To complement a good dinner you often need fantastic wine to go with it. When having a smart slap up meal the waiter would ask you what you would like to drink to which you would answer, “A bottle of your finest Nashik region sauvignon blanc wine or an original Maharastran Shiraz”. Like any good meal there are some essentials that you need, for example, crystal glasses, an ice bucket to keep the wine cold (if it’s white) and ideally someone to pour it for you. Whilst all of these are most often associated with fine French or Italian cuisine, India are now making a move for the market.

Indian wine is desperately trying to emulate the success of the sub-continents beer (Cobra) and food (Curry). However India’s oldest winery only dates back to early 1982 so the industry is still really in the starting phases. India as a nation are trying to increase their revenue stream and commerical routes as much as possible by broadening their own horizons. Exporting wine as well as beer and food will be a great move for Indian commerce as a nation as this will un-doubtedly help their relation and profit prospects.

White wine and red wine go well with any meal and normally you would go for a wine that has been brewed and made in France or Italy for example, but Indian wine could change all of that. Sales have grown by a massive 30% to 35% in India every year since as early 2002 and although only 2% of the population drinks wine, that still accounts for a staggering 20 million people. Last year alone the Indian wine market accounted for 1.2 million cases of wine being sold, representing a doubling of domestic consumption in only just five years. Compared to global players in the wine industry – America last year produced 270 million cases – India remains a viticultural minnow but now producers believe they have spotted an extremely receptive export the globe and an avenue to make plenty of money.

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Britain now imports more wine than any other country on the planet. We imported a grand total of 1.6 billion bottles in 2007, equating to 35 standard bottles for every adult in the country which is absolutely staggering figure. The average British adult now drinks 12% more wine than they did just five years ago and forecasts predict our consumption will continue to grow far beyond that figure. Global wine and alcohol consumption is on the rise in past years and also forecast to grow considerably. The US are predicted to eventually become the world’s biggest consumer by 2012. The UK is 13th in the world, in terms of consumption per adult and despite Britain being a big importer, the amount we drink is dwarfed by other neighbouring European countries including France.

Red wine and white wine sales are on the increase as well as champagne, whisky and cognacs. This has incidentally caused an increase in the sale of almost all drinking glasses, including crystal glass and the ever popular whisky glass. The British public consumed seven hundred and twenty million bottles of red wine and 764 million bottles of white wine in 2008 and that figure is expected to grow for 2009. However red wine is rapidly falling in popularity, as white wine and rose wine take larger shares of the increasing market industry.

Wine merchants have been extremely busy for the last year. Additionally, reports have indicated that many wine accessories such as glass vases, decanters and dinnerware have been selling extremely fast as a natural accompaniment to wine. The thirst for wine is set to deepen in emerging economies such as China and Russia, whose consumption levels are soon expected to overtake that of Spain in Europe which is another nation historically associated with wine. It predicted that the financial and economic crisis affecting many wine consumer countries worldwide would only have ‘limited’ consequences for the growth of the wine sector. The report forecasts incredible growth for the coming four years roughly in line with pre-crisis trends. Either way it is a very worrying thought.

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Despite what some people might believe, wine has not always simply been an enjoyable drink. Documents have been found over the years that suggest people once thought wine could cure stomach ulcers, stop cancer spreading and even reverse the effects of aging.  In reality, wine is almost definitely responsible for more ailments and injuries than it cures. Amazingingly more than 2500 picked up injuries last year in the U.S just by using a bottle opener.Having said this, wine does sometimes prove to have some positive effects on the body, and one of them has been demonstrated by scientists at the University of Minnesota, who claim that the inclusion of wine in massage helps the muscle recovery process.

This claim was made after scientists at the university ran an 8-month study on various groups of athletes and other students, whereby they had recovery messages at regular intervals using either wine or a placebo substance. The results showed that incredibly, the participants whose massage included the use of wine, displayed a muscle recover rate of, on average, 25% quicker than those without wine.Gary Herring the research director at the university’s bio-sciences department pointed out that “muscles pick up damage all the time, even when used lightly…we found that using wine in muscle massage sessions increased the rate at which this tissue damage recovered.  It is thought that the alcohol in the wine numbs nerve endings and so allows muscles to reach a greater state of relaxation. This relaxation then allows a vaso-dilation of the blood vessels that surround muscle tissue and means more healing nutrients can get to the damaged tissue.This said, when the scientists tested other beverages with similar levels of alcohol content, the same positive effects on muscle healing were not recorded, which suggests there are additional elements in the wine that influence the process.

You probably won’t find that there is a rush in wine rack sales from health spas around the country, but maybe they will invest in some slow wine pourers just to give it a go.

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