1. The biggest and more officious wine festival this week-end is the Indian Grape Harvest- a Wine Festival organised at Meuse Jupiter Hotel, Nashik by the All Indian Wine Producers Association and supported by the Indian Grape Processing Board. The organisers have managed to rope in the Maharashtra Tourism Minister Mr. Chhagan Bhujbal, ensuring a sizable presence of producers, growers and hopefully wine aficionados of the city and perhaps from Mumbai.
Due to the patronage of the AIWPA and IGPB, several producers of Indian wines are expected to take part in the festival- touted as the first grape harvest festival. Sula is now known internationally for its Sula Fest held every first weekend of February with large turnouts every year- an estimated 10,000 attended this year. York had some organisational issues and let York Live pass this year but Grover-Zampa had their first event to celebrate grape harvest, which was open to the invitees, most of whom came from Mumbai.
Both Sula and Grover Zampa are participating in the fest which is also supported by the Indian Tourism Ministry. Four Seasons, Fratelli, Reveilo, Nine Hills, Kinvah, Pause, Ambi and Bio are some of the wineries present. The usual grape stomp, live band, talks on wine appreciation, food and wine pairing etc laced with discounts on purchases will be attractive for people, paying Rs. 600 per person as entry charge.
"Nashik is the natural choice for a celebration of the grape harvest. After all, Maharashtra accounts for almost 50 percent of the total grape harvest in India," Neeraj Agarwal, senior VP for winery operations of Sula Vineyards reportedly says. It will be interesting to see how big a draw it is during the first year as Nashik does not have too much of a wine drinking population but being the center of harvest should boast the highest per capita wine drinkers.
2. Nagpur Wine Festival, to have been organised by the Nagpur Wine Lovers Club with the support of the AIWPA and IGPB on the same dates, had announced the event a couple of months earlier. But it had to be postponed ostensibly because of the sponsors and supporters, AIWPA and IGPB, who could lean on the organizers to postpone. It would not be feasible for officials to inaugurate the festival at more than one place and the wineries might have needed to stretch their manpower. Nagpur Fest would charge Rs.300 per head during its first year.
3. Pune Gourmet Club organises wine festivals in Pune and Mumbai, including the Bandra Wine Festival. They are organising another festival in conjunction with Ramada Hotel in Mumbai-named Powai Food and Wine Festival. Besides cheese tastings, food, a live band, wine walks, grape stomping there seems to be a lot of wine for the new drinkers and those who drink regularly but want to expand their wine horizon. This festival has more international flavour with the presence of wine importers - Aspri, Riona, and Gusto besides Turning Point, Reveilo, Vallonne and Pause from India. Wines from Australia, Chile, USA, New Zealand, Argentina, Spain, France, Italy, South Africa will also be available for tasting. A ticket of Rs. 500 per head (discounts available for online booking) that entitles one to a tasting of 10 wines makes it an ideal outing for the family- though children below 18 (please check with organisers) are not allowed.
The possibility of buying wines of your choice on discount and various fun activities like music, dancing, grape stomping, cheeses etc makes it a practically must-visit event to those living around the area and beyond.
With festivals like Mumbai Wine Festival and Kalaghoda Wine Fest having achieved success already during the last couple of months, it looks like the Mumbaikars in particular and Maharashtrians in general have several choices of such festivals.
Indian Wine Academy supports such activities even if they are commercial in nature - hopefully the Indian Grape Processing Board gives support but does not get involved financially with commercial ventures as indeed promised and so confirmed by a senior person in the Board. Indian Wine Academy has a special section on Upcoming Events. This may be used for making such announcements in the format provided (max 3 lines to describe the event). Write to info@indianwineacademy.com for free listing if you cannot enter details.
Tags: All Indian Wine Producers Association, Indian Grape Processing Board, Sula Fest, York Live, Nashik, Pune Gourmet Club, Bandra Wine Festival, Mumbai Wine Festival, Kalaghoda Wine Fest , AIWPA, IGPB |