The Socially Conscious Winemaker
Ashwin Rodrigues
Owner/Winemaker
Good Drop Wine Cellars
The self-made man is well-known for bringing fizzy, fruity, fun wines to the Indian table. What Ashwin is lesser known for is his responsibility to the environment, underprivileged children, and stray animals
Interviewed by LYLE MICHAEL
The Socially Conscious Winemaker
He's busy getting his hands dirty at his vineyards in Vinchur, Nashik, when he pipes in on a conversation with us. It's no mean feat working on and supervising the production of over 20 lakh litres of wine annually, from the cellars of Good Drop Wine. When he's not engaged in the viniculture, it's the responsibility of making wine more available to every willing citizen in the country. This, by going state to state to challenge laws, armed with the argument that wine is not just a healthy beverage but more so a beneficial product for the farmers, a boost to agriculture - the very backbone of our economy. Did you know wine makes up only 1% of the total alcohol consumption in India, Ashwin doles out a little nugget, so, yes, there's a lot of work to be done!
"We have now expanded to 15 states, from 2013 when Good Drop was established," begins Ashwin, the vintner who had brought the popular Rio brand of carbonated, fruity wines to the market at the turn of 2011. "I contracted Rio out of Renaissance Winery - where he had previously worked and picked up the local wine know-how - to start a brand that would relieve wine of the fancy aura that surrounds it. When I questioned what I could offer to the Indian consumer that's simple, affordable and brings wine down from its high horse, Rio was the answer. It was an instant success." Rio was bubbly, easy on the palate, fresh and new, drawing the young crowds in. It was the first wine to sport a ring pull tab, and was competitively low-priced - at Rs 100 a bottle!
Ashwin has come a long way from then; a single wine producer to the owner of a winery that presents a bouquet of around 25 wines today. In 2013, he even acquired Good Earth Wines to add a still wine touch to his folio. As for the fizz - Rio's sparkling reds and Rosés apart - there's the spumante (sparkling) Casablanca - a vibrant Prosecco introduced in 2014, using the then rare Charmat method of sparkling wine production in India; the Rio spritzers in 2016, in a variety of flavours; and the frizzante (semi-sparkling) Frizzano in 2018, in sweet varietals. Lockdown 2020 proved productive with the launch of the Frizzano Italian Collection inclusive of the Bianco, Rosso, Rosato and Forte (15.5% abv) varietals. What followed were sweeter versions of the Frizzano with Dolce and the unprecedented Senza - a sugar-free wine of a natural sugar substitute. All quality wines below the range of Rs 500, with a screw cap for your convenience. Wine that's easy, fuss-free!
Ashwin is as fuss-free and chilled out as his wine is, with the look to complement. Let that not take away from the fact that hard work runs in his veins. For it takes tenacity and grit for a beer drinker (in his early days as a CA) to establish a successful wine business post arduous firsthand learning in Barossa and Sonoma Valley vineyards.
"I was employed in financial services in Bombay in 2000 before heading to Sydney and eventually becoming an Australian citizen," Ashwin starts us off. "I was still working in finance there when I discovered wine in all its glory, the varieties opening up to me gently, courtesy a friend who would bring a bottle along with him every time he came over. The idea to do something professional with wine was planted before the actual consumption and predilection for it. This world was so new and the itch to return home and immerse myself in the wine business was growing." And so it came to flourish. Ashwin eventually quit his lucrative job in Sydney and drove down to Adelaide to gain the knowledge he needed, but not before visiting the wine regions of Australia previously on a break from work.
"I couldn't just go about throwing money into a project without the lay of the land," shares Ashwin. "Once convinced, I returned to Sydney and put down my papers, packed my bags and found a little winery called Villa Tinto where my first task was pruning. With no pay but a precious perk in a bottle of wine at the end of each hard day in the sun." No matter the season, Ashwin was out there, shears in hand, till he decided to pursue a course which led him to earn experience as a cellarhand at a bunch of wineries across Barossa Valley. It took a year and a half to imbibe the winemaking process before a stint in Sonoma Valley beckoned in 2008. Once in California's rich wine county, Ashwin set about working on a harvest at Tin Barn Vineyards, with just the winemaker for expert company. Two and a half gruelling months, and 125 tonnes of reds later, Ashwin was on his way back home to put into practice all that he had so richly gained. The rest, as they say, is poetry in a bottle, a sizably good drop in the wine ocean.
"It certainly has been a rich trail, always with the vision of ‘people and the planet,'" states Ashwin. "Being an environmentally conscious person, I have laboured at a winery that is nearly a 100% solar-fuelled with paper labels on our bottles." If you caught sight of the man plogging - picking up trash while jogging - in Bandra, you'll know he practises what he preaches. "During the lockdown, I encouraged my staff to follow suit and tied up with eVidyaloka NGO, to offer drinking water and quality distance education to kids in the village of Vishnunagar in Vinchur."
Lastly, the dog dad aids community street dog initiatives, too. How do you find the time to do all of this, and play the guitar, too? "I'm not married," he concludes!