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The collection of the two whites and three reds is priced
between Rs. 350 and Rs. 650. The vineyards of Chateau d'Ori are located
in Nashik and are spread over 100 acres. Another 300 acres are planned
to be developed by 2010.
The company has continued with the French style of winemaking
with the help of French winemaker M Athanase Fakorelli who has two decades
of experience and is in charge of 25 chateaux in France.
Says the IT entrepreneur and a wine connoisseur, Chairman
and MD of d'Ori, Ranjit Dhuru, "We have endeavoured to incorporate
the best viticulture and winery practices from Bordeaux, home of the finest
wines in the world, right from the cultivation of grapes to the winemaking
process including even the size of vats, the sorting conveyer belts."
The relationship built over the last three years in Mumbai is expected
to help marketing their Indian wines, he feels.
After Mumbai the company plans to enter Pune, Goa, Bangalore and Kolkata
markets before introducing its wines in Delhi.
In a chat with delWine Ranjit Dhuru had affirmed his
mission of offering the best possible wine at the best possible prices;
their pleasant, quaffable Bordeaux wines were selling for under Rs.650
as 'we just cannot go under this price.'
Where most new Indian wineries boast of making their
best wines even with one year-old vines and their first crush, Ranjit
believes in the French dictum that vines have to be more than 3-5 years
before quality fruit can be expected. 'So we decided to sell the grapes
for 3 years of so before crushing for our own wines.' He is confident
of keeping very high standards for d'Ori Indian wines.
With this entry, Nashik can lay claim to be a producer
of quality merlot grapes. The company has declared that its Merlot plantation
is the single largest one in India. The only other winery selling the
Merlot varietal, Sula Vineyards, till recently was importing the wine
in bulk from Chile.
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