West Midlands wine company puts Indian vineyards on the map

But why not? Wine making in India dates back thousands of years.

Under the radar for most, but evolving with gusto, India's reputation as a wine making country is now growing and gathering pace, emerging as one of the most exciting and fastest growing contenders. This change is being nurtured by companies such as Soul Tree Wines who are turning round the fortunes of the Indian wine trade, whilst making an impact here in the UK, and getting a brand new audience excited about the qualities of Indian wine.

Offering award-winning, 100 per cent vegetarian wines, Soul Tree as a company launched in early 2011 in the West Midlands. Whilst a large part of the focus shifted to London and the South East, Birmingham and the Midlands continue to be home territory. With 24 distributors (including Connolly's and Tanners), more than 600 outlets across the UK, an export footprint in France, Germany and the US, Soul Tree are now listed in many of the region's most reputed venues such as Purnell's, Pushkar and Hotel du Vin, as well as experiencing huge success on the West Midlands food scene.

Focusing on production, Soul Tree's vineyards are located in India's largest wine-grape growing district, Nasik Valley. It is India's biggest wine region and produces nearly two-thirds of all wine made in the country. Nasik lies off India's western coast, approximately 100 miles north-east of Mumbai at an elevation of around 2000ft.

The vineyards are located where crops can take advantage of the area's tropical environment, superb microclimatic conditions, warm days, and long cool winter nights. Production has been enhanced by mineral rich volcanic soils and excellent drainage, brought about by soil deposits over millions of years generated by the region's major river - the Godavari. The region's quality and potential has been endorsed by Moët Hennessy who have set up a winery there, only the third outside of France.

The grapes that go into Soul Tree Wines are produced by small, independent farmers. By choosing to work with them, Soul Tree is able to give back and make a difference to the farming communities that remain underprivileged by facilitating the distribution of their product throughout the world. Going forward, Soul Tree aims to invest a proportion of profits directly into the communities, which will lead to wider benefits and security for them. To support this, with the vision of creating a global brand that will pave the way for Indian wine consumption worldwide, Soul Tree's aim is to get their friends, supporters, and evangelists more involved by encouraging them to invest in the business as part of a crowd-funding pitch.

The popularity of Indian cuisine, offers Indian wine an additional role to play by way of complementing and enhancing the spice mix, bold flavours, textures and complexity synonymous with Indian food, offering an alternative to beer that is ordinarily consumed and is the usual go-to option with a traditional curry.

This change in consumption and thought process is something that will no doubt be promoted more as the wines gain popularity, not only in the very large global Indian ex-pat communities, but by foodies and restaurateurs who will enjoy exploring and building this trend.

As Soul Tree's mission continues to put Indian wines on the map and makes them more accessible to the masses, in time to come, if asked the same question - to name a country renowned for wine making - I am sure that your answer would include India. In the future it will come to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with its New World wine counterparts, and become a regular feature in your wine rack and on your dining table.

For more posts from Anna, see her blog Word in Veg Ways here.

For more information about drinking alcohol responsibly please visit Drink Aware.