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Nasik, Maharashtra
Edgar Dsouza, Goa, Posted Date: 2nd March 2010
A Trip to the Sula Vineyards
After almost 18 hours of journey from Goa, a midnight birthday.....
A Trip to the Sula Vineyards
After almost 18 hours of journey from Goa, a midnight birthday celebration in the coach, a brief check in & stop at the Royale Heritage Hotel in Nashik and then began the daunting hunt for the way to Sula Vineyard. After a couple of hilarious incidences during seeking directions, we finally made it to Vineyard. Everyone was excited about the beautiful scenery beholding the vineyard. Set against the rolling green plains around Nasik, a sort of Napa Valley in western India, we approached the Sula Vineyards, one of India’s largest wine producing wide varieties of whites, reds, roses and dessert wines to offer the wine lovers.
The Sula vineyard was not as large as I expected it to be (only 35 acres), but it turned out that they had around 350 acres located somewhere else too
I guided my 23 member team from IIAS School of Management, Goa, who were here to learn the practical aspect of winemaking, we registered and then proceeded for the famous and knowledgeable guided tour of the vineyards and winery, uncovering the mysteries of the winemaking process from grape to bottle. It truly was extremely interactive session with detailed process being explained in depth right from “vine” to the end product “wine”.
Our tour guide took us to around. He started by showing us the vineyard, explaining about the viticulture process right until the harvest. He then guided us towards the winery and explained the varied process starting from sorting the grapes, removal of stems & leaves and their transfer to the grape crushing machine. The main difference between red and white wine is that grape juice used to make red wine contains skins, seeds, and stems. This is significant for by leaving juice to mix together with the woody bits (known as maceration) causes the finished product to contain a deep red colour and tannins. Ultimately the guide explained how the juice ferments into wine. This was followed by the racking of wine, the process of transferring the wine while separating the residues from one container to another. Some of the Sula wines are then aged for a short period before being bottled.
We ended our tour in Tasting Room.
The Tasting Room over seeing the lush green vineyards and the beautiful Gangapur dam water body is an eye soothing view. I must say you can expect all pleasant surprises. It sure was an experience of a different kind to most. The wine tasting room where we were led through the proper steps to see, swirl, sniff, and sip wine. We assessed the wine’s taste characteristics by checking for its Sweetness (or dryness), The acidity of a wine causes a tingling sensation in the mouth, Tannins derived from grape skins, seeds, and stems and the other things to look for when tasting a wine which include mouthfeel (weight/body of the wine in the mouth), alcohol levels, finish and aftertaste (can be short, medium or long).
They have all the Sula wines available by the glass, a few also by the half bottle and bottle. There are maybe a dozen options in all. Prices are a bit below what we pay for retail in. All their wines are also for sale to take with you as well as various merchandise.
My most favorite wine was “The Sula Late Harvest Chenin Blanc” which is a sweet smelling white wine. It also has the highest alcohol content among all Sula wines and I must second that fact.
Sula Vineyards is an Amazing place to spend your evening over wine. If you are a wine lover, then for sure you are bound to enjoy the place. All in all, I thought the Sula experience was pretty great. Environment was classy, wines were good (if very sweet), and very beautiful and relaxing. I would recommend it to anyone
Edgar Dsouza
Senior lecturer,
IIAS, Goa
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