March 05: Soma Vine Village, a boutique winery concept with a full resort, is progressing at a steady pace with 24 labels in its portfolio and several facilities for visitors, writes Sheetal Kadam who spent a day at Soma Vine Village during her recent visit to Nashik, with Pradeep Pachpatil and the Italian winemakers Alessandra and Luca Terassi who she had met last year and shares her experience
Pradeep Pachpatil, CMD of Soma Vineyards comes from a farming background with a Master’s degree in Chemistry. After having an impressive experience of 21 years with Chateau Indage and Sula, he started his boutique winery in 2012 and named it as Soma Vine Village. It is indeed a great experience to understand the making of this boutique winery and ‘Beyond Vineyard Resort’ that took shape in 2010 and was leased to Sula until June 2016.It is now being run by Regenta Resorts on behalf of Soma.
Pradeep and I walked through the vineyards, having a look at the resort and villas surrounded by the scenic beauty. The Resort at Soma Vine Village has two parallel buildings, comprising of a multi-cuisine Restaurant, Somras Conference Hall & Madeira Private Dining overlooking the vineyards. In 2014, ‘Champagne Villa’ was built mainly to cater to groups and family get-togethers.
This villa has a private swimming pool. Soma Vineyard Resort is surrounded by the Sahyadri Hills. ‘Regenta Resort’ has 29 comfortable rooms with lawn to host weddings. The Village also has independent ‘Service Apartments’ for groups and families for short-term and long term stay.
Tasting latest Pinot
We tasted the Pinot Noir Rose straight from the fermentation tanks. Though only half fermented, it was very fruity, full of intense aromas and low on alcohol. The carbonic maceration method used for making this wine will retain these natural flavors, aromas and acidity with value adding alcohol and balancing it with the complexity.
Games et al at Resort
At Soma Vine Village, I could see many Indoor and outdoor game options, a perfect leisurely gateway with Vino spa and wine baths. Many small groups were seen enjoying an expert guided wine tour led by Alessandra (wine maker) in the winery followed by wine tastings at the cellar door. Mrs. Manjusha Pachpatil was cheerfully attending the guests and ensuring their comfort.
Tasting options for tourists
One can taste the wines according to their choice as different Wine Tasting plans are available at different packages Rs. 350 for 5 wines, Rs. 500 for 7 wines and Rs. 700 for 9. One can also buy wines to take home at discounted prices.
Soma wines can be presented to you at parties or corporate groups through wine appreciation sessions wherein wine tastings are conducted by experts.
Soma Vine Village encircled with a scenic view is again an excellent choice for a destination wedding. The well-equipped conference halls with catered banquets are ideally suitable for corporate events.
‘Surahi’, the all day dining restaurant is a big attraction for long distance travelers; it seems to be brimming with food lovers. Alessandra and her partner Luca, Pradeep and I spent lovely time interacting about wine making at Soma.
The Chef served us his signature dish, Konkani style grilled pomfret fish, paired amazingly with Soma sparkling brut cuvee. Paneer tikka and chicken tikka with the Somras premium wine was again a good pairing. Luca Terassi is very fond of Soma Sparkling brut cuvee. Deep gold in colour with citrus fruit notes, very crisp, high on acidity with medium alcohol was so refreshing in the sunny afternoon!
Awards Galore
The wall of fame was decorated with the awards received by Soma wines, such as Decanter Asia Wine Awards (DAWA) 2015, 2017 and 2019 and Indian Wine awards 2017 and 2018. Till date all these awards are clear indicative of its improving quality.
Soma Vine Village received the Best Luxury Resort in Nashik for 2017 and earned TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence for 2018.
Destination winery
This boutique winery is a beautiful, well maintained holiday destination for the urbanite. At the same time, it is highly impressive to see a 25-acre boutique winery producing 24 wide ranging labels. Huge product range of wine was seen on the shelves at the Cellar Door, such as the reserve wines- Pinot Noir, Zinfandel, Shiraz, Riesling, Chardonnay and the Brut.
The whites such as Chenin Blanc and Sauvignon Blanc, the bold red wine made from Shiraz. Rose gold, Rose sparkling and Brut Cuvee. Some of them are outstanding within the price range that it offers while others are just acceptable with scope for further development.
Being close to Sula and York, Soma is a natural part of this belt where one can enjoy different wines in a relaxed atmosphere without being rushed. No wonder Pradeep Pachpatil aims to make his boutique winery to be known as the “Chateau of India”. Well, only time will tell!
Sheetal Kadam
Mumbai-based Sheetal Kadam is a graduate in Agriculture with an MBA in International Business. She is also a 'Certified Cultore' by Alfiere Italico- Wine, a certified wine course designed and organized internationally by Indo-Italian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IICCI) outside Italy, in Mumbai. She is currently pursuing Diploma in WSET (Level 4). She has worked with Indian wine producers in marketing in Pune for a year. Sheetal may be contacted at sheetalk0009@gmail.com
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