Ladies raise a toast at the launch of the Calcutta Wine Club. Picture by Rashbehari Das

An average American consumes two gallons of wine a year, a Frenchman, 14, and an Italian, 15. We may be lagging far behind, but Calcutta is catching up!

At the launch of the Calcutta Wine Club, 12 founding members and a gathering of wine aficionados participated in a pleasurable evening with a four-course sit-down dinner at ITC The Sonar Calcutta on October 13.

“The first thing is to bring about awareness of the culture of drinking wine,” said Ranvir Bhandari, general manager of ITC The Sonar Calcutta and host for the evening. “People may have taken to wine in the city but the next step is to teach them what food can be combined with it,” he added.

And so for dinner, Duck Confit (served with quail eggs) was paired with Chardonnay, Balsamic Nero Capeletti with a glass of Merlot Vin De Pays and Lamb Millas (country-style lamb) was served with Pinot Noir. Each course was punctuated by a brief description of the wine that accompanied it.

so present at the launch was Jacques Dioque, general manager of Bouchard Aine & Fils, a wine company established in 1750 and just stepping into the Indian market. “What I’ve been told is that Calcutta is still in the process of opening up to wine, as compared to Delhi or Mumbai. But it is catching up fast,” he said. Wine clubs have also sprung up in cities like Delhi, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Chandigarh.

Bouchard Aine & Fils, he explained, is looking at modern consumption, where people have less time to age the wine before they drink it.

A second “official launch” of the Calcutta Wine Club was held at the Palladian Lounge on October 22 where the logo was unveiled. “The club was born in two days. As soon as we got like-minded people together, we got working on the papers and flagged it off,” explained club president Subhasis Ganguli.

The members — there are 40 who are already on the waiting list — plan to meet once a month and travel together for wine tastings. It is open to new members but there is a compulsory bond that must tie all of them together: a passion for wine. “We don’t want anybody and everybody to be in it,” stressed treasurer Rupinder Singh.

The wine club concept had also sparked off similar ideas for other drinks. “We plan to open a single malt club by the beginning of December,” revealed Kaushik Chatterjee, COO, UB Group.