Building a wine list for an Indian restaurant or brewpub
Most Indian restaurants and brewpubs carry too many wines, store them badly and price them by guesswork. This guide shows how to build a list that matches your food, turns over and pays its way.
Start from the food and the guest
The list exists to sell your food and make money, not to impress a critic. Before you call a single distributor, sit down with your chef. Write down what your kitchen serves and who walks through the door. A brewpub with tandoori platters and loaded fries needs a very different list from a coastal seafood restaurant.
Spice and chilli heat are the main constraint in most Indian kitchens. High alcohol and heavy tannin make chilli taste hotter. Fresh acidity, a touch of sweetness and moderate alcohol calm it. Our guide to wine and Indian food pairing goes through this in detail.
How many wines is enough
For a brewpub where beer is the main act, 8 to 15 wines is plenty. A full-service restaurant can carry 20 to 40. Beyond that, slow bottles sit for months and stock days climb.
A workable shape for a short list:
- One sparkling wine.
- Three or four whites, from crisp to aromatic and off-dry.
- One rosé.
- Three or four reds, from light and juicy to fuller bodied.
- Optionally one sweet or fortified wine for dessert.
Name each wine clearly by grape and region. Indian guests often order by grape, so Sauvignon Blanc, Chenin Blanc, Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon should be easy to find. Our grape varieties guide covers what each one tastes like.
Indian wines and imports
Indian wines from Maharashtra and Karnataka are usually far cheaper than imports once duties and state taxes are added. Many are well made and suit the food. Imports add recognisable names and styles India does not make much of yet.
A sensible balance for most venues is a list led by Indian wines, with a few imports at the top for guests celebrating or entertaining. Check what your licence allows. In many states a brewpub or bar licence covers beer only, so serving wine needs a separate permission. Rules and fees vary by state and change, so confirm the current position with your excise office or a licensing consultant.
By the glass is where the money is
Most guests in a casual venue order a glass, not a bottle. Offer at least one white, one red and the sparkling by the glass. The catch is wastage. An opened bottle starts to fade within days, faster in a warm bar.
Control it with three habits:
- Reseal and refrigerate every open bottle at close, reds included.
- Date each opened bottle and pour oldest first.
- Measure wastage weekly. If a by-the-glass wine is losing more than a couple of glasses a bottle, swap it for something that sells.
Pricing without guesswork
Start with landed cost: the price you pay the distributor plus any delivery and state charges that land on you. Then price from that cost, not from what the venue next door charges. Most restaurants set wine margins as a multiple of landed cost, with a lower multiple on expensive bottles so they still sell. By the glass is priced so that the first glass or two covers most of the bottle cost, which protects you against the wastage above.
Track three numbers each month: gross margin per wine, bottles sold and stock days. A wine with a lovely margin that sells two bottles a month is tying up cash. Review the list every quarter and replace the slowest seller with something your staff are keen to recommend. Staff enthusiasm sells more wine than any description on the menu. Our guide to brewpub food menu margins uses the same logic for the kitchen.
Storage decides what the guest tastes
The most common fault on Indian restaurant lists is not a bad wine. It is a good wine cooked in a storeroom next to the kitchen. At 30 °C and above, wine ages fast, loses fruit and can leak past the cork.
Keep stock in an air-conditioned room or a wine fridge, ideally around 12 to 16 °C, away from light and away from the tandoor wall. Serve whites and rosé chilled and reds slightly cool, around 14 to 18 °C. A red poured at room temperature in a Chennai summer tastes hot and flabby.
Running a list well means knowing how wine behaves after it leaves the winery. That is the part most restaurant owners never get taught.
Common questions
How many wines should a brewpub list carry?
Usually 8 to 15. That covers sparkling, white, rosé and red styles without slow bottles piling up.
Should I serve Indian or imported wine?
Lead with Indian wines for value and food match. Add a few imports for celebrations. Check what your state licence permits before buying any wine.
How do I reduce wastage on wine by the glass?
Reseal and refrigerate every open bottle, date it, pour oldest first and drop any glass pour that consistently goes to waste.
What temperature should restaurant wine be stored at?
Around 12 to 16 °C, away from light and kitchen heat. Hot storage ages wine quickly and is the most common cause of tired wines in Indian venues.
