‘German wines are suitable to be paired with spicy Indian food’

International wine brands are making a beeline into India to tap the evergrowing wine drinking market. One of the recent entrants in the Indian market is German wine brand Black Tower, which has been brought into the country by Aspri Spirits. Volkmar Stockmann – area sales director, Asia-Pacific & South America, Black Tower Wines, Germany speaks about German wines and his views about the India market. By Gayatri Vinayak

Please tell us about Black Tower wines.

Volkmar Stockmann

Black Tower is the oldest worldwide exported German wine brand which was born in 1967. Over the years the brand has gone through different phases of evolution in packaging, in terms of shape and design. We recently relaunched our wines in a new package and after that, we have been selling over 12 million bottles. Our target market is the younger, more outgoing consumer. For the India market, we have introduced the Black Tower Rivaner, Black Tower Riesling and Black Tower Dornfelder Pinot Noir.

What led to the need for a repackaging of the wine bottles?

The original Rivaner was in a black bottle and the next in line was in a tear glass bottle. We decided to relaunch the wines as we wanted to grow into new markets. Our largest market is UK. We hired a British design agency and researched for a year in three markets - UK, China and US and the result of the research was reflected in the new bottles. Our new bottles are 50-50, wherein the top half is still black in colour and the bottom half is clear glass, which is a unique concept. We also started to bottle the wine with a long screw cap as per the demands of the young market that it caters to. The quality remains the same, but the packaging changes. We introduced the new design bottles gradually, market by market. Our old markets are enjoying the new bottles and the new markets like India, do not know the old bottle.

How important is packaging for a wine brand?

Packaging, to a large extent, depends on the segmentation of the wine. We are mostly aiming at the mass market with price point in India of about Rs. 1,200, depending on the state. In such a mass market, we have other big brands in competition also, hence attractive packaging becomes vital. From the very begining, the brand was created for the export market. Hence, though it is a German wine brand, the name Black Tower – is English, giving an easy recall value.

What is your marketing strategy?

We conduct a lot of unusual promotions which are mostly common in the beer and spirits market. We have held concerts at Hyde Park in London, conduct wine samplings, etc.

How would you differentiate German wines from the rest of the Old World wines?

The main advantage that German wines have is that they are fruit driven, be it the white or rose wines. German wines are very low in tannins, hence making them suitable to be paired with spicy Indian food. They also have lower alcohol content compared to the wines from other traditional wine making countries. And with health consciousness increasing, that becomes an advantage.

How do you find India as a market for Black Tower?

As we are export driven, we want to focus on the Indian market. Though India has difficult excise and customs regulations to tackle, we are confident that we will overcome these obstacles. We see good numbers growing from India where there is an increase in the travel and a growing middle class.