Wine tourism: Bubbling with promise

Until a little over a decade ago, few knew of Narayangaon, a hamlet to the north of Pune district. Those in the wine business knew of its existence.

But awareness that this is where the Indian wine story really began, came with India's first wine festival organised by Chateau Indage at their winery here for some years in the late 1990s.

Held in the crisp coolness of January, the festival became a much awaited event on the social calendar, as celebrities from across the country crushed grapes kept in wooden tubs with their bare feet, and signalled the start of the crushing season. This, in a way, set the stage for the concept of wine tourism.

Since those early days, the region has made significant progress on the wine front. With 72 wineries in the fray today in what can broadly be called the Sahyadri valley (Pune, Baramati) the Godavari valley (Nashik district), and the Krishna Valley (Sangli), Maharashtra will close the 2011 grape crushing season, on April 10, with 2.5 crore litres in the wineries' collective tanks.

The aura and mystique of wine coupled with the picturesque appeal of sprawling vineyards set against the majesty of the rugged Sahyadri range, makes for wine tourism becoming a very inviting theme. Not surprisingly, the options are growing.

Chateau Indage was the first to make a beginning with a 20-room resort near Nashik of the Mumbai-Agra highway. Sula Vineyards followed a 30-acre resort in 2008.

United Spirits Ltd, which has its Four Seasons winery at Baramati, is believed to be putting up a hotel. Wine tourism is still very much in its infancy. But the future is full of promise.

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