Time traveller's museum

Picture this: a small vineyard, set amidst rolling hills, with the vines sloping down to a gleaming lake. At one end of the property is the winery, located at the base of a forested small hill; a short distance away is the homestead, a cottage with a sloping red-tiled roof and gleaming rough-finished walls, built in the hacienda style, with a large courtyard that gives air and light to the rooms.

The winery produces a small quantity of high-quality wine, most of which is pre-sold to eager customers who have registered with the winery, at prices that start at Rs 3,000 per bottle — but nobody complains and there’s a waiting list. There is a cellar door facility that allows visitors to sample the wines (for a fee) prior to buying a strictly apportioned number of bottles per head.

That’s the nearest thing to “vino-heaven” I can imagine. The first part was actually what Rajeev Samant did at Sula 15 years ago — the second is pure Napa Valley, and has been achieved by only a few “cult” wineries like Screaming Eagle, Sine Qua Non, and Harlan Estate. But there are hundreds of small wineries all over the world where passionate and dedicated individuals have found their little piece of heaven, and made it work.

Is something like this possible in India? What would it take to start and run a small winery here?

Setting up a winery as envisaged above is certainly possible in both Maharashtra and Karnataka — both states have policies that make it relatively easier (and cheaper) to obtain a winery licence, compared to other states (save, perhaps, Goa). Getting 2-3 acres of land for the winery is not difficult — the problem is buying agricultural land for the vineyards.

Right at the start one must repeat that old query: “How can one make a small fortune in wine?” The answer is, of course, “Start with a large fortune!” Even a small winery will take Rs 3-5 crore to set up, and a similar amount to establish the brand and to distribute it — and that is assuming you have access to good-quality wine grapes and are making good wines. The key thing is to consider it an investment, not an expense: the value of land will appreciate, which, at worst, can be sold to recover part of the costs.

There are now a number of people offering turnkey winery solutions: Enoss and Winetech are both based in Nashik and have years of experience supplying tanks and other equipment to wineries in Maharashtra and elsewhere, while Economy Refrigeration has links to one of the foremost Italian wine equipment vendors (Della Toffola).

The key thing is to get a good winemaking consultant who can guide you through the process and help select a layout and plant that meets your winemaking philosophy. Do you want to make new world-style wines that are fruit-forward easy-drinking, or stuff that is complex and will require time in oak casks to mature and become palatable? Unfortunately, good winemaking consultants are usually from the well-known wine-making countries (France, Italy, Australia, the United States) and generally quite expensive to hire (Rs 25-50 lakh annually).

Wines I’ve been drinking:
The Reveilo Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve 2009, sampled at the winery last week, is among the best red wines in India. This inky-red wine has a complex aroma of fruit, leather, chocolate and coffee and a full-bodied taste with silky-smooth tannins and a great finish. Priced at Rs 1,345 in Maharashtra, it’s a wine to savour and more than a match for most imported wines that cost twice as much.

Alok Chandra is a Bangalore-based wine consultant