Sula Vineyards stock opened lower on March 20 even after India's only listed wine producer said that the grape harvest for the calendar year 2023 was shaping up to be "excellent in terms of quantity as well as quality".
At 11 am, the stock was quoting at Rs 337 on the NSE, down 3.6 percent from the previous close. The 90-day anchor lock-in period also ended for the stock on Monday. Since its listing in December 2022, Sula Vineyards has given about 8 percent returns.
"The unseasonal rainfall in March has had minimal impact on the wine grapes, which tends to be much more resilient to inclement weather than table grapes," said chief executive officer Rajeev Samant on March 17.
A new 2 million litre cellar facility at Domaine Dindori was up and running in time to receive the record grape tonnage, he added.
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Industry experts, however, had told Moneycontrol earlier that India's weather conditions were not optimal for growing grapes used in wines. "Indian wines cannot be compared to the premium wines of Napa or Europe," they said.
Sula's Dindori Reserve Shiraz and Sula Riesling have been selected to be served on board Vistara.
"The company has recently given up the sole import agency of Beluga Vodka, the last imported spirit in its portfolio, and will henceforth focus only on wines," Samant said.
A good quarter
In Q3, Sula Vineyards recorded its highest-ever quarterly sales. The sales of its wine brands jumped to Rs 187.2 crore in the quarter, up by 13 percent as compared to Rs 165.7 crore clocked in the year-ago period.
In the wine tourism business, the company recorded gross billings amounting to Rs 23 crore, 13 percent higher YoY as against Rs 20.3 crore in the year-ago period.
In February, mutual funds pared some of their stake in the stock. Mutual fund holding came down to 8.10 percent from 8.19 percent in January. Aditya Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund sold the largest chunk, as per data compiled by Prime Database.
However, the size of India's wine market remains minuscule when compared to that of spirits. Currently, the entire alco-beverage consumption market in India stands at 987 million cases. Of this, 30 percent is beer, 69.3 percent spirits and only 0.7 percent is wine.
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