 On the evening of September 24, the moment you walked in, your senses were awakened by fresh and vibrant Sula Brut Rosé; the moment you walked in, your senses were awakened with the soft lighting and the aroma of shea butter and the moment you walked in you were greeted with a warm and welcoming smile of Cecilia Oldne who had invited a select group of friends to an evening of slowing down, savoring each sensuous moment & pampering of the senses – perhaps the first of its kind in India.
Generally wine maker dinners focus a lot on wines but thankfully this was not to be - it was a small gathering of about 20 women and what made it special was that it gave a different perspective to wine tasting in a serene ambience with a lot of pampering thrown in.
 According to Darpan Sanghvi, Managing Director Sanghvi Brands, that has brought L’OCCITANE Spas to India, “Spa la Vie by L’OCCITANE is one of the first and largest International Day Spas in Mumbai. The sumptuous combination of Sula’s finest wines along with L’OCCITANE’s pampering treatments is truly the ultimate indulgence.”
 The Consule General of Sweden Fredrika Rembrant, Akanksha Nanda, Kadambari Lakhani, Parveen & Suki Dusanj were some of the ladies who graced the event.
In terms of wines, we started with Sula Brut Rosé followed by tasting of Rasa 2011 Shiraz in the prized, stone bed Hammam room at the Spa. Sula Brut Rosé, an amalgamation of Chenin Blanc and a small percentage of Zinfandel grapes- both entirely different category of grapes, is a blend and as commented by a lot of sommeliers, this sparkling pink has a full-bodied feel and the bouquet of freshness.
 The Rasa Shiraz, considered a complex wine, with power and finesse is said to be one of finest red wine ever to be produced from the estate vineyards of Sula. Only 700 cases of the Rasa wine were produced making this a collector’s item. Cecilia clarified that ‘Rasa’ did not stand for ‘Rajeev Samant’ but meant the ‘essence of nectar’.
 During an interesting tete-a-tete with Cecilia, I got to learn a lot about Sula’s inclination towards environment sustainability. The policy is to be economically sound, socially responsible, and mindful of the earth’s limited resources. Besides using Cogenra technology which is the most cost-effective solar solution, Sula has been focusing on bottle recycling, green fertilization, doing away with diesel gensets for generating power & meeting 60-70 percent of its water requirements from water harvesting.
 “L’OCCITANE shares a healthy respect for the environment, believes in using natural ingredients and is against animal testing. All of these causes are very dear also to Sula Vineyards and me” added Cecilia Oldne.
Try to grab a bottle of Rasa 2011 - it certainly is a collector’s item!
Malathi Natarajan |