BROTHERS IN WINE
Fratelli is a relatively new Indian wine company that is already making its mark with a range of quality wines. Wine dinners, tastings and vineyard visits with the Indian wine community along with intensive behind-the-scenes marketing and planning has marked the company’s strategy for success.
But will the success story sustain in the tough Indian business climate? Will the Fratelli experiments with new varietals work? Will the current Italian control on winemaking quality be sustained over time?
My interview with partners Kapil Sekhri and Alessio Secci was an attempt to find out a little bit more about the Fratelli story.
What brought about the collaboration among the partners that went on to becoming Fratelli wines?
KAPIL : Fratelli literally means brothers in Italian, and it is the only Indo-Italian collaboration for wines in India. The six brothers of Fratelli are Andrea and Alessio Secci from Italy, Gaurav and myself from Delhi and Arjun and Ranjitsinh Mohite Patil from Akluj, Maharashtra. The seventh brother is Piero Masi, the creator of Fratelli wines.
Our collaboration has arisen out of the deep trust, friendship and faith our three families share with one other.
Our project took shape with Piero coming on board and this finished the circle.
Fratelli represents a new India which wants to produce a product based purely on excellence and the faith that India can deliver the best from its soil.
Fratelli has started with a bang, with a large portfolio of wines, including some unusual ones (for India) like Sangiovese, and your soon-to-be launched Vin Santo…how confident are you of these doing well in the new Indian market?
KAPIL : The Indian consumer today is ready for new experiences and quality produce. The setting is perfect and I believe the tipping point of wine awareness is right around the corner. I am extremely confident that the quality of our wines will speak for themselves and will do well. (more…)