Bangalore wine festival from March 11

DHNS

Bangalore, 27 February 2011: The second Bangalore International Wine Festival will be organised at Palace Grounds in Bangalore for three days from March 11.

 

As many as 30 wine brands from India and abroad will put up stalls to promote their brands of wine. NaKa and Kinvah - two native brands of wine -  are organising the event at White Petals in Palace Grounds.

 

B N Nanjundaiah, Managing Director of NaKa wines, said that in the last festival held in 2010, more than 25,000 people visited the stalls. This time, the event will be conducted for three days and the organisers are expecting at least 45,000 visitors.

 

The event includes grape thumping, band and seminars on tasting wine to popularise wine as a health drink.

 

“Wine industry is directly dependent on agriculture sector. As demand for wine increases, demand for grape cultivation also goes up. Finally farmers will be benefited,” he said.

 

The State Government brought in a wine policy in 2007 to promote cultivation of grapes as well as wine brands. The state board organised the first festival in Lalbagh in 2009. Next year, in association with native brands, the board organised an international festival at Palace Grounds. Nanjundaiah said these measures have helped increased sales of wine in the State.

 

As of now around 8,000 cases (1 case: 12 bottles of 750 ml each) of wine are sold in Karnataka every month. Before 2007, the sales of wine was limited to a few hundred cases.

 

“Festivals of this kind will increase sales of wine and also cultivation of grapes,” he said. The entry fee is Rs 100 per individual. Every visitor gets a wine glass along with the entry ticket.

 

Alcohol content in wine is usually about 12 per cent.