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| Sileni's renewed foray |
| By Rajiv Singhal |
| "We don’t make our wines for shows". Simon Avery, Brand Manager North Asia/ Pacific for Sileni Estates, emphatically set the tone for a conversation over a much-sought-after degustation menu at Manish Mehrotra's Indian Accent. |
| Sileni Estates is one of the largest wineries in Hawke's Bay and the 3rd largest privately owned winery in New Zealand that was established by Simon's father, Graeme Avery (Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit 2014) with Chris Cowper (Finance Director) and Grant Edmonds (Winemaker) in 1997. Named after the Sileni who featured in Roman mythology alongside Bacchus, the God of Wine, the founders thought of the winery as an Epicurean Centre where good wine, good food and good company would be celebrated. |
| Simon was in India to review their distribution in India which had just recently moved to the Delhi-based Prestige Wines and Spirits. Sileni wines have been "imported" into India for some years, but with some insignificant volumes and Simon admitted that "we gave no market support". It is the passion of the 74 year old Sir Graeme to open up new markets that drove them from the far south eastern corner of the world to other continents – the Commonwealth countries were a first choice. Simon shared that Nigeria is next on his agenda – "it's a dangerous and difficult market. Two trips have already been cancelled". |
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The Sileni winery |
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| Sileni maintain high standards in environmentally sustainable viticultural and winemaking practices, and produce hand crafted wines that reflect the unique characteristics of the vineyards. According to Simon, Sileni is self motivated and disciplined. And the focus at Sileni is to make wines (they make 750,000 cases and will hit 1 million cases in the next 3-5 years) that lend themselves to food, wines that have an approachable fruit and flavour profile and wines that are consistent, year on year. At Sileni, it is not about celebrity endorsements, their wines do the talking!
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| Sileni vineyards are near Hastings in the Hawke’s Bay area on the east coast of the North Island of New Zealand on the southern latitude of 39°. Simon took me back to high school geography to remind me that if you flip the world map, this is the locator for some of the great wine regions – Bordeaux and Burgundy. |
| As he dug into the chettinad chicken keema and meetha achaar spare ribs, he said that he enjoyed very much the spicy curry that his wife makes. There are many Indians in New Zealand, he told me – they even had a cellar hand at the winery some years ago. Simon has surfed some of the best waves around the world and represented New Zealand in the World Championship. But India got to the emotions of the big burly sportsman – he did cry when he saw kids begging. |
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Simon Avery (L) and Sumit Sehgal modelling the Nano |
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| Simon believes that New Zealand has some resonance with the Indian consumer. As if to endorse this, Chef Manish who came to greet the visiting vino, announced that he was a fan of New Zealand. Sileni wines are well recognised in the Hawkes Bay offer. But, to capture interest in India (which he marks in his backyard – Geography 101a!), they will need to work on the brand. The senior management team at Sileni are extremely careful in their selection of their importers. And he's very gung ho about the opportunity of building the market with Sumit Sehgal and the team at Prestige. |
| Simon clearly understood that the market for wine in India was in its early stages of development with what he calls "almost no last mile connectivity". But he was amazed and re-assured to see the modern retail (which he described as passionate) and the service of wine in hotels and restaurants (which he described as perfect). He believes that the market has potential – it will happen in the long term when all the opportunists have gone!
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| Simon looks ahead. Sileni have modest expectations from India and Simon proposes to visit 2 times a year. In marketing actions, he is convinced that educating at the base level (like line staff in restaurants) will stand them in good stead. The range of wines will be based on a few SKU's and some novelties like the Sileni Nano (a varietal single serve in a ready-to-drink unbreakable bottle with a clip on glass, perfect for on the go) that he pulled out to complement our meal, will help them make it happen. |
| With their new partner, Prestige, Sileni wants to "develop, recover and build the brand back" in India. |
| The dinner at Indian Accent was hosted by Sumit Sehgal of Prestige Wines and Spirits. |
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