Mid-Day Specials | In India’s wine country: How Sula Vineyards is educating people about wine for the Indian palate

About four hours away from Mumbai, Nashik may be warm but it has established itself as the perfect weekend getaway if not longer among its lush greenery for Mumbaikars looking to explore the region. While it is known to have many different kinds of attractions, the city has earned itself a reputation through the epithet of being called the ‘Wine Capital of India' with as many as 52 wineries that have sprouted over the years. Leaving hot and humid Mumbai, on a hot summer day in late May, we drove down to explore the region. A few weeks before the monsoon arrived in Mumbai, the region with its balmy weather known for its wine but we were there not merely to guzzle it. At a time when spirits like gin, whiskey and rum are having their revolution in India, understanding the unique nuances of the spirit is a treat. Coincidentally, it is slowly becoming more popular in the country than before, shedding away its much-believed snobbery, according to winemakers.

On a visit to Sula Vineyards for their ‘Summer Swirl' experience, one learns that there is so much more to white and red wine than just the sweet or bitter taste respectively. While frequent wine drinkers are aware of the differences and know how to make their choices, the very nature of wine portrayal in films and web series may often make people a little hesitant to try a glass but it doesn't have to be. Overlooking a sprawling property with what was the first vineyard, Sula Vineyards houses The Source at Sula, India's first heritage winery resort, showcases the origins of winemaking in Nashik, tracing it to 1999, when Rajeev Samant set up base in the northern city of Maharashtra.

Sparkling and blending
Interestingly, Sula comes on the back of RASA Cabernet Sauvignon winning India's first gold at Global Cabernet Sauvignon Masters 2024 in May. It also marked the first time an Indian wine has received a gold medal at the Global Masters Awards in any category. To better understand wine, we were first introduced to Sparkling Wine with a session at Beyond by Sula, their newest premium property overlooking the Gangapur Lake, a five-minute drive from the original vineyard. Led by the experts in white wine and red wine - Rupali Bhatnagar and Gorakh Gaikwad, we were not only told to swirl and taste but also recognise the flavours. Surrounded by experts who were not only from the food and beverage industry but training to be sommeliers, it is intimidating but Rupali Bhatnagar, who heads the white winemaking at Sula, makes it clear, "Every person will get a different flavour in the wine. Nothing is wrong or right."

Making us taste the Sparkling Rose, which is the first-ever Sula sparkling wine, it is sweet yet intense with fruity characteristics, and that is what makes it an easy-going flavour on our palate. The Tropical Rose is another fruity wine that makes us taste guava. Incidentally, it was made for the 15-year celebration of Sula, and even won the gold at the International Wine Challenge, becoming the first Indian wine to get the honour. The Source Moscato is another that is almost immediately a flavour bomb because its fruity taste give us the hint of citrus, lychee and peach, which is unlike the others. It almost instantly helps you beat the summer heat but can also be a good experience during the monsoon.

If this was any indication of how much there is to learn about wine, then the ‘Blending' session, which followed, taught us how easy it is to make wine appeal to us. While the first session turned out to be a learning experience with mixing white wine in different proportions to achieve the perfect flavour and acidity, the second with red wine turned out to be a winner for us, as participants were divided into teams. Armed with laboratory apparatus that takes us back to school along with arriving at the perfect combination, Gorakh Kondaji Gaikwad, senior vice president and chief winemaker with the vineyards, takes us through the engaging activity that goes beyond tasting wine but also provides us a window into what visitors can expect at the property any time of the year.

For visitors, this has been broadly outlined into four categories. The first is one that shouldn't intimidate you, especially if you believe that you need to know about wine to attend it. It is called the Rasa Tasting Experience, which is a group excursion that includes an engaging tour of the winery, followed by a sampling of six of Sula's finest wines. However, if you love wines and want to take it up a notch, then they host a Personalised Tour and Tasting. This is ideal for wine enthusiasts as it includes an extensive winery tour that is paired with a cheese and wine-tasting session. With this, the visitors will gain in-depth knowledge on various aspects of winemaking and wine appreciation too.

It only gets better if you love to know more about wines without it being too overwhelming. The Grape to Glass Masterclass is a comprehensive winery tour, where diners can taste wine directly from the tanks while learning about the fermentation process. This is followed by a barrel tasting to understand the wine's transformation journey. The experience concludes with a cheese and wine pairing session, featuring six elite wines and a delectable cheese platter.

The last but most intensive session is the Connoisseur's Tasting Experience which is designed for corporate getaways, industry professionals, and aspiring wine connoisseurs and is hosted by certified wine professionals. It includes a technical tour of the winemaking process and a barrel sample tasting to illustrate the different stages of wine transformation. Visitors will then enjoy an exclusive tasting of six wines paired with a cheese platter. The session concludes with an interactive blending task, where participants, divided into teams, will create a new wine blend using laboratory apparatus and wine samples. The blends will be evaluated by the host winemaker, and the best blend will be declared the winner. This activity requires a minimum of 10 participants.

While we experienced the blending session the previous evening, the next day saw us being taken to the barrel room to learn not only about storing wine in the barrels but also how it influences the flavour. Guided by chief winemakers Rahul More and Neil Fernandes, it is nothing short of revelatory for everybody in the room. While the influence of the barrels on whiskey is known, Fernandes says there is more to wine. "The wine barrel can only be used for 5 - 7 years," he says, highlighting how the taste of the wine evolves over time. "The American Oak barrel is used in India as we do not currently have oak trees," he shares while wishfully hoping for India to use its wood to make the barrels in the future.

Growth of wine in India
There is a lot more to wine than just its colour and taste, and understanding more about it has certainly led people in the right direction, as most of them are not only well-travelled but have the spending capacity to experiment with different kinds of wines that are not necessarily imported but made in India. Such is the surge that Sula has experienced themselves. The growth in the number of tastings in the last year has been approximately 30 - 40 percent. While it was 55,000 tastings in 2022, it increased to 80,000 tastings in 2023 and progressively expect it to reach 1 lakh in 2024 - highlighting how more people have warmed up to the spirit in India. While they earlier had a tasting room only at the winery, their efforts to introduce more people to wine have led them to open a tasting room at the Nashik airport and they will soon have a wine shop there, as people are always in the mood to shop.

Wine is not a drink that is traditional to India, and even when our parents's generation was drinking, there was no wine-drinking culture

Karan Vasani, chief operating officer with Sula Vineyards, who has been in the thick of things has seen the evolution of the last decade in the country. So, how has the wine-drinking culture evolved in India over the last 10 years? After an engaging and interactive session with the winemakers on the first evening, we sit down for a chat with Vasani about all things wine. He explains, "Wine is not a drink that is traditional to India, and even when our parents's generation was drinking, there was no wine-drinking culture. The wine industry in India started in the late 80s with some small producers and Sula started in 1999, effectively this millennium. So, before that, if someone wanted to drink wine, it was only in the five-star hotels, and they were predominantly imported. With that, it was the drink of the elite."

If one really dives into why wine took so long to get popular, Vasani says it was primarily because India was a British colony, and the influence came from the Britishers who drank beer, gin and whiskey, as compared to the French colonies who drank wine. He notes, "There is nothing inherently in wine that is not suited to Indians. With that being said, Indian wine quality has improved tremendously over the last 10 years. We can admit that it tastes as good as other international wines. The quality and awareness have improved."

Over time, Maharashtra and Karnataka have been the two hotspots for wine in the country, with Grovers being the first one in Karnataka, as Sula only recently forayed into the state. Interestingly, both states now account for 60 per cent of their sales, according to their observation the last financial year. "We are seeing is that the people are drinking wine in other parts of India like the states of Punjab, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, and there particularly Lucknow too. We have seen huge demand from the canteen stores in the army. So, even they are getting a taste for wine now," adds Vasani.

While that would be direct sales, the chief winemaker also highlights how OTT platforms and social media have changed the way for advertising. He shares, "Earlier, you couldn't show alcohol consumption and wine consumption so openly on television, right? There are fewer restrictions on the OTT platforms. So, you know, you would have scenes in Amazon Prime's Mirzapur saying, 'This is why you don't put ice in this, and you don't put a mixer in this' and we had nothing to do with that. It is helping you take wine to the masses." With this the trend for long-term growth in wine consumption is set in India, believes Vasani, who says India right now is barely drinking less than one per cent of wine per year as compared to other alcohol. "The global average is 10 litres per year, and France is 40 litres, but India is still drinking only three spoons full yet," he puts it into perspective.

It is not only the drinking of wine but also the stereotypes about the kind of food that you can eat with wine. He explains, "If people are saying, have white wine with white meat and red wine with red meat, then vegetarians are completely left out. The best pairing with wine is Indian onion fritters and it is awesome." It is also why they tell people who ask them about how to pair their wine with the food, there is no rule for it. "Pairing is what works for you, may not work for me," he adds. At a time when India is boasting of Indian chocolate, gin and whiskey, there is a lot more room for wine right now. It is to break these misconceptions that they have also started selling Sula wines in a can to completely demystify the spirit among Indians.

Learning so much about wine before leaving the property has made us more aware of wine, not only about its varieties but also appreciating its unique place in the spirit world. As the country welcomes the monsoon season, we leave wondering what it must be like with the rain falling while looking out of the treehouses or taking a cool cycling tour or nature walk within nature's bounty there but we'll leave that for next time we are in Nashik.

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