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| Talkin' Tasting at Toscano with Abhay Kewadkar |
‘We shall have 14 guest rooms, complete with a spa and vino-therapy, restaurant, a party deck, wine merchandising room and a wine tasting room ready by July,’ Abhay Kewadkar, Chief Winemaker and Business Head for USL confirmed to me over lunch in Bangalore earlier this week. ‘And I am talking of completion of only the first phase,’ he added with confidence writ on his face.
We were having lunch at the Toscano Restaurant, an Italian style restaurant, trattoria and wine bar, run by a French Chef (ex-Leela) Jean Michel Jasserand. It has been one of the first beneficiaries of the new Karnataka excise policy allowing wine bars to open at an annual license fee of Rs. 5,000 only- with a bit of help and follow-up from Abhay.
The restaurant currently stocks 54 labels (list to be expanded soon) and includes Big Banyan Chenin and Grover’s La Reserve being the cheapest, at Rs. 280 a glass. You may buy an Argentinean white Malambo Chenin-Chardonnay from Catena Zapata for an affordable Rs. 1800 a bottle or indulge yourself in New Zealand Sauvignons costing Rs. 4000-4500. Overlook the few mistakes in the Wine List as it seems to have been prepared in a hurry (e.g., Michele Chiarlo Gavi has been listed under Italian reds, etc!)
‘We have already spent over Rs. 250 million in our winery facility at Baramati, with a 1.5 mL storage capacity. By July, we would have invested a total of Rs. 400 million on plant, equipment and the wine tourism infrastructure’, says Abhay over the delicious Tuscan salad which is the first course of the 3-course meal that would include a main course and dessert and cost only Rs. 400+
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| A fleeting view of Toscano |
‘Of course the investment includes 50 acres of vineyard we own and where we shall be doing our own R & D on various root stocks and varietals to help the local farmers,’ he adds. The grilled fish marinated with lemon and thyme and served with capers and vegetables and topped with olive-lemon butter sauce is served. It is light, wholesome and healthily delicious, a perfect mate for a white Burgundy slightly oaked Chardonnay, though I’d be happy with half oaked Chablis as well- but today I prefer to stick to their specialty-ice tea.
To my query on a recent news item in a national daily that they planned to invest Rs. 100 crores (Rs. 1 billion) during the next 3 years, he clarified that the investment would perhaps be made from 3-5 years and would also depend upon how supportive the local government would be in letting them buy their own land. ‘We would like to buy around 300 acres, but the laws currently permit only the agriculturists to own land in Maharashtra and Karnataka. We have strong ties with the farmers around us holding around 300 acres and a long term contract of 15 years. We already provide 10 kms. of water pipelines, to help these farmers irrigate their vineyards.’
As I have my delicious apple crumble with cinnamon and raisins served with vanilla ice cream, my thoughts go to my wife back in Delhi, who does a fabulous job on this favourite dessert and dishes out perhaps even a more inviting version. I am also thinking whether Abhay’s disclosed plans of selling 80,000 cases of Zinzi and Four Seasons, their two labels in the current fiscal year 2009-10 aren’t too ambitious.
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| Toscano-the Menu |
But, as he says, they have achieved 30,000 cases already in 2008-09 with Four Seasons launched last November only and with the national distribution channels still to be completed during the next three months. If they have already achieved these targets, with strong national distribution in place along with marketing support and as their wines seem to be more reasonably priced than the other established premium producers like Sula and Grover, they might well be able to achieve the ambitious target, making them one of the top three producers of Indian wine within a couple of years.
The promotion of wine tourism (known as agri-turismo in Italy) would be one of the vehicles that would help them get closer to achieving their target. Only a 90-minute drive from Pune, the Resort could well become a part of the triangle for wine tourism that would include Sula and a couple of other wineries in the Nashik region.
Sums up Abhay, ‘since we shall build all the tourism facilities right around our winery and the vineyards, we believe we shall offer something unique to our clients. Our French architecture (UB owns Bouvet Ladubay in Loir Valley) will have another attractive feature to offer.
So, come September (August is still rainy) and there may be an opportunity to visit yet another winery in Maharashtra as a part of wine tourism.
Subhash Arora |