(From top) The verdant vineyards of Chateau D’ori; Sula’s chateau Beyond has been created with the luxury tourist in mind; the view from Sula’s Beyond; United Spirits Limited recently launched its first wine made in India, Zinzi, under the banner of Four Seasons Wines Limited; a grape stomping session organised by Chateau Indage; the Indage vineyards in Nasik; guinea fowls and a host of other exotic animals are a tourist attraction at Terroir; Tiger Hill Resorts’ decor has been coordinated with the newly imported French oak barrels

These are heady times for the smell, swirl and swill brigade. Once upon a time they’d have travelled to Bordeaux or Champagne, sipping their way from one vineyard to another. Today, they could stop by for a luxury stay at Beyond, an imitation chateau overlooking Gangapur Lake just outside Nasik. Beyond is owned by Sula Wines, the Nasik-based winery.

From Nasik, it’s just a short hike to the picturesque Sahyadri Valley, where Chateau Indage has exclusive wine bars that stock all the labels produced by the house and flaunt an exhaustive food menu to complement each goblet. “Wine is not just a drink. It’s a lifestyle. In fact, a glass of wine sipped in a vineyard, has a lot of romance associated with it,” says Vikrant Chougule, head, strategy, Champagne Indage.

India’s fledgling wine industry is taking a leaf from the wine industry in other parts of the world. It’s turning to tourism to boost revenues. So, it’s calling in tourists to get away from it all and sip their way through a relaxing vacation surrounded by vineyards. Vineyard tourism is big business all over the world from Bordeaux, Burgundy and Champagne to California’s Napa Valley and Australia’s Victoria region and New South Wales.

The Indian vineyards — mostly concentrated around Nasik and some parts of Karnataka like the Nandi Hills — are trying to throw in feature-filled packages. There are vineyard tours and visits to wineries and the promise of gourmet food and restful surroundings – with luxury as a bonus. One’s even offering a spa package with ‘grape’ therapies as a unique add-on.

The wine-makers are already drawing in the crowds. “On a typical weekend, we have something upwards of 500 guests visiting our vineyard. These are big numbers,” says Rajeev Samant, CEO, Sula Wines.

Vineyard tourism could be about to become even bigger. The big daddy of India’s liquor industry, United Spirits (USL) has jumpstarted its Four Seasons Wine Project with Maharashtra Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar and the local Baramati farmers. Four Seasons will woo wine enthusiasts with a 16-suite French style chateau, a large tasting deck that will accommodate an extraordinary 1,000 people, a swank swimming pool and a private tasting room.

And if you head south to the neighbouring state of Karnataka, Grover Vineyards is laying out the red carpet for the swish set. They are arranging extensive wine trails across their 210-acre property with special visits to the vineyard’s brand new barrel room especially made for their premium product, La Reserve. “Wine tourism has immense potential and could become very popular in the coming years,” says Madhulika B. Dhall, director, marketing and communications, Grover Vineyards.

If the old hands have aces up their sleeves, the new kids on the block are not too far behind either. Terroir India Wineries which retails under the brand name Indus Wines, has interesting picnic baskets customised for their guests on their trips to the spectacular Mukni Lake and the towering Sahyadri Mountains that border the vineyard. And IT baron turned wine industry man Ranjit Dhuru’s Chateau D’ori has top-notch French wine maker Athanese Fakorellis occasionally regaling socialites and members of the hospitality industry at dinners about the perfect strains of Bordeaux vines that’s sown in the vineyard.

Drink to this

The fact is that an increasing number of Indian vineyards are raising their glasses to those adventurous souls who are wine connoisseurs and travel buffs rolled into one. And while Indians are knocking back more and more glasses of wine each year (sales in the domestic wine market is growing by approximately 30 per cent annually, though on a tiny base), the proprietors of vineyards are showing them how it starts — from scratch.

Along the way, they are throwing in extravagant chateaus, gourmet dining, sumptuous tasting soirees and what have you. “Wine has just become a way of life for people in Nasik. And with the construction of a four-lane highway from Mumbai to Nasik, the influx of wine tourists is going to be much more,” says Samant.

Sula was one of the pioneers of the wine tourism business. It began modestly with a 1,500sq ft tasting room three years ago. But Sula was in luck and its timing was good. An increasing number of foreign companies like Siemens, Bosch and Renault have opened shop in Nasik and their executives became eager to take a break and try out Sula’s wares.

The wine company realised it was onto a good thing and is expanding furiously. First it doubled the size of its tasting room. More importantly, it began to have bigger ideas. It has built an amphitheatre for all kinds of performances and it’s planning a second restaurant. Also it offers luxury accommodation and leisure activities in the vineyard. “People are now holding private parties, dinners, reception and corporate events here,” adds Samant.

The frills of a Sula vineyard tour include everything from lovely wine picnics and low-stress workouts through kayaking at the Gangapur Lake to gourmet meals at the chic chateau and wine tasting at the glamorous glass-fronted tasting room. What’s more? Each of the master bedrooms at the chateau has a private balcony overlooking the sprawling vineyards and putting a spin on the extravagant spread at the chateau are organic vegetables grown in Sula’s own gardens.

“Vineyard tours are unique. You can do so much there these days apart from the regulation wine-tasting,” says Adnan Sheikh, who lived it up in style at Sula Vineyards.

Toast of the town

Exclusivity is definitely the name of the game for Sula and a host of other vineyards. Chateau Indage’s well-stocked wine bar at Narayangaon also has a lengthy Indian food menu with a pairing list. This helps tourists to make informed choices about Indian dishes like rogan josh, tandoori aloo, paneer tikka and wines that will go with each one. “People travel to our bars simply to sample how well Indian wines go with the regional dishes,” says Chougule. The idea’s working so well for Chougule that he’s branching into the hospitality business — there are now eight Indage wine bars across Maharashtra including one in Worli, Mumbai.

If you want a luxury touch it’s probably best to head to Indage’s Tiger Hill winery. This is Indage’s most upmarket product and they’ve built a gorgeous resort to match at the vineyard in Nasik. Each of the 20 rooms of the Tiger Hill Resort has plush interiors and an eclectic décor with handcrafted wooden furniture complementing the French oak barrels and Italian oak vats of the winery.

The sleek wood texture of the furniture and wine storage units have been set to a dazzling effect at the fine dining restaurant that has world cuisine on its menu. Gourmets can take their pick from a plethora of concoctions as they sip their favourite wines. The proprietors of the vineyard also arrange for customised banquets and other corporate events in their premises.

For an entirely different experience head to Grapevine, the resort’s ‘vineotherapy’ spa. The elaborate and relaxing spa treatments at Grapevine have trained masseurs delivering soothing massages using grape-seed extracts. In fact there are detoxifying Ayurvedic treatments administered at the facility using the benefits of grape juice, pulp, seeds and grape seed oils. “The process is highly de-stressing and stimulating,” says Achint Singhal, who’s tried the grape therapies at the Spa.

In small measures

Terroir India, a newcomer in India’s wine industry is also pushing tourism

And moving into the game at blurring speeds are the smaller players who’ve opened shop barely a few months ago. Vintage Wines that retails the brand Reveilo, is currently holding tasting soirees in the vineyard with luxury hospitality brands like Hyatt Regency with their in house wine-maker Andrea Valentinazzi, as part of their vineyard tourism promotion. “We’re looking at a complete food and wine experience in our vineyards,” says Kiran Patil, director, marketing, Vintage Wines.

In fact, Vintage has ambitious plans of tying up with tour operators in order to put their vineyard on wine itineraries across the country. They are concentrating on day trips that’ll have guided tours of the vineyard and winery. Guests can even try their hand at picking grapes and getting to see the bottling process inside the winery at close quarters. A visit to the 32,000sq ft winery with a state-of-the-art tank and bottling room will be followed by a tasting session with expert counselling on food and wine pairing.

Terroir India Wineries, a relatively new landmark in India’s grape terrain is also adding personal touches to customise its vineyard tour. Apart from arranging wine picnics and alfresco tasting sessions, they are breeding guinea fowls and a host of exotic animals in their vineyards. “It’s the small details that matter,” says Violet D’souza, director, Terroir India Wineries.

And Chateau D’ori is going the whole hog by developing a sprawling 400-acre property at Neraori Valley, a stone’s throw from Nasik. Its owner Dhuru is planning to develop 300 acres extensively in the next six months by creating three artificial lakes reserved for boating and other water sports. The luxury accommodation will consist of an elegant glass-fronted farmhouse, where one wall of each room will be made entirely of glass offering 360º views of the vineyard.

The real McCoy will be a wine tasting lounge that will have ambient music, mood lighting and the works. Detailed information about breeds of vines and terroir (the specific soil in which each variety of grape is grown) will also be provided there.

Ornamentation of the property is also planned in the form of an exquisitely beautiful gazebo. The rest of the property will be devoted to growing estate grapes for vintage quality wines. According to Dhuru, the attributes and qualities of the right wine grapes go a long way in creating good wine. “To further create awareness and educate the consumers, we’ll soon initiate a wine tasting lounge at our vineyards,” says Dhuru.

Popping the cork

A guest relaxing at Grapevine, the vineotherapy spa at Tiger Hill Resort

But this is just the tip of the iceberg. There are plenty of tourism promotion activities and awareness campaigns to draw in the crowds. Sula has just celebrated its 10th harvest with Sulafest, a day-long concert with acts by bands like Shaair Func and The Saturday Night Blues. The event coincided with the unveiling of its Greek-style amphitheatre located within the vineyards. “I wanted to recreate the ambience of my college days at Stanford where an open-air amphitheatre provided the perfect ambience for a rock and grass combination,” says Samant.

Even Chateau Indage held grape stomping sessions at Delhi and Chandigarh to promote their vineyards and hike up the fun quotient. This apart, Indage has an annual harvest festival along the lines of traditional harvest rituals. In the older days, a village virgin was called upon to stomp on the first harvest of grapes.

Indage has gone one further by arranging for stomping events in ceremonial tubs with their guests, and organising a big party to mark the event. Guests are also taken for vineyard tours on bullock carts instead of the regulation golf carts on such occasions.

Everyone is thinking big. Samant plans to open a restaurant next where a Sula wine list will have a delectable spread to accompany it. “Everything will be part of a big classical wine experience,” says Samant.

Well, for the Indian traveller, that’ll be a new high.