The Editor of the Far Eastern Economic Review , Hugo Restall, recently took a tour across Nashik's vineyards and he was struck by the piece of Napa tucked away in a remote corner of India .

He has written about his experience for the Wall Street Journal , especially about having wine at Sula's famous tasting room, which attracts over 200 visitors a month who quaff 200 nine-litre cases. Sample what Restall has to say about Nashik:

"Around the world, the best wines usually come from higher latitudes, at least 35 degrees from the equator. Nashik sits at just 20 degrees north. So how is it possible to produce sophisticated wines in such a hot climate?

"The secret is simple: Grow the grapes in the winter. Nashik has long been famous for its table grapes, and the local farmers know how to prune the vines a second time ahead of the summer monsoon so that they are dormant through the hottest period of the year.

"Then from October to March, the warm afternoons and cool nights approximate the climate of, say, the Rhone Valley in summer. The strong sun brings up the sugar levels, but a chill down to about 7 degrees Celsius (43 degrees Fahrenheit) in the evening brings out the subtler flavors of a wine made in a temperate region."

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