

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