Kerala State Beverages Corporation

You don't just nip out for a bottle of wine here in Kerala. You scooter into town (I'm back in Varkala), turn down a dark alley next to a shoe shop, at the end of which is a strip-lit counter with mesh wiring and a small crowd permanently gathered outside. The Kerala State Beverages Corporation: the only place you can buy alcohol here (although I and two new friends did drink beer out of a teapot in Cochin, just in case the polizei walked past).
The first time I and my companion Rex visited, it was to buy filthy dark rum. This time, I suggested wine. He came back 250 rupees poorer, clutching a half bottle wrapped in newspaper like it was contraband. I slung it in my shoulder bag and off we went.
It was the first time I'd had Indian wine, naturally. And it was DELICIOUS. Rex very sweetly asked if it was ok to drink wine every night, you know, health wise, and I said yes, absolutely. He says he's going to switch to red wine from rum from now on, as it's 150R cheaper. I am staying at his house, and he made me banana pancakes for breakfast today and is making me vegetable curry with chappati and pappads (poppadams) for dinner....