At the Top of their Game

Apex Wine Club India

There are clubs for book lovers, budding Wordsworths, doodlers, too; so it would be par for the course that wine lovers should have their own. Here’s one, the three-year-old AWCI – WhatsApp-based with a membership that spills over not just outside the city but the country, too

Text: Lyle Michael

The only wine club in India which bears the nation’s name, giving it an extensive presence, membership to this group requires only one thing: l‘amour pour le vin! French truly can romanticise wine like no other, as can the aficionados in this club – some who know their grapes blindfolded, others who can vax eloquent about pairings, and the rest who simply enjoy a glass at the end of a hard day’s work. It’s strictly wine business in an informal setting in the Apex Wine Club India (AWCI).
“I did not want it to be exclusive, you just have to honour and love wine,” Sidd Banerji begins, as he pours a glass of Cabernet Shiraz from Oakwood Vineyards, one of his choicest. AWCI’s founder extraordinaire was ecstatic on Sep 30, 2018 when his vision came to life at the Ambassador Hotel in South Bombay, even more so when his mentor, Sharad Phadnis – founder of the Nagpur Wine Club, happened to be in town and unveiled the club. “I joined the NWC in 2015 and ever since then I consider Sharad Phadnis my guru. I have learnt so much since my journey with wine began through global exposure as a marketing professional. It was always a passion, since 47 years, across 22-plus countries.” For Sidd, wine would be the perfect retirement hobby, the “last leg of his life,” and so it came to be, once he took off his tie as an international gems and jewellery marketer, till 2017.
Hands-on education for Sidd came about in travels to vineyards across Europe and the US, organising tours of wine in the Old World, imbibing the local culture at parties, and in the warm homes of residents, gaining edification on wine – from the shape of the bottle to the taste of every grape and its making – to wine club associations and ultimately establishing his own, Sidd can happily say he’s married to wine today. His wife, Ruby, has no objections whatsoever!
With 1600 paid and non-paid members, and counting, actively engaging on nine to 11 WhatsApp groups, AWCI is run by volunteers who host sessions on Zoom and FB Live. Embracing the virtual age we now exist in, the club has held a sizeable number of activities thus far, with wine lovers pouring in from all over the country as well as regions like New Zealand, Bordeaux, Tuscany, to name some. Sure, we do miss the joy of clinking our glasses together and hobnobbing while we discuss food pairings, but when needs must, we adapt and share our home-bound gatherings over wine and food with everyone on the group. There’s plenty that goes on, fun and informative, casual and professional, all at the same time.No mean feat this! And tech adviser, Ashok Chandak, is hands-on, ensuring the smooth functioning of AWCI 2.0. Glitches are part and parcel, but you do your best and pray to the network Gods.
“My experience with Zoom began prior to the pandemic explosion which is why I was well-versed in handling the AWCI events online,” says Ashok, founder of the Durgapur Wine Club, who was introduced to Sidd through Sharad. “I set up everything, send out the invites and monitor the sessions, mostly three times a week, with a good number of people either on our (unlimited) Zoom or FB Live.” Ashok has been at the control board for over a year now and finds it wonderful to host so many speakers from all over. AWCI is considering a YouTube channel next. Well, you must, for that’s where the world exists, doesn’t it? IGTV, too!
Being technologically sound is what might give a certain wine club an edge over the others. And there are quite a number out there – seven as per Sidd’s reconnaissance. Wine clubs have been mushrooming alongside the ongoing wine revolution in India, particularly the metros like Bombay, Delhi, Bangalore and Calcutta, to bring about an awareness about the treasured drink and make it “table-friendly.” Taking the presumed airs out of wine consumption and making it more accessible and approachable to every diner out there is the aim for the clan, regional wine clubs such as the Nagpur and Durgapur wine clubs alike. Let’s take the former, the Nagpur Wine Club, deemed the “mother club” by founder, Sharad Phadnis.
NWC just celebrated its 10th anniversary and is growing in its inclusion of wine lovers with an annual wine festival to its name in the winter capital of Maharashtra. “Would you believe there are around 65 wine-producing countries in the world with over 200-250 grape varietals employed,” explains the winemaker who encouraged Sidd to explore more wineries in and outside of India. “Sidd has been instrumental in launching his own club in Mumbai after we had a long discussion about it. I am happy to say I am a well-wisher of the AWCI, with its membership of wine enthusiasts – from stalwarts to students and everyone in between – from all over the world.”
Sidd was more than happy to take Sharad’s advice. Sidd shares, “With NWC, I grew to be an outstation life member and have even created a wine directory for the club. It was such a proud moment to have prominent figures, Sharad Phadnis, Subash Arora (Indian Wine Academy) and Yatin Patil (All India Wine Producers Association) at the launch of AWCI.”
Wine enthusiasts all over have only benefited from the club. Eva Bellagambs is one such aficionado, chiming in as an international adviser for AWCI, all the way from Tuscany. What began as a network meet in Tuscany emerged into a fruitful equation between the lady who runs her family-owned vineyard and the man who favours a Chianti from Tuscany. “Sidd always involved me in the activities he was organising as I had expressed a keen interest in exploring the wine scene in India and exporting our wines,” begins Eva. “With COVID restrictions, I have only discovered the scene through AWCI’s sessions like women on wine, French wines, etc., as well as through articles (from their e-magazine).” Having tasted Indian wines a few times in Italy, Eva is looking for more, when she can travel to our country someday and meet the AWCI family in person.
AWCI is nothing short of one big wine-loving family, where simple moments like a dinner to a grand celebration at home are shared on the group. Or the latest trend in the industry to news from over the globe. Or a list of the top 10 women Indian winemakers curated by the Indian Wine Academy as well as a list of wineries delivering straight to your doorstep! And let’s not leave out those quality sessions by field experts whether it be wine etiquette or food pairings, tasting notes or storage, and so on.  
Co-promoter and chief adviser of AWCI, HR Ahuja, reinforces the purpose of the club as spreading awareness and educating those interested in wine through sessions and tastings. “Our fundamental objective would be to liaise with the state governments to make the production and distribution of wine easier,” states Ahuja. “We need to revive the Wine Board of India and the standardisation of wine manufacturing. Wine needs to be differentiated from other alcohols like it is in Goa, for instance.”
To the effect of giving wine the glory it deserves and to make it more accessible, a book is on the anvil. And if all goes as planned, a film on wine, too!
According to Suparna Chakravarty, chief of media for AWCI, wine is not only a drink but also an emotion. So she aims to produce a film on the unknown and softer side of wine – from its creation to connecting the dots between wine and fine arts. Now that’s going to be something, coming from the documentary filmmaker with almost two decades of work under her belt. With the vision of becoming the single largest hub for everything about wine in the country, the team is giving it their all in making this dream a reality. “The AWCI is a close-knit family,” smiles Suparna. “All the members stand in solidarity and work together even while conceptualising minute details and brainstorming over them under the leadership of Sidd, who, coincidentally, shares a similar idea about a film on wine.”
Sidd toasts to that while concluding, “There is such a style in wine, it is a noble drink and is to be enjoyed for what is in each and every bottle. Wine’s spirit is to last the wrath of nature, the test of time.”
Feel the same? Get in touch with AWCI and join the revolution.

Contact
Sidd Banerji: +91 93211 47797
Email: [email protected]