How photography led Aneesh Bhasin closer to wines and the launch of a boutique wine label: Four Wise Men

Photography is something Aneesh Bhasin picked up more than a decade ago when he was in tenth grade. What began as a hobby soon turned into a strong passion and by grade XII, Aneesh pretty much knew that photography was his calling in life. Aneesh was lucky to have parents who realized going to college would not help him in any terms with photography and let him assist another photographer. Since then, there has been no looking back and Aneesh has marched ahead to become a multi award winning lifestyle photographer and writer.

A few years back, Aneesh was commissioned to shoot for a book on the Indian alcohol industry which took him to a lot of vineyards in Nashik and that is when he developed an interest in wines. Tasting wines with wine makers made a lot of difference and having travelled to almost 30 countries because of photography, gave Aneesh a good exposure to international.

Aneesh has been interested in technology and one merry evening after a few bottles of wine along with friend and entrepreneur Shiladitya Mukhopadhayaya, they decided to come up with the Indian Wine List- a wine focused smartphone app and consumer platform. The app has garnered close to 5,000 downloads across platforms and has seen engagement and building up of a close knit community.

A step forward in this direction, India Wine List is coming out with a boutique wine label in a partnership with York Winery. The wine is branded Four Wise Men wine launches on 7th August (today). The wine label which comes from four people all below 30 and the idea is to create a brand which will always be artisan, edgy and limited in production.

The wine industry has not seen much innovation in marketing. There are a lot of wineries making excellent wines but most people don’t know about them. We entered the space to be able to bridge the gap between wine drinkers and producers and also targeting a young people, 25 to 35 mostly. FWM also gives us a chance to see what may or may not work to create a brand in this space in real world.

Two Barrels Reserve is the first wine which is launching first with a limited edition of 500 bottles. The bottle is priced at INR 950 and will compete with a few others. India Wine List has made Aneesh really passionate about spirits and they the team plans to do a lot more in the space.

Head over for a wine treat at Four Wise Men