WOW 2017: Uma Chigurupati of KRSMA Estate, Hampi Hills-Wine Producer

As Uma Chigurupati travelled the world tasting wines and visiting wineries with her wine connoisseur-collector and industrialist husband Krishna Prasad, their desire to make their own world-class wine grew stronger. Thus began her search that took her to several places, but none that reflected their pioneering spirit. That was when Uma decided to search beyond the usual wine producing regions in the country.

On one such sojourn she came across a tiny vineyard nestled amongst the rocky terrain in Hampi Hills, 70km from the World Heritage Site. One look and she fell in love with its rolling hills with iron-rich schist type soils, the dry weather with minimal rainfall, and the cool nights, especially during ripening. Such unique terroir along with a rich heritage of luxury and splendour dating back to the Vijayanagara Empire formed the perfect backdrop for a luxury wine that is distinctly Indian.

Thus was born KRSMA Estates, parched on the slopes of Hampi Hills at an altitude of 590 meters above sea level – the result of sheer passion, persistence and the will to create a world class wine from India and to put India on the global wine map: hitherto unknown as a wine producing region but unique in many aspects.

Uma is proud to inform me that this year she has almost achieved something that looked impossible when she starting off with the project. She has been pushing for minimal usage of pesticide and fungicide at the vineyard for many years- taking the advantage of the terroir and becoming almost organic (with no use of pesticide and very little intervention with fungicides).

She changed the schedule of Pruning cycle and detailed planning in such a way that the harvest would be done during the coolest part of the year. Uma Chigurupati decides on the exact time of harvest by tasting the fruit from every plot every day during the ripening period. Careful observations of the flavour and tannin profiles are done rigorously and extensively, by tasting (with the support of analyses) and then deciding the right time to harvest. The red wines are aged in authentic French oak barrels that have been hand-picked by her. The yeast, too, is personally selected after trials on test ferments. All these steps ensure that every vintage is truly unique and world-class.

Uma has spared no expense in ensure that the unique terroir expresses itself through their wines and let the grapes narrate their own tale. She has used regulated deficit irrigation to make up for the low rainfall and an organic specific fertigation regime. Driving their effort to ensure that they reap the best of terroir is their firm belief that the best fertilisers for the vineyard are the owners’ footsteps.

Undoubtedly, there are few women in the industry and she being one of them, can proudly say, ‘we have seen an increase in the number of women joining the wine Industry and making the country proud from various wineries across the country. There has been a tremendous response at all our events and we see more young women interested in understanding wine and developing a palate for it.’

She believes that the next decade will have more women taking this industry forward. She has had women represent KRSMA Estates from day one in various roles- from business development, wine making and as assistant wine makers, interns and employee who have shown tremendous skill in various fields. She says it not only about her but the women collective that has collaborated at KRSMA Estates over the years.

‘It has been an honour to be a part of this for this year’s award and I'm sure many more achievers will be featured in the coming years. This is award I will truly cherish along with our Guinness world record and other medals KRSMA Estates has won over the years,’ she says.

Subhash Arora

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