Wine Safari in Sri Lanka

Finally writing up my observations from my quick “recognizance tour” of the Sri Lankan wine scene last month. I was there for several purposes and got to enjoy many aspects of the rich, varied culture, including witnessing a humanitarian relief project in the war-ravaged North and a speedy elephant safari, a visit to happening bird santuary and its designer eco-lodge, but since this is ultimately a wine blog and not everybody in the wine trade has ventured there lately, thought I’d share my piecemeal impressions for the greater good.The political context:  After 26 yrs of civil war, the conflict in Sri Lanka came to a rapid and brutal end three years ago when the government cracked down on the Tamil Tigers.  Despite a lingering unease about the toll that's taken on civil rights, it seems that even the Sri Lankans themselves can't believe that there's finally been a return to law and order, and are just coming to trust in the idea that they can return to business as usual.  This lends a surreal feeling to the modern Sri Lanka, as society and business prospects are in the process of being completely reorganized around peacetime, including for tourism and, more to the point, wine.TOURISM INFRASTRUCTUREAs it stands, the wine business there is still in its infancy due to supply disruption, religious and cultural issues, and the return to the prospect of developing tourism.  Is there a silver lining here? I’d say so - there now seems to be a concerted effort, with support from the government, to focus on building high-end infrastructure for luxury and eco-tourism and it seems that so far the ‘powers that be’ have taken the high road.  As a result, international visitors have begun to flock to the high-end resorts such as the stunning Vil Uyana, in the nature reserve where we were staying.  The economics are attractive, in that European tourists visit from Autumn through the Spring and stay put in their own neck of the woods in Summer, but are replaced by tourists from the Middle East, who are escaping their own stifling heat. Australians and Chinese know the country well at this point, Americans are still few but growing fast. This influx of year-round high-quality travelers, at the expense of all-inclusive low-end tourism, is one of the principle agents of change in the industry, and it brings new expectations in terms of variety and quality of wines available, since these tourists are willing to pay for such privileges.  That is, until they experience the full brunt of the mark-ups!TARIFFS, TARIFFS AND MORE TARIFFSThe impediments to this nascent growth are high tariffs, almost as bad as in neighboring India, but with much less disposable income.  The culral and religious taboos run deep, and all advertising of wine is forbidden.  But the surprise there is that Sri Lanka has one of the highest per capita consumptions of alcohol in the world. Much of this is unofficial and rather utilitarian, in the sense that there is an emphasis on grain alcohols consumed for inebriation rather than enjoyment.  People in the wine distribution business here are convinced that if a wine culture can develop, there could be a real shift toward more widespread consumption of high quality wine. For the moment, most of the premium wine is sold to, and perhaps earmarked for, the burgeoning foreign tourism sector.While in Sri Lanka I was lucky enough to meet with four of the top wine distributors in the country.*  Some were truly knowledgeable and worldly, having trained or worked in Europe, though others were in the burgeoning stages of their own wine education, learning on the job and figuring it out as they go along, so to speak.STAFF TRAINING STILL AN ISSUEThis basic knowledge does not extend, however, to many of their clients in the on- and off-trade, and staff training is really still an issue across the board.  WSET has made some inroads, but most trade clients expect the distributors to train their staff for free, and as we know from other countries this is rarely a long-term solution for the development of the market.   Additionally, there are no real wine shops to speak of. Wine is most often sold at mom and pop corner shops, despite the rapid progress and development reported by the distributors. To date, the market for super premium wines remains fairly insignificant, although well known brands have the beginnings of a foothold there and do get some shelf space on fancy restaurant menus.  When fine wine is consumed, there is a still a definite bias in favor of French wines.WINE CULTURE IN RESTAURANT IS OFTEN LACKINGI was somewhat underwhelmed by the available wine menus, even at these fancy restaurants.  The wine list in a swanky hotel restaurant reveals the extent of the problem: really inconsistent with regard to the way in which the wines are listed, so that the patron would have a very hard time deciphering it.  The listings are missing crucial information about region, vintage, producer, or name of cuvée. This would suggest that no one on staff could help someone looking to understand the menu and order accordingly, because they didn’t understand it.  Worse yet, it suggests that even the management or beverage advisors are in need of additional training.INTERESTING UPSIDEThat said, this represents a HUGE opportunity for a sommelier culture to develop and to fill this void in the Sri Lankan wine industry, which is clearly on the upswing.  Elsewhere this has been known to develop quickly, and I'm certain this could be the case in Sri Lanka as interest and demand continues to grow.  There also seem to be big opportunities for those who can provide scalable staff training at a reasonable rate.WHO's GOT THEIR FINGER ONTHE PULSE?The government’s alleged commitment to cracking down on the proliferation of all inclusive, low-end holiday packages should work well for the rapid development of proper wine lists with a good variety of wines.  So far the Australians are hot to trot and making serious in-roads, but the Chileans and Italians are also moving in on the traditional French market share. The existing market is up for grabs, as are the new market segments. Since the economy has been developing rather quickly on the high-end, there's reason to believe that appetite for expensive French wines will increase commensurately, starting with the tried and true, and then hopefully branching out to the niche (uberniche?) among us, with blingy consumerism and conspicuous consumption seemingly not really an option for Sri Lankans. Early days most definitely, but things are changing fast.A WONDERFUL CULTUREOverall, I found the people and more generally the culture to be remarkably hospitable, welcoming and warm by international standards. While this could be construed as a generalization, and might just be, they seem to be open and easygoing, qualities that are certainly conducive to embracing the very foreignness of the wine industry and to enabling the rapid development of the hospitality industry.  Some training and refinement of the logistics are all that is needed; this natural affinity for hospitality, an eagerness to learn, openness to other cultures and ideas...  these attributes are so central to wine and wine appreciation, yet in Sri Lanka they are naturally present and pervasive.I have very high hopes for the Sri Lankan industry development and I feel lucky to be able to get in on the ground floor.*I’d like to acknowledge Joseph Kenny, Arjun Aloysius and Mohan de Silva at Free Lanka Trading, R. Dushan Dushyanthan and Prakash Mirchandani at Favourite International, Patrick Gregory at Global Brands and Samira Fonseka at Rockland Distilleries Ltd. – these people are an integral part of what made my trip to Sri Lanka so educational and worthwhile.