The rose is really difficult to make, you know, and this one's pretty good," said Nicholas Faith, wine writer from the UK, cynic, and pleasantly surprised to be in Narayangaon for a wine festival last week, miles from anywhere on the Pune-Nashik road. One day, it could get on the wine map of the world -- at least that's the intention, and Faith's compliment was for Indage India's just launched Cuvee Millennium ros sparkling wine as much for the event. He and about 250 others, among them Michael Wente, chairman of California's Wente Vineyards, were at the Indage winery near Pune for what the organisers billed as India's first wine festival, a coming of age of sorts for the fledgling wine business. Some invitees like the Ambanis and Godrejs stayed away from the elegant event, though Ramesh Garware and Sunita Kalyani lent a touch of jet-set by choppering in and out.

The others, mostly from Mumbai's social set, were around, tasting wines on show -- Indage, Bordeaux and Riesling, tucking into the banquet, planting grape vines and stomping grapes. All to mark the joint venture between Indage and three major wineries -- Wente, Peter Mertes of Germany and Taillan from the Bordeaux region in France. Groupe Taillan owns Chateau Margaux, one of the best known chateaux in Bordeaux.

The first step is for Indage to import and market wines from these labels, beginning May -- Taillan's fruity white should be a hit. In turn, Indage wines will be marketed in the US, Germany and France. But what will probably make the best point in future is that these companies will send stalks of specific varieties of grapes to be planted and nurtured in Indage's wineries and will eventually supervise the wine-making process. Wente is sending Chardonnay and Merlot, Peter Mertes will provide Riesling, and Taillan Sauvignon Blanc and Bordeaux. 2006, or thereabouts, should be a good year.

-Sudeep Chakravarti