A SA initiative is taking the state's world-class wines to more markets across the globe and one of the countries in its sights is India.
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A select group of international wine importers in the SA Wine Ambassadors Club - a state government initiative - spent four days travelling SA at the end of April, with 100 producers from 10 regions showcasing their best drops.
In its first 18 months, the program had helped 51 SA brands break into six new markets, and generate more than $1.37 million in sales.
Among the group were Indian ambassadors Nikhil Agarwal and Pritish Matai.
Mr Agarwal owns a share in Mumbai-based wine importer Angel's Share and co-organises India's largest wine showcase, ProWine Mumbai.
He says there is huge opportunity in the developing Indian market for SA winemakers.
"In the last 30 years, the pace at which more consumers are starting to drink wine has only increased," he said.
"In the past five years, especially since COVID, that pace is at a level you or I can't fathom.
"Besides the big cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, there is demand for wine coming from smaller cities that aren't as developed and audiences that you wouldn't imagine drinking wine."
Mr Agarwal said the motivating factor behind being in the SAWAC was to bring more SA wines into India.
As well as the trade trip, Angel's Share hosted a masterclass at ProWine Mumbai 2023 to give Indian sommeliers, consumers and retailers information on wines from SA.
The company will also distribute a "mystery box" to consumers in June, which will contain wines from a variety of SA regions to educate drinkers on regional differences.
Mr Agarwal believes 90 per cent of Indians won't be drinking wine anytime soon, but the 10pc or 150 million people left is still a "staggering number" of potential customers.
"We have 4-5m people who drink wine occasionally now and that number is doubling every four to five years, and we have a 15-17pc increase in wine consumption year-on-year," he said.
Driving that growth in wine consumption is more people with more disposable income, more wine drinking promoted on television and in film and in popular culture, and the next generation drinking more wine.
"If you're a 20-year-old in Mumbai, you're surrounded by restaurants that have wines on their lists, hotels that have serious wine programs, restaurants with sommeliers, shops that only sell wine, wine bars," he said.
"The new 20-year-old is growing up in an India where wine is already part of the national psyche."
Mr Matai is from the multi-generation Aspri Spirits operating out of Mumbai.
He said previous Indian interest in Australian wine had centred on cheap types, but the free trade agreement signed by the two countries in late 2022 had helped spark a shift in mindset to exploring more premium options.
"For Indian importers and Australian producers, there's excitement on both sides about getting more wine into India's market," he said.
