Set amidst the beautiful Sahyadri Ranges, Sula Vineyards is a quick getaway from the bustling city of Pune.
Sula comes from the name Sulabha, name of the founder Rajeev Sawant’s mother. He started with the winery with just 30 acres of land which now has expanded to about 1800 acres. The beautiful winery is set up amidst sprawling vineyards overlooking a lake. It’s both pretty and cute, nothing like ugly or smelly.
A basic entry fees of Rs. 200/- per person is charged which can be redeemed against the winery tour or food bills inside the premise. We chose the winery tour which is Rs. 400/- per person, including a guided tour to the winery and a wine tasting session of their 6 of their best wines.
Our guide for the tasting session was Gaurav who knew his work really well. His passion and knowledge of wine could be seen in his words. During the session he briefed us about every wine we were to taste, about the colour, alcohol content and most importantly the actual way to have wine. The four S of wine tasting is See, Swirl, Smell and Sip.
The green grapes are pressed and only the juices make their way to fermentation, which lasts for about 25 days. They are directly then bottled for sale. The black grapes are instead crushed and the pulp with skin goes for fermentation. That is because, red wines get their colour from the skin of the fruit. Fermentation in this case takes about 45-60 days. Pink wine or Rose wine are fermented with very less contact of the black grape skin with the pulp, so as to get that tinted pink colour. The reds are then aged in wooden barrel for about 7-15 months, depending on the type of wine. They are then bottled.
Each wine smelled heavenly and were treat to the senses. I just loved their sparkling wine, actually all the whites. Their strongest red wine was a little too much for me but I could swear by their other one, RASA Shiraz.
We were there for a couple of hours, but I would strongly recommend staying at Sula for a night to soak in the vibes of the place completely. They offer two accommodation facilities, The Source- for the mid-range accommodation and Beyond by Sula for the uber luxurious accommodation.
They had a range of finger food on their menu to go with the wines at their restaurant, right above the wine tasting room. The restaurant is set on a veranda, overlooking the expansive and beautiful vineyards. As we were there during monsoon, the rains, the lush green carpet all around and the lake filled to the brim added to our experience. It was serene, it filled our hearts with joy. Saying a goodbye was difficult, we left the place with a promise to return, this time for an overnight stay.
P.S. Sula organises a wine fest, usually on the first weekend of February every year. Its an annual two-day “gourmet world music festival” which offers music, drinks, food and fashion. It also includes grape stomping, wine tasting and camping.
How to reach Sula:
By Air: The nearest airport is at Mumbai. You can hire a car from the airport and Sula is about 180kms (3-4 hours) drive.
By Road: Nashik is about 3-4hours drive from Mumbai and Pune. It is well connected by road to many other cities in Maharashtra.
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