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Time of India
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Master of Wine to mastering balance: Sonal Holland uncorks some wisdom
As the first Indian to get the Master of Wine title — one of only about 512 globally — Sonal Holland not only knows her wine but also sake, shochu , and global beverage culture. In her memoir 'One in a Billion', she offers insights into her journey — one that involved juggling travel, study, and raising her adopted daughter, who was just a year old when her MW course began in 2010. The book's title, in fact, comes from her daughter's reaction to her achievement. In a chat with Kritika Sharma , the 52-year-old reflects on the importance of open conversations around alcohol In your memoir, you write about how your parents were both supportive and progressive when you ditched the hospitality industry and became a winepreneur. How has that affected the way you parent? I'm deeply inspired by the way my parents raised my sister and me with a balance of traditional and progressive values. They instilled in us the importance of family, festivals, and friendships, while also being humble enough to admit they wanted us to grow up in a better environment than they had. They never dwelled on failures and were always solution-oriented. My father strongly believed that our environment shapes who we become, and that's a principle I try to pass on to my daughter. My husband is British, and English is the primary language spoken at home. There is nothing very Maharashtrian about our household, but we still host Ganpati every year, we celebrate all Indian festivals with the same zeal as we celebrate Christmas. My daughter, who is 16, is being raised in a household where there is cultural confluence. We allow her the space, freedom, and encouragement to make her own choices — whether it's the tuition she wants to take or the extracurricular activities she wants to try. We're not the kind of parents who hover constantly. We guide her, mentor her, and offer advice, but never impose. I genuinely believe that the best parenting style is one that advises and mentors without controlling. How are you supporting your daughter's aspirations? She's very interested in music and sports, but not particularly academically inclined. She recently appeared for her Class 10 board exams, and all I told her was: this is an important year, so give it your best and leave the rest. We've never pressured her to excel in maths or science. Instead, we've chosen to focus on nurturing her interests — music and football. She has a piano teacher who comes home for lessons, and she's extremely passionate about football, so she's enrolled in the school's sports team. This means staying back after school for extra hours, which can be logistically challenging since she can't take the school bus back and has to be picked up by car. But that's the kind of infrastructure you need to build around your child's aspirations. We do all of this because we genuinely want to support and fuel her dreams. Somewhere along the way, that spark will lead to her roadmap — and hopefully, to her 'one in a billion' moment. I truly believe we all seek that moment where everything aligns, and we feel: this is it, this is my calling. But you can't get there without trying your hand at a hundred different things. You have to be willing to experiment, to fail, to try again — until you stumble upon that one pursuit that truly ignites your passion. As parents, our role is to be supportive — to give them space, freedom, and most importantly, respect. You can't turn around and say, 'Why music? Unless you're going to be a world-class singer, how will you ever make money from it?' As a parent who educates others about wine, how do you educate your kids about alcohol? Like they say, the children don't learn from what you tell them. T hey learn from your actions, not your words. As someone working in the alcoholic beverage industry, particularly in education and consulting, I hope my daughter sees that I am a very moderate consumer of the very beverage I advocate and popularise. I drink responsibly, and I consistently promote moderation, both through my personal choices and my public messaging — whether it's through social media or articles. You will never really see me drunk because I want my daughter to understand that I'm not an abuser of alcohol, but rather an advocate for moderate, responsible drinking. My daughter is 16 years old and, of course, she's underage, so I'll be careful in how I choose my words here, but I really do hope that she has her first drink, or first few drinks, in our presence. I don't want to make this a taboo. I'm open with her, in the belief that if I hide nothing from her, she won't feel the need to hide anything from me. The reality is that at some point, she will try alcohol. India is the third-largest alcohol market in the world. If I make a big fuss about it, chances are she'll end up drinking in secrecy — which is common, but not ideal. I'd rather she be in a safe environment, not vulnerable, not out of control, and certainly not in a situation where she can be taken advantage of. I want her to understand and appreciate alcohol for what it is — and to know how to enjoy it responsibly. As someone who has an unconventional career, what is your advice for parents who are always looking for safe career choices for their kids? The whole career landscape has changed so much. I want to tell all parents that your children are seeing a world you have not been exposed to, and they may have a certain line of thinking that is beyond our scope of imagination. So, we must therefore be humble enough to accept that and allow them to experiment and try a few things because who knows what might come out of it. If my parents hadn't allowed me that freedom or bet on me, I wouldn't be where I am. Allow them to fuel their dreams and give them wings. But equally, allow them to fall back on you if it fails. If children make a wrong choice, don't respond with, 'If you do this, the doors are closed on you forever.' Don't be dramatic. I think that's one of the worst things a parent can do. Instead, always leave the road open for them to return — to your shelter, care, and protection — especially in moments of failure. That's when they need you the most. Only then will they be able to refuel themselves into trying something else. How did your parents react to your unconventional career choice? My father was extremely supportive of my choice. All he asked me was what does Andrew (Sonal's husband) think of it and when I told him that it was his idea that I pursue a career in the alco-bev industry, he was convinced. My mother, on the other hand, has been a teetotaller all her life and she did not understand my choice at that time. Of course, now she is proud of me, and we laugh about her reservations at that time. But the fact that I was married to a sensible, older man — not someone my age who had no idea what they were doing with their life — really helped my case. You have stepkids from your husband's first marriage. How does that shape the family dynamic and does it in any way affect your relationship with your daughter? W e are one big happy family who love going on holidays and spending time together. There is no concept of stepkids or stepmother in our family. And that has happened over time and organically. I never forced the kids to get along with me or to accept me as a part of their family. When I first got introduced to Andrew's children, Christopher and Charlotte, they were nine and eight. Now, they are 34 and 33. At that time, they were too young but all I told them was to treat me like their friend and not stepmother. That really helped and over time, our relationship grew organically. During their growing up years, they started coming to me for advice. It's a beautiful relationship now. Christopher is getting married next month in the UK and in the marriage certificate, he has given two names for mother, his biological mother and mine and that is such a huge honour for me. What more do I say about the relationship? When it comes to our daughter Rianna, she is fonder of Christopher and Charlotte than me. She tells everyone that she has two other siblings.
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Business Standard
17-07-2025
- Business
- Business Standard
One in a Billion: Sonal Holland's journey of popularising wine in India
If you believe in an idea and know it makes sense, don't give up - for Sonal C Holland, believing in her idea meant putting wine on India's map and inspiring a whole new community of wine lovers Neha Kirpal New Delhi Listen to This Article One in a Billion: Becoming India's First Master of Wine Published by Westland 195 pages ₹599 In 2016, Sonal C Holland became the first Indian to earn the title of Master of Wine (MW), the highest qualification in the world of wine. The coveted certification is conferred by the Institute of Masters of Wine via a rigorous three-stage programme — consisting of a preliminary exam, a main exam of theory and blind-tasting papers, as well as a 10,000-word research paper. Ever since, Ms Holland has been inspiring a whole new community of wine lovers in the country and
Mint
12-07-2025
- Mint
A ‘Master of Wine' on how wine and food work together
Another memorable trip was to the Bordeaux region in France—home to some of the most revered wineries in the world, such as Château Margaux, Château Brane-Cantenac, Château Pichon Baron and Château Leoville Barton. As always, I got to drink several fascinating wines on this trip. One of the highlights of this trip for me was our visit to Château Cos d'Estournel, where I was stunned to find that the architecture of the winery closely resembled the pagodas of Asia. The château's founder, Louis Gaspard d'Estournel, was known to have a fondness for India, which is reflected in the château's architecture, as underneath the pagodas is an ornate wooden door guarded by elephants. To see the Indian elephant as the symbol of this esteemed winery, sculpted in stone, wood and shrub across the château's premises, filled my heart with fondness and pride. It was a reminder of India's vast legacy and influence across different continents. India might be discovering the world of wine now, but it had been woven into the history of wine centuries ago by this estate. During our visit to Bordeaux, for a couple of days we stayed in Sauternes, which produces graceful sweet wines. The amber-coloured wines have aromas of honey, orange marmalade and spices. The producers of Sauternes wines always emphasise it isn't just a dessert wine and can be paired with a range of dishes. While visiting wineries in Sauternes, we were treated to lunches that explored the wine's versatile food compatibility. One of the most popular food pairings was with liver pâté, which is made by grinding pork liver with lard. Liver pâté is a popular French delicacy, so my fellow students were thrilled to try it with exquisite Sauternes wine. As a pescatarian, I hadn't been sure of what kind of food would be available on this visit. So, I had registered for the tour as a vegetarian, and was served dishes like cucumber and cream cheese roulade or fruit-based salads. Sonal Holland's 'One in a Billion' book cover. As the tour progressed, my friends' reaction changed from 'Ah, pâté' to 'Ooh, pâté, again' and then 'Oh, pâté, again.' By the third day, people would hover over my table, looking wistfully at my plate of fresh veggies and cheeses, and say, 'We want what you have!' This experience proved that every food and cuisine can be paired with wine if you understand the fundamentals of pairing the two. Many foods suppress certain taste buds on our tongue, momentarily altering our perception. The simplest example of this is drinking orange juice straight after brushing your teeth. The juice tastes sour and bitter because toothpaste contains sodium laureth sulfate, which suppresses the taste buds that detect sweetness. Understanding this interaction between different foods and beverages is the key to wine and food pairing, so that the wine you offer doesn't get overpowered or altered in taste by the food you serve it with. Sour foods, such as tomatoes, vinegar, lemons, enhance the flavours of wine, making it taste richer. Salty foods like salted cod, salted nuts and salt-crusted pretzels and even bread too make a great pairing with wine, especially with high-tannin wines like Shiraz or Malbec, since salt acts as a flavour enhancer and softens the wine's tannins. However, pairing wines with bitter foods like bitter green vegetables or umami foods like eggs or bacon is challenging. Indian dishes can pair with a wide variety of wines, as long as they aren't overly spicy, but this requires another book, which I will write soon. During these visits, I learnt invaluable lessons from people working in different spheres of the wine industry. Ironically, these people were not MWs themselves, but their wealth of experience and practical knowledge was immense. Come to think of it, an MW learns the most from people who are not MWs themselves! However, every person I interacted with had immense respect for the title and for the students who pursued it. I think the respect was for the determination, focus and dedication that we students put in. Once a person becomes an MW, they earn respect from the industry for the time and effort they invest to further develop the industry. An MW is meant to be the keeper of knowledge of the wine world. The whole reason for being vessels of knowledge is to share whatever we know with the rest of the world—that's the core virtue of every MW, because knowledge has no power unless it is shared. Over the six years, I also realised that the wine world is constantly evolving, with innovations in how wine is produced, marketed or accessed, and because of the impact of external factors like climate change on the industry. This meant that even after one became an MW, the learning never stopped. Excerpted with permission from One in a Billion: Becoming India's First Master of Wine by Sonal C. Holland, published by Westland Books.
The Hindu
08-07-2025
- Business
- The Hindu
Sonal Holland, India's first Master of Wine, launches her memoir
In 2016, Sonal Holland become the country's first Master of Wine. The prestigious qualification is considered to be highest standard of professional knowledge in the field. After 20 years in the industry, Sonal has released her memoir, One in a Billion (Westland Books). The book charts her professional journey with personal anecdotes about family and motherhood. 'In these two decades I have walked an unconventional path,' Sonal says over a call from Mumbai. 'I believe my story is unique. My obsessive journey to get this title, and the sacrifices that went behind it... I wanted to chronicle it all.' Sonal says the book is aimed the three kinds of people: people in the trade who are curious about what a 'master of wine' is and how does one get to be one. 'Second is for consumers who want a glimpse into the industry, through my lens. As I call it, my rosé-tinted glasses.' And last, she says the book is for anyone who is looking to reinvent themselves and change paths. The book is dedicated to her father, whom she calls her 'first champion'. It begins on Ganesh Chaturthi of 2016, the day that the results of the Master of Wine exam are due. She is rightfully nervous. 'Consider this: way more people have scaled Mount Everest or travelled to space than have become Master of Wine (only about 512 since 1953).' 'The Indian wine industry then was nascent' Sonal grew up in Mumbai with her parents who had government jobs. 'The first 32 years of my life, I lived in a Reserve Bank colony in Mumbai. I had a very humble upbringing, a typical Maharashtrian childhood. I am a first-generation wine drinker in my family.' The book charts her rebel teen years, her initial career in hospitality, and how she met her husband. In 2006, she decided to leave her corporate job. 'Wine as an idea just came to me as a lightning bolt. The Indian wine industry then was nascent.' She looked up what was the highest qualification you can get and came across the Mater of Wine issued by The Institute of Masters of Wine in the United Kingdom. At the age of 33, Sonal embarked on a journey to study wines. 'Alongside that was my parallel journey into motherhood. I had a lot of problems with pregnancy. In 2009, I adopted my daughter.' When she started her course in 2010, her daughter was one. 'I have missed so many important milestones.' One in a Billion goes into these vulnerable moments. The book has added inputs from her sister, her mother, her stepchildren and from the folks at the Institute of Masters of Wine. Writing the book, with her business, was hard. It took over a year to pen. But through her life journey, Sonal wants to inspire other people who are craving a second act. One in A Billion is published by Westland Books and is priced at ₹438
Yahoo
17-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Politico Bets on New Podcast Push to Take on TV's Sunday News Cycle
Look out, 'Meet the Press.' Make way, 'Face the Nation.' Politico wants to enter the Sunday-news pow-wow. The political-news outlet recently launched a new podcast with former NBC News correspondent Dasha Burns, and would like the show, 'The Conversation,' to vie with the nation's Sunday programs in more direct manner. Thanks to video distribution via YouTube, says Politico CEO Goli Sheikholeslami, executives believe they have a shot. More from Variety Comedian Zarna Garg Launches Podcast on Heels of 'One in a Billion' Amazon Special True Crime is Most Popular Podcast Genre: Pew Research Study APA Names Nick Panella Head of New Podcast and Audio Group (EXCLUSIVE) 'Our ambitions are not small,' she tells Variety during a recent interview. 'We do think we can, and we should, compete with other big players in this area. And I do think that having YouTube as a platform really does allow you to compete directly with the broadcasters in this day and age.' Politico's hopes for Burns' Sunday program are bolstered by the fact that Jonathan Greenberger, the former ABC News Washington Bureau chief and executive producer of 'This Week with George Stephanopoulos,' is an executive vice president for the Axel Springer-owned news unit. 'The Conversation' is just one of a handful of new podcasts that Politico is in the process of launching — and in which it is ramping up investment. The company has hired two new executives to build out its audio and video content. Ben Reininga, formerly the global head of news at Snapchat, has been named vice president of audio and video, while Haley Thomas, formerly senior producer of CNN's audio division, has been named head of content of audio and video. Reininga will report to Greenberger, while Thomas will report to Reininga. Separately, the NBC News executive who had been tasked with oversight of 'Meet the Press,' Carrie Budoff Brown, has returned to Politico, where she once served as editor in chief. In a different era, the Sunday talk shows were viewed as a stand-alone part of the national news cycle. The last efforts to penetrate their ranks came in 2009, when CNN launched 'State of the Union,' and 1996, when Fox News Channel debuted 'Fox News Sunday.' Today's media consumers, however, are more likely to watch video podcasts or tee up short-form audio programs — and don't consider such products inferior to those produced by mainstream TV. Approximately 58% of Americans say they prefer to get news on a digital device, according to a 2024 survey conducted by Pew Research — higher than the 32% who said they preferred TV. Politico has other podcasts and videocasts at the ready. The company recently launched 'The Playbook Podcast with Jack Blanchard and Dasha Burns.' Soon to come: 'Corridors with Rachael Bade,' built around the reporting of its Capitol Bureau Chief. The company's new audio executives will have a hand in determining future products, says Sheikholeslami. While podcasts have historically appealed to a younger audience, Sheikholeslami, herself a former CEO of New York Public Radio, believes the format is crucial if Politico is to draw additional engagement form its current aficionados. 'Great journalism has to have a sort of multifaceted distribution strategy,' she says, adding: 'We know that people have very busy lives, and sometimes they don't have time to read all the great stuff that we publish every day. But they do have 20 minutes or 15 minutes to listen to a podcast.' And they may appreciate a break with some of the conventions of the format. The traditional coterie of Sunday programs 'sort of assume that viewers haven't spent their entire week immersed in the news,' she says. Politico's take on the format offers longer conversations that don't have to be broken up in the same way the predecessor shows are. 'You can get to a depth that is hard to do when you are limited by a shorter amount of time.' If Politico's efforts bear fruit, the outlet's current core readership of policymakers and lawmakers will spend more time with its content, no matter how it's consumed., says Sheikholeslami. 'It's not necessarily about expanding to a new audience. I think it's much more about how can we be more useful to the audience that already engages with us very deeply?' Best of Variety New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week 'Harry Potter' TV Show Cast Guide: Who's Who in Hogwarts? 25 Hollywood Legends Who Deserve an Honorary Oscar
