In a shattering turn for Maharashtra’s non-grape wine industry, the state’s ongoing preference for grape-based producers has left many fruit wine and mead (a gluten-free alcoholic beverage created by fermenting honey with fruits and spices) brewers struggling to stay afloat. The recent policies have compelled Hill Zill Wines Pvt Ltd, a boutique winery from Bordi-Dahanu known for innovative fruit-based wines—including chikoo, star fruit, mango, strawberry, and pineapple—to announce its decision to shut shop. Similarly, Moonshine Meadery, a pioneer in India’s honey-based alcoholic beverages, is uncertain about its future.

Despite a 300 per cent growth in the alco-beverage sector after nominal excise duties on non-grape wines were introduced in 2019, fruit and honey-based alcoholic beverages account for only five per cent of total wine production in the state