Well, in this case it did. Tempted by a couple of friends, their magnanimous offer of driving us down in their car, and this being the peak grape-growing season we decided to head to India’s wine country. The trip went very smoothly, except that we made the mistake of going via Pune, instead of travelling straight from Mumbai on the NH-3. the Pune-Nashik road is a narrow, pot-holed strip that is very uncomfortable and slow to travel on. They are widening the NH-3 and once it is done the travel time between Mumbai and Nashik should come down significantly.
We had a whale of a time in Nashik, but more importantly, I came back wiser. Here are 5 semi-beliefs I had which were completely trashed on this trip:
1. Nashik’s wine-growing is more hype than anything else
Wine-growing is big in Nashik. There are acres and acres of farms that are growing nothing else but grapes. All of them are headed to one of wineries nearby (The grapes that we eat are of a different variety than those grown for wines; you can’t eat these grapes as they are more bitter). If you think it’s all a media created hype more than anything else, I suggest you pack your bags and head to Nashik for the next grape season.
2. It will be a few decades before Indians take to wine
I always thought that it is too complicated a drink for Indians to enjoy, and urban Indians are drinking wine because it is the “in” thing to do. But after seeing the bus-loads of tourists, that descended on the Sula vineyard, gulping down wine as if there was no tomorrow I stand corrected. Women in Mahrashtrian saris stood next to those in capris, and men in Marathi phetas were rubbing shoulders with those that were dressed as if they had just stepped off their golf-carts. All thronging the bar, clamoring for wine. You could explain it if the wine-tasting would have been free of cost; but it wasn’t! Sula charges you around Rs. 150 for small swigs of 4-5 different type of wines – not bad, but not cheap too! Wikipedia tells me (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_wine) that this semi-belief was anyways on thin ground.
3. Budget hotels have to be dirty & Five Star Hotel means good food
I am now a fan of Ginger hotels. I have always felt the need for such a hotel chain in India. The hotel we stayed in was clean, the rooms were nice and spacious, the amenities were adequate, the toilets looked hygienic, the staff was courteous, and the price was just right. The hotel had no pretensions about what it was, although the interiors were a bit too orange for everyone's liking. Well, experience tells me that if the worst thing you can complain about a hotel is the color of its interiors then the hotel should consider you amongst the "very satisfied" lot…
On the other hand, Taj has a great property in Nashik where we went for a dinner expecting some good food. But the food in their restaurant was bland, and looked more like what you would find in a middle-of-the-range obscure town restaurant.
4. Wine-makers have achieved min-celebrity status in India
Sula has a great facility in the middle of a small vineyard for wine-tasting and they conduct guided tours to familiarize the visitors with the history of wine, tell them about the making process and, ahem, some shameless self-promotion. The tour is really boring. Except a few interesting bits (like the types of grape bit I mentioned above), rest is a rendition of a very boring details. In the group we were a part of, no one showed any interest, except a kid who kept asking his dad why the fermentation machine smelt like it had his socks in it. Avoid. Head straight for the tasting room instead.
5. You don’t get good service in India
Well, this belief still holds strong but now I know how to work around it. You just have to order the most expensive item on the menu. We were getting frustrated with trying to get ourselves heard over the ambient noise at the bar. It all changed the moment we ordered the most expensive wine bottle that they had. We not only got served immediately, but we even had the guy hold our table while we went down for our wine education trip.
All in all, wine-tasting in Nashik is a great extended-weekend activity for people in Mumbai, Pune & around. Highly recommended.
