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 Several years ago when I went to the first SulaFest I was very impressed with the quality of the event, especially the music, the casual atmosphere, lots of food, young people wallowing in the music and most of all, with not a single case of misbehaviour, it was a perfect setting to let your hair down, far from the busy life of Mumbai.
Impulsively, I asked Cecilia Oldne who was my host on behalf of Sula when it would be held the following year as I would love to return. She said she wasn’t sure except it would be around the same time-as it was the harvest time. I was surprised and told her where was the need to vacillate on the dates- best to pick up the first weekend of February would be ideal and should be fixed for ‘ever’. To the best of my knowledge, it has been held ever since during the first week-end of February-this year it happens to be 6 and 7 February.
SulaFest has kept on getting more and more entertaining and prominent with Blue Frog partnering for music and Vero Moda, bringing in fashion and ostensibly big bucks to the kitty helping it become bigger and bolder every year. And one does not even have to be a Vinotaler- a person who drinks only wine. As Rajeev Samant, CEO founder of Sula group admittedly candidly the participants of a few liquor and liqueur stands help support the Fest as well as provide the tipple for the non-purists like me.
Sulafest has been constantly gaining popularity because of increased offerings. Even though the ticket prices are constantly increased every year ostensibly to cover the higher expenses, (I think the first time I attended, the ticket was Rs. 500) the event has been a sell-out for the last 4-5 years.. This year it will be Rs. 2200 for one day and Rs. 3300 for two and will set you back by another Rs. 300-400 if bought on site. The event packed around 12,000-15,000 people and continued to have a record participation.
Dubbed as Gourmet World Music Festival SulaFest promised to have over 100 international and national music artists, in more than 25 genres, representing 23 countries with 30 gourmet food and beverage options including The Bombay Food Truck, A.D. Singh’s Olive Bar & Kitchen, Woodside Inn and of course a sit-down gourmet dining experience at the in-house restaurant Soleil by La Plage where Chef Morgan will have a special menu with organic produce from Sula’s farms.
Most of the action will be at and around the Greek-style amphitheatre, curated by Ra Music, where the Australian band The Cat Empire playing Jamaican style Ska music, Jazz, Funk, Rock and Latin, will make their Indian debut and is the featured band at the Fest. However, in the vineyards, there is a lot of action around the Tasting Room where international DJs will play practically non-stop music at the ‘Atmasphere’ stage being managed by Soma Project.
During my very first visit to the SulaFest, I had labelled it as the Woodstock of India. It may not be close to it in size yet but it is becoming steadily prominent and the numbers are easier to manage in terms of facilities. It appears, Sula is charging ahead with 20:20:20- with the 13000 tons of grapes to be crushed representing 20% growth over 2015, with 20% growth expected in sales and the growth in the number of people attending the SulaFest predicted by delWine at 20%.
The Great Grover Wine Festival at Bangalore
Mumbai-headquartered d Grover Zampa can claim to be the oldest living winery in India because of one of the constituents of the merged entity Grover Vineyards - The pioneer Chateau Indage has gone bust, having declared for bankruptcy. Due to several reasons, the company kept their head barely above water but has been active in promoting wine tourism in a small way though it has big plans. After celebrating a couple of harvest days a couple of years, they started The Great Grover Wine Festival in Bangalore -but not at the winery but in Bhartiya City in Hebbal, which was a venue partner last year too.
Besides wine tastings and food there are musical acts planned by popular music groups like Lagori, Sufistication, Ananth Menon & Trio, Karthick Iyer and Divan. There will be the usual programme of Karaoke Music, Standup Act, Grape stomping, Wine appreciation workshop, Flea market, Art gallery and entertainment features like Self balancing scooter rides.
 The Great Grover Wine Festival has an ambitious target to attract three times the visitors last year. ‘Last year we had around 1000 visitors, this year we expect to receive over 3000 guests at The Great Grover Wine Festival Season 2, says Sumedh Singh Mandla, CEO of Grover Zampa Vineyards. He adds, ‘The festival will offer the party lovers in Bangalore an eclectic mix of wine, music, art and great food – a fine blend of luxury and fun.
‘Taste the essence of heritage wine-Grover Zampa is India’s oldest living wine company, swing with the peppy music, dance to rocking band performances, sing with the Karaoke, shop at the flea market, and soak in the sun at the charming lawns of Bhartiya City, away from the noise and dust of the city,’ says the website www.groverwinefestival.com. Tickets are available at Rs. 1250. It must be heartening for them that the early bird tickets at Rs. 1100 have been already sold out.
This might appear to be a small number but considering that Bangalore is a music lovers’ city and with a cosmopolitan air, the expansion can be faster, although one misses the vineyard air. It’s noteworthy that Sula till it’s 4th edition in 2011 used to have only one-day Fest and attracted about 3000 people, with 2010 estimated to have seen about 1500 people only, if the 3,000 number targeted by GroverZ in its second year, arrives to the venue they may be onto creating an important event in the annual diary of music and wine lovers of Bangalore and other smaller towns of Karnataka.
Both the events are quite exclusive of each other since the target audience would be different. Both running on different tracks they are a useful vehicle for wine tourism and would go a good distance in promoting wine drinking culture in Maharashtra and Karnataka.
Subhash Arora
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