FCIC 2023

Ajit Balgi

Ajit Balgi

Founder,
The Happy High Wine & Spirit Consultancy, Bartending Academy

Ajit runs The Happy High, one of India’s leading wine and spirit education and experiences co. He is a seasoned mixologist and sommelier and has worked in Mumbai and London for over a decade in wine and spirits. Ajit is advanced qualified in wines and spirits from WSET (London) and has trained over 5000 professionals and consumers in the last 10 years.

Ajit is a BNIC Cognac educator, one of the 90 in the world and the first India based wine educator to achieve the feat. He was also adjudged the best Sommelier in 2022. Ajit was a judge at a wine and spirit competition in South Africa in 2018. He was the only Indian to be at ESPAI Priorat 2017 in Spain, bagged the US Cochran scholarship in wines and spirits in 2016 and was selected to be a part of the Austrian Wine Summit in 2015.

Ajit has engaged with cos like Booz, Multiples, HSBC, Porsche, Benz, Godrej, etc over beverage workshops and fine dinners. He has also written for publications like Times of India, Sommelier India, Asian Age, Deccan Chronicle, Living Foodz, Food Lovers, Business World Hotelier etc.

He is an alumnus of IHM Mumbai and an MBA in marketing from S P Jain, Mumbai.