Rita Cook, International Travel Examiner –
www.examiner.com, 12th October 2010
Wine and India, well, most people don’t think the two go hand-in-hand. After all, even though we close our eyes and imagine all kinds of wonderful things about India from the food to the meditation to the exotic images it conjures in our mind, wine is not on that list.
Yet!
It should be. I know, it’s still hard to think about drinking red, white or rose on a vineyard in the middle of, well, India. I did it, and it was quite exotic if I might add.
Let’s start by mentioning the fact that there are a few wineries in India. I don’t know how many have popped up lately, but as long ago as 2006 there was a top 10 list and Grover Vineyards won it (a winery I did visit by the way). While there is much of the Indian subcontinent not so good for viticulture, let’s concentrate on the areas that are, the area of India I visited this time around in my travels. After all, the large diversity of climate and geology in the country can only mean that somewhere the soil is right and somewhere the growing season thrives, as in the higher altitudes along slopes and hillsides that enjoy cool air and protection from wind. The altitude of the vineyards in India typically ranges from around 660-feet (in Karnataka) to 2,600-feet along the slopes (in Sahyadri).
Backtrack, some of India’s larger wine producing areas are located in Maharashtra, Karnataka near Bangalore and Andhra Pradesh near Hyderabad, we visited them all. In order to get it out of the way since I know you are asking; India is home to a number of indigenous table grapes, but the other wines that you will be tasting there include Sauvignon blanc, Zinfandel, Chenin blanc and Clairette among a number of well-thought of reds, many blends like the Syrah and Cab combination.
Let’s not get too far removed from India and the telling of the experience overall even if we do get caught up in the wine. Yes, I stopped and partook of the wine, but what else? I will begin from the beginning. Starting in Mumbai and with our fearless leader from A Classic Tours Collection (wwwAClassictTour.com) we took our first sojourn into the country that first day from Mumbai, a four-hour tour, and ended up in Nashik a city with an important culture in India for many reasons including the historical, mythological, social and cultural ramifications. Known for its temples, we were taking it all in even as our fearless leader urged us to our first wine tasting at the elusive Chateau D’ori (www.chateaudori.com) where we traveled a more than bumpy road on the way to our arrival.
Sitting and looking out over the vineyards our host insisted that we stop at nothing less than trying each of his wines. This winery is based on 85 acres of vineyard at the base of two hills locally known as NeraOri near Dindori, Nashik. The first harvest at the winery occurred in February of 2007 two whites and three reds. The high-end options at Chateau D’ori are the ones I would recommend the Cabernet
Merlot and the Cabernet Syrah, but a Chenin blanc, Sauvignon blanc and a
Merlot can be had. Not that you ask, but if you’re a wine geek you will want to know, they use 72 large stainless steel tanks arranged in concentric circles for
fermentation and storage.
First stop and lunch – Indian fare, I fell in love with lentil and that amazing, do they call it bread. I could live there and eat it for years.
But wait, there’s another winery on our agenda – and on the same day as Chateau D’ori.
I was familiar with Sula Vineyards (www.sulawines.com) because when I was in India a few years ago I tasted it and I wasn’t impressed. They have come a long way since that time. In fact, Nashik is India’s largest grape growing region and Sula sits right in the middle of it. How can they go wrong, right? Its beginning was when Stanford-trained Rajeev Samant put two and two together and noticed that the region’s climate was just perfect for growing grapes, like those in Spain or California or Australia. He and a friendly California winemaker he knew decided then in 1997 to start a winery on Rajeev’s 30 acres planting French Sauvignon blanc and California Chenin blanc. It was the first time these varietals had been planted in India, but after the 2000 release they were deemed good.
The thing you’ll like about Sula is the tasting room, touted as India’s first and there are also two restaurants (can you say pizza anyone). Don’t get carried away on the food though since they have so much to drink; five premium reds, five premium whites, two
sparkling and a
dessert wine (my favorite). Of course there is also the value wine category, but stick with premium and just have fun.
Of course we did a lot of sightseeing in between all the drinking, but a few days later (and of course many driving hours later too) we had headed to the Bangalore area were we stopped in at Grover Vineyards (www.groverwines.com) and had a wonderful lunch and selection of wines from the Nandi Hills.
Spanning three generations the founder of Grover Vineyards, Kanwal Grover along with his son Kapil established this little plot of 40 acres on the outskirts of Bangalore and today Grover Vineyard boasts over 200 acres under plantation. According to their website they also “shun ordinary table grapes, while exclusively using only French wine grapes, selected from the original 35 varieties of the
Vitis Vinifera species.”
And, if you don’t know what all that means, it’s a good thing. In 1996, the world’s leading champagne house, Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin, of France took a minority stake in Grover Vineyards, impressive. But I know, you’re asking what do they offer;
Cabernet Shiraz - Red Wine, Blanc de Blancs de Clairette, Rose-Dry and the La Reserve Red Wine, the first barrel-aged wine, aged in French Oak barrels and you get a “ruby
red wine with a powerful
bouquet of luscious ripe fruits with a hint of spice perfectly harmonized with a distinct oaken flavor.”
Didn’t I tell you you’d like it?
What you will certainly also like is A Classic Tours Collection. They offer this great wine tour, but they can also customize it for you. You don’t want to go to Sula, no problem, fearless leader takes that off the list and adds what you want.
So what does that mean? An India trip you love because you have no one to blame but yourself if you don’t. I’m going back not just for the wines, but there is just so much more of the country I have yet to see.
So while it’s not all eating and drinking (even though it is three square Indian meals a day) you will also experience history, the temples that are so colorful and part of the India cities and countryside and, the people. There is almost always a smile on all the faces (Hindu, Muslim and Christian) and it’s a fair reminder that we all are one in drink, in food and in humanity.